Re: practice versus play

John,

I know what you are saying, i have had that problem myself as have most others i am sure. What worked for me was to create a discipline of routine at the range, and then force myself to bring this discipline to the course. Get into the habit of approaching each shot with the same routine until it becomes second nature. Look at the pros, same routine on every tee box and fairway. Setup, grip, stance, look at a target line and let the swing happen. Dont clutter your mind with different thoughts on the course as this will only lead to a breakdown of your confidence when things go wrong. From what you say, I would think you are expecting too much and maybe trying to correct the problems through the first few holes. Try this routine and see if it helps. However, dont expect an auto fix as it will take you time to get a god habit going. After that, well, I hope you see an improvement.

Regards,
Robert

Re: practice versus play

hi john
welcome to the site.
one thing i think makes a big difference is that at the range we are hitting off a perfect lie every time.
no uphill/downhill lies or ball above or below feet lies that we encounter on the course and you can get away with a lot more hitting off a mat.
ie if you hit a shot fat on the course you get a low shot with no distance whereas at the range you still get a reasonable shot away because the mat is solid!
try to find a range with a grass practise area

Re: practice versus play

Totaly agree with you guys,
i think another reason for this is that we dont hit the ball any better on the range than the course! it just seems as we do. on the course we are aiming at a target more often than not we are hitting balls in the range aiming straight ahead. it is very hard to see if the ball is 20 yards short of the target in the range but you can on the course, so the shot on the range looks better than it is.