How to take your game from the range to the golf course!

Have you ever had the experience of hitting the ball long and straight on the driving range only to have your game seemingly disappear before you could get to the first tee?  If there is a marked difference between your practice and play, you will need to change the way you are practicing so you can improve your focus on the golf course.

There is an old saying.  On the golf course, you should play golf, not golf swing.  The biggest reason golfers have a tough time taking their games from the driving range to the golf course is they only practice their golf swing on the driving range and never get around to practicing golf.  When they get to the golf course, the added pressures of having one ball instead of eighty, the numerous water hazards and/or trees and several other self-imposed pressures can quickly expose a golfer’s lack of preparation.  All golfers get nervous, see the water hazards and can have negative thoughts.  The golfers who perform close to their capabilities on a regular basis simply have the ability to deal with these distractions a little more efficiently.  To perform at your best on the golf course and especially in tournaments, you will need to practice the techniques necessary to handle the distractions encountered on the course as much as you practice your swing.  Here are some steps you can take to bring your play on the golf course closer to your performance on the practice tee.

Step #1 :   Develop a pre-shot routine.  Every good player has a series of steps they go through as they prepare to play EVERY golf shot.  The routine will ensure that your set up position is correct every time and will also occupy your mind so negative thoughts can be avoided.  If you don’t already have a reliable pre-shot routine, I suggest you ask a CPGA Professional to help you develop one.

Step #2 :  Start to practice GOLF on the driving range.  Instead of bashing ball after ball with the same club at the same target, rarely even moving your feet.  Start practicing what you will need on the golf course.  For each ball, pick a very specific target, go through your pre-shot routine and hit your shot.  After each ball or two, switch golf clubs, pick a different target, go through your pre-shot routine and hit the shot.  Some people who can’t get out and play as often as they like will “play” a round of golf at the driving range by simulating a round at their normal golf course.  For example, they will hit the club they would normally hit of the first tee, based on how that shot went they would then pick the club they feel would be needed next and so on.  Of course, using a pre-shot routine on every shot!!  The key is, by changing clubs and targets often you are preparing for the pressures you will face on the course and you are training your brain to work towards a target and not dwell on body movements or swing mechanics.

I am not suggesting you should not practice swing drills or focus on your swing mechanics to improve the quality of your swing motion.  What I am suggesting is by practicing these techniques and getting good at focusing on your target, you will give yourself the best chance to perform up to your capabilities.  The combination of improving your swing AND improving your mental skills will most quickly lower your scores and increase your enjoyment of the game.

Give these tips a try and let me know how they work.  Good Luck!

Putting Drills

This Post’s focus is helping you putt better.  Almost everyone who plays golf has gone through a stretch when they miss a lot of 3 or 4 footers or struggle to control the speed on their putts.  It’s no accident that I have about 20 putters in my workshop just waiting for their next chance to get back into the line-up!  If you want to be a better putter, you will have to practice. The following are a few of my favourite drills.

Aim the Putter Face Correctly for Direction Control

The single biggest factor, which controls direction, is the aim of the putter face.  You must learn how to aim the putter face correctly if you want to putt effectively.  The putter face must sit perpendicular to the line you want to start your ball on.  The easiest way to check you putter aim is to have someone stand behind you and tell you where your putter is aiming.  If you are aiming incorrectly, have them adjust your putter until it sits correctly.  Do this a few times so you can begin to recognize a correctly aimed putter.  There are also many training aids on the market, which can help you learn to aim in the right direction.

An easy way to check your aim on your own is to put two clubs down to form a track towards the hole (as in the drawing).  You will be able to easily see if your putter is perpendicular to the shafts on the ground.

Once you have your putter aimed correctly, a good stroke will be much easier to execute because you won’t have to compensate for you bad aim during your stroke.  There are a few fundamentals with respect to set up and stroke, which you may also need to improve but those issues are better dealt with in person with a CPGA Teaching Professional.

Develop a Feel for Distance Control

The other major factor, speed control is a learned skill.  You can very quickly acquire a sense of distance by going to a practice putting green and rolling some balls.  The best drill I know of to improve distance control is to roll a series of putts with each putt rolling a few feet further than the putt before it.  You should be able to roll 4 or 5 putts and have a consistent distance between them.  If you struggle to do this, spend more time practicing because distance control is entirely a learned skill.

Do You Expect to Make the Putt?

The final component of being a good short putter is attitude.  You have to expect to make every putt you attempt.  To develop this confidence, I have a couple of drills I use with my students; the “Compass Drill” (pictured below) and the “Line Drill”.  The compass drill involves rolling putts from north, south, east and west from a distance of two feet.  You must make all four in a row to move on.  You then do the same from four feet and after you make all four of those putts in a row, you move out to six feet.  If you’re like me and you have limited time to practice, you may not complete all the six-footers!  There are two really strong benefits of this drill.  First, you may not make four putts in a row very often but you will make a lot of putts as you go through the drill.  Secondly, as you stand over that fourth ball, needing to make it to move on, you will feel just a little bit of pressure and this will help prepare you for the golf course.

The line drill (pictured below) is a simple one as well.  You line up four or five balls, every three feet, in a straight line back from the hole.  To complete the drill, you must make all of your balls in a row.  Once again, you will make a lot of putts as you attempt to complete the drill and when you get to the last ball, you will really want to make it so you can go home!

I hope this post will help you make more of those 3 and 4-footers.  Remember, aim the putter correctly and then forget about direction.  Switch your brain over to speed and roll the ball the correct distance.  It may take you some practice to rid yourself of that need to control direction with your stroke but once you do, your putting will really improve!!

Please let me know if you have more questions about putting or if you have other drills you have used to help your putting game.

Sources of Golf Information

We live in the age of information. One of the biggest obstacles to improving your golf game is getting advice from too many people or trying every tip you read or see on TV or the internet.  Here is a list of potential sources of information and my thoughts on their quality.

Spouses, Friends and Playing Partners

• Everyone is trying to help.
• People tend to offer advice from their own experiences.  Most times their experiences are not exactly applicable to yours and therefore, their advice really doesn’t apply to you.
• Taking advice from a spouse, friend, etc. can make golf more frustrating.
• In short, unless you are married to or dating a golf professional, good friends with a pro or are playing with one, it is in your best interest to let people’s advice go in one ear and out the other.

Television

• The Golf Channel is an excellent source of golf information.  The problem is, you are getting the same information from several experts who say the same things, totally differently.  As a result, you can become very confused when trying to implement their ideas into your game.
• Golf telecasts provide a great opportunity to watch the best players in the world do their thing.  You can learn a lot from observing their swings and the way they play the game.  The announcers are mostly very knowledgeable but again, they are talking about the same things in their own ways.

The Internet

• Web sites offer many kinds of golf information.  They can be very helpful for finding out about different golf courses and golf products. As far as tips and other advice on your game, once again, one person’s opinion explained in their words.  Use web sites and chat rooms for information about where to play and products but try to resist the temptation to use them as a teacher.
• “Ask the Pro” or personalized lessons are a little better but you are still relying on the advice of someone who can’t see you

Magazines

• Publications such as “Golf Magazine” and “Golf Digest” can also be great sources of information.  You have to be careful when reading the instructional articles because they have different contributors each month and once again, the advice is from a golf expert but may confuse you when compared to last month’s articles.  Read them for entertainment and enjoy the great pictures but be careful!!

Books

• Books are a terrific way to learn about golf.  The good ones are written by experienced Teaching Professionals and will usually take you from the very beginning all the way to very advanced topics.  Books are potentially less confusing because they offer one persons views.  They are still lacking in that the author can’t jump off the page and give you the specific instruction you need at any given moment, it is up to you to decide which page you should be on.

PGA Professionals

• I really feel that getting some instruction from a certified CPGA Golf Professional is the best way to get started or most efficient way to improve your game.
• Keep in mind, the Teaching Professional you choose is going to have a big impact on your golfing enjoyment so choose carefully.  Find an instructor you trust and understand and stick with them.  Going from teacher to teacher is like trying to learn from all the different instructors on The Golf Channel.  This is the perfect recipe for confusion and frustration.

As you can tell, there are a lot of sources for golf information.  It is important for you to find one source and stick with it.  Whether it is an instructor in your hometown, a particular golf book, one instructor on The Golf Channel every Monday night or your horoscope, find a source which helps you improve and stick with it.