When I was younger, I could spend hours on the range hitting ball after ball. I loved it, but I can’t honestly say it translated to much improvement on the golf course. As I grew older and had less time to practice, I learned that just 20 minutes of focused, purposeful work could be more impactful than all those hours of mindless swinging.
Most amateurs spend 20 or 30 minutes at the range but leave without making significant improvements. If that sounds familiar, here are five clear signs your practice might be hurting your game, along with how to fix it.
1) Your good shots don’t repeat
We’ve all felt that one pure strike that’s unfortunately followed by three that go sideways. If your best swings feel like accidents, your practice isn’t building consistency. This usually happens when you’re not paying attention to feedback on contact or ball flight.
Fix it:
- Draw a line or place an alignment stick just ahead of the ball. Your divots should consistently start after it. This simple checkpoint trains repeatable contact. Also, watch this video from Bryson. He’s helping a junior golfer but it’s one of my favorite examples of how to practice the right way.
2) You can’t find a rhythm on the course
At the range, it’s easy to fall into a quick rhythm, one swing after another, with no break in between. That pace feels comfortable in practice but it’s nothing like real golf.
On the course, every shot takes time. You pick a target, step back and maybe think about your swing. That extra space can leave you second-guessing and struggling to pull the trigger. If your practice never includes that pause, your rhythm will fall apart in the middle of the round.
Fix it:
- Slow your range sessions. Treat at least half your shots like you’re on the course. Use your full pre-shot routine, including a full pause, and hit that shot, not just another ball. Train yourself to step in, commit and swing without adding extra thoughts.
3) You panic when the lie isn’t perfect
If a ball below your feet or a tight fairway chip makes you scared before you even swing, that’s a sign your practice is too comfortable. If you only train on flat mats or level grass, you won’t know how to adjust when the ground tilts or the lie is thin.
Fix it:
- Set up 10 practice balls in different lies including uphill, downhill, ball above feet, ball below feet. Forget perfect mechanics and focus on making solid contact from each stance. Also, try to hit some from the rough and
4) You struggle the moment you have to create a shot
When you are in a situation where you need a low punch, a knockdown or a high, soft wedge, you feel lost. That’s because practice is usually one-dimensional. You’ll use the same club, the same target and the same motion. If you never train creativity, you’ll never trust it in competition.
Fix it:
- Add a “shot-making game” to every range session. Pick a target, then hit one high, one low, one draw, one fade. Don’t worry about perfection. Learn how the ball reacts and what you have to do to hit these types of shots.
5) You don’t know why a good shot happened
Every now and then, you flush one, but if you can’t explain why, it’s going to be really hard to repeat it. You may not be incorporating reflection into your practice. Without reflection, you’re really just exercising on the driving range instead of learning what actually works in your motion.
Fix it:
- After every pure strike, pause and write down or take mental note of one “feel” you noticed. It could be tempo, grip pressure, even ball position. Over time, you’ll connect the dots between what you felt and what produced the result.
Final thoughts
Mindless range sessions are fun at times. However, if you’re looking to take your game to the next level, you may have to put in a little more real work. Smarter practice, even for just 20 minutes, can change how your game holds up under pressure. It’s the difference between hitting balls and actually getting better.
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