Range to Course

I've been following Tom on Youtube and IG for about a year and started dabbling with the S&T method during this time. My game was in the dumps after returning from a long layoff, a complete rupture of my Left ACL and age/flexibility causing me to lose considerable yardage off the tee. I was a single digit Handicap prior to my injury and since returning have had huge inconsistencies with my scoring (This season has been between 79-99 playing from the tips at most of my local courses) Getting to my story, I am fortunate to have an amazing practice area with 3 pins ( up to 150 yards ) and a net for longer clubs on my small Acreage and hit 30 or 40 balls every chance I get, most with very good contact and yardage control but have had difficulty transferring from the "range" to the course. After scoring my 99 a few weeks ago, I was so frustrated that I signed up for Tom's online instruction, started working through the content in order and immediately noticed where I was struggling. My inconsistencies on the course were a result of moving between swings, the one I knew and the one I was learning. I had good success on my home range but always reverted back to my old swing on the course causing huge inconsistencies. I really enjoyed Tom's recommendation to practice like you play, get into game mode with a routine....honestly cannot believe how overlooked this is! Just hitting balls is not effective practice. My scores have dropped over the past 2 weeks ( more importantly.. consistent striking) and back on track closer to my Handicap shooting an 81 this morning and I bogeyed 5 of the last 6 holes or could have given the 70's a decent run. Golf is becoming fun again 🙂 Thanks Tom!

Great dialogue, @Alan Studnicky & @danny!! Range-to-course becomes the next hurdle after things start performing more consistently for us in our practice sessions. It takes time, frustration, and -ultimately - mind over matter, as you both are proving to yourselves. You're definitely getting there. Continue to ingrain in practice your own unique key feels that you need to keep your swing on track, and always have a fallback plan in case you start leaking oil mid-round - 2.8 Drill, 90% Weight Forward, Load & Explode, etc. - whatever you establish as your safety valve to keep it in play as you try to figure out what went awry.

Just got back from a golfing weekend up north in Michigan. It was still cold and very windy. We played 2 days - first day we played 18 and then 9 at a different course. Second day we played 18 at a third course. The first 18 holes - awful. 113. I was so irritated. Ugh. I've really been working on my trail arm and it still wasn't right on the course. Practice - wonderful. Course, where is my swing? As soon as we finished the 18 holes I went to the driving range with my 5 iron - first 3 swings - perfect. WTH?? Took a few more swings and botched those. Realized I was moving my legs on purpose and not letting the swing do it's job. Settled down my legs and let them go on automatic a few more swings on the driving range - hit the ball very well. Onto the next 9 holes. Played better. We didn't really keep score, though. But I really enjoyed the 9 holes while everyone else was just wiped out and really didn't want to play anymore. Progress

The next day the wind was still bad off of Lake Michigan. We hit the driving range, first, and I got my trail arm zeroed in. Oh, that feels different on the course. Ok. Let's give it a go. The front 9 - shot a 47. It was clicking. What an improvement from the previous day. Made a few pars. I was having a blast. The swing was almost feeling easy again but not quite as easy as it should. But so much better. We made the turn and 10 and 11 were ok. 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 it fell apart. 8s, 9s, a 10, I just couldn't do what I was doing on the front 9. My anger got the best of me. I was so pissed. A club almost went into the water but I held back. I was just beside myself. The trail arm is the same. I just didn't get it. What was happening? On 17 I was on my 5th stroke - 122 to the pin. I don't know what it was but it hit me. OMG. I took position over the ball and put my weight BACK on the lead leg. The most basic thing of all I lost at some point on the back 9. I always moved my hip a little forward but my weight was centered. Ahhhhh!!! I got the weight back to the lead leg, did my takeaway, trail arm good, and I was on the green and 2 puts in the hole. I told the guy I was golfing with - I figured it out. I know what I stopped doing. Please slap me. I'll prove it on the 18th hole. Got up to 18, par 4 300+ yards, setup with the driver, over- emphasized the weight on the lead leg, drew back and boomed a perfectly straight drive 80 yards short of the pin into the wind. I had my follow through, I had my extension which I had been missing most of the weekend to be honest and hit a perfect shot. Got up to the ball, hit my SW into the wind with a full swing, again weight forward - I knew it before I started the swing it would be fine - perfectly straight shot but it did come up short because of the wind. Then I chipped 4 feet from the hole to the right (weight forward) and I did miss the put for par but I did not care. I found the issue and it was so basic. I felt so stupid. But walked away feeling fairly certain I knew what I was doing wrong. And that felt great.

For 9 holes I really improved. I'm starting, only starting, to get the swing out onto the course. Finally, progress. It has taken me since last June since I started Tom's classes to finally see progress on the course. Practice on the range and the net are great. But now I hope I've taken a step forward and can build from here. So easy to overlook and forget one thing when you are working on another.

Probably not a popular opinion, but for me, I'll just stick to going to the driving range for my golf fix. Was so tragically awful the last time out on the course, but was a blessing in disguise. So instead of being miserable for 4+ hours and feeling that all of the work I've put in over the past year was waste, I can enjoy roping some crispy 5 irons, evaluate my recording and spend no more than an hour doing so!

@Andrew Bogdan - I hear you! My last few range sessions have been great. Flushing irons, drives, you name it. I played my first 9 of the season on Saturday and it was terrible. I was slicing drives and topping irons. The last couple of holes got better. I'm just chalking it up to the first round of the season and trusting in the @Tom Saguto process. Its still early in the season. Hang in there! Thanks all for the tips and feedback.

@johnpfistnerjr, @Buford T Ogletree, @Alan Studnicky - I swear that range thing was not scripted, nor was there a hidden third party synchronizing my swing with that guy - it just happened (and it also just happened that he was doing the exact thing I was talking about)! 🤣

Ha!! I just watched that. That was classic!!

I could not help to take notice on the recent Vtip, 'How to hit good golf shots everytime'. There is a man on the range behind Tom doing exactly as Tom described, 'Not what to do' in the lesson. The timing of it all is impeccable! (At 5:58-6:03 ). Total synchronization as Tom demonstrates the broken arm/chicken wing backswing.

" I am more concerned about how others will perceive my game or how i want to play in front of them." Oh my gosh, that is so true. Just going to the range, yesterday, I had those feelings. And that's why I took a spot away from everyone else. And there's nothing like getting on the first tee, hitting cold, and a line of golfers behind you watching and waiting to tee off. But at the range I settled down, realized I'm in my own little world and no one around me really cares what I'm doing. I'm trying to get the mindset of just have fun, I'm still learning and I am improving. When I look down at the ball and have that relationship with the ball that's all there is. Just that space around me and my swing. And what the heck does a guy have to do around here to get on the regular list? Tom?? Just kidding. All good. I love reading everyone's posts and experiences and I read way more than I post.

This is all great and makes sense...it is in between my ears for the most part and that has been my biggest obstacle...it's being able to quiet that...funny when I play a round by myself i play some of my best golf...cementing the fact that it is mental or I am more concerned about how others will perceive my game or how i want to play in front of them...regardless that in the past was done without having a swing or an approach to the game that I believe in...can understand and implement...Just the beginning and grateful Tom for your approach and simplicity...it's about time someone taught this way. #bravo

To add: the most important aspect of golf is...TO HAVE FUN!!! 👍⛳🏌️‍♂️

There's a boatload of fantastic stuff getting posted here, @Andrew Bogdan. I hope you're not sorry you asked!......🤣🤣

I use an app to track my golf now. So, I'm more focued on the shot, the club and the strategy to the green. The score doesn't play much into it along the way. In fact I find myself surprised sometimes when I finally look at the score!

I hate the range... I have yet to feel anything but frustrated there. Sure, sometimes I manage to compensate my way to good ball striking but, it's not real progress in my case. I prefer to play golf because it takes my predilection to just rapid fire shot after shot away...

I don't play in tournaments or anything so, golfing for me is my practice.

Going back to the shortened 2.8 drill swing is what gets me back playing golf when I start going off the rails during a round

A prime example of my recent experience with these ghosts...

Yesterday, I did not play golf. I played suck. I was thinking all the mechanics in my swing to meet perfection from the drills I had practice to fix an ailment in my swing. Instead, I got the opposite. Does that mean the drills didn't work? No. It means, that space between my ears was cluttered. How did I battle it? About the 13th hole, I threw out my scorecard. Wouldn't you know it? I was playing golf and not suck. I did not care about my score and just focused to where I wanted my ball to go. No self pressure and back focusing on how the game should be played. My drives found the fairway at the remaining holes and was hitting crispy. Aim for your target and the body will do the rest. Aim small...miss small. Duff a shot? Forget about it. You can't change it. Go to the next shot. It will be better. Oh, last bit of advice. I'm sure yourself had or seen other golfers say it..."I'll probably hit my drive in that water hazard on the right." Guess what? I bet their drive ended up in that water. (I'm guilty of it.) They were doomed before teeing up their ball. Choose your target wisely and stay focused on that target. 👍⛳🏌️‍♂️

Hi @Andrew Bogdan

The others have given such good advice and i dont have anything to add.

What i want to say is that if you can hit those crispy draw shots at the range, that alone is a huge success!

For me, the problems start when that white ball appears, so you are already way ahead of me in progress :)

Oh, yeah, the ghosts of golfers past. You're thinking too much. Focus on the target. That area between the ears is the #1 killer in the golf swing. ⛳🏌️‍♂️👍

@Tom Saguto I like that I’m a regular!

From my 2 months of the online school in which I’ve seen improvements, there’s always going to be frustrating times and set backs. You just have to accept it but keep working hard!

I don’t know if you can drive a car, but when you were learning, can you remember having to concentrate and think so much about each manoeuvre? Then one day, without realising, you’re there on autopilot, singing loudly, more relaxed at the wheel! All the conscious thinking about what to do has now become part of your subconscious.This is exactly the same! Put in the hours and you’ll be on autopilot!

Another part of finding it difficult to take your game from the range to the course is what the guys have said, practice with a purpose. It comes from process versus outcome. If you concentrate on the process of the swing out on the range without the fear of missing a fairway, you’re eliminating the possible outcome. Whereas on the course you’re thinking more about the outcome and less about the process because of bunkers, water, trees etc. come into play. Practice with a purpose helps prepare you for this.

Just focus on the process of the swing and the outcome will sort itself out 💪

Hope that makes sense and good luck!

Andrew, if you can figure that out and bottle it, you will surpass Jeff Bezos' net worth within 4 hours because every golfer in the world will want some of that drug.

I wrote a post/reply earlier about 'playing' the course on the range during your practice. This has really helped me, especially with that hole that always seems to have our number. If you belong to a private club, then go out in the evening and play the hole(s) that seem to cause the most problems. For example, if there is a par 4 that you are constantly doubling or worst, then play it to bogey. What I mean is, make sure every shot you hit is in the fairway. If the driver is getting you in trouble, tee off with a 3, hybrid or an iron. You may not get your approach on the green, but play it short from a spot that gives you a chance to get up and down. Even if you are 125 yards out for your third shot, chances are you would par that hole if it were a par 3. Take your bogey and move on.

Andrew, if you can figure that out and bottle it, you will surpass Jeff Bezos' net worth within 4 hours because every golfer in the world will want some of that drug.

I wrote a post/reply earlier about 'playing' the course on the range during your practice. This has really helped me, especially with that hole that always seems to have our number. If you belong to a private club, then go out in the evening and play the hole(s) that seem to cause the most problems. For example, if there is a par 4 that you are constantly doubling or worst, then play it to bogey. What I mean is, make sure every shot you hit is in the fairway. If the driver is getting you in trouble, tee off with a 3, hybrid or an iron. You may not get your approach on the green, but play it short from a spot that gives you a chance to get up and down. Even if you are 125 yards out for your third shot, chances are you would par that hole if it were a par 3. Take your bogey and move on.

Oh yeah @Andrew Bogdan I’m gonna bear witness that. Get that book, read it, study it, apply it and re-read it. That book has done wonders for me.