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I'm a range pro


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I must be a range pro or something. I go to the range once or twice a week, and play a round on the weekend.

I've been playing golf for 20 years (and I still suck), been down to 12 handicap. Lowest round ever scored (many years ago) was a 77.

I buy new equipment, premium balls, new rangefinder.

So when I go to the range, I'm relaxed, everything is cozy swing feels great. Hitting nice irons good ball flight tiny draw sometimes. Get my hybrid out and hitting it great about 200 yards. The 3 wood more great shots. Then the driver, hit some decent ones around 260 ish.

So this range session was on July 4th. Was there a good two hours. Chipping, bunkers, putting. Everything basically. I'm feeling good at this point. I'm preparing for a tounment this weekend, so I jump on as a single yesterday to get a practice round in.

AND I JUST LOST MY MIND! First tee shot of the day, hit well but pushed right out of bounds in the houses!

I kept pulling my head during impact, which is something I've struggled with the past couple of years.

A few holes later, and I can''t hit my hybrid. My irons were ok, but really didn't hit anything solid, lots of toe shots.

OMG! Some of these shots I was hitting yesterday, I couldn't intentionally try to hit them on the range if I hit 100 balls. Seriously I had some really wacked out swings.

Not feeling very good right now, I'm in a bad mood. I should be excited for this weekend's tournment, but now i'm fearing I will embarras myself.

I just cant seem to bring the range session swing to the golf course any more. I have more fun on the range then I do at the course.

Driver: Callaway Big Bertha 10.5* 

3WD:  Callaway Big Bertha 15* / X2 Hot H4 Hybrid
Irons:  Callaway Apex 4-PW Project X 5.5 shafts

Wedges: Callaway MackDaddy 2  52/58
Putter: Odyessey Metal X Milled 1

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I must be a range pro or something. I go to the range once or twice a week, and play a round on the weekend.

I've been playing golf for 20 years (and I still suck), been down to 12 handicap. Lowest round ever scored (many years ago) was a 77.

I buy new equipment, premium balls, new rangefinder.

So when I go to the range, I'm relaxed, everything is cozy swing feels great. Hitting nice irons good ball flight tiny draw sometimes. Get my hybrid out and hitting it great about 200 yards. The 3 wood more great shots. Then the driver, hit some decent ones around 260 ish.

So this range session was on July 4th. Was there a good two hours. Chipping, bunkers, putting. Everything basically. I'm feeling good at this point. I'm preparing for a tounment this weekend, so I jump on as a single yesterday to get a practice round in.

AND I JUST LOST MY MIND! First tee shot of the day, hit well but pushed right out of bounds in the houses!

I kept pulling my head during impact, which is something I've struggled with the past couple of years.

A few holes later, and I can''t hit my hybrid. My irons were ok, but really didn't hit anything solid, lots of toe shots.

OMG! Some of these shots I was hitting yesterday, I couldn't intentionally try to hit them on the range if I hit 100 balls. Seriously I had some really wacked out swings.

Not feeling very good right now, I'm in a bad mood. I should be excited for this weekend's tournment, but now i'm fearing I will embarras myself.

I just cant seem to bring the range session swing to the golf course any more. I have more fun on the range then I do at the course.

I say you skip the next range session and try a local course. But, leave the predisposed feelings of a bad round and anticipation of playing poorly at home. Go out there, relax, get a drink (if you drink), take a deep breath before each shot and just calm down.

This happens to everybody at some point. The biggest problem though is that too many people get burned out when it happens, rather than trying to keep a calm and cool head and trying to understand why this is happening. If you can get in a quick session with a certified professional, that's your best bet. If not, I think you should just hit the course early and play through a round.

Even if you can only hit the range again, make it a constructive session and focus on simple, easy, and clear-cut objects. Focus on weight shift, or something that you can put 100% of your thoughts into while forgetting the other 1 million thoughts racing through your mind.

Your mental game is equally as important and if you're feeling down, uneasy, nervous, angry, etc. before you even play... well, nothing good can really come from that (usually). Crack a cold one and hit the reset button. Things will turn around.

• If you want more specific help, try filming your range session followed by posting a video of your swing in the My Swing thread.

I know you're a Forum Leader, but if you haven't posted a MySwing thread, do that by following this:

• Read this before posting in the " MySwing " thread.

Once you've done that, read this: So You Just Joined TST and Posted a MySwing Thread

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I always thought this type of range to course problem was due being relaxed on the range, and not being relaxed on the golf course. More mental than physical.  Also, driving ranges are much wider that course fairways. There is less time between swings on the range than on the course. Very few players hit the same club twice, or more times in a row, on the course. Last but not least there is usually a target involved that is of more importance on the course than one on the range.

Perhaps the idea that golf on the range is dedicated to practice, while golf on the course is all about playing for a score.

How about folks who get tired on the range, and then go golf? I have done that myself. Fatigue is usually pretty bad for a golfer's swing.

Go to your tournament with a good attitude, and focus . Just play the game with what you show up with. You are golfing, and playing golf is fun.

  • Upvote 1

In My Bag:
A whole bunch of Tour Edge golf stuff...... :beer:

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Thanks for all the advice and tips. I'm going to have two more range sessions before this weekend, but that still doesn't guarantee it will spill over to golf course.

I know what I'm doing wrong, I just can't seem to fix it during playing. For example, I'm trying to murder the ball off the tee on drives. At the range I swing easier with better contact.

I'll try an keep a positive attitude, but its hard right now.

Driver: Callaway Big Bertha 10.5* 

3WD:  Callaway Big Bertha 15* / X2 Hot H4 Hybrid
Irons:  Callaway Apex 4-PW Project X 5.5 shafts

Wedges: Callaway MackDaddy 2  52/58
Putter: Odyessey Metal X Milled 1

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I thought I was the tin cup...

LOL

Wanna bet I can hit my 7 iron 800 yards?

Driver: Callaway Big Bertha 10.5* 

3WD:  Callaway Big Bertha 15* / X2 Hot H4 Hybrid
Irons:  Callaway Apex 4-PW Project X 5.5 shafts

Wedges: Callaway MackDaddy 2  52/58
Putter: Odyessey Metal X Milled 1

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You're spending an awful lot of time on the range. Unless you're working on something specific and deliberate, I'd suggest getting off the range and on to the course more. In addition to your weekend game, instead of a 2 hour range session, go play 9 holes. Think of it as "practice" if that helps, but you need to get as comfortable on the course as you are on the range... ...and the way to do that is to go play!

In David's bag....

Driver: Titleist 910 D-3;  9.5* Diamana Kai'li
3-Wood: Titleist 910F;  15* Diamana Kai'li
Hybrids: Titleist 910H 19* and 21* Diamana Kai'li
Irons: Titleist 695cb 5-Pw

Wedges: Scratch 51-11 TNC grind, Vokey SM-5's;  56-14 F grind and 60-11 K grind
Putter: Scotty Cameron Kombi S
Ball: ProV1

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I suffered this range effect as well ... Good advice above, especially on the mental part ... Hitting a house on the first tee box kills me too ... I have really made great strides in my game since joining here ... One thing I do on the course, is pretend I am the range ... I tell myself to pretend I am on the range, just focus on contact with an easy swing and keeping my head down ... Do NOT try to hit it a mile and do NOT look up to watch it before I actually made contact ... Actually easier said than done For me, on the range, I focus on where I want the shot to go ... Most of my bad shots on the course I focused on where I did not want be ... Took awhile to shift the focus to avoiding a bad shot, to planning a good shot. It was a on course mind set Even on a tee box I planned for bad shot ... I would tee the ball up way on the right, and aimed way left ...with houses on the course, my sole objective was to not hit a house ... And believe me I have nailed a few ... I once defined a successful round as no houses were damaged ... I have "cherry picked" some good advice here ... Especially from @mvmac That is what worked for me ... And I too spend a lot of range time ... Living in Phx, I do my range at early evening ... Too dark to me on the course ... Plus I love hitting a golf now ...

Ken Proud member of the iSuk Golf Association ... Sponsored by roofing companies across the US, Canada, and the UK

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I started my last round... double, bogey, double and wanted to walk off the course.  I told myself to stick with it and was able to shoot 7 over.  It's easy to let it snowball.  It was my most frustrating start of a round in three years.

I agree that a lot of it is mental... and it absolutely sucks to go through!

Sometimes I have a crappy range session and it ruins my confidence for my next round.

The mind is a silly place.

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You're spending an awful lot of time on the range. Unless you're working on something specific and deliberate, I'd suggest getting off the range and on to the course more. In addition to your weekend game, instead of a 2 hour range session, go play 9 holes. Think of it as "practice" if that helps, but you need to get as comfortable on the course as you are on the range... ...and the way to do that is to go play!

+1

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You're spending an awful lot of time on the range. Unless you're working on something specific and deliberate, I'd suggest getting off the range and on to the course more. In addition to your weekend game, instead of a 2 hour range session, go play 9 holes. Think of it as "practice" if that helps, but you need to get as comfortable on the course as you are on the range...

...and the way to do that is to go play!

Agree!

If you play twilight... you can play several balls and practice shots.  It's much better practice.

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Some good advice above. Here's a tangible aspect based on my own trials and tribs that you can possibly relate to. Check your ball position on the course relative to what you have at the range. Couple of inches backwards or forwards can be night and day diff. I notice that I 'tend' to setup slightly back in the stance when on the course for some reason causing straight pushes instead of tiny draws and worse head tends to pull up a lot through impact since clubface needs to be squared up tad bit earlier. I think range offers a more 3D visual reference compared to the course for me. Not trying to lead you off to a tangent; hope it helps.

Good luck,

V

Vishal S.

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Note: This thread is 3550 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

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