Originally Posted by BC MIST
I stand to be corrected but I would wager that the majority of golfers hit the ball better in practice than on the range, as you state that you do. This obviously means you have developed a sound swing motion and what you think about on the range allows you to hit the ball to your acceptable standard.
Now, you walk to the first tee and beyond, and you hit substandard shots. Therefore, logic says that either your body has changed or your thinking has changed, in that short trip from the range to the tee. It's not the former, so it is obviously the latter. Your challenge then, knowing that you have a sound swing, is to determine what to think about: (a) before you swing, and (b) while you are swinging, that will draw out of your subconscious mind, the fine swing that you have developed. If you do both correctly, you will find yourself in that glorious ZONE, where the game seems so easy.
The MANUAL part of a golf shot is all the pre-planning that is necessary before you put your hands on the club, setup and swing. This is your true PRESHOT routine. We have been taught by a gazillion experts that the PRESHOT routine is putting your hands on the club, setting one foot then the other, waggle "x" times and swing. If you do this the same way every time, you will hit better shots. I don't believe this.
Suggestion: Consider your PRESHOT routine everything you do before you put your hands on the club, setup and swing.
You now have to switch from MANUAL thinking to AUTOMATIC thinking, where your subconscious mind, the place where your good swing is stored, is allowed to swing for you. Call this the TRANSITION. For me it is putting my hands on the club which I do quite meticulously. After this is done I go on AUTOMATIC, but I am not going to explain what this is, but consider these questions: 1. Do you think about how you are swinging, while you are swinging/playing? 2. Do you think "target?" 3. Do you say something like, "I am going to hit the ball right in the middle of the fairway?" 4. Do you say, "Don't hit it in the bush?" If you answer "Yes!" to any of the above, you have found the problem. This is not the thinking that will allow you to consistently hit good shots, whether playing casually or especially under any kind of pressure. Can you come up with some other thought process that will allow good shots to happen?
On Friday I played with a lifelong friend, who, when we played a lot together literally 35 years ago, had the best golf swing I had ever seen, IMO. Since we started playing again, he scores in the upper 80's, hits mostly poor shots, chilli dips most wedge shots and putts poorly. By asking him to change what he was thinking while swinging, from what it was to something different, he began hitting mouth watering drives, crisp wedges and his putting stroke became silky smooth again. He finished the round by birdieing 16, 17 and missed 18 by a whisker. Simply, by thinking differently, his superb golf swing of the late 60's and early 70's came out. It was just awesome to watch.
I would explain what I do to swing on AUTOMATIC, however, I must admit that most of the time that I have explained this to others, it is met with laughter, so I hesitate to elabortate further and be dismissed as a lunatic. However, it works wonderfully now, even though I initially had difficulty with the process. What I learned I did so from someone else, so it is not original, and I take no credit for it, but it works for me, many Tour golf professionals and other world class athletes.
If anyone is interested, then offer suggestions. If not, then my perceived sanity is still intact. :)