recent flaw sends you to the range, but then its gone?

rollin · Oct 24, 2013

Had this happen with the driver today. Though I am usually OK with the driver, lately the driver has been an "every other round thing" with one real good day then one real bad day for past several rounds. Two rounds back was great and but last time out I couldn't hit it decently again.

I went to the range this evening. Did my work and took my time as usual. Worked on wedges/irons etc and worked up to the driver which was the main thing I wanted to correct.

Well, all a sudden all is good like nothing going wrong. Hit it very well, long and straight, felt great, even purposely hit some draws and fades which is not something I often do on course but all at the range I did was with happy results. Not all was great and perfect of course but overall results were very satisfying and if you saw me hit you would think there was no real issue. But this is what its been like on the course lately with one good / one bad day.

While I am happy about it being good I am puzzled. I don't have an answer to what been going wrong every second round lately. Its leaving me not feeling satisfied that I have fixed anything because I don't feel like I did anything different. I was hoping to struggle with it and find the reason but I didn't so I really didn't solve anything even though I hit it very well.

This ever happen to you? Hit the range to fix something but it disappears? Cant be the mats because we are talking tee'd up. Whatever it is it just seems to pop up every other round lately as said. Being I hit good I can just say "oh well" and move on but I wanted to fix something. It was my main concern for heading to the range today.

whiteballs · Oct 24, 2013

Yup. Nothing more aggravating than having a horrible driver round, going straight to the range afterwards and crushing balls straight.

moosejaa · Oct 24, 2013

Have had this happen and to take it a step further, next time on the course it seems I left all the good at the range.

ArmyGolf · Oct 24, 2013

I think it has everything to do with your flaw being pressure-based. No pressure? No problem.

golfinFF · Oct 24, 2013

happens all the time to me, get in a situation i have to hit the ball perfect=try to hard=terrible shot- quit caring/relax and expect bad things to happen and hit it perfect. Hardest thing for me to do is relax and just swing and put the ball in the clubs path.

LeftySean · Oct 25, 2013

Happens to me frequently. I'll struggle with a push or a pull or hitting it fat on-course, go to the range the next day and....

Well, I'll got the range the next day, and the problem I had on the course will not only disappear, but will be replaced by some other random problem!

Technically, it's a bonus!

rollin · Oct 25, 2013

ArmyGolf said:
I think it has everything to do with your flaw being pressure-based. No pressure? No problem.

golfinFF said:
happens all the time to me, get in a situation i have to hit the ball perfect=try to hard=terrible shot- quit caring/relax and expect bad things to happen and hit it perfect. Hardest thing for me to do is relax and just swing and put the ball in the clubs path.

yea, though I think that i do stay pretty relaxed and loose, I guess in the back of the mind we know it counts and its enough to make the difference. But its still strange that its ok one day but not the next. It may sometimes depend perhaps on the first driver use of the day. If good then it builds from there but if bad then it puts on more pressure to fix it? Who knows , if it was that easy to figure i guess I'd be shooting 70's everyday..lol

Wakit300 · Oct 25, 2013

Yep, happens all the time, and yes it's all about the difference between how we approach a shot on the range vs. the course. Even the pros say how hard it is to take the swing from the range to the course.

I think part of it is the fact that you can get into a rhythm on the range that's not available on the course. As you said you had already warmed up and worked through your wedges and irons but when you're on the course you're hitting various shots with different clubs and with time in between each one to walk/ride, wait for partners, etc.

The other part is how we approach a shot mentally. I have found that when I'm playing well I plan the shot and then get up to the ball, see the shot to the target and just swing. When I'm not there's much more thinking about swing mechanics or something else over the shot instead of just hitting it to the target. It's kind of a chicken and egg thing. When it starts going bad it's hard to just step up, trust it and swing. It's all about tension and apprehension which doesn't allow you to swing freely.

ArmyGolf · Oct 25, 2013

rollin said:
yea, though I think that i do stay pretty relaxed and loose, I guess in the back of the mind we know it counts and its enough to make the difference. But its still strange that its ok one day but not the next. It may sometimes depend perhaps on the first driver use of the day. If good then it builds from there but if bad then it puts on more pressure to fix it? Who knows , if it was that easy to figure i guess I'd be shooting 70's everyday..lol

It's kind of the same effect as when you have to hit over water. I can hit a 7 iron all day at about 155 but as soon as I try to hit it over a lake its red-stake city. All I can chalk it up to is a weak mental game at this point for myself. What else could it be?

giorgiokaan · Oct 25, 2013

It is harder when you are on the course as you see the fairway, obstacles, hazards, you name it and have 100+ thoughts running in your mind while a range is an open area and it takes the thinking part out and you hit better. It is natural

Tapping from my IPhone

Agent Jay · Oct 25, 2013

It's weird how this works sometimes. I've seen both sides of the coin for this. Crushing it on the range, everything I hit is dialed in...hit the course...gone. Then just the other way, swing feeling like an unfolding lawn chair on the range, can't miss on the course. It happens, you just have to work around it on the course, go with an easier swing and go to clubs. On the range, some days, it's just better to walk away and chalk it up to a bad day on the range.

GenErr · Oct 25, 2013

Happens all the time. I rarely go to the range, due to a sore back, but when I go it is to work out the sh**ks. Sometimes at the range they disappear like magic. As far as hitting the ball more squarely on the range, for me I think its a matter of just swinging naturally at the ball and not "aiming" it as I often do on the course - i.e., stay out of the trees on the right, or the bunker on the left, etc...

ohio_striker · Oct 25, 2013

i feel your pain. it is mostly mental as everyone is saying. i have 2 things i focus on while one the course. the target or spot i want to hit the ball and 1 swing thought while im swinging. the human body and mind is a very special/complicated thing. i have found that when you worrie about a hazard or lake you have to hit over its subsonciously telling your body to hit to that spot. i mean you are thinking about it. so only think about the target and dont get a million swing thoughts when your swinging keep it simple.

rollin · Oct 25, 2013

a lot of what is posted makes great sense and being on the range certainly differs mentally vs the course but it doesn't really explain this one good day / one bad day scenario I've been going through lately.

I mean I may for argument sake use driver 10 times today and have 8 good of the 10. Meaning perhaps 5 of them be really good, 3 more good enough, and only 2 bad ones but the next round use it 10 times and yet only manage 2 of 10 good ones and all the rest 8 bad.

I can understand if it worked 50/50 within each round where I had one good hit then one bad hit but instead its basically been more like one whole round of mostly good and the next round mostly bad. Feeling like king with it one day and feeling like garbage the next. It must be mental and as said earlier it is possible I am perhaps feeding off the results of the first driver hit of the day.

Anyway, Now I'm dying to back to the range again and hit some more to see if I maintain the good stuff.

rollin · Oct 28, 2013

Well, I golf yesterday morn and my driver now just dandy again. Had several shots in the fairway in the 260's and it was only 45degrees. I was crushing some and overall a good driver day. Unfrotunately my chipping fell apart for the day, Go figure .lol

TheHeez · Oct 28, 2013

Sounds like you are having trouble coming to grips with the fact that this game is hard! If you are getting inconsistent results, its because you are doing something different. The task is to figure out what that is and get rid of it for good!

I was at the range yesterday and the guy next to me brought up the exact troubles you have mentioned. I don't think there is any secret to consistency. As I told the guy yesterday, when my game goes to crap I usually just chalk it up to "this game is hard, that will happen".

The only thing I can think to do is practice enough that golf becomes second nature and so when things go south, you can lean on the work you've done. Try to treat the range like the course, never hit the same club twice in a row. Take your time, wait 3-4 minutes between shots and try to practice like you play.

rollin · Nov 3, 2013

rollin said:
Well, I golf yesterday morn and my driver now just dandy again. Had several shots in the fairway in the 260's and it was only 45degrees. I was crushing some and overall a good driver day. Unfrotunately my chipping fell apart for the day, Go figure .lol

So I played today and right in tune with this every other round driving good/bad thing I was terrible again after the good one I mention above. Two good hits out of 9 driver hits. Topped the ball for 30 feet about 5 times. something I never do. Don't know what the heck was going on. I guess next golfing day will be the good driver one.lol Who knows anymore?