A golf question...

[JoeFahey]

My golf game is starting to head in the wrong direction. I think it has to do with something mental. When I go to the range, I hit it fine. But when I am at the course, the shots I can easily make at the range are usually messed up on the course. To experiment, I went on the range and pretended I was hitting down the first hole at my course. The result: I hit a terrible shot. It is the same thing with practice swings, I take perfect practice swings, but my swing always feels different when I am actually hitting the ball.
What thoughts go through your head when you swing? I know the obvious answer for me is to just think that it's not an important shot, and that im just out on the range, but I cant trick my brain.
I am convinced that the mental side of my game is bringing me down. Any suggestions?

 

[BoldAsLove]

just take a deep breathe and focus on the ball...thats what i do.

 

[thirdlegstump]

I do the exact opposite.

I pretend that the ball is not there and focus only on the target. I then imagine the swing and flight path and then finally unleash the fookin' fury.

The ball then just ends up being in the way of my club and I hit through it like nothing as if I didn't even notice it.

On target everytime.

 

[sao123]

Originally posted by: JoeFahey
My golf game is starting to head in the wrong direction. I think it has to do with something mental. When I go to the range, I hit it fine. But when I am at the course, the shots I can easily make at the range are usually messed up on the course. To experiment, I went on the range and pretended I was hitting down the first hole at my course. The result: I hit a terrible shot. It is the same thing with practice swings, I take perfect practice swings, but my swing always feels different when I am actually hitting the ball.
What thoughts go through your head when you swing? I know the obvious answer for me is to just think that it's not an important shot, and that im just out on the range, but I cant trick my brain.
I am convinced that the mental side of my game is bringing me down. Any suggestions?

what is different about your swing from the range to the tee?
ball positioning?
feet positioning?
tee height?
backswing approach and swing speed? IE (do you swing normally on the range, but try to kill the ball off the first tee?)
do you take practice swing?

 

[MartyMcFly3]

When I swing, my focus is two-fold.

The majority of my focus is on the back half of the golf ball, usually just the edge. I maintain my concentration on that spot and know that is where I want the club head to hit.

The other part of my focus lies within my backswing itself. I make sure that I feel my arms line up to a specific spot that will help me in making my shot.

When I focus on those things (along with the other million things such as feet/ball positioning, how I want to approach the shot, etc.), more often than not I make the kind of shot I am looking for.

 

[sash1]

I just focus on the ball and where I want it to go.

Also, if I don't feel comfortable when I step up to the ball and get in my stance, I take a few steps back, relax, get up there and swing away. Typically when I think about my swing too much I'll hit poorly, but when I just relax then I hit a lot better.

 

[Brackis]

Remind yourself that you suck at golf. All I think about is the flight of the ball and where it might end up, not my swing.

People tell me my swing is bad, my legs are spread too wide apart etc... yet I can get onto the tee with a driver and blast it 300 yards without practice swing, "focus" or whatnot.

 

[IAteYourMother]

Originally posted by: Brackis
Remind yourself that you suck at golf. All I think about is the flight of the ball and where it might end up, not my swing.

People tell me my swing is bad, my legs are spread too wide apart etc... yet I can get onto the tee with a driver and blast it 300 yards without practice swing, "focus" or whatnot.

shens

 

[Brackis]

Originally posted by: IAteYourMother

Originally posted by: Brackis
Remind yourself that you suck at golf. All I think about is the flight of the ball and where it might end up, not my swing.

People tell me my swing is bad, my legs are spread too wide apart etc... yet I can get onto the tee with a driver and blast it 300 yards without practice swing, "focus" or whatnot.

shens

I kid you not. I'm not saying every drive, and average "good swing" for me goes about 275 with a bit of run in a very straight fashion, and I will hit a low nasty hook if I get my back wrist rolling too much.

I'm a youthful 6'2" with long arms and legs which helps too.

 

[Ophir]

I started to get that too. When I'm at the range with a big bucket I feel like a mishit shot isn't a big deal, I'll just make a better swing next time. At the course I felt too much pressure on every shot, trying to make it count. On mishits I always felt like I needed a do-over.

What started to fix it was getting only small buckets at the range and hitting every ball deliberately, as if it were a real shot. This did two things: made me used to the pressure on the course and made me realize that my pace at the course was way too slow. At the range I just step up to the ball, focus my mind on the shot and what I want to do and swing. On the course I was taking 3 practice swings, getting over the ball and letting 100 things creep into my head ... 20 seconds later I would take a swing. Speeding up the pace and better focus started to do wonders.

I still hit big buckets when I need to work on my mechanics, but that's like once every 5 or 6 range outings. Now I hit <50 (making each one count, taking breaks every 5 or 6) and spend a lot more time on my short game. Saves money too.

 

[acegazda]

you might be trying to hit the ball so hard, you're rushing your swing. Smoothness is the key to accurate shots, especially drivers. Check your feet to make sure they are comfortably lined up and your set up is natural... don't change it every time. Also: I've found that if you relax TOO much, this can be detrimental.
One last thing, I don't like to take too many warm up swings, it gets me fidgety and there comes a point where they are counterproductive.

 

[JoeFahey]

Originally posted by: Ophir
I started to get that too. When I'm at the range with a big bucket I feel like a mishit shot isn't a big deal, I'll just make a better swing next time. At the course I felt too much pressure on every shot, trying to make it count. On mishits I always felt like I needed a do-over.

What started to fix it was getting only small buckets at the range and hitting every ball deliberately, as if it were a real shot. This did two things: made me used to the pressure on the course and made me realize that my pace at the course was way too slow. At the range I just step up to the ball, focus my mind on the shot and what I want to do and swing. On the course I was taking 3 practice swings, getting over the ball and letting 100 things creep into my head ... 20 seconds later I would take a swing. Speeding up the pace and better focus started to do wonders.

I still hit big buckets when I need to work on my mechanics, but that's like once every 5 or 6 range outings. Now I hit <50 (making each one count, taking breaks every 5 or 6) and spend a lot more time on my short game. Saves money too.

Yeah, this sounds about right. I take a lot more time to hit the ball on the course compared to the range. I try to make sure I do everything right. I propably just think too much. I'll usually try to get a practice swing that feels just how I want it. This can sometimes be as many as 3! At the range, I will never take more than 1, and sometimes I won't take any at all.