LETTER FROM THE TEACHING PROFESSIONAL
TAKING YOUR GAME FROM THE RANGE TO THE COURSE
Hello everyone , I hope the month of May has treated you all well . We had a great streak of weather in May with warmer temperatures and some dryer air it made for a great month of golf weather . As many of you know I spend a lot of time on the range working with students of all abilities and skill levels . One thing stands out to me when a student starts to hit better shots , is seeing how much transfer of learning can be taken from the teaching tee to the course . I ’ m a firm believer that someone has to experience a golf move or swing change on a range and see what the effect of that change or move will do to the golf shot . Once a move or change has been examined executed and a result has been produced , we think we have “ the answer .”
As you all know there are so many different parts to the game of golf . Simply making a change on the range and seeing the result is only part of the equation . Once that move or change has been done and we start to practice and rehearse it , we must look at how to get that move or change onto the golf course and use it to shoot lower scores . We must start by looking at how much transfer we can take from the range , to bring to the course . For example , say we are working on getting better in a greenside bunker , and hitting a high trajectory shot to get over a lip . If we can successfully execute the shot from a flat nice lie , we have a place to start . But what if we put some more variable in , what if the ball ends up on a downhill lie in the bunker , or the ball plugs and makes a “ fried egg ” will the skills and techniques we learned work in these situations ? The answer is yes , but it must be adapted to fit the situation .
So simply just practicing a greenside bunker shot and the skills involved to get the ball out of the sand and onto the green are understood , now its time to work on the amount of transfer we can take and use on the course . Now we have hit 3 balls out of the bunker practicing our skills , I would then have someone do something totally different , maybe go practice some shots with a driver . After a little driver practice come back to the bunker and setup a few balls from different lies , uphill , downhill and side hill . Now what do we already know that can help ? Well , we know an uphill lie is going to get the ball moving upward easier , a downhill lie will be harder to get the ball up , and sidehill will change the direction of the ball . So , with a little information we have to adapt our previously learned skills and try to learn new ones for situations that will come up during a round of golf .
What things can be done to work on transferring more skills to the course you may ask . Well , my first answer is to try and challenge yourself . Try to hit a certain shot on the flat range off a good lie , then try the same shot out of the rough and see if there are any differences in result . Or you can work your way up , try hitting a ball halfway to a target , then ¾ of the way , then all the way . Sometimes dialing everything back a little bit to reach the target can get skills from the range to the course .
And I will also say the best thing one can do to take the shots we can hit on the range to the course is to put some pressure on yourself and get your heart rate up while you practice a skill to start to practice like how we play . How many times have we felt nervous over a 4 ft . putt that we know we can make , and we are disgusted with ourselves for missing such a short putt . Well tension and pressure have a big place in golf , but if you get your heart rate up and put a little pressure on yourself like we do on the course , we can start to limit the toll that it can take during a round just by knowing how we react to playing under pressure .
I hope you all have a great month of June , and hopefully we can take those shots we hit on the range over to the course and play some great golf over the summer months ! Keep ‘ em in the shortgrass and knock ‘ em stiff !
Ben Johnson
PGA , Teaching Professional
JUNE eaglebrooke newsletter 5