[Txaizdxx]

I bet you were clam and relaxed. Thats the state of mind you need to carry over to the course.

right on the nose

at the range, I just stand in and smack the ball

on the course I stand in, thank about 5 different things im trying not to do

need to get past that and just swing!

[BronUVT]

I think there are at least two giant differences between hitting the ball at the range and being on the course.

Yes you can be more relaxed if you choose to be and if you are just trying to get your swing back after a layoff or something like that, it makes some sense to stay relaxed and simply try to groove a swing again. Once you get there I think you are better off trying to create some pressure for yourself. I think it is unrealistic to expect that you can be as calm on the course as you can be at the range. So I think that eventually you want to create some pressure at the range so that you can focus on the business at hand under pressure. That is not the same thing as simply smacking ball after ball calmly at the range. So I do think it is better to try to create some pressure for yourself at the range and then deal with it.

The second big difference surely for me is that even when I use turf tee boxes at the range, they are always flat. I am standing in almost the same spot shot after shot after shot. When I get to the course, even out there in the middle of the fairway, you often have at least some grade to deal with whether it is uphill or downhill or sidehill there is always something. There could be a little mound that you just cannot avoid with one foot that is not there under the other foot for example. At any rate, that is a big difference as well.

I reported that I went to the local course yesterday just to check in and get my card for this year blah blah blah. it was a miserable cold day but I tossed the clubs in the car just on the off chance that I would go out and hit the ball on real fairways for a change. I had been using a heated bay driving range during the winter making one session every ten days or so. In the other thread I called it "heated bay range-itus". It is something I need to shake off as I need to get acclimated to the conditions I face on the course. No question that being able to swing the clubs up here in New England in the dead of winter is better than not. However it is difficult enough given that the heaters really do not do that much. I was glad to get the first layer of range-itus off of me and I did make some good swings even though I was really not prepared to go out there and did not bring proper clothing for the cold.

Believe me I hope you can take what success you had at the range right out to the course with you. Just don't be too disappointed if it does not work out that way. Really does not have anything to do with whether or not that range session did you any good or not and it will not be a reflection on your improvement. The two things, range vs course, tend to be pretty different.

[LongaDonga]

this is one of the reasons i hate practicing hahaha
i feel like i can pure balls all day on the range/chipping area/putting green
then i get to the course and its like a whole nother story