Thoughts from the Range at a PGA Tour Stop

[iacas]

As many would guess, I love visiting the range of a PGA Tour stop. I love to see what - and how - the guys are working on. Players are often loose and open to conversation. They'll say hi to their friends, try out different gear, and mess around with their swing(s).

As I stood there on Tuesday at The Memorial, occasionally snapping some photos, a few thoughts dawned on me. One of the first was that I wish I could wrap the experience up in a package. I'd want to record the swings, the way the strikes sound to human ears (not to microphones), the divots, the ball flight, the target, the processes and routines the players go through.

If I could, I'd then share this experience with anyone who thinks they're a pretty good ballstriker. With anyone who thinks they're not far off from hitting shots like a Tour player. With anyone who thinks that putting is more important than driving or iron play.

Here are a few of my observations from the range.

All 5 Simple Keys®

It probably goes without saying, but whether the player is Will McGirt with his weird elbow lifty move, Justin Rose with what many would call a great swing, Jeff Overton with his pronounced dive down at the ball during the downswing, or Carl Pettersson, or anyone else… they all have all five keys. Most of the time, that is… and when they're missing a Key, it's almost always #5, and sometimes #4. Keys #1-3 are almost always in place.

Divots

They barely take them. With an AoA that approaches only -5° or -6° with even the short irons, it's virtually impossible to take much turf. @david_wedzik and I have been using the term "Tour Thin" for awhile now (trademark pending! :D) to describe the "thinness" of PGA Tour level divots. You likely either take big divots or no divot at all. Hash tag "you're doing it wrong." :)

Consistency

The target greens on the range at the Memorial are about the size of a small practice putting green at many courses. Maybe the size of three or four cars parked very close to one another. And yet I watched pros repeatedly striping even 3-woods at these greens, seldom missing by even one yard left or right. Pros are incredibly consistent at not only horizontal dispersion, but distance, trajectory, spin, ball speed, everything.

Equipment

The consistency above lets them notice small differences in equipment. Bounce a bit less on this 7-iron over that one? They'll feel the difference in the turf interaction. Ball launches a bit higher off this hybrid? They'll notice. Shaft kicks differently? They can tell.

Training Aids

PGA Tour pros are just like you and I: they seem to love their training aids. Even if they don't seem to know what they're good for, or how to use them, they use and seem to love their training aids. From the simple elevated string lines or tee gates on the putting green to elastic stretchy bands that you step on and grip with your club to do I-don't-know-what on the backswing (or maybe it was the downswing?), they use training aids all the time. In that sense, they're just like you and I - they seem to think their next great round is just one simple little thing away.

Stupidity

As the Stupid Monkey thread ( ) attests, Tour players are not that bright… about the golf swing. They are simply very, very good at making a golf ball go high, far, and relatively straight. They can tell you in very good detail how their swing feels, but whether it's what they're actually doing, what it causes or fixes, etc.… forget it.

And let me be abundantly clear: this is, at the PGA Tour level, pretty much how it should be. How it needs to be for these guys to succeed. Ignorance is bliss, and the last thing they need to be thinking about on Sunday is whether their right elbow is pitchy enough with the driver.

And, of course, there are exceptions. The exceptions are often the students who have been working with someone either recently or for a long time. They know "more" about their golf swing, but they're almost all working to the point of stupidity - they want to just go out there and hit the ball, maybe keeping one thing in mind. They don't want to know or be thinking about their left wrist conditions at the top of the backswing.

We All Suck

I suck. You suck. We all suck. Seriously, there's nothing more humbling than watching PGA Tour players hit just about every club in their bag perfectly. Now, yes, it's the range, but I'm sorry - even your best range session is not going to sniff the range sessions these guys put in.

[boogielicious]

Thanks Erik.

[saevel25]

We All Suck

I suck. You suck. We all suck. Seriously, there's nothing more humbling than watching PGA Tour players hit just about every club in their bag perfectly. Now, yes, it's the range, but I'm sorry - even your best range session is not going to sniff the range sessions these guys put in.

---

I use to go to Firestone every year or so, sometimes I still get tickets. I love going to the practice range and watch them hit shots. It's just the ease at which they do things with the golf ball that is scary. The sound of the strike is just fantastic. It's like standing next to the bullpen at a MLB game watching the pitchers warm up and that ball hits the mitt on a 90+ mph fast ball when the glove doesn't move an inch.

It wasn't until I started working with Erik on my swing did I really start to appreciate how good these guys are.

[boogielicious]

I've never been to a tournament but may go to The Deutsche Bank in Norton, MA this September.  I will definitely check out the range if I go.

[DaveP043]

A couple of years ago I worked as a volunteer on the range for the AT&T; (now Quicken Loans) tournament at Congressional CC.  While I had no interaction with the players, I did have to wander the range to pick up un-used balls and the little color-coded bags, so I was pretty close to the guys while they were warming up and/or practicing.  The sounds of contact were amazing, and the ball flights were, as Erik says, amazingly consistent.  When they hit driver, it reminded me of the old Star Wars effect as the starship goes into hyperdrive, or whatever it was, when the stars blur.  It was like the ball was somehow accelerating, like it kept finding more gears to go faster.  I don't know if that image makes sense to anyone, it was simply mind-boggling.

We also worked around the short-game area, which was equally amazing.  A guy comes out of the clubhouse, picks up a stray ball about 40 yards away, and hits his first shot, a low two-bouncer that spun to a stop about 2 feet from the hole.

I've played with a few good players, club pros, other guys who've been +2 or +3 handicaps​, and they're not even in the same universe as the touring pros.

[JetFan1983]

As a Honda Classic regular myself, yea, it's pretty incredible what these guys do. You nailed it, Erik.

[colin007]

Is the anecdote that the difference between a scratch and a pro is greater than between a 10 and a scratch?

[Keep It Simple]

And compared to PGA tour pros we do not spend anytime practicing.

[Vinsk]

Agree Erik, except....the appreciation you got while witnessing the pros on the range is very similar to what a lot of us feel/have when watching you swing.

[tnull]

I agree wholeheartedly with you Erik,

It's funny though.  I played high school football, basketball and ran track.  Coached high school track while in college.  I have been to Laker games and seen up close Magic, Worthy and Kareem.  I saw Coop a Loops before the ally oop pass was in vogue like it is now.  They played a game I am not physically familiar with.  Oh sure, I played basketball, but not like them.  Same thing with watching pro football and world class track and field.  Those athletes are soooo good that it is ridiculous.

Most of us know that in those sports, we would never be able to compete.  Who among us is 6'7" and can hit three point shots, dunk and defend Lebron?  Or can run a sub 10 second 100 meters?  Or cover any pro wide receiver?  But in the back of our minds, we all think that if we practiced enough, we could at least play on the tour.  Those guys don't look like super human specimens.  They look almost like you and me.  But these guys are amazing.  More and more of the better athletes are playing golf now.  Look at Dustin Johnson.  Twenty years ago he plays college football and never sees a tee box.  So they have club head speeds we can't attain.  They hit shot after shot that we hit once a round if we are pretty good, once in a blue moon if we are a hacker.  (Not talking the 300 yd drive, I'm talking about the 30 foot putt, or the chip in from the fringe or even holing a bunker shot)

Golfers were once not even considered real athletes,  They were put into the same category as pro bowlers.  But as we all know here and the general public is becoming more aware of, the golf swing is one of the most difficult actions in sports.  No other sport has as many coaches or gurus as the golf swing.  In most other sports, once you master the motion, you do not spend as much time either refining or reworking it as the golf swing.  Does Peyton or Tom's throwing motion break down?  Do they need to see their throwing coach after each game to "fix" their throw? Nah, only in golf.  It is funny to see that virtually every pro athlete in another sport plays golf and may not be better than the guys here on this forum.  They may have mastered their sport, but not golf.

As the ads say. "These guys are Good!"

[iacas]

Is the anecdote that the difference between a scratch and a pro is greater than between a 10 and a scratch?

Scratch is closer to a 10 handicap than a Tour pro, if that's what you mean, IMO. Yes.

[Golfingdad]

Is the anecdote that the difference between a scratch and a pro is greater than between a 10 and a scratch?

Scratch is closer to a 10 handicap than a Tour pro, if that's what you mean, IMO. Yes.

And I imagine that is probably most evident in what you don't see represented in one's handicap.  I.e. ... the "other ten" scores, or the "anti-handicap."

Your average scratch golfer probably has plenty of ugly scores he gets to ignore, whereas your average tour pro is so consistent that his absolute worst scores are still probably + differentials.

[GolfLug]

I am hoping to go to the Greenbrier this year - at least the weekend. I've seen the LPGA in action once, I am sure not the same league as far as sound effects and ball flight but what stood out to me was how little (or none at all) their balls curved in air.

[billchao]

The Barclays is back at Plainfield this year. I may have to get myself to a practice day.

[nevets88]

Watching the pros at the practice range - well, to me, it's like God rolling on the floor and laughing at me, tears dripping from his eyes and he manages to stop and say to me you think you can even come remotely close, 1/1000th to this? Goes on to laugh even further as thunder cracks.

They are human missile launchers and make it look as simple as apple pie.

[David L Yskes]

And I imagine that is probably most evident in what you don't see represented in one's handicap.  I.e. ... the "other ten" scores, or the "anti-handicap."

Your average scratch golfer probably has plenty of ugly scores he gets to ignore, whereas your average tour pro is so consistent that his absolute worst scores are still probably + differentials.

well think about it this way.......

Look at some of the  " worst " scores on tour..... usually they are what and 80???   Tiger's 85 this year.???   which is his worst score EVER!!   and these guys are playing on extremely tough courses from the tips all the time......

Rory goes two weeks in a row of 71-78 and 80-71... and those are his two worse rounds of the year...

[Golfingdad]

well think about it this way.......

Look at some of the  " worst " scores on tour..... usually they are what and 80???   Tiger's 85 this year.???   which is his worst score EVER!!   and these guys are playing on extremely tough courses from the tips all the time......

Rory goes two weeks in a row of 71-78 and 80-71... and those are his two worse rounds of the year...

Right.  A scratch golfers BEST scores are +1 73's from the tips on a fairly difficult 7000 yard course, whereas an average tour pros WORST scores are probably 74's and 75's typically, but on an extremely difficult 7500 yard course that might have a 76 or 77 rating.  Meaning, in most cases, their worst scores are still on the + side of scratch.

These guys are +7 or +8 (or better) handicaps with +1 or +2 anti-handicaps. Kind of hard to fathom.

[DeadMan]

Reminds me of my thoughts when I was watching Jerry Kelly warm up at the BMW last year:

Originally Posted by DeadMan

I went to the driving range for about 45 minutes at first, and then went and stood behind the green at 10 the rest of the day. The driving range was amazing to watch. I was watching Jerry Kelly warm up and it was ridiculous. The thing that really stuck with me is that he took what I think was a 5 iron and proceeded to put about 20 shots within 50 feet of each other, at least 200 yards down the range. He's an average PGA tour guy and he's able to do that. It's incredible. My best shots with a 5 iron would be as good as his only okay shots. It's pretty humbling to see the huge gap between me and them. Not that I ever thought I had a chance at being a PGA tour player as I'm not that delusional, but it's still pretty incredible.

It was probably better than 50 feet, too, to be honest. My best shots are just PGA tour pro's okay shots. Their worst shot I would take pretty much every time, too. It's absolutely incredible to see how good these guys are up close.