It was ugly!

[greatdane]

Went to the range today after work. Shanked everything except my driver and 8,9,PW,AW,GW and SW! The rest of my clubs are worthless right now! Everthing is way right or not 2 inches of the ground. I have heard that longer irons and faiway woods can be hard to hit at first. But this is comical! Im playing 18 this weekend any tips?

 

[TheTrueReview]

Relax your grip. A dominant right hand pulling downward can cause the shanks.

Sean Clement gives some useful tips also.

[video=youtube;UONDf8diWQM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UONDf8diWQM[/video]

 

[greatdane]

Thanks, I will try some of this tonight!

 

[greatdane]

Well I played 36 holes this week end! Hit my irons a little better. I shot 105 Saturday and 102 Sunday! The 102 being my best played round so far! Only being my 7th and 8th round ever so Ill take it. Golf is my new passion and I hope to break a hundred my next round... missed alot of easy putts!

 

[Pebble Player]

Your crowding the ball...Period!!!!!
Just back away and give a nice full finish with your gut facing the target.
Like curing the hiccups...their just gone!

 

[greatdane]

I hit some great shots at the range all week then went out on the course and stunk it up today! About the time I think I can hit the ball strait I play a round and find out that I cant! How do you transfer it from the range to the course? This is a dam frustrating game! Out of 27 holes today I think I only liked 2 shots and hated the rest lol! Used to slice my driver now Im snap hooking the piss out of it! Still shanking balls and chunkin dirt over my irons...! All stuff that I was rarely doing at the range this week. I dont get it but there is always next time.

 

[J.P.C.]

range and course are very different indeed. the range one tends to not aim at something and there is no pressure. on the course however, there is suddenly a target, narrow fairways and not open "yard" to smack the ball to.

this makes it much easier to hit straight on the range and not on the course. i was experiencing the same problem - the more you play and practise, the better it gets. i also started playing golf about 20months ago - always played in the 100-110, the more i played and practised, the better.now i'm playing sub 90 consistantly.

practise mate - keep practising.

 

[20 PAT's]

This may sound crazy.... stop going to the range, just hit some pitch and chip shots. Think about making crisp contact with these shots and bring this feeling out to the course.
I, too have become "paralyzed" on the range, and the fix (for me) is to get back into the correct impact position. This is found by making the same contact again and again with the short swings and this will allow you to start swinging freely again... give it a shot!!

 

[Crossfire]

If you can find a way to seamlessly transfer swings from the range to the course, the Harmon brothers would bow to you. I agree with 20 PAT, I rarely hit balls for anything more than warmup. Spring and winter are the exception, as well if I am working on a new shot (I've spent the last 3 winters learning how to hit a fade that doesn't lose 40 yards off my tee ball) I agree that short game work is the best way to improve, also you need to think of a pitch shot as a scaled down full shot, the flush impact position is the absolute same (Hands forward, weight moving forward, hitting down, etc) I would work on hitting 40-70 yd pitch shots with a PW just ingraining that compressing feeling. One last tip, In all the years I have been playing, I have never made a birdie on the practice range. Get out and play!

 

[MercMan]

I agree, and disagree with Pat and Cross. The shorter pitch shots will definitely help you with the proper position at the lower part of your swing if you are doing it correctly. If one of your buddies is an accomplished golfer get him/her to help you out, or get a pro to give you a lesson. For me the more balls I hit at the range the better, I am usually out to 2-4 times a week minimum 120 balls per time, and I am usually there for over 2 hours. The key is to PRACTICE WITH PURPOSE, don't just slam balls out into the range, that is a waste of time. I will often times work on 1 or 2 specific things, do not work on 10 things at one time you will get overloaded with swing thought's. 1 time I may work on tempo, the next time swing plane, the next time swing path, watch the golf channel, they have some great instructional drills. Sometimes I will work on specific clubs, such as driver, 3 wood, short irons, mid irons, long irons, etc. sometimes I will hit 120 balls with my wedge and 9 iron, people at the range look at you like you are crazy, but when I am on the course and I pull the 9 or wedge I am confident that most of the time I can get it inside 15 feet, same goes for the driver, sometimes 120 balls just using the driver. A quick tip on practicing with the driver, if you are hooking it left go to the stalls closest to the left fence at the range, line up the mat so it goes parallel with the fence and practice hitting it down the fence line without hitting the fence. I usually pick out a fairway using the fence as a boundary and usually go 2 or 3 fence posts to the right from where the left fence meets the end fence, start with 3 posts, go in cycles of 5 balls, see how many balls you can get in the fairway out of 5, when you are hitting 4/5 consistently narrow it to 2 posts, when your hitting 4/5 on 2 posts you shouldn't have any trouble on the course. Lastly use your game routine as often as possible when you are practicing, if you are working tempo or path this is not practical, but when you are shooting at a particular target use your game routine every time, for me, I line up the shot, step in make 2 practice swings exactly the same tempo and speed as I am going to make the shot, address the ball and then hit the shot. When I am over the ball my only swing thoughts are backswing---swing, keep it simple. Keep working on your game it will come together :canadaflag:

 

[mattyboy]

get lessons - period! Don't listen to the hacks that never have taken them. If you don't know the cause you can't find the cure. The game is MUCH more enjoyable when your breaking 100 consistantly and get more good shots than bad. A good pro will show you the correct way, not bandades.