Hy guys, thought id post something which will gain some wide and varied reponses. My question and querie is this:
How do you perform on the course like the driving range. I played this weekend, was about 140 away from the green, got my 7 iron out and prepared for the shot. I followed the same rountine i do down my local range, grip, posture, club position etc. Went into the back swing, came down and thinned the **** out of it. The lie was pretty good.
Now down the driving range, i can hit my 7 iron pretty consistent 9 / 10 balls.
This is a mental thing, have any of you gone through this same problem? Any tips on getting around it?
Last edited by ForgedRbest : February 8th, 2005 at 04:53 AM.
Reason: inappropriate language
Hy guys, thought id post something which will gain some wide and varied reponses. My question and querie is this:
How do you perform on the course like the driving range. I played this weekend, was about 140 away from the green, got my 7 iron out and prepared for the shot. I followed the same rountine i do down my local range, grip, posture, club position etc. Went into the back swing, came down and thinned the **** out of it. The lie was pretty good.
Now down the driving range, i can hit my 7 iron pretty consistent 9 / 10 balls.
This is a mental thing, have any of you gone through this same problem? Any tips on getting around it?
I'm the exact opposite. I hit the ball much better on the course than I do on the range. None of the ranges within a reasonable driving distance of me have grass tee areas available to people not taking lessons, so I'm forced to hit off the mats. I tend to hit down(and through) on the ball pretty steeply, so I will hit a bunch of fat shots off the mats(especially 7-SW). I only use the driving range at the beginning of the season to get my golf muscles back in shape-that's it. I've never played a course where every shot has a perfectly flat lie on perfectly manicured ground, and I've definitely never played a course where I'm hitting off Astroturf. Practice in your backyard or at a park with plastic wiffle balls, placing the ball in different lies(uphill, downhill, sidehill, down in grass near the ground, fluffy lies...etc.)
Well if you thinned it you probably came out of the shot too early & didn't hit down & through(which is my only swing thought with my irons). Like uc8u, I hit the range once before the season just to get loose and work out the kinks. I used to go to the range all of the time, but I found it hard to focus and with the money I'd spend I could play another round. There's no one thing that I do wrong consistently, except mediocre mid-range putting....nothing that extra range work is going to help. I have an wide assortment of problems that crop up occassionally that keep my scores up. I'd rather work 'em out on the course. Thinning a shot is not something that hitting off of a mat would cover up, although the mats are very forgiving to hitting one fat... and it's all mental, IMO.
If I hit a lot of chip shots at the range, my chipping on the course is often terrible for the opening 4/6 holes as the greens on the range are elevated slightly, so I have to hard them almost pin high and let the slope on the green take it back. There's no such luck on the course, as most of my chips end up well past the hole.
Most of my problems will sort themselves out whenever the spring/summer comes, as I'll be on the course rather than the range.
I played this weekend, was about 140 away from the green, got my 7 iron out and prepared for the shot. I followed the same rountine i do down my local range, grip, posture, club position etc. Went into the back swing, came down and thinned the **** out of it. The lie was pretty good.
Now down the driving range, i can hit my 7 iron pretty consistent 9 / 10 balls.
The difference is on the course you are very aware of attempting to get the ball reasonably close to the hole...I'll wager that on the range you are not as target-focused and just hit the ball. So the quick and dirty answer is hit the ball in the fairway 140 out, take out your 7 iron, line up and hit the ball...if you do this well the target problem will take care of itself. Waaaay better than skullin' it.
catch phrases:
Think long, think wrong.
Just do it.
Grip it and rip it (I don't like this one as much because it suggests aggression which I generally don't advise)
The point is - don't worry about the target...
choose the right club
go thru your range routine/choose the right line
hit it full
analyze/accept the results
If this ever gets old/boring/too easy then start dialin' it in.
I suffer from exactly the same thing , on the range i hit the ball really well 95% of the time , i practice good habits work real hard on my swing , when i get on the course i loose everything i've been working on ,and i swing like a fool sometimes, i forget to put everything i've been working on into practice, i'm sure its a mental thing , with being on the course a totaly different enviroment to the range effecting
how i swing the club.I really think practicing on grass would help alot.
My best guess is that it is mental. I play with a couple of gym fighters like this, they're awesome on the range, but can't break 80. I don't know how to get around it... but my suggestion would actually be the opposite of shades... try to make your practice time as realistic as possible, pick a very specific spot on the range and try to hit it.
I often hit better at the range than I do on the course. Mental thing for me, I think... pressing too hard on the course. So, when I'm on the course, I often try to tell myself, "This is just a driving-range shot," in an effort to fool myself into the relaxed frame of mind I have on the range. In fact, it occurs to me now that, for me anyway, an added benefit of range time (which I need more of) is to practice being relaxed with a shot.
Had some good responses.
I go to the range nearly every day lol and hot off the astroturf.
Obviously when you play a round you playing off grass. This particular change in environment mentally bugs me and i cant get the thought out of my head. I feel that the way forward is to practise on grass, unfortunately theres not many local ranges that offer this in the south of England. Actually dont know of any at all.
But regardless, im still gonna play this game until all my muscles, bones etc seize up lol...
The range can just be a way of grooving bad habits and especially mental ones. Its important , as other's have said, that you keep your range practice as close to realistic as possible this way you will have a better chance to take your 9 out of 10 to the course.
I never shank on the course, but occasionally it gets me at the range and I can shank every club in the bag....
The range can just be a way of grooving bad habits and especially mental ones. Its important , as other's have said, that you keep your range practice as close to realistic as possible this way you will have a better chance to take your 9 out of 10 to the course.
You mean hitting 500-1500 balls isn't close to realistic?
when you're at the range, think about your shot and mechanics... when playing forget about everything you practiced, and you should step up to the ball and naturally hit it the way you're supposed to. the key is practice practice practice.... what i find that helps too is to chip a bunch of balls before play and that helps you square to the ball.
February 8th, 2005, 04:50 AM
There's no one thing that I do wrong consistently, except mediocre mid-range putting....nothing that extra range work is going to help. I have an wide assortment of problems that crop up occassionally that keep my scores up. 
I'd rather work 'em out on the course. 
Thinning a shot is not something that hitting off of a mat would cover up, although the mats are very forgiving to hitting one fat... and it's all mental, IMO. 
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