Range vs Course

Can you shed some light for me please!!! I have been working hard down the range Getting things ready for the new season...I am currently of 14.6 and want to be single figgers by the end of the summer!!!! But and its a big but..! I am hitting the ball sweet at the range and getting good distance (fairly good balls for a range) but on the course NO distance?? Still hitting the ball good, accuracy is good but no distance with my irons. Please help...

Do you truly want more distance or do you want to change your perspective instead? Since you are hitting the ball well and accuracy is good, getting stronger and practicing more will allow you to hit the ball farther little by little.

What surface are you practicing on at the range, synthetic mat, natural mat, grass? Can you feel the surface as you strike the ball?

But never forget that golf is not a game of farther, it's a game of closer.

If you are practicing off a synthetic/rubber mats without any fibers/bristles sticking up, and hitting the ball farther than off real turf, most likely you are hitting fatter shots than you want to. On a this type of mat, the club head will slide along the mat surface and blade into the ball, with out out losing much club head speed. On real turf the club head will tend to dig/slide into the turf more, which will slow the club head speed, plus probably give you more altitude on the ball, both causing less distance than hitting off a mat. We all know that thinned shots travel farther than the fat ones.

Now if your range work is off of real turf, maybe the range turf surface is harder, than the course fairway turf. This would create the same issue as the the mat/turf combination, although probably not as severe.

If you are hitting off a mat, check the the amount of melted synthetic material on the bottom edge of your clubs. If you have to peel it off to clean your clubs you are most likely sliding into the ball. To my way of thinking range work off of mats should be a last resort type practice scenario.

The only mats I practice off of are the ones that have longer (1") bristles sticking up, that allow a club head to get underneath the ball. These type of mats simulate real turf better than those rubber ones with no fibers/bristles stick up. GJS

Thanks guys for your replies. They are the bristle type mats at the range, on the course no fat shots. good stikes just not the sort of distance i get from the range. yes i agree its how many not how far. I was puzzzled why at the range i would hit my 8 iron 145, on the course yesterday id hit it about 130 if that..

Check if you are flipping your wrists through impact. If you are, work on maintaining a flat left wrist and keeping some right wrist hinge as you contact the ball, this will create more compression and will not add loft by hinging the face forward at impact. At the range it can be difficult to exactly simulate course conditions as previously mentioned.

RELAX!!!! You are probably tensing up over the ball on the course and thinking about your swing (concentrating on where your hands, body etc). Find a good pre shot routine and focus on the target not if your shoulder turn is correct or not.

maybe the range markers are off and you think you hit it further there when it could be the same. Just a guess

that is a distinct possibility!
i was peppering the 250yd marker at my local range with driver i have since measured my drives using gps device they are averaging out at 220

I find the c**p range balls travel less distance than match balls.

Thanks guys for your comments. Going to try a few things this week at my local course..I have to say the range balls are really pretty good. Im going to borrow a laser to work out the range yardages..

It is so easy to groove your swing at the range. It is a different thing to get one shot to hit it 140 yards to a particular hole. If you got enough tries you could probably hit a really good shot to the hole.