Are you frustrated that all the work you’re doing on the driving range isn’t showing up on the golf course? You’re working on shallowing the club, low point control, and compressing more shots. Then you go play a round and you banana slice it all over the course. You’re also chunking every other shot and the shots you do hit are going higher than before.
I’m Struggling to Take My Range Game to the Course, Too
I’m working on a few things in my game.
- Making a full turn.
- Having enough shoulder tilt when I turn and not be so flat at the top of my backswing.
- Not shifting to my lead side when I rotate.
- Not rolling the club inside but instead keeping the club more on plane in my backswing.
- Not coming over the top.
I’ve put in a TON of work on all this at home and on the range. My recent range sessions have been AMAZING too. I’m hitting the ball better. Hitting it straighter. Hitting draws.
You should know that I’m pretty hard on myself. So when I say that my range sessions were amazing, I left the range satisfied with the work that I did. The session couldn’t have gone better.
You wouldn’t believe any of that if you saw me on the golf course. I was shanking shots or hitting them on the toe. Or my face was wide open at impact. Or I topped shots and hit weak grounders. Or hit fat shots.
When I did put decent contact on the ball — which was rare — it was with an open face. My shots were high, weak, unpredictable cuts to the right.
This would go on for the entire round. All 18 holes. I would rarely catch a break and hit a playable shot. I was ready to chuck my clubs in the water.
You want to know what’s sad about all this? Even with my swing faults I was hitting the ball better a year ago. I put in all this work and haven’t seen any improvements in my swing, ball flight, or score. It feels like I’ve been wasting my time.
What about you? Are you putting in a lot of work on the range but don’t see all that effort translate to the golf course? You grind and grind yet your scores stay the same year after year?
It’s frustrating, I know, but I won’t let it stop me from improving my swing and dropping my scores. You shouldn’t let it stop you either. It is possible to make a swing change that lasts.
How do you do it? I’m testing a few things now. I had a promising range session recently and plan to have another session before I play a round. I’ll report back once I spend a little more time testing a couple different approaches.
Mistakes Preventing Me From Bringing My Range Swing to the Course
Here are some mistakes that have been preventing any carryover from the range to the golf course.
1. Not Recording Myself or Using a Mirror
As the saying goes, feel is not real. You might think you’re performing a motion the right way but are not. Or you have improved a specific piece of your swing but another issue popped up.
This happened to me while I was working on my shoulder tilt and rotation in my backswing. I was sure I had made the change I wanted, but couldn’t figure out why my club was still getting steep in the downswing. Come to find out that I was tilting my shoulder, but was now rolling the club inside.
Had I recorded my swing while I practiced, or practiced in front of a mirror, I would have caught this sooner. Then I could have adjusted what I was doing rather than continue to do the wrong thing.
I could have recorded myself on the golf course too. Most of the holes I played were attrocious. If I recorded myself for a few shots, at least I could have seen what I was doing wrong. That would have been better instead of getting angry.
Learn how to record your golf swing.
2. Rifling Through Balls
This is one of the worst mistakes I’ve been making. I’ll buy the largest bucket and will hit one, scrape a ball and then hit another with little time between.
When you go through balls that fast and aren’t thinking about each shot, your brain disengages. If your brain isn’t engaged, it’s not learning. And when that happens, you can’t expect to transfer your range game to the golf course.
I’d also bet that if you’re going through balls that fast, you’re likely reverting back to your old swing. You’re continuing to engrain the swing you don’t want.
It’s no wonder we’re struggling to see our swing changes on the golf course.
3. Practice Sessions Too Long / Hit Too Many Balls
You don’t need more than 50-75 balls (if even that) to have an effective range session. That will cover all your bases.
- A few warm up balls.
- 20 balls for technical work.
- 20 balls for skill work.
- 10-20 balls for some games or performance work.
Any more than that and you’re going to struggle to stay engaged. Do you think you’re still engaged on your 110th shot after practicing for two hours?
There’s no way. You’re likely exhausted at that point.
4. Not Enough Variety
Muscle memory is not a thing. You’re not going to make a swing change by swinging an 8i for 100+ shots and 2+ hours of practice. You’ll get into a groove and hit some great shots, but you’ll also fool yourself into thinking you’re making lasting change.
I should know. This is what I did. I used my 8i for weeks on end because making changes is easier with a smaller club. Despite having some of the best range sessions ever, none of the changes I was striving for showed up on the golf course.
5. Didn’t Play Enough Games
Playing games and keeping score while you practice is important because it adds stress. This is stress that you’ll feel on the golf course which can affect your ability to concentrate and execute. Mimicking this on the driving range will help you to prepare.
I didn’t do enough of this. Whenever I played I was nervous as hell which only got worse the worst I played and as the rounds went on.
6. Hit Off Mats Too Often
I understand that you might not have a choice between hitting off mats or hitting off grass. You got to do what you got to do.
I’m fortunate in that I do have the option. And I chose to hit off mats a little too often. They’re far too forgiving, especially if you tend to hit fat shots. If you pick your shots or hit them a bit thin, you might not know it unless you spray your face with powder.
You also have a perfect lie everytime you hit off mats.
The point – you should hit off grass whenever possible. It will give you a more realistic practice environment. Any skills that you build and retain here will be closer to a 1:1 carryover compared to a driving range mat.
Grass is also easier for practice. You can stick alignment rods in the grass, use tees, see visual feedback (divots, etc.). I’d suggest hitting off grass whenever possible.
That suggestion is for me just as much as it is for you.
Conclusion
I understand your frustration. I, too. struggle to take my range game to the golf course. There are no shortage of reasons why. If you’re anything like me, you might want to make some changes to your golf practice routine too.
Here’s one other thing to think about. It’s possible we haven’t given ourselves enough time for the skills to transfer. We’ve spent so long swinging the club a certain way, so we’re not going to make these changes overnight.
That’s all I have for now, but it’s not all I have to say on the subject. I’m testing a few ideas now from Iain Highfield, founder of Game Like Training and author of the book, Golf Practice: How to Practice Golf and Take Your Range Game to the Course.
His teaching runs counter to the mistakes I’ve been making. I’m optimistic that if I follow his advice that I’ll see more of my driving range practice transfer to the golf course.
I’ll keep you in the loop.