"Those" range sessions

I have had a lot of good range sessions the last few weeks, good contact, ball going where I want it ( minus the driver ), but my irons and wedges have been great and my confidence was high.

Last night, however, was the worst range session I have had in a long time, push fading the ball all night and could not work it out...I even shanked a few. It felt like I was swinging the same as the day before, but obviously I wasn't

Does anyone else have these sorts of days?

It's a pain, because you feel like you;re making progress and then you have a session like that. And I LOVE practicing, because it is hwo you get better, but FUUUUUU....

What do you do? Would you go back the next day or take a day off?

It is so frustrating.

I am pretty sure I was just not rotating enough and sliding too much ( my body is stiff from the gym, bad back, and swinging the club so much lately )....but just could NOT fix it.

It was only on full swings too, my pitches/3/4 swings were great.

I feel like this happens to me every other range session. I'll figure something out one day, and hit it great. Then I work on it at home all week, and come back to the range and embarrass myself. It's never fun, and I'm just not to the point yet where I can diagnose and recover on the fly. I usually just take a few days off, work on basics again at home, and come back.

I find that those range sessions, for me at least, are due to me going to the range with a "let's try this" mentality.  I look at those sessions as a positive thing though, because you get the chance to figure out what's going wrong and correct it... which is a good skill to develop for the course.

Plus, just be happy you weren't on the course when the "bad session" began :)

What were the temps like?  I been all over the place on my recent range sessions.  if it's nice out, I do well, if it's breezy / cold, I tend to yank my shots left and very short.  Also like my game on the course, if I'm tense my game / range sessions suffers.

Sometimes that happens... if I'm on the range and I just can't get it right I'll usually stop and work on my putting or short game and take a break from full shots...  The last thing I want to do is ingrain some bad habit that I'm not even sure what it is...

Yeah that's the best way to look at it, that you're actually learning. It's not fun until you fix it though.:) For me, I usually start standing too close to the ball without realizing it, I think that's what I've been doing lately.

What did you do the days before you went to the range?

It happened to me last week - went to the range and hit about 30-50% shanks, it was unbelievable. After about 1 hour I got my rhythm back and the shots were better, still not quite as good as they used to be the weeks before.

Went home and everything was ok the next day.

I then realized, I've been working out 3 days before quite a lot, and was still a bit sore the day I was on the range.

greetings

michi

If I have a bad range session, I take a couple days off. nothing worse then going back the next day and have another bad day. all it does is get you more upset.

The next time it happens, look at it as an opportunity. Do some drills. Feet together, flying wedge punch shots, etc. You'll be surprised how many times you can get the train back on the rails.

I had been at the range every day for 5 days beforehand, playing squash at night, and going to the gym too

I guess my body was saying WTF GIVE ME A BREAK

I was stiff, so maybe that was the cause.

Going to the range tonight after a day off yesterday, see how it goes. I have a lesson on April 2nd, hope I don't have the same issue then lol

Yep, I stopped doing full shots and worked on 40 yard pitches which got me back in the groove, but not quite 100%

I came here to post something very similar and was a little relieved to see this thread and other people experiencing this.  I'm about a 16 handicapper, low 90's golfer, so I know I'm not terrible, but this was just the most frustrating range session ever.  Shank after shank after shank.  I think the most devastating thing was that, even though I knew the problem (hitting off the hosel), NOTHING I did fixed the problem (I tried keeping hands in, a steeper swing path, placing a ball bucket just on the other side of the ball).  It's like my brain just decided it was going to hit in the same bad spot on every swing.

I guess a common point here is that my body was pretty tired from traveling and hitting the gym.  Still, it is weird to be THAT ineffective.  If anyone has any other thoughts, it'd be appreciated.

It might have something to do with rythym. If you have a smart phone handy, take a break and watch a youtube video of your favorite tour pro's swing in full speed  (replay the video about 10-15 times). Then, after you step back up, check fundamentals and try again. If this doesn't work, go to your short game or putting. Chances are you will find your swing the next day. If it happens for 3 straight practice sessions, see your local golf pro ;)

I go through this every spring. When the season first starts, I tend to hit the range pretty hard. eventually I hit a wall and will get the full on shanks. Afterwards I notice how stiff and sore I am. I take a day off and spend some time in the steam room at the gym, load my favorite jazz tunes on the ipod, go to the gym and plug in. Then I just swing. Full on, baseball grip, swing at the ball. Slowly, I switch to my normal grip, feel the groove, and let my swing take over. Music seems to stimulate muscle memory for me. I've tried the rest before, but it doesn't get me back in the groove without the music

I had one of these today.....push fades, shanks, losing distance, you name it.......9 iron was the only thing I could hit with any resemblance of purity.  It used to bother me to the point where I would go buy another bucket to pound.  I don't worry about it anymore, I know what I am capable of doing with a golf ball....I shrug it off and head over to the putting green.  I've noticed some of my best rounds come the day after some of my WORST range sessions....explain that to me!..

I tend to look like a stud on the range and fall apart on the course, lol.

When my swing really starts going awry, I think it's usually do to lack of turn/connection.  I get tired and lazy and the bottom of my swing goes all over the place.  I think this is a common occurrence with a rotary based swing.  If I concentrate on making a hard turn and driving my rear elbow into my side, it usually works itself out.