Range to course?

Bruno26

Hi, can anyone shed some light on this please?

I use Leopardstown Driving range (always use bays on left). I've been practicing hitting draws. In the last month I'm hitting draws with ease at the range with driver to 6 iron. I rarely fade the ball at range.

When I go to course I might draw only two shots in a round. Either straight or fade and sometimes the dreaded slice.

Is it something to do with the angle the bays are facing? What do I need to do to transfer it to course?

Felexicon

Bruno26 wrote: »

Hi, can anyone shed some light on this please?

I use Leopardstown Driving range (always use bays on left). I've been practicing hitting draws. In the last month I'm hitting draws with ease at the range with driver to 6 iron. I rarely fade the ball at range.

When I go to course I might draw only two shots in a round. Either straight or fade and sometimes the dreaded slice.

Is it something to do with the angle the bays are facing? What do I need to do to transfer it to course?

Are you hitting off a mat at the range?

Bruno26

Felexicon wrote: »

Are you hitting off a mat at the range?

Yes always on a mat.

Felexicon

Bruno26 wrote: »

Yes always on a mat.

It won't make much difference when you have the ball teed up but striking off the mats is massively different and I find more forgiving than grass.

Sure for starters you can't take a divot from a mat.

Are there any grass bays at the range?

Bruno26

Felexicon wrote: »

It won't make much difference when you have the ball teed up but striking off the mats is massively different and I find more forgiving than grass.

Sure for starters you can't take a divot from a mat.

Are there any grass bays at the range?

I see. I can draw driver / 3 wood in range from tee but can't draw it on course either no matter what I try.

No grass bays.

Norfolk Enchants_

Bruno26 wrote: »

Hi, can anyone shed some light on this please?

I use Leopardstown Driving range (always use bays on left). I've been practicing hitting draws. In the last month I'm hitting draws with ease at the range with driver to 6 iron. I rarely fade the ball at range.

When I go to course I might draw only two shots in a round. Either straight or fade and sometimes the dreaded slice.

Is it something to do with the angle the bays are facing? What do I need to do to transfer it to course?

When you figure that one out, bottle it and sell it, you'll make bazillions.

PARlance

Bruno26 wrote: »

I see. I can draw driver / 3 wood in range from tee but can't draw it on course either no matter what I try.

No grass bays.

The angle of the bays may something to do with it, but they won't make a slice look like a draw

It may be something to do with the amount of balls you're hitting at the range. Does it take a good few hits to work your way to a draw?
That would have been the case with me previously.
The range can really lull you into a false sense of security as you have time to warm up (with a few bad ones maybe) and there's none of the pressure you have on the course.

mocker2012

Bruno26 wrote: »

Hi, can anyone shed some light on this please?

I use Leopardstown Driving range (always use bays on left). I've been practicing hitting draws. In the last month I'm hitting draws with ease at the range with driver to 6 iron. I rarely fade the ball at range.

When I go to course I might draw only two shots in a round. Either straight or fade and sometimes the dreaded slice.

Is it something to do with the angle the bays are facing? What do I need to do to transfer it to course?

It could be your alignment. To hit a draw simply aim your body (feet, knees, hips, shoulders) to the right of the target and aim the club face toward the target. The opposite is done for a fade. I'm guessing the bays might have helped you with your alignment for a draw, since you are on the left hand side you would tend to aim towards the centre.

Bruno26

Norfolk Enchants_ wrote: »

When you figure that one out, bottle it and sell it, you'll make bazillions.

I'm bewildered by it!
Range on monday: everything a draw. Course today: hit only two draws with irons.

Wombatman

I always use a club on the ground to align myself to target line at range. Targets can be all around range so mat edge is useless as align aid. Move club on ground as you change targets.

Bruno26

PARlance wrote: »

The angle of the bays may something to do with it, but they won't make a slice look like a draw

It may be something to do with the amount of balls you're hitting at the range. Does it take a good few hits to work your way to a draw?
That would have been the case with me previously.
The range can really lull you into a false sense of security as you have time to warm up (with a few bad ones maybe) and there's none of the pressure you have on the course.

Hitting draws from 1st ball at range these days. It has to be something to do with the angle. If I go to right side if bays I hit far less draws. I just wish I could transfer the draw to course. Perhaps just need to focus on setup and alignment.

agusta

Do you put down alignment rods for target line and ball position at the range?, also do you aim to different targets every couple of shots?

Bruno26

agusta wrote: »

Do you put down alignment rods for target line and ball position at the range?, also do you aim to different targets every couple of shots?

I don't use rods but I would aim at different targets every few shots. I must be standing in a very closed position on range that I never do when on course. Perhaps old habits always set in on course or I'm reluctant to set up so closed for fear of hitting ball right.

agusta

Bruno26 wrote: »

I don't use rods but I would aim at different targets every few shots. I must be standing in a very closed position on range that I never do when on course. Perhaps old habits always set in on course or I'm reluctant to set up so closed for fear of hitting ball right.

yes,old habits can be hard to get rid off, e.g,fear of missing right, body will aim left.Also a possibility on the course your tempo might be a bit quicker and as a result you might not be completing the backswing and you may then be opening your body a tad early in downswing.

On the plus side "confusion can open the door to discovery".I think your on the right track.
If it were me i would go out on the course about an hour before dark when course is quiet,aim every drive down the right and try and draw it back a tad.It wouldnt bother me losing a few practice balls.If you did this enough times and got a nice shape to you shot the fear of the right hand side of the course will be gone.

ShivasIrons

Bruno26 wrote: »

Hi, can anyone shed some light on this please?

I use Leopardstown Driving range (always use bays on left). I've been practicing hitting draws. In the last month I'm hitting draws with ease at the range with driver to 6 iron. I rarely fade the ball at range.

When I go to course I might draw only two shots in a round. Either straight or fade and sometimes the dreaded slice.

Is it something to do with the angle the bays are facing? What do I need to do to transfer it to course?

Practice like you play, i.e. change clubs after every shot, hitting shot after shot with the same club gives an illusion of mastering a shot. Change clubs, go through a pre shot routine and see how you're hitting on the range then, will give a truer reflection, much like you see on the course.

Montgolfier

I could never hit a draw off the tee with a driver. But one hole I played regularly with OOB on the left (dog leg left too) I could never fade the ball.
That's because I was swinging (my path) to avoid the OOB and my club face was aimed up the fairway.

I lost more balls on that hole, years later it came to me that's how to play a draw.
In to out swing path with the face slightly closed (open to the target though if you don't want it to draw too much and hook)
Confusing eh?
It was just the way the hole was set up, played tricks with your head.

Seve OB

Montgolfier wrote: »

I could never hit a draw off the tee with a driver. But one hole I played regularly with OOB on the left (dog leg left too) I could never fade the ball.
That's because I was swinging (my path) to avoid the OOB and my club face was aimed up the fairway.

I lost more balls on that hole, years later it came to me that's how to play a draw.
In to out swing path with the face slightly closed (open to the target though if you don't want it to draw too much and hook)
Confusing eh?
It was just the way the hole was set up, played tricks with your head.

I used to hit a draw all the time as a kid but never really knew how. I had a feeling though I did the opposite of what you are saying in that I hit it more Out to in with an open clubface (pointing at the target at moment of impact).

I'm practicing it at the moment, but moreso as a way to combat my awful slice. Oone thing I never look at is the science behind golf shots. I just get up and whack! But last week in the range I spotted a little tip up on the wall and it basically said to hit a draw, catch the ball off the toe of the face rather than the centre. I'm sure there was more to it than that, but that's all I remember.

So I'm standing a bit further back from the ball, and using a normal swing. Have to say, it's working.... not all the time, but definately working. 18 holes on Monday, 14 last night. Used driver loads as I hit multiple drives for practice etc. probably only 5 out of 30+ shots went anyway right and at that, only a small bit.

TheDoc

Probably alignment, when you are on the left on the range yourll probably be aiming at targets from a different angle then say on a course.

Also mats are a lot more forgiving, instead of hitting fat shots the clubhead bounces of the mat and you still get contact, albeit potentially with a closed clubface.

I'd either as mentioned above use a club for alignment or some of those practice sticks. I did work on the range to get rid of my fade and hit a draw and its like second nature now. But I notice my irons are straightening out, while at the range its always a draw. But I find if I hit a clunky strike the face just bounces of the mat, which wouldnt happen on the course.

Bruno26

Thanks for all the great advice and experiences.

I went to range this morning with alignment rods. I went to right hand side of bays where I couldn't draw it. I used the rods to set up closed and I hit loads of draws.

I just have to try to recreate this on course.

However, I definitely reckon it's far easier to hit a draw off mats.

saintastic

mocker2012 wrote: »

It could be your alignment. To hit a draw simply aim your body (feet, knees, hips, shoulders) to the right of the target and aim the club face toward the target. The opposite is done for a fade. I'm guessing the bays might have helped you with your alignment for a draw, since you are on the left hand side you would tend to aim towards the centre.

Just saw this and a lot of the work with technology recently has proven that this "old school" method of teaching is actually incorrect:

Good article here: http://www.golfwrx.com/107406/understanding-the-new-ball-flight-laws/

GreeBo

saintastic wrote: »

Just saw this and a lot of the work with technology recently has proven that this "old school" method of teaching is actually incorrect:

Good article here: http://www.golfwrx.com/107406/understanding-the-new-ball-flight-laws/

Both will cause the ball to draw, the difference is where the ball starts and ends up.

Much more of an issue if you are trying to draw it around a nearby bush etc.