I just wanted to share something I’ve noticed that has helped my practice recently. When I first started toms school I started with a PW progressed pretty solidly through the program. Then when I hit other clubs things started to fall apart. Tom actually has talked about how that’s not uncommon for people in the beginning. He recommended working through the bag during practice sessions. I did just that and would hit 10 balls with a low iron then 10 mid and 10 high and so on back up and down the bag. What I noticed for me personally is by the time I got to the 4 iron or maybe a wood was that the swing ended up falling apart and was much different results than the 9 iron counter part. The last few sessions I have gone through my bag almost like as if I were in a real round just. 4 iron for one or 2 then maybe a mid iron or wedge and then start over. For me personally this has helped “groove” the swing so everything I’m doing is much more consistent. I’m just wondering if anyone else does this or something similar? Just wanted to share this little breakthrough with the community and hopefully it can help someone. Still got a long way to go though
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Hi Cody,
Great feedback. I think many of us have pulled out our favorite iron - PW, 9i, 7i - and end up hitting several good shots, then try to squeeze out another 5-10 yards, then things start falling apart. Why would I hit forty-five 7 irons in a practice session when I may hit my 7i 3-5x in a round? I try to be very disciplined with every practice session, writing down a specific goal for that session, and focusing only on that. So I start out with some 20-40 yard chips, move to my gap, then jump up 2 clubs through the bag (G, 9i, 7i, 5i, Hybrid, etc.) If I hit two good shots in a row with a club, I move on to the next. Once done, I 'play' the entire course on the range. Hit my driver, approach I would normally hit, then move to the next hole. I use the range yardage flags as my target and really try to envision the specific hole on the range. I have a couple of holes on our course that have gotten in my head, so I spend extra time putting myself in that mode over the ball, feeling that little tightness in the chest and arms. If I hit 3 good shots in a row, I walk away and remember that the next time on the course. Amazing how well that carries over to the course. Once done, however much time I spent on the range, I spend 2x that amount over in the short game area, where most of my scoring comes from. No matter how much we practice, we are going to have those days where the ball doesn't go as straight as we want, get some bad luck, etc, so having the confidence that you are going to get up and down from within 50 yards brings huge confidence. PGA tour average for fairways hit is 61%, GIR is the same.
Bottom line - my range time is focused and purposeful. Rather than pounding balls, work on something very specific with realistic expectations.