Mental arithmetic?

I was quite good at maths at school. At least I was until they decided to remove all the numbers and use letters, or even worse strange Greek symbols, instead. I got a bit lost at that point and my enthusiasm for crazy equations vanished. This change of heart was compounded by a series of Physics lessons with the aptly named Mr Dick. If you got it great, if you didn't he had very little time for you. So to me these new types of calculations were a little 'mental' (in the colloquial ridiculously tough sense of the word).

That confused and tangential history aside I have a greater understanding of the golf improvement equation. It is not sufficient to simply expect lots of practice/playing time to lead to massive improvement. Technique is an important factor. My chipping has got significantly better after a little over a week because I have been practicing a more reliable method. The next conundrum for me is that age old choice between playing or practicing. When I'm not working on any changes I'll play as much as possible. But when I'm bedding in a change the lure of the course is always strong. That's the scenario I find myself in now. Do I play 18 holes or even 9 tomorrow or do I use that time to work on my new grip, chips, bunkers and putting. I'm playing in a cross country on Friday and the swindle on Saturday so it should be a no brainer...but this is me we're talking about. Either way at least I can be grateful of the chance to play some form of golf.