Worst range session ever...

[Grapo]

Just got back from the worst range session ever. Really down and defeatist about it all now. Was only working on short irons too, which should be the easiest to hit. Was going well for 20 balls but the next 20 or so just topped and sliced. How do you guys cope with a horrendous round / range session. Trying to put it out of my mind but I won't be pleased until I play well again.

[SloverUT]

Go back the next day and work on it again.  Nothing else to do.  Sometimes you play well, sometimes you don't.

[GangGreen]

Ditto, although I'm trying more and more now to key in on what I was specifically doing wrong (ie. I was pulling all my long irons) and then researching some possible causes before I go back out to the range. I find this forum to be a great help along those lines (just key word in a search topic), although often times it is hard to apply generic fixes to what is typically a golfer specific problem. Unfortunately, without having someone who knows what they're doing looking at my swing, I worry at times that the generic fixes could end up just causing different problems down the road. I think I just talked myself into getting lessons...hahaha!

[PirateJim]

If it were me (it has been) I'd pull my wedge out of the bag tonight and find a quiet spot to just work through some quiet swings checking my positions to start with, and then just working on the weight shift, that's what usually causes most of my problems, including topping the ball.  Tomorrow, get back on the horse... er, back out to the range.  My wedges are my favorite clubs, so I always start with them, and if I start having trouble I gravitate back to them for solutions.

You haven't forgotten how to hit the golf ball, but you've allowed something to slip into your swing that needs to be pruned back out.  If the next range session doesn't sort things out, I would go line up a lesson with my pro.  (Yes, I recommend that a lot, I just happen to think it is often solid advice.)  A few months back I got the... *whispers* shanks.  My pro sorted me out pretty quick.  Well worth the cost of the lesson, given how crappy I was feeling about myself and my golf swing.

[rkim291968]

Just got back from the worst range session ever.

It just means your next round is going to be the best round ever.    I would not think too much about it.   Now, if you hard your best range session, that'd be something to worry about.

[Ernest Jones]

• Slow down
• Partial swings
• very specific focus on ONE element of your swing
• chipping and pitching
• drink plenty of liquids (wink,wink)

[CR McDivot]

Today I had perhaps my worst range session in the last 3 yrs.

Working mainly on long irons, though mid to short irons not much better. Overall good clean hits less than 15%.

Yet, my last round before this abomination I hit 61% fairways, plus approaches (using mid to long irons) better than my usual, and a 1.8 putting average.

Golf is a strange game, often it is better to just relax and play each shot as it is presented on the course, than to overthink and screw up a basically good swing on the range.

[1484]

It just means your next round is going to be the best round ever.    I would not think too much about it.   Now, if you hard your best range session, that'd be something to worry about.

Not true.  Next round will be shit because you'll over correct everything that was going wrong.  After a day of hooking you'll over compensate and then start missing everything right or slicing.  Your next NEXT round will be the best ever when you come back to center!

[Grapo]

I think part of the problem was that I wasn't in a good mood as I'd had an awful day at work. There were also some idiots messing around at the range and I couldn't concentrate properly. I will go again tomorrow before playing 18 on Saturday.

[Mr. Desmond]

Is very easy for a sour mood to hamper your ability to practice well. When you find this happening again, I suggest you go to half swings and slower swings, or drills, and then get back to a full swing

[Ernest Jones]

Is very easy for a sour mood to hamper your ability to practice well.

Very true. Guilt can really screw with your game too. I killed a guy once, couldn't make a putt all day.

[MS256]

If I am hitting the ball poorly in practice I think all is normal. I'm the worst practice player ever but usually hit the ball much better during a round.

[Albatross1]

I've been there!  There's nothing worse than feeling like you went backwards after a session at the range.

If you're topping and slicing shots, chances are you're standing up in your downswing.  The next time you're at the range, take half swings and focus on keeping your head down through impact.  When you start to feel more comfortable, you can work your way up to a full swing.

[nevets88]

I had 3 weeks of consecutive bad range practice sessions this summer, was close to bagging it - tops, 40 yard push fades, quick hooks. But one good practice after all those bad ones turned it around. Hang in there. It's just one practice session.

[rkim291968]

Not true.  Next round will be shit because you'll over correct everything that was going wrong.  After a day of hooking you'll over compensate and then start missing everything right or slicing.  Your next NEXT round will be the best ever when you come back to center!

I wasn't too serious and was trying to encourage the OP to get on with it.   But I have been in a long funk of screwing up range sessions but do much better in round.   I could not explain it.  These days, my range session is not any indication of what I am going to shoot the next day.

[muttbag]

I hit the range yesterday for the first time in a month.  I had an excellent range session, they were flying long and straight (with the occasional diff).  I started getting tired when I got to the bottom of that huge bucket of balls, and I began making mistakes and either topping or shanking the ball.  I finally found an exercise that helped me recover from this.  After the 2nd or 3rd straight mishit, I will pull out my A or P wedge, take a group of balls, and start out with my 20-yard chip swing, while focusing on keeping my weight on the back foot.  As I start to chip straight and accurately again, I will gradually increase my swing (50 yd, 75 yd, etc) until I am hitting the ball appropriately at full-swing.  Then I will graduate to my 8i, then 5i, etc.  This helps me mentally build my confidence because I know that I have the ability to hit accurate shots, I just fail to execute at times.

I also repeated another driver exercise that I've done in the past.  I stood with my feet about 6 inches apart, focused on keeping my weight on my back (right) foot during the backswing, and hit about 5 drives with a very, very easy swing.  4 out 5 went straight and maybe 220 yards.  I then took a few more balls out, gripped it and ripped it... not paying attention to form or proper mechanics, only focusing on keeping my weight distributed properly and swinging almost as hard as I can.  Naturally, about 2 out of 5 went straight, one of those being a laser.. but the rest were sprayed right.  After swinging out of my shoes, I took another group of balls and began swinging with my normal stance and normal swing speed.  I was able to control my drives and keep them within a 20-yard wide radius with an average distance of 250.  Getting it out of my system on the range and purposely trying to kill the ball seems to calm me down and help manage my driver.

I'm going to use this gameplan next time I hit the range and also begin splitting range and putting green practice more evenly.  After a few recent disparaging range trips, I'm hoping this is the key to bouncing back from a bad session.

[Lihu]

start out with my 20-yard chip swing, while focusing on keeping my weight on the back foot.

I thought that we want to keep the weight on the lead foot when chipping?

[Tepi]

For me going in angry will totally destroy my golf, it is/was really hard to understand coming from sports that only made you perform better the more addrenaline you had in your body.