Practice, practice, practice..
hit and drag...
drag and hit..
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seriously, most of us don't have a lot of time for practice and even those who do, for the most part, don't enjoy it.
Worse yet, most players don't see any improvement in their performance even when they do practice.
Why is that? Have you ever heard anyone say they are a "driving range player"? How about "I just can't take my golf swing to the first tee?" Why is it that some people can get it right on the driving range but can never get it right on the golf course? Why? It seems that if you can hit good shots on the range you should be able to reproduce those shots on the golf course, but you can't.
Why? In my opinion, there is one big reason that you can "find" your golf swing when practicing on the driving range but then "lose" your golf swing when you get to the golf course.
The funny thing about this reason is that it has absolutely nothing to do with your "golf swing!" Now you really think I'm crazy don't you? I can hear you now...
"Throckmorton's finally gone off the deep end this time...
I knew it had to happen!" But wait, don't write me off just yet..
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give me a chance to explain myself and I think you might agree with me.
The reason that I'm referring to is ..
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the TARGET ..
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and more importantly the importance you attach to the target in any given situation.
When you're on the driving range your focus is completely on your golf swing and the mechanics and motions you use to make that swing.
Your focus is not on the target.
Let that sink in for a minute.
You focus on the mechanics of your golf swing and not on your target.
Does that sound like you? Even when you're on the golf course? If it does here's the reason you have problems taking your -A- game to the first tee.
The target doesn't matter when you're on the driving range.
You can miss the target over and over again, with no repercussions at all, until you "find" a motion that works .
This is not true on the golf course...
the target is the only thing that matters on the golf course and on the course your misses have repercussions..
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repercussions to your score and more importantly to your confidence and psyche.
Bottom line, when you're on the range you simply keep swinging until you "find it" without any concern for where your misses are going and anyone with even a small amount of hand-eye coordination can "find it" with enough tries.
How many times have you hit your approach shot into a water hazard or bunker fronting the green and then thrown down another ball in disgust and knocked it stiff? If you've ever done that, and we all have, you already know, at least intuitively, that the only difference in swing #1 and swing #2 is that you had a chance to practice the first swing and develop a "feel" for the shot, a "feel" for where the flag stick is, a "feel" for hitting the ball to your target.
The key to successful practice and being able to take your game from the driving range to the golf course is not found in expensive gimmicks, new clubs, or confusing swing mechanics.
The key to finding the feel for your swing and taking that feel to the golf course is to make the target as important on the driving range as it is on the golf course.
Sounds easy, right? It really is and if you will practice with a heightened focus on your target, you'll develop and cultivate the feel associated with hitting the ball to the target.
You'll develop confidence and consistency and you'll shoot lower scores.
This not only applies to your full swing but also to your short game and putting.
Make every practice ball you hit mean something.
The "feel" you develop will serve you as well on the golf course as it does on the driving range.