Transfer your range swing to the course
Check out the video https://youtu.be/008F8ubi5oU
Have you ever thought to yourself - why am I having problems transferring my golf swing from the range to the course? I was swinging really good on the range and went to the first tee and my swing didn't follow
Let's start by saying this has to deal with the context in which you practice. Our brains learn, they change and they make new connections through cognitive stress, it's this cognitive stress that induces the environmental and the psychological situations that we encounter on the golf course.
Here's a typical golf hole and practice range, look at the hole (left) and you can see all the environmental points - water, trees, bunker, a tight fairway. Looking at the picture of the range (right) we do not have these stress points.
So how should we practice? we need to increase the context in which we practice. We need to increase the environmental and the psychological situations that we would encounter on the course.
So grab a scorecard take a look at the first hole.
What club would you hit off the first tee box? remember when we rehearse this, we want to put ourselves in the same psychological environmental challenges that we would have on the course. For me on hole #1
I am going be swinging a driver.
Go through your pre-shot routine, the same thing you normally would do out on the course. Pick your spot in the fairway. You can pick two markers or maybe it's two flags but we definitely want to have a fairway. Go through your pre-shot routine step up and let's make a swing.
Looks like the ball landed right center of the fairway so I'm thinking from that drive my next shot would probably be a 7-iron. Grab a club you would use for the next swing, put a ball down. Maintain your routine throughout all of this practice session. Pick a target or flag and make a swing.
Watch the ball and according to the results pick a club for the next shot. If it looks like your ball landed on the green, grab your putter.
Remember, put yourself in all the situations that you would encounter on the course. If you know your golf course pretty well you know where the brakes are on each part of the green. Go through the pre-shot routine. Pick a spot up on the range where you think the hole would be and make a putt.
Continue this through three or four holes making sure that you keep your pre-shot routine. When doing this correctly, you might only hit 20 balls in twenty minutes. This is a good thing, you are learning to transfer your range swing to the course.
If you want to transfer your range game to the course play a few holes during your practice session and practice like you play.
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