How take your game from the range to the course

After hours of practice and years of work why hasn’t your handicap dropped to the level you really want it to? You know you have the ability to pull off the shot but when it matters the most you can’t seem to access that skill you have worked so hard to create.

You can’t learn to swim in the bathtub.

Peter Arnott and Graeme McDowell

If you decided to become an Olympic swimmer and were presented with the following options, which would you choose?

1. Swim daily in your bath tub and perfect your stroke.
2. Go to the pool and learn to race against other swimmers.

I am sure most of you would select option 2. However, when it comes to golf, most players select the equivalent of learning to swim in the bath tub, aka, perfecting their swing on the golf range.

If all you want to have a is perfect swing, there is no problem with this; however, if you want to develop the ability to actually play great golf, you need to make sure your practice is in context.

A perfectly formed swing is irrelevant if you don’t have the awareness to adapt to the environmental demands of the golf course.

How do you access those perfect swing mechanics on a lie that is not flat? What adaptations are you required to make?

So, if you are a golfer wanting to get better, ask yourself, “How contextual is your current practice?” Could you go on the course and attempt shots from challenging lies, perhaps giving yourself 3 chances to execute the more demanding shots, recording in a note book how you adapted successfully to the environment?

And for those of you that are restricted to the range, are you changing club with every ball you hit? Perhaps hitting one driver, one 7 iron and then walking to the putting green and attempting to hole a 20ft putt.

ABOUT IAIN HIGHFIELD

Make sure to pick up Iain’s new book “Golf Practice“. Tons of great games and training circuits to go through that will make your practice more fun and efficient.

Created a golf psychological conditioning program that was implemented at the Nike Golf Academy (UK) Bishops Gate Academy (FL) International Junior Golf Academy (SC).

Iain’s golf psychology program is currently being delivered via the ‘Game Like Training’ virtual classroom to Penn State University, European Tour Golfers and College Golfers

Published author, ‘OSVEA, Practical Ways to Learn Golf’s Mental Game’

Golf Digest’s Top young coach 2017/2018/2019

This Episode’s Sponsor: WHOOP (coupon code GSL for 15% off)

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