driving range to course

[biz360]

help! can anybody offer me any advice please. i've been playing about 10 months and seemed to have reached a bit of a wall. when i practice on the driving range i seem to hit the ball with a natural draw, which i can vary or straighten up, but when i tee off on the course, my shots always seem to go right,sometimes straight but off at an angle or sometimes a slice. one theory i have, is that, at the range, the nice square mats help me set my stance up, of course thats not the case on the tee. can anybody offer me any tips on lining up properly, or maybe offer any other theories. this is my first post, kind regards, biz

 

[birdieman]

Fair chance you are too quick from the top when you get on the course due to a bit of anxiety/nerves. This is common, remember to start your downswing as slowly as you got to the top of the backswing, if as I suggest you are too quick starting down you will cast the clubhead off plane on to an out to in swingpath -this is causing shots to leak right. There is a good saying that the speed should be hip to hip i.e start down slow and really apply the throttle when the hands get down around hip level in the swing. Relax the grip too. Everyone hits it great at the range as there's no pressure and you swing freely. Develop a good pre shot routine and try to relax arms/shoulders/hands etc to swing freely. A useful thought is to start the downswing as you were 'pulling achurch bell' i.e. hands come straight down, also keep that right elbow tucked in to your ribs on the downswing -no flying elbows!! Good luck!

 

[biz360]

thanks birdieman, thats great advice. is that what players mean when they talk about "whip"? slow at the start then then accelerating to the point of impact? i'll definately try to put that to use on my next round. much appreciated

 

[Brookwood]

I agree with everything birdieman said.

What I found useful on the driving range is to ignore the mat and side walls and actually line the ball up. In other words stand behind it and line up a spot on the mat that is in line to the target. Then stand parallel to that line and get the club head going along that line. You could even put your own ball marker down on the mat as they don't tend to have many natural marks, don't use pound coins, I hit several up the range.

Then when you get out onto the Tee you can follow the same procedure. Some driving ranges are actually angled towards the centre so it can be misleading.

I hope that helps.

 

[biz360]

yes indeed thankyou. i really do need to find a system that gets me lined up everytime, i,m guessing the same can be applied to putting? birdie man mentioned a pre shot routine to stick to. at the moment i dont really have one, its basically, practice swing, stand behind the ball and smack it, i can hit the ball well,just not consistently, any ideas? infact, could be worth starting a new thread to read what some peoples routines are, thanks brookwood, all good advice greatly recieved

 

[AliB]

Hi
I sometimes find it hard to line up. People say to stand behind the ball and pick your line, then choose a mark to hit over that's a foot or so in front of the club at address. Even doing this I used to find I wasn't actually getting my feet parallel to the 'line' between the club and the marker, with some surprising results. Now, on the advice of a friend, I take my set up position and as a quick extra check before I hit, I place the club horizontally across my hips. It should point at the target, but I often find I've got it wrong and need to make an adjustment.
This is pretty basic but sometimes the obvious helps. Good luck.