Why, Why, Why

Yes, as I said I would recommend trusting in your swing and letting it happen. Rather than having nagging words or doubts in my head I prefer to use Jack Nicklaus's way of running a mental image or a mental video sequence of the swing I want to make.

There's no consequence when you hit bad shots on the range. Most likely you do hit those shots on the range that aren't where you're aiming or the shot you imagine but you can forget those easily

One thing that is easy to groove on the range is tempo. You get in a good groove and can hit the shots you want. On the course its harder to keep a good tempo because you only get one shot. You might try to work on carrying your tempo from the range to the course. Im not an expert but this helps me.

This is what I think about practice:

http://www.golf-tuition-online.com/g...se-method.html (Practice: Purpose and Method)

Practice is a fundamental aspect of learning. Without practice, there can't be much improvement, if any. If you have difficulty in dealing with a specific problem, then practice dealing with that specific problem until you are confident that you can deal with it successfully. The problem you mention is having difficulty playing as well as you practice. It is a common problem with a simple solution: Practice more.

It may sound obvious now but it's not when you think about how you're going to practice more. If you lack time, you will have to choose between playing and practice. You may have to drop pre-game warm-up. You may have to drop the occasional game so you can use that time to practice instead.

More practice is not the only thing the problem calls for. You must also look at what you practice to make sure that it fits your purpose. In your case, the purpose is golf. So, practice the skills needed to play golf. For example, on the range, you may think that the shot is a good one but if you never aim to a target, the only thing good about the shot is contact. That's a very important drill to learn how to strike the ball properly. But it is insufficient. You must also practice sending a ball to a target because that's what you'll be doing on the course.

I would also suggest practicing on the course (as opposed to the range) as much as you can. The range is NOTHING like the golf course (mats, no targets, no rough, no OOB etc)

I cant tell you the amount of range rats I know who are scratch golfers off the plastic mats but utter mince on the course

hi paul
shouldnt that be mice?
or are you casting different aspersions

Thats the scot in me coming out there slats

I sometimes find that my ball striking is worse at the range than on the course. I've yet to figure out why this is, but yesterday was a good example. I went to the range, and got a bucket of 85 balls, plus another few dozen that were left by the previous person. The practice range that I use has both mats and a long turf area; I always use the turf area.

I started with the RH drill, as usual, hitting balls toward the 50 yard marker with my 8 iron. I was able to hit the marker with a few, and the rest were very close. Since this RH drill shot is essentially my bump & run stroke, this is a very useful practice for me, and as a result I'm very confident of that particular shot from 50 yards out.

After that I hit some teed balls, using driver and 3w. My target was a bunker about 220 yards out. My goal was to carry the bunker, or over it. That went pretty well. All the shots carried, and most were pretty straight. The bunker is quite small, so those that were off side a bit were still pretty good.

I switched to 5i and 4 hybrid. My goal was to carry at least to the little flag at 170, but mainly to make good contact. The first few tries were pretty good, but after that things got worse. I started hitting the ball near the toe again, and couldn't figure out how to fix that. This, of course, sucked all the power out of the shots, so I was lucky to carry 100 yards. I tried various things but nothing worked. I didn't have my camcorder with me, unfortunately. No doubt I should have stopped, leaving the rest of the balls on the ground, as the previous person had done. But I didn't. I hit every one, hoping I'd start striking the ball again. I tried different clubs. No joy. I went back to the RH drill, and that worked fine. But as soon as I attempted a full swing, nothing worked.

It's not the first time this has happened, and by now I know not to get too discouraged. It doesn't at all mean that the next time I play I won't be able to hit the ball. In fact, I have to say that even though I practice more than most golfers I know, my practice sessions don't seem to have much relation to my actual golf game, one way or the other. I can have a week of daily practice sessions that go well, and then strike the ball very badly on the course, or it can go the other way. My most recent PB came right after my worst practice session ever.

__________________
Todd
Philadelphia, PA
USA

The reason the pro tells you to keep your head down is so you can't see him laughing. ~Phyllis Diller

Thanks guys for all your input.
Warming up or not for me the results are the same. I'm in a golf league on thursday nights and the score is always the same as my Sunday round. For myself I put practice and warming up into two different catagories. Before a round I just want to warm up if I can. If I try to work on things
it will just screw me up more. Practice is when I will work on things to help make me a better golfer. One thing I do know is that I don't practice as much as I use to (family, work etc.) ANd I think that is why my game has gone downhill. I just don't put the time in.
Thanks
again

Hey Dant:

The longest walk in golf is from the range to first tee and as you can tell by all of the responses you are not alone.

As stated, a pre-shot routine is key and one important element is the timing of the routine. Pros make sure they have a specific amount of time for the routine and a definite window as to when they pull the trigger. For example they will make two waggles as they view the target and then swing without delay. Also the routine for better players always involves most of the "eye time" viewing the target and very little if any looking at the ball. This makes your body and swing become target oriented and not ball bound. This is a major difference between low and mid handicap golfers.

Tension and tempo will always rise / get faster because of adrenaline on the course. You need to be concious of this and find a way to mentally deal with these physiological changes. This is especially evident on the first few holes until your equilibrium (breathing) settles down. Unfortunately the damge can be done by the time the settling occurs.
It probably does not sound too much like fun, but you can actually work on breathing techniques that can dramatically help with this situation.

Good luck,
Tim S