Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
A VERY common question I am asked is, "Why do I hit well on the driving range, but struggle to repeat it on the course?"
In all honesty, the person who figures out the answer to that question will make a huge amount of money!
There are many reasons why it is difficult to replicate driving range performance on the course, including different wind conditions and sloping lies. However, in my experience, many problems on the course occur because we get distracted by external influences and lose focus on the task at hand. Let’s discuss!
The driving range is a reasonably safe and comfortable place to practice golf. We have unlimited balls, it doesn’t matter if we hit a bad shot, no one is watching us and we can play at our own pace. As a result, there are very few external influences to distract us and cause anxiety. Therefore, we can use the majority of our brain capacity to focus on the task at hand. This environment helps promote our optimum performance.
Now, let’s imagine you are on the course playing in the biggest competition of your season and every shot matters.
It’s the 18th hole, other people are watching you, you are trying to keep up with the pace of play, there are bunkers down the left and out of bounds down the right. You need one more really good swing. There is a good chance that these extra external influences, such as worrying about hazards and people watching you, will distract you or cause anxiety, thus reducing the amount of brain capacity you have to focus on the task at hand. If we let it happen, this reduction in our focus will negatively influence the quality of our next swing.
Thinking about it in this way is a potential explanation for why we sometimes struggle to replicate our driving range form when we are on the golf course.
The solution, is to stick very closely to your pre-shot routine and work hard to recreate in your mind the relaxed, safe and comfortable environment you felt on the range.
In previous weeks, we have discussed concepts such as picking specific targets, sticking to a plan and focusing on completing the process.
If you can do this in practice, you will find it easier to block out the external influences on the course and increase the amount of brain capacity that you can lend to focus. In theory, this should help you perform the shots you know you can do, on the course as well as on the range.
For more information on this topic or to find out about the golf coaching services offered at Awali Golf Club, call 39761873. Good luck and happy golfing!
