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How do you guys bring it from the range to the course?

Um, I don't ? I very rarely practice at a range and will generally only do so when the course is unplayable or I have very little time. I prefer to play and practice on the course.
 
prubey00 said:
There's a short par 3 at my home course, around 135 yards. One day I hooked a 9 iron and it hit a tree like 15 yards left of the green, the ball hit off the tree and kicked dead right and landed maybe 10 feet away. Of course I missed the birdie putt!!!
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I think this was meant for the "worst shot that had good results" thread. lol
 
On the range , before the round .. I usually just hit short irons to get a good rhythm . Than before I leave , maybe some longer clubs keeping that rhythm . Once I establish a smooth rhythm ( hitting short irons ) , I can keep this feeling and use it in my whole game . If I start off just hitting longer clubs. , I usually have a bad round and spend all day just finding a rhythm . If no range , I just take 20 or 30 slow motion swings feeling the clubhead . All about rhythm for me , once established .. I can then hit it pretty well and straight . Too many guys before a round spend their range time trying to find that magic swing key . Doesn't happen , establish a good rhythm on the range and let it be your rhythm for all of your shots
 
In a perfect world I would start with some stretching then I usually hit 25-30 balls just to get into a rhythm. Start by hitting my wedges and then go PW, 8, 6, 4, hybrids, fairway woods, driver. I always make sure to end with a good shot with every club. I like to hit the putting green for some chipping and a few putts then I'm all set.

What usually happens is I go right to the first tee, do some stretching and play.
 
I have never been a range rat....if I warm up before a round it's 10-15 balls just to loosen up...I seldom go to the range and hit balls to practice, I like to play too much and as they say on the Golf Now commercial, "if you have time to hit range balls, you have time to play 9 holes"
 
I just try to get loose and see how the ball is flying that day. For example, I know that if I normally hit a range ball with an 8 iron X yards and the wind that day has it going X +5 yards, then I just file that away for later on. I used to see if I was hitting more of a draw or a fade, but lately it has been all baby draw for me. I also try to get loosened up (and tempo'd up) through the entire bag starting with a wedge, then a short iron, then a mid iron, then a hybrid, then just a few driver swings.
 
If I am at the range prior to a round, I am only hitting a small basket of balls to get loosened up, not to work on anything specific as the range is nothing like the course - so I only hit a couple of balls with a number of clubs through the bag and finish with a few wedges at the short targets

If I am at the range to work on something, then I will hit a few balls to loosen up first (ignoring the direction/flight for this) before then getting down to the things I want to practice

The course is never going to be the same as the range, but by practising your shots on the range you should get a feel for what you then need to do on the course

I do add a little bit of pressure when practicing by using the flags on the range as my 'imaginary fairway' so I can judge both the execution and outcome of the shot - I am fortunate that my range has flags set at 50yd intervals as per my rough diagram below so if you joined the lines from the bays out through the flags you can give yourself a 'fairway' to aim at



- - - - - - - - - - - - - Range bays

. . . . . . . 50 yds


. . . . . . . 100 yds


. . . . . . . 150 yds


. . . . . . . 200 yds


. . . . . . . 250 yds
 
When I am playing, the range is just to get loose, lots of half shots then as I warm up to full swings, maybe 20-25 swings max.....practice sessions during the week are for working on specific areas
 
I have been such a range hero lately that I figured I'd bump this. Found a couple tips online that I'm gonna try. Some of which I've used in the past but gotten away from, and others which are new.

-Random practice - ie. never hit the same club twice in a row. Don't allow myself to get ingrained, since I won't be able to do that on the course. Used to do, but got away from it.
-Playing mock "holes" - I've done this, but not really lately, and I think I need to get back to it. Kinda ties into the above.
-Hit a lot of drivers. Interesting tip from Leadbetter - he says it's key to hit this club a lot (particularly before a round) because it sets up everything else and it helps with balance. Interesting.

Hopefully this will help me take my swing out to course a bit better.
 
SkiBumGolfer said:
I have been such a range hero lately that I figured I'd bump this. Found a couple tips online that I'm gonna try. Some of which I've used in the past but gotten away from, and others which are new.

-Random practice - ie. never hit the same club twice in a row. Don't allow myself to get ingrained, since I won't be able to do that on the course. Used to do, but got away from it.
-Playing mock "holes" - I've done this, but not really lately, and I think I need to get back to it. Kinda ties into the above.
-Hit a lot of drivers. Interesting tip from Leadbetter - he says it's key to hit this club a lot (particularly before a round) because it sets up everything else and it helps with balance. Interesting.

Hopefully this will help me take my swing out to course a bit better.
Click to expand...

I have been ending all my practice this way. I will hit driver 8 iron, then Driver hybid wedge. Just some variation of a hole I have played. Using the Flags as fairway markers.
 
I don't bring my range game to the course. I look like a single digit handicap on the range and mid twenties sometimes on the course.
 
I'm not sure that I actually bring anything from the range prior to a round and sometimes that actually is a good thing. There have been times when I have it the ball well on the range and had a bad round. Other times, I hit the ball badly on the range and had one of my better rounds. I have no idea how to explain it.
 
I actually had this same problem until recently; where I couldn't bring the nice shots I had while on the range to the course.

Then some weeks back I noticed that I needed to also bring my mental state on the range to the course.

I noticed that on the range I was calm and relaxed, I was just interested in hitting balls well. On the course I was fidgety and antsy, always fussing over something.

Since then I have shot consistently close to my handicap, and I felt like I was bringing more of the good swings that I had on the range to the course.
 
I've read and shared a few articles here that don't limit you to hitting 1 ball per club at a time on the range, but definitely limit the number of shots per club in a row. Most people that have researched this issue say start out with no more than 10 shots per club. If you hit 5 or more to within an acceptable distance from your target (whatever that is to you), narrow the range down to 5 shots. Try to hit 3 out of 5 with a club before moving on to another club. If you are consistently hitting 3-5 out of 5 to a desired zone then go back and forth between one shot and the 3+ out of 5 routine.

The mock holes seems to be a good and common suggestion, as does doing what you can to relax on course. I've heard some people say that reciting a phrase our counting numbers in your head during your swing can help because it takes your mind of the 100 swing thoughts many amateurs have. Listening to music seems to help relax me a lot when I'm playing by myself.

I've worked a lot on the random practice and didn't realize how much it was messing with my alignment. So I still use alignment tools when hitting random shots to ensure I have good shoulder/body alignment and good ball position.
 
Sometimes I rather leave my game at the range and just play....When I'm playing i really just think about making good contact with the ball....On the range I start "working" on things...
 
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