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strange range session

T

the boss

golf addict help me!!
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just returned from the range. i went to work on my rons as i have been struggling with the longer irons. so i warm up with 10 pws to about 50 yards pull out my 7 iron which is normally 150 yrd for me and smash it 170 yrds. ok so i hit another again 170+ yards i hit 10 7 irons 8 are 170+ so i go up to my 4 iron and this is the club i really struggle with but i had no troubles tonight and was putting near 200 yds. it wasnt untill i hit my hybrid 220yds im thinking to myself what the bleeps going on. im happy really happy but i know next time i go out for a round ill be back to struggling lol. anyone else have this happen?
 
should have ran out to the course and played and seen if it carried over

Im usually solid at the range and it NEVER carries over to the course, even if the range session is right before I play...oh well someday
 
I hope those numbers hold up for you on the golf course.

I rarely go to the driving range, due to back issues. However, I've found that unless the range uses natural grass (which none do around my town), I don't put much stock in distances. So many swing and club-contact faults are covered up by artificial turf. Just my opinion of course.
 
GenErr said:
I hope those numbers hold up for you on the golf course.

I rarely go to the driving range, due to back issues. However, I've found that unless the range uses natural grass (which none do around my town), I don't put much stock in distances. So many swing and club-contact faults are covered up by artificial turf. Just my opinion of course.
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I agree, that artificial turf will make you think you are hitting much better than you actually are.
 
I've had days like that but not to that degree. It's been proven that we have "good eye days" and "bad eye days" (ability to focus perfectly to match perscription or see even better for those who don't wear lenses) which WILL make an impact on your ability to strike the ball well.

Were the tees moved ahead? :)
 
Was there wind? Maybe your range switched to new balls? I gained a club in distance yesterday at the range, but as I got tired and the wind picked up (or shifted) numbers came back to normal. Maybe the practice is paying off for you and your swing is improving and getting faster? I think that's been happening to me over the past few months. To the point where my driver shaft isn't a good fit for me anymore.

DawgDaddy said:
I agree, that artificial turf will make you think you are hitting much better than you actually are.
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I disagree with this to an extent. When I first started playing and practicing, I had no idea what was what. Now that I have some experience, I can tell when I hit it fat, even on the mat. Impact sounds different, ball flight is affected etc.

mikedean441 said:
should have ran out to the course and played and seen if it carried over

Im usually solid at the range and it NEVER carries over to the course, even if the range session is right before I play...oh well someday
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Oof - this has been my bane lately, too. I'm sure a lot of it is mental, keeping focus on what I'm trying to do. One day..
 
Maybe just reading the compression board thread has helped. :D
 
I don't think I have ever gone to my local range and hit long. But I think that is due mostly to the fact that most of their balls have been around since the Eisenhower administration.
 
just harness that swing feeling for next time. i went to the range and practiced short game putting, chipping and 50 and 30 yd half wedge shots. i have those distances dialed in now i feel good about the new year. last year i went from shooting 45-48 for 9 to dipping into the 30s twice at the end of the year. :bananadance:
 
Years ago I had days like that, when I was just recreating my swing and had no idea what I was doing. It still happens occasionally but usually just with my driver and fairway woods.
 
I never do good at the range, hense why I never go, and practice on the local muni
 
yeah me too, I should just stay away from the range and go to a course and use thier practice greens on my short game, cause its AWFUL
 
mikedean441 said:
yeah me too, I should just stay away from the range and go to a course and use thier practice greens on my short game, cause its AWFUL
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gees man you have 93 posts already? i thought i was doing well with 40 in like 3 days haha
 
I bet you were clam and relaxed. Thats the state of mind you need to carry over to the course.
 
Usually it happens after a lesson with a big swing change. I realize I am supposed to improve after but not immediately and not so drastically. My pro made a slight change to the way I address the ball and a small change and I was just flushing everything all of a sudden.
 
ezrider said:
I bet you were clam and relaxed. Thats the state of mind you need to carry over to the course.
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right on the nose

at the range, I just stand in and smack the ball

on the course I stand in, thank about 5 different things im trying not to do

need to get past that and just swing!
 
I think there are at least two giant differences between hitting the ball at the range and being on the course.

Yes you can be more relaxed if you choose to be and if you are just trying to get your swing back after a layoff or something like that, it makes some sense to stay relaxed and simply try to groove a swing again. Once you get there I think you are better off trying to create some pressure for yourself. I think it is unrealistic to expect that you can be as calm on the course as you can be at the range. So I think that eventually you want to create some pressure at the range so that you can focus on the business at hand under pressure. That is not the same thing as simply smacking ball after ball calmly at the range. So I do think it is better to try to create some pressure for yourself at the range and then deal with it.

The second big difference surely for me is that even when I use turf tee boxes at the range, they are always flat. I am standing in almost the same spot shot after shot after shot. When I get to the course, even out there in the middle of the fairway, you often have at least some grade to deal with whether it is uphill or downhill or sidehill there is always something. There could be a little mound that you just cannot avoid with one foot that is not there under the other foot for example. At any rate, that is a big difference as well.

I reported that I went to the local course yesterday just to check in and get my card for this year blah blah blah. it was a miserable cold day but I tossed the clubs in the car just on the off chance that I would go out and hit the ball on real fairways for a change. I had been using a heated bay driving range during the winter making one session every ten days or so. In the other thread I called it "heated bay range-itus". It is something I need to shake off as I need to get acclimated to the conditions I face on the course. No question that being able to swing the clubs up here in New England in the dead of winter is better than not. However it is difficult enough given that the heaters really do not do that much. I was glad to get the first layer of range-itus off of me and I did make some good swings even though I was really not prepared to go out there and did not bring proper clothing for the cold.

Believe me I hope you can take what success you had at the range right out to the course with you. Just don't be too disappointed if it does not work out that way. Really does not have anything to do with whether or not that range session did you any good or not and it will not be a reflection on your improvement. The two things, range vs course, tend to be pretty different.
 
this is one of the reasons i hate practicing hahaha
i feel like i can pure balls all day on the range/chipping area/putting green
then i get to the course and its like a whole nother story
 
I have had days like that. Some days it just seems like your swing is dialed in and you have more lag in your swing and everything is working. This week I was hitting my irons 10 to 15 yards further then normal. I was hitting balls over the target. I had to club down and it all worked out great. It was just one of those days. I just wish I could keep it up. But that's golf.
 
anyone else have this happen?
Yep, about 1 in 10 times I feel as if I am doing some stuff right. Unfortunately it swings the other way as well. Last range session was the other way. I'm carrying my new camera to help with both types from now on.
 
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