I hit it so much better at the range..

[SubPar]

I'd have to agree with arjun, I lose focus at the range because there's just a lack of targets and the wide open field doesnt put me in the mindset of threading a shot under a tree or whatever is needed.

You may lose focus because you lack "purpose". Never go to the range without something specific to work on. Hale Irwin says you should not try to work on more than one thing, maybe two, each session, but you should have something specific in mind.

I hit a variety of shots when I am warming up, but I always have something to work on. As for a lack of targets, I know the yardage to every fence pole and gate, as well as to the flags drums and green on the range. I can try hitting any of them with a range of shot types. The primary "green" is in the center of the range. The flag is marked 125 but it is actually 117. I've walked off the distance from the front edge to the flag and from the flag to the back edge. I hear guys all the time saying they hit about 135 when a shot goes to the back of it and bounces over, when the fact is the green is really small and it is only 121 to the back. Most people show up and grab their driver first thing and just start lashing away with it. Probably the most important thing to practice are the mid-irons and short iron shots, but a lot of people only hit a few of those types of shots, if any. 'Bones' said once that Phil works on 100 yard wedges relative 101 yard wedges. I'm not that good, but I want to know what a 65 yard wedge feels like reative to 60 yards, and so on. I have some idea how much less club to hit with a draw or how much more with a fade. Who can work that out just playing? The only place work that stuff out is at a facility and you have to know the distances. SubPar

[elkhuntingfool]

This may sound a bit strange - but this is what I try and do. I get a score card from the shop and look at the holes that have troubled me and then I "play them on the range" Basically I do every shot except putt. If it's a par 4 - say 380 yards - then I try and estimate my drive - whether it's a driver or 3 wood that I hit. Then I try to figure out how far I hit it - I know it's not going to be accurate - but let's say I hit 250 yard drive. So now I'm out 130 to the center of the green. I know where the 150 marker is on the range - so I pick up a club that will allow me to hit 130 - usually my lob wedge

kidding - probably a choke down 9 iron. I then know that if I hit it 130 (again, guessing - but I can tell if I hit a good shot) then I know I'm on the green. I then move on to the next hole and again - start over. That's how I focus. Once I'm done with those holes in my head, then I work on whatever I need to.

Hope that helps.

[Crafty]

IMO, anybody can groove a swing on the range. But ask any pro (Lee Trevino being one specific example that I can remember), and they will tell you that one of the toughest things to do in golf is to transfer your range game to the course.

As for the balls on the range, it is obvious that they are nothing like the ProV's and otehr higher spin balls that many of us play. For me the best way to recreate a "high-spin" ball is to hit directly into the wind. It exaggerates any trajectory. Large draws become hooks and fades become borderline slices. Hitting into the wind will teach you what ball flights and swing changes really do work for you.

[x-forged]

You may lose focus because you lack "purpose". Never go to the range without something specific to work on. Hale Irwin says you should not try to work on more than one thing, maybe two, each session, but you should have something specific in mind.

correct! spot on sub-par. There is going to the range to "hit some balls", the mindlessness practice which has little effect except for maintaining muscle memory, and theres going to the range to practice 150 yard approach shots, the effective range practice mindset.