Deviation result from range to course

[Kencoco]

Hi experts,

I had experienced in so many ocassion. Day before a match, i went to Driving range to fine tune my swing and appear pretty good in all iron control + distance + direction.( played 200 balls with sport shoe)

BUT when i step into the course after 2-3 holes, my swing just could not delivered the same result from the range, i hit fat, slice and uncontrol shot in many holes. Always came back in late 90s. very discouraging.

is there anything i need to make or adjust from range to actual course.

Thank you and nice day

kencoco

[takinitdeep]

Re: Deviation result from range to course

You are just suffering from tension. This can come from many sources, ie. what preceeded your round, bad night sleep, too much or too little food, too much coffee, fear of hazards, not trusting your swing, playing with others,
Anyway, try to maintain a relaxed swing by keeping arms, shoulders, wrists, and hands loose and most important of all--swing slow until at least you get some confidence.
You are putting too much pressure on yourself to perform.

[wildwilly911]

Re: Deviation result from range to course

ya the mental game, get a good pre shot routine and stick with it, on thecourse and on the range, hitting 200 balls will do nothing without a good pre shot routine, on the course play your game at your pace and try not to watch the other players swing, if they play different than you it tends to throw of your tempo.

[lgskywalker37]

Re: Deviation result from range to course

the range is so repetitive and fast and if you hit a terrible shot it doesn't matter so if you hit 9 good and one bad you think you are doing good, but on the course you feel the bad one and then you wonder what went wrong..... try to fix it screw it up worse and it snowballs.

it is hard to transpose range play to cousre play. one thing that makes the gap slightly less is find a range with grass not mats and play slow and do a pre-shot routine everyshot, you should hit 50 balls that way should take as long as it took you to hit 200 just hitting balls and getting repitition. but the repetition still hurts. most good athlets can train thier muscles/eyes to hit with perfect timing everytime, but give them a 5 min break of one bad shot and another 3 min break (walking from shot to shot) and if the swing didn't ahve proper technique/fundementals, it will fall apart.

so sorry, it itn's good new, if you maybe take more pauses and pre-shot routine and hit less balls in more time, that can lessen the gap, but to really play good on course is to practice on course. apples and oranges. they are both fruit but very differnt tasting/looking.

also as they say tension and mental can make a difference

[shootin4par]

Re: Deviation result from range to course

one thing that makes the gap slightly less is find a range with grass not mats and play slow and do a pre-shot routine everyshot, you should hit 50 balls that way should take as long as it took you to hit 200 just hitting balls and getting repitition.

hit the nail on the head.

[jamesh]

Re: Deviation result from range to course

I once went to the range all of the time – the 2 hr specials – unlimited balls – I got to be exceptionally well at the range, however, I could not duplicate the experience at the golf course.

I came to the following conclusions – hitting hundreds of balls over and over without a pre-shot routine and just for the heck of it, while fun, is detrimental to your game. Instead, when I go to a range I pretend to play at a course I am preparing for. My first shot may be a driver or utility club, my second shot is for a set distance and my third shot is a chip, and so it goes and I deliberately do not fire the balls off in rapid succession, and without the tension that can come in an actual game of golf. Once I got to a golf course, my alignment was off, I didn’t use the same club over and over so I wasn’t comfortable with it. Worst of all, being accustomed to banging out hundreds of balls, I didn’t take deliberation with my backswing (it was hurried) as was my downswing. I still go to the driving range, but I take every opportunity to go to the golf course instead, since that is where the game will ultimately be played.

James

[BrianW]

Re: Deviation result from range to course

You have received some very sound advice here. I would just add a few things:

When things just won't work and negativity starts to creep in then slow down and revert to what I call "My Game Savers". These are clubs and shots you like and are confident with, plus a sound pre-shot routine. For example: I like using my 5 wood, 5 iron, 7 iron and pitching wedge, If I get into a bad groove then I revert to these clubs with an easy swing and tempo. Before long I am getting my confidence back, without wrecking my card..

[Robert O' Keeffe]

Re: Deviation result from range to course

You are in the negative zone. You need to work on a routine of setup. discipline yourself to take the same approach with every shot and empty your mind of too many thoughts. dont fall into the trap of trying different fixes on the course. I would also recommend that you give yourself a break from the range. Practice your swing in the garden.

[Timothy Slaught]

Re: Deviation result from range to course

The longest walk in golf......

The adrenaline produced in your body on the course is probably ten times greater than at the practice range. With the added adrenaline, tension and tempo are the first two aspects of the swing to crumble.......

As stated in this thread, make sure that you monitor grip, arm and shoulder pressure as these usually tense up the most and have the most detrimental affect on the swing. Do also pay attention to the ability to transfer weight and pivot correctly during the swing. On the course the knees tend to tense up which can prevent the proper shift. The lack of weight shift can cause all kinds of problems especially if you are swinging at a faster than normal tempo.

There have been some studies done on this exact subject and I wish there where more because it is quite a problem. People spend hours trying to hone their swing at the range only to suffer greatly on the course where it all counts. These studies indicated that a players tempo can increase by as much as 60% on the course versus the range. Additionally the tension level of the muscles can increase as much.

At the range you should really pay attention to the amount of tension and tempo you display when you are hitting it well. Make monitoring tension a part of your pre-shot routine. It only takes a second to loosen the grip hold to about 5 on a scale of 1-10 and do the same with the arms and shoulders. This allows you to release the club. Don't worry, the club will not fall out of your hands. I've never seen that happen once but I have seen tens of thousands of shots that suffer with the other alternative which is the death grip. You need to get into a routine of monitoring this pressure level because it may be the most important aspect of the swing once the other mechanics are in place. The other is tempo.

Tempo can also be tricky to monitor so I recommend a cheap metronome which are available for golf specific excersices. This will help you ingrain your natural tempo. I use one at the range and I occasionally take it to the course as it has small earphones and I can monitor my tempo at the range versus the course. I will tell you first hand that it took a lot of practice to match up these two tempos. It really was like two different golfers trying to play the same game. With some practice I was able to match up my speeds and this helped my consistency.

Good luck and you are not alone.

[BasilFawlty]

Re: Deviation result from range to course

Does anybody know any ranges in SW Scotland that let you hit off grass?