Practicing vs on the Course

Some great responses here, @22cblower The common theme: patience - with yourself and the process. The motions and your unique feels for proper executing them must be ingrained over time. It’s perfectly fine to take them out to the course and “field test” them, but it’s important to set your expectation bar at a realistic and reasonable level when you do since you’ll still be playing “golf swing” as you work through the hitches. Once you have taken ownership of the motion and are able to entrust it to autopilot, you‘ll be ready to put it in play with confidence and just let it go. At that point you’ll be back to playing - and hopefully enjoying - the great game of golf!

Also, as Ronald suggests, nail down Drill 2.8. You can use it as your playing swing for the time being while you work on building the complete motion, and once you are up to full speed keep 2.8 in your back pocket to dial up as your safety valve in the event you ever begin leaking oil mid-round.

@22cblower change is always a journey.

I understand what you are experiencing here as well as all our fellow Saguto Academy members. As @Patrick Anlauf & @burkholder.ronald commented....these are 2 different "venues".

I have an indoor range in my garage. The purpose is to ingrain new muscle memory for the new swing component's and get past that "weird" feeling when incorporating new movements or swing paths.

Also as part of my range work both at home and outdoors and preplay warmups, I will devote time in my work and setup and go through the routine I use as I setup for each shot on the course. This ingrains familiarity, we are creatures of habit. Don't be afraid to tweak things for your own special way.

This year was and is a journey for me but was not overnight!

Have a pre shot routine , stick with it.

At the beginning I struggled with getting directional control. Now that has all but disappeared. My fairway woods were my most consistent go to clubs and when I went to new swing they gave me fits! Now under control because of a tweak. The 3 & 5 with a square club face to the ball puts my hands a little forward and I setup with butt of club at inner left thigh and that puts ball placement just slightly forward of center. Tops and inconsistent shots all but gone. All other clubs for me go with grid alignment and right foot movement. ( see hogans grid)

The biggest thing for me is focusing on my swing keys, keeping my eye on back of ball and letting my hands and swing bring my head up after I go through swing.

I found once you train you body with the swing its (for me) all mental aspects of staying in the moment each shot.

I recently got bumped into first flight and moved to back tees! I was a bit "freaked" since I am 65 and not a big driver. But staying focused on what I have learned and have incorporated my scoring is holding. I play one shot at a time and make smart golf decisions and ENJOY THE GAME.

@22cblower Relax, did I say relax? Your not a Pro, and the game is supposed to be a hoot with skill thrown in! The unrealistic expectations on the course play games with your mind. Practice is always great but the course is pressure to do well. I have been there too. Just do (1) good thing every round and you will be much happier.

@22cblower that is pretty common. Practicing in the back yard is a more controlled environment, less distractions, less pressure, easier to concentrate on the swing mechanics and new feels. On the course there is lot more to think about, more going on around you, more of a rush to keep a reasonable pace of play, etc.

so, don’t get discouraged. Put in more time in the back yard concentrating on the tenets of S&T. Then when you get to the course try not to play golf swing and just play golf. Get the ball from the tee to the hole. Keep track of your game performance and after the round, not during it, get back in the yard and work on the part of that round where you lost the most strokes. Just work on that for the first practice after the round. Then get at least two more practice sessions working on the S&T tenets before the next round. Soon you will get to the point where your long game is pretty good and most of your bad scoring is due to a bad short game and putting. A good short game and good putting can save a mediocre long game. But you have to get the long game at least to the point where it’s not wrecking your round by causing penalty strokes for OB or lost balls.

Golf is hard, good golf is really hard. But using S&T is the easiest swing to learn and get to good golf.

Good luck!

P.S. master the 2.8 Drill, trust me, you’ll get to good golf with that swing.