50% of this game is 100% mental

[shanx]

I go to the range, I hit it so good. Draws, fades, no problem.

I can hit 10 9 irons to the green 145yds away, will land every one on the green. Same for the green 156yds away with an 8 iron.

 

I get to the course, I'm chunking, shanking, flaring. When I do get a good shot up in the air, I'm pulling it left. When I set up for a fade, I pull it, when I set up for my "bread and butter draw", I'm shanking it.

 

Next day, I'm back on the range, hitting it like a PGA pro.

 

I know the range has some drawbacks; the lie is always perfect, the mats hide some flaws, no consequence for a bad shot, etc.

 

Aside from that, what the heck is going on?

 

Its gotta be a mental block, no?

[PoeKingShankspeare]

I was a range rat and didn't do well on the course  too. When I bought my house and moved far away from my hang out (range), I played more golf than hit balls on the range. Big improvement playing more than hitting buckets of balls.

[glk]

Do you rake and hit - easy to get into a groove at the range versus on the course.     Why practice needs spacing, variability, and challenge.     See Game Like Training.

[ShortGolfer]

Does it matter if there is nobody on the course?  It took a while for me to make decent shots when the course was busy.

 

Do you have an on course setup routine before taking a shot?

 

I simplified the game by playing four irons and a putter.  Golf is hard enough as it is.

That way I could learn course management and rules.  I never thought I needed another club when I played with five clubs.

A big part of learning to play as a single was learning to quickly locate my ball.  The fall leaves upped that to a new level but I managed that too!

Edited May 18, 2022 by ShortGolfer

[getitdaily]

I'm willing to bet you have 1 major issue on the course

 

- you desire to see where the ball is going before you hit it

 

This causes you to lose spine angle, early extend, and do everything you said. 

[shanx]

Great feedback.

 

I do not have a preshot routine, I actually think they are silly and waste time. I like to pick my target, setup and swing. I know guys that go through the same, tedious, plodding pre shot routine, but they still stink, lol..

 

I do "rake and hit", but once I set a target at the range, I will reset behind the ball to spot the target again before hitting. Once I pick a target (usually a ball a few yards away) I will set up to that target before each shot.

 

Been playing forever (over 40 yrs!), so I don't care about others on the course, I play weekend afternoons, rarely by myself or alone on the course.

[shanx]

4 minutes ago, getitdaily said:

I'm willing to bet you have 1 major issue on the course

 

- you desire to see where the ball is going before you hit it

 

This causes you to lose spine angle, early extend, and do everything you said. 

 

My "miss" on the course has been thin more often than not, so I think this is a true statement. I will work on this next round.

[Double Mocha Man]

1 hour ago, shanx said:

Aside from that, what the heck is going on?

 

It's that 45 minutes between hitting 7 irons...

[getitdaily]

5 minutes ago, shanx said:

 

My "miss" on the course has been thin more often than not, so I think this is a true statement. I will work on this next round.

Very good instructor once told me something that made a huge difference...

 

"You can't be afraid of where the ball is going".

 

On the course, you need a swing key or two...Definitely something downswing related. Find a target and then focus on your swing keys. Not more than 2 keys. Focusing on the swing key and your target will help eliminate the pin from your thoughts and will help you "let it go". 

 

Stop worrying about where the ball is going to go. Stop trying to control where the ball is going to go. Just make swings.

[SNIPERBBB]

First, get off the mats.

 

Second, everyone has a preshot routine. Some are minimal and some are please-shoot-me-now.

 

Third, i would suggest verifying your setup and alignment when you're on the course. Its one of the easiest things to get away from you because its the most taken for granted part of the swing.

 

[chisag]

1 hour ago, shanx said:

I go to the range, I hit it so good. Draws, fades, no problem.

I can hit 10 9 irons to the green 145yds away, will land every one on the green. Same for the green 156yds away with an 8 iron.

 

I get to the course, I'm chunking, shanking, flaring. When I do get a good shot up in the air, I'm pulling it left. When I set up for a fade, I pull it, when I set up for my "bread and butter draw", I'm shanking it.

 

Next day, I'm back on the range, hitting it like a PGA pro.

 

I know the range has some drawbacks; the lie is always perfect, the mats hide some flaws, no consequence for a bad shot, etc.

 

Aside from that, what the heck is going on?

 

Its gotta be a mental block, no?

 

 

... You touched on several reasons, they main one is no consequences for bad shots. In fact those bad shots help you with the next shot because you can correct what caused the bad shot on the range. The best way to get some real feedback about your game on the range is vary targets, distance and clubs. Hit you 9 iron to the green 145yds away. Next shot turn in a completely different direction and hit a 5 iron to a target. The hit driver to another target in a different direction. You do not have the opportunity to fix anything from your previous swing because you are using a different club to a different target, a little like what you face on a golf course. 

... When I was a teaching pro at an executive course in Illinois, I would hear players repeat the old line that the 2nd shot is alway better because they learned form the 1st shot. I decided to put them to the test and did a 2nd Chance Tourney. Play 9 holes and keep score. For the 2nd 9 holes every player had to hit a 2nd shot not on the green on every hole. To add pressure to that 2nd shot, if it was not a better result than the first shot you played it as it lies and added 1 penalty stroke. So if you hit your tee shot on a par 3 to 10 feet and your second shot was not inside 10' you added a penalty stroke. If you hit a bad drive on a par 4 and your next drive was not better, you added a penalty stroke. (Since golf is a game of honor the rule was you had to try your best with your first shot and could not miss the green on purpose making sure your second shot would be better). 42 players signed up and only 3 had a better score on their 2nd nine. Most admitted they felt a ton of pressure hitting a 2nd shot that could cause them a penalty stroke, even though they learned form the 1st shot. 
 

[llewol007]

This backs up my view on how important adding on course practice as well. Even if it is 9 holes, it pays dividends. Range is great an all but we get into the comfort zone of knowing we are hitting to the same flag over and over and knowing we have a basket of golf balls right behind the one you are about to hit. It pulls our brains to memorize that picture in our head. When we try transferring that same shot to the golf course, we don’t have the same mental picture in our minds so our body can’t connect with what we are try to execute this leading to doubt in the shot. I recommend going out to the golf course either super early in the morning if they have a back 9 option or super later in the day and get out and treat it like a practice round. I typically hit a couple shots off the tee and proceed to practice at least 3 shots into the green. This can be from varying yardages to make sure my yardage is my yardage. Or, I try pulling off a fade or a draw and seeing if I can actually pull it off. This to me places in my memory bank to know what and how I did in pulling off a certain shot. It really helps.

Edited May 18, 2022 by llewol007

[Big_BenB]

This has happened to me a few different times, it helped me to play games on the range like pretending to play each hole with the clubs I would be hitting... minus a putt. Imagine a course you've played or get a score card from a course, read it and pretend to play the shots. Driver off the tee, 7 iron into the green, chip it and skip the putt. Next hole Driver off the tee, lay up and pitch on.. etc.

 

And then once I get in a groove on the range I play rounds until I feel I need to go back to the range to work on something, or I've had to take significant amount of time off golf due to work or something.

 

Warming up I spend more time on the short game and only a small bucket of range balls for full swing stuff. YMMV, but this stuff helped me tremendously.

[anser85029]

58 minutes ago, shanx said:

 

My "miss" on the course has been thin more often than not, so I think this is a true statement. I will work on this next round.

 

My "miss" tendency as well on iron shots...best single thought tip I found that helps...."see the divot"

[Nels55]

50 minutes ago, getitdaily said:

Very good instructor once told me something that made a huge difference...

 

"You can't be afraid of where the ball is going".

Yep.  I seem to do my best when I block out the result and focus on making an aggressive swing at the ball while focusing on good contact.  I have to let go of worrying about where the ball is going after I hit it.  Sometimes before a shot to tight target I will ask myself what I am a afraid of as I have already hit every kind of bad shot imaginable and some unimaginable and I am still alive and out trying it again LOL.  

 

 

[Sankacoffee]

2 hours ago, shanx said:

I go to the range, I hit it so good. Draws, fades, no problem.

I can hit 10 9 irons to the green 145yds away, will land every one on the green. Same for the green 156yds away with an 8 iron.

 

I get to the course, I'm chunking, shanking, flaring. When I do get a good shot up in the air, I'm pulling it left. When I set up for a fade, I pull it, when I set up for my "bread and butter draw", I'm shanking it.

 

Next day, I'm back on the range, hitting it like a PGA pro.

 

I know the range has some drawbacks; the lie is always perfect, the mats hide some flaws, no consequence for a bad shot, etc.

 

Aside from that, what the heck is going on?

 

Its gotta be a mental block, no?

I know your pain. Played 9 yesterday and got the shanks so bad I'd hit 6 of them in a 5 hole stretch and any full swing felt like I'd never swung before. Went to the range immediately after, hit one sort of thin heel shot and then hit perfect shots almost every time throughout the bucket. I do my pre-shot and switch clubs after every few shots so I wasn't just rapid firing. If that doesn't prove that it's mental nothing will, especially since I haven't had shank issues my whole life until the last month. It's like my good swings are the best they've ever been and my bad swings have never been worse.

[Hawkeye77]

1 hour ago, shanx said:

Great feedback.

 

I do not have a preshot routine, I actually think they are silly and waste time. I like to pick my target, setup and swing. I know guys that go through the same, tedious, plodding pre shot routine, but they still stink, lol..

 

I do "rake and hit", but once I set a target at the range, I will reset behind the ball to spot the target again before hitting. Once I pick a target (usually a ball a few yards away) I will set up to that target before each shot.

 

Been playing forever (over 40 yrs!), so I don't care about others on the course, I play weekend afternoons, rarely by myself or alone on the course.

 

Well there you are - not having a consistent PSR and complaining about your mental game is classic plumber with a leaky faucet.

[Nels55]

3 minutes ago, Sankacoffee said:

I know your pain. Played 9 yesterday and got the shanks so bad I'd hit 6 of them in a 5 hole stretch and any full swing felt like I'd never swung before. Went to the range immediately after, hit one sort of thin heel shot and then hit perfect shots almost every time throughout the bucket. I do my pre-shot and switch clubs after every few shots so I wasn't just rapid firing. If that doesn't prove that it's mental nothing will, especially since I haven't had shank issues my whole life until the last month. It's like my good swings are the best they've ever been and my bad swings have never been worse.

Shanks are not really 'bad' swings they are usually indicative of a shot pattern that is a bit too close to the heel.  If you look at video of a shank swing vs. a flush hit you will not be able to see any difference.  A shank fix drill that I have never seen fail is to setup to the ball normally and then take three practice swings missing the ball completely on the inside and then go ahead and hit the ball with the next swing without changing your stance / setup position.  For some reason this drill seems to calibrate the eye to hit the ball with the good part of the club.

 

I have had some serious bouts of shanking and once I learned that a shank is just another golf shot and nothing to worry about I got a lot better about not repeating them.  LOL a shank is a shot the happens to most every golfer once in a while.  

 

 

[DavePelz4]

Highly suggest you add Sex Panther after shave to your pre-round ritual.  60% of the time, it's effective 100% of the time.

 

It's all about math.

[Barfolomew]

1 hour ago, Double Mocha Man said:

 

It's that 45 minutes between hitting 7 irons...

 

This is a huge part of it!

 

At range you're hittin 2-3/minute with same club = so easy to hit good.

 

After your warm at Range..... alternate clubs on every shot to purposely make it harder.... also throw in different flights too

 

There is a point in golf when it becomes 99% mental.  Once you're flushing it and beyond rookie mistakes it becomes a total mental sport..... which makes the Range and Course a completely different game..... adapting is a big one - different lies, choices, wind, grass, pin placements, false fronts on greens, bunkers, list goes on how the course is different from range 🐄

[Ross_Albatross]

1 hour ago, getitdaily said:

Very good instructor once told me something that made a huge difference...

 

"You can't be afraid of where the ball is going".

 

On the course, you need a swing key or two...Definitely something downswing related. Find a target and then focus on your swing keys. Not more than 2 keys. Focusing on the swing key and your target will help eliminate the pin from your thoughts and will help you "let it go". 

 

Stop worrying about where the ball is going to go. Stop trying to control where the ball is going to go. Just make swings.

Very interesting – I’m quite the newbie, beginning my 3rd year playing and (humble brag) I generally like my swing (even though I’m obviously working on it constantly like any WRXer)… and I might be in the minority of beginners that executes good/better shots when there’s penal trouble, by doubling down on swing keys in my PSR – but can’t seem to score when there’s an approach opportunity by trying to control, baby’ing it to my landing spot – and obviously have to save it with an up&down and/or have a 35 footer for birdie… not that big of a range score-wise (small cap and anti-cap gap)… something to keep in mind

[kobe123]

See, I'm the complete opposite. I'm terrible on the range and seem to do better on the course when I actually focus and have a game plan. On the range, I seem to just hit ball after ball after ball.

[Chunkitgood]

Do you consistently hit the ball before the ground?  If so it may be “mental.”

 

If not, it’s the mats.

[parmark]

I was literally just watching this clip by Paidrig before moving over here.  I think there's a lot of good stuff here you may find helpful too....

 

[Forged4life]

7 hours ago, shanx said:

Great feedback.

 

I do not have a preshot routine, I actually think they are silly and waste time. I like to pick my target, setup and swing. I know guys that go through the same, tedious, plodding pre shot routine, but they still stink, lol..

 

I do "rake and hit", but once I set a target at the range, I will reset behind the ball to spot the target again before hitting. Once I pick a target (usually a ball a few yards away) I will set up to that target before each shot.

 

Been playing forever (over 40 yrs!), so I don't care about others on the course, I play weekend afternoons, rarely by myself or alone on the course.

If they are silly and a waste of time why does every single professional and expert player have one and every instructor/mental coach etc say it’s one of THE most important things to playing golf at a high level? 

[shanx]

Hit 150 balls, with deliberation and intent.

 

Focused on my pre shot, keeping it consistent.

 

It was twilight into early evening, I really couldn't see where things were landing, which actually helped me focus on the swing rather than results.

 

The driver actually went where I was aiming, Irons too...

 

I still topped a few, flaired a few, pulled a few, always work to be done...

[shanx]

15 hours ago, Forged4life said:

If they are silly and a waste of time why does every single professional and expert player have one and every instructor/mental coach etc say it’s one of THE most important things to playing golf at a high level? 

 

Because at our level (no aspirations to be a pro) I think its silly..

 

I have seen so many ams take way too long to hit a golf ball. We have one guy in our normal group that takes at least a minute to hit a shot, even longer to make a putt. He rarely breaks 90, he hasn't improved much in the many years I have been playing in this group. I ask him why he takes so long to hit a simple golf shot, and he took 20 mins to explain it to me..

 

But I will pause and repeat a preshot, just don't know what it will look like, lol..

[SNIPERBBB]

2 hours ago, shanx said:

 

Because at our level (no aspirations to be a pro) I think its silly..

 

I have seen so many ams take way too long to hit a golf ball. We have one guy in our normal group that takes at least a minute to hit a shot, even longer to make a putt. He rarely breaks 90, he hasn't improved much in the many years I have been playing in this group. I ask him why he takes so long to hit a simple golf shot, and he took 20 mins to explain it to me..

 

But I will pause and repeat a preshot, just don't know what it will look like, lol..

Theres more to a PSR than all the waggles and practice swings, if any.

[golfmd2]

On 5/18/2022 at 1:42 PM, getitdaily said:

I'm willing to bet you have 1 major issue on the course

 

- you desire to see where the ball is going before you hit it

 

This causes you to lose spine angle, early extend, and do everything you said. 

This is me.  So annoying and hard to break

[phizzy30]

There is no added pressure/nerves when you're at the range hitting shots into a specific area with no trouble around it.  When you're on the course, you have more thoughts racing through your head and have to account for many different variables.  The added pressure and thought process affects things like cortisol, adrenaline, heart rate, etc. which in turn can affect the way you swing.