Crazy range experience

[O.B. Right]

So tonight I went down to the range to try out my new sand wedge (Nike Tour SV - like it). 2 stalls down there was an older guy teaching his daughter to play. They were talking pretty loudly and the daughter (about 20 or so) was whining after every shot and making really loud noises of frustration. I was doing my best to ignore that when the father says "see that guy there? He's swinging too hard". I was like "are they talking about me"? and then I pulled a shot way left. I heard the father say something about pulling shots to his daughter. Over the next 20-30 balls I heard the father use me as an example of what not to do about 3 or 4 more times and then I started seriously shanking. About 20 shanks in a row. At first I was furious . . and then I started getting worried. I couldn't hit even my 7 iron to save my life!

I managed to regain my composure but it was the hardest time I've ever had to get it back. No matter what I did . .I felt like they were watching me and disecting my flaws and I would tighten up and skull it - or slice it. What saved me was thinking "what if I was playing in a tournament? Then I would have to deal with stuff like this" and slowly I started hitting decent shots again. I even managed to hit a couple decent fairway woods but suffered from intermittent shanks for the rest of the bucket.

I see now that learning to hit the ball is just the very very beginning of learning to play golf.

[kennay92]

not to add to the depression of this or nothing..but for me, the total opposite happend to me the other (something that i kind of actually dreamed of i guess you could say) i was hitting balls, and this guy a few stalls down (who sucked) would watch me hit pretty much all my shots in between him hacking at his.. he finished his bucket, then sat there, (it was kind of awkward) the when i finished he came up to me and asked if i would give him a quick run over lesson and teach him a little on how to swing and stuff.( this made me feel incredibly awesome i must say) he even offered to pay me like 10-15 bucks but i said id just do it to help out.. so moral of the story, there is none.. jsut thought id share my story that happened that is total opposite of yours.

[Jay-Bird]

I see now that learning to hit the ball is just the very very beginning of learning to play golf.

True indeed.

[Supermanwoot]

that sucks man. I wear headphones most of the time when I'm at the range to just practice by myself so no one can get to me. It would be like in Happy Gilmore where the guy yells jackass every time you go to swing, its just annoying and fools with your mental game.

I guess it got to you especially because you haven't re-grooved your swing. Just get out there again with an iPod and rock out while you hit.

[SQ Bimmer]

Unfortunately, not everyone practices the same etiquette at the range as they do on the course. Ahh heck, not everyone even has good etiquette on the course (One look at my handicap, and you can assume I play at a lot of Munis

). Some people are just plain loudmouths, and it is nearly impossible to not let it affect your game or practice session and I applaud you for pushing on and not giving up the practice session.

that sucks man. I wear headphones most of the time when I'm at the range to just practice by myself so no one can get to me. It would be like in Happy Gilmore where the guy yells jackass every time you go to swing, its just annoying and fools with your mental game.

I've tried listening to music while on the range, and I absolutely CANNOT do it. I just lose all feel as soon as the music starts coming in. Not hearing the swoosh of the club as it comes down and the smack as I hit the ball, etc. I need all of those noises to give me feedback to make adjustments off of. I need the swoosh to tell me that my tempo is good, and that I'm accelerating through the ball, etc. I need the ball strike sound to tell me that I am making good, solid contact.

I dunno, just feel numb with headphones on.

[Zeph]

My true swing comes out whenever I'm playing with people I don't know. I forget the details I've been working on lately, but not been able to let the body learn, and start hitting it fat, slicing, hooking, you name it. I'm not nervous or have a problem with playing with them, but on some level in my conciousness, the body takes control.

[imtomtomim]

I actually find it pretty disturbing when a lot of people show up on the range and jsut start hacking at the ball around me as hard as they can. It's not an initial thing, but I start noticing, after maybe listening to that club snap hard and smack the mats so hard and listening to all those jerky movements, about 20 min in, I start to speed up my tempo and my transitions get too sharp. It usually takes me a while to just stop swinging the club and concentrate on my tempo for a while to get it back.

[deronsizemore]

Couldn't you have just politely said: "could you please shut up?"

[TN94z]

I actually find it pretty disturbing when a lot of people show up on the range and jsut start hacking at the ball around me as hard as they can. It's not an initial thing, but I start noticing, after maybe listening to that club snap hard and smack the mats so hard and listening to all those jerky movements, about 20 min in, I start to speed up my tempo and my transitions get too sharp. It usually takes me a while to just stop swinging the club and concentrate on my tempo for a while to get it back.

I know what you mean. That happens to me from time to time as well. As a matter of fact, it happened in a scramble last weekend. One guy we were playing with would swing out of his shoes and after a few holes, I noticed my tempo had sped up and I had to work to get it back down. It's crazy! Anyway, to the OP, I would have just sat down and stared at them practicing for a few minutes just to let them know that I could hear what they were saying. Either that or grab my bucket and go to a further stall. You are right about being in a tournament and having the "all eyes on you feeling" but if you wanted that feeling, you would play in a tournament. The range is there for practice, and having your practice interrupted or thrown off track by something like this is very frustrating. For all he knew, you could have been working on a specific shot, or grip change or anything.

[zrlaegel]

never happened to me on a range before....but if it did i would call him/her out..... i may even say hey ill play you for a buck a ball and we'll see who hits it farther and more straight

[Cobber]

I would try to take this as a learning experience. It appears that you can be distracted while playing and this is never a good thing. Next time something like this happens, try to block it out, find the zone and play your game. Not as easy as it seems by any means. I love to take my 2 boys out golfing with me as they are well behaved for the most part, but, they are a constant distraction for a number of different reasons. I use this as a practice round to work on my focus when I address the ball. If you can hit a good shot while one little kid is killing another... thats focus!

[Where's the Cart Girl?]

I know what you mean. That happens to me from time to time as well. As a matter of fact, it happened in a scramble last weekend. One guy we were playing with would swing out of his shoes and after a few holes, I noticed my tempo had sped up and I had to work to get it back down. It's crazy!

I suffer from this syndrome too. I didn't notice it until I started playing in a league, and the first time out I pulled every single iron shot for the 9 hole match. I felt fine but man did I suck. Went to the range right after that and (unintentionally) got next to a guy who was a great ball-striker. Within a few minutes I was on his tempo, without thinking about it, and back on form. Made me very conscious about how those types of things can seep into your subconscious.

OP - Embrace your inner narcissist and learn to love when people watch you. Realize that most people suck at this game. For every bad shot you hit, realize that - somewhere, someone just hit a worse one. The more you play, the more you get paired with people you don't know, the more this becomes evident. You may not be able to strike the ball, but if you can shrug off a shank, laugh at yourself, and reload without thinking twice you'll be giving someone the best tip you can. And demonstrating, on some level, that you're in control of the most important part of the game.

[NormH3]

perhaps you should have handed him a club and asked him to demonstrate. I don't have much time for those type personalitys. They can be hard to ignore at times. I probably would have moved to another stall....or shanked one in his direction

[sean_miller]

So tonight I went down to the range to try out my new sand wedge (Nike Tour SV - like it). 2 stalls down there was an older guy teaching his daughter to play. They were talking pretty loudly and the daughter (about 20 or so) was whining after every shot and making really loud noises of frustration. I was doing my best to ignore that when the father says "see that guy there? He's swinging too hard". I was like "are they talking about me"? and then I pulled a shot way left. I heard the father say something about pulling shots to his daughter. Over the next 20-30 balls I heard the father use me as an example of what not to do about 3 or 4 more times and then I started seriously shanking. About 20 shanks in a row. At first I was furious . . and then I started getting worried. I couldn't hit even my 7 iron to save my life!

Are there benches/chairs behind the stalls there? I would have put my club away and sat behind their stall - to see if the jerk and jerk-in-training got any value out or your miscues.

[O.B. Right]

I would try to take this as a learning experience. It appears that you can be distracted while playing and this is never a good thing. Next time something like this happens, try to block it out, find the zone and play your game. Not as easy as it seems by any means. I love to take my 2 boys out golfing with me as they are well behaved for the most part, but, they are a constant distraction for a number of different reasons. I use this as a practice round to work on my focus when I address the ball. If you can hit a good shot while one little kid is killing another... thats focus!

I did/do. My first thought was to tell them to shut up or maybe just give them a dirty look and move to a few stalls down but then I thought about the fact that I will have to learn to overcome stuff like this if I want to play really good golf and, perhaps, even play at the club tournament level someday. And then I was totally shocked by how incredibly difficult it was to overcome it. I never really did fully overcome it that night . .if it was in a match that would've cost me some serious strokes. That is the first/only time that has happened to me and I make terrible shot after terrible shot in front of strangers on the range and course all the time. It's just that they usually just ignore me (as they should - they should be watching the good players).

[moshdirtjumpr]

I hate when people act like total jack asses at the range. Last time I went I watched a guy for about 20 minutes throw his driver after every miss hit. I ended up moving on the other side of the grass tees so I didn't have to listen to him.

[Gerardv]

I took my son to a new range a couple of days ago. It's a pretty nice set up with a grass hitting area, putting green, bunker and chipping/pitching area. Because I know people get nervous with a five year old hitting behind them, I always take him to the farthest spot on the right of the range. He is left handed, so that means he is facing me.

Some jackass made a comment about having a five year old on the range.

I'm pretty sure he didn't think he said it loud enough for me to hear him. But, my son sure did, and so did I. My five year old asked why I brought him there if he didn't belong, which made me angry.

So, I loudly told me son that golf is a game that you can play for your entire life and starting at five years old is a dream for many people and maybe "that jerk" over there is just jealous that you have a father who loves you and will take you to to a range.

Of course the jerk heard me and got a really funny look on his face like he knew he screwed up. It was even better when my son tee'd up a ball, by himself and hit it about sixty yards with his little 3 wood.

The moral is, you meet jerks at the range. Had my son not heard the guy, I wouldn't have said anything. But, he did and it hurt his feelings. So, I had no choice.

I hate having to lower myself to their level, but in this case, I felt cornered.

You did the right thing by turning it into a learning experience. With my temper, I'm not sure I could have done so, and that makes you a better person.

[PrairieParson]

Last week I was hitting balls and an elderly man was there also hitting and struggling. I never offer advice, but his friend shows up and gives him all kinds of "help". Now my shots were all going out pretty good. I have just made a MAJOR swing change and it was working very well. But this guy turns to me and says, "Can I give you a piece of advice." (This from a guy who can't hit it near as far as I can.) I gave him an answer I was very proud of. NO. I simply turned my back and went back to my own business.