How to Take Your Game From The Range to the Golf Course
In this video, Neil Tappin and Katie Dawkins discus how to take your game from the range to the golf course.
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00:00 Now, one of the biggest areas that golfers often struggle with is how do you take your
00:06 golf game from the range with you out onto the golf course?
00:11 We've all been there before where you've hit it well on the range, preparing for a big
00:15 round of golf, and then you get onto the golf course and suddenly all those good shots suddenly
00:19 elude you and you play really poorly and it's very demoralizing.
00:22 So that's what this video is all about.
00:24 And we're going to offer some really simple and effective advice.
00:27 Now the tips come from Katie Dawkins.
00:29 She's one of the Golf Monthly Top 50 coaches and she'll offer you a framework for practice
00:34 and a way in which you can put that practice into play when you're on the golf course.
00:40 Now a lot of this is about information gathering.
00:42 And so that's why in this video we've partnered up with Garmin.
00:45 They've got a whole host of different technologies you can use both when you're on the range
00:49 and also when you're out on the golf course to help you gather all that information you
00:52 need to make smarter choices while you're on the golf course.
00:56 Right.
00:57 So we're going to split this video up into three sections.
00:59 Off the tee, ball striking and pitching.
01:02 And we're going to start right here on the range.
01:06 Okay, so we are going to start with the game off the tee.
01:17 And I guess the biggest difference between the range and the golf course is consequence.
01:22 When you're hitting balls on the range, you've got this big expanse to hit at.
01:25 Yeah.
01:26 There's no consequence.
01:27 It's just a matter of if you don't get it right, does it?
01:28 So how do you make sure that your range session then is as valuable to you as possible when
01:33 you're working through it?
01:34 So you have to keep it more in line with how you would play on the course.
01:37 And the way that I do that is I go through my pre-shot routine every single time.
01:41 So every shot I hit, I'll walk behind the ball and I'll prepare myself and rehearse
01:46 the swing.
01:47 Right.
01:48 And then I'll come in and hit the shot.
01:49 Exactly how I do in the course.
01:50 And that, so when you're on the golf course, that puts you in a more positive state of
01:53 mind, does it?
01:54 Yeah, because I've, I trust it.
01:56 I trust my routine.
01:57 It's almost like having a safety blanket.
01:59 That's interesting because I think a lot of people know they have to have a pre-shot
02:01 routine and it's something they use on the golf course.
02:03 But how many of you watching this use it on the range as well?
02:07 And Katie's talking about doing it on every single shot, which requires real discipline.
02:11 Okay, Katie, why don't you hit one for us?
02:14 We have the Garmin Approach R10, a portable launch monitor on the ground.
02:18 So that will give me some feedback on the app about where it's going.
02:21 You've got nowhere to hide.
02:22 Sorry about that.
02:23 That's fine.
02:24 Lovely shot.
02:30 Slight fade straight down the middle.
02:32 And that has gone.
02:34 It's carried 195.
02:35 It's gone to 12.
02:36 So a good shot, a nice shot.
02:38 But one of the first shots that we've actually hit this morning, I think as you, you know,
02:43 as you warm up, you'll probably start to hit it a bit further.
02:45 But the question is, how do you then prepare specifically for the game off the tee with
02:49 the different clubs that you'd be looking to hit?
02:51 What would be the way you'd do it?
02:53 So I'd be wanting to make sure I know my average carry with the driver, then perhaps with a
02:57 fairway wood.
02:58 Yeah.
02:59 So maybe my five wood I would pick just in case there's holes where this is just going
03:02 to go too far.
03:03 Yeah.
03:04 But also a rescue club as well off the tee.
03:05 Right.
03:06 I think it's important to have those three options in your bag.
03:09 But when you come across a hole that's got a lot of trouble halfway down it, perhaps.
03:13 Yeah.
03:14 Now that's a good question.
03:15 That is you hit that one fairly well.
03:16 I reckon you could probably hit them a bit better.
03:18 But what are you looking to gain as the yardage that you have in mind?
03:21 Is it your absolute best or is it somewhere in the middle?
03:24 No.
03:25 And I think this is the thing that people come a cropper with is that out on the golf
03:29 course, they're clubbing themselves with the very best shot they've ever hit with that
03:32 club.
03:33 And of course, that gets them into trouble because eight times out of 10, they'll come
03:35 up a bit short.
03:36 Right.
03:37 So it's important to have the average yardages and it's important to perhaps write them down
03:41 in a little notebook.
03:42 Yeah, have them to hand.
03:43 To have that in your bag.
03:44 So you can go, oh, it's that far.
03:46 If I hit it that far, I won't go in the heather.
03:48 Let's have a look and see what club does that for me.
03:50 The other question I was going to ask you was about your dispersion.
03:54 So this one has gone a little bit left.
03:56 It's gone 14 yards left of the centre line.
03:59 We would all, all of us have a tendency to miss either right or left.
04:03 What would be yours?
04:04 Mine would be, I would miss to the right.
04:07 So I'm aware of what trouble is up on the right hand side on a hole and I will pick
04:11 the safest route away from that.
04:13 So I'll often aim left up a hole to allow for that.
04:17 Okay, so there's some really good advice there about how to practice.
04:20 The question is, how do you then put that into play on the golf course?
04:24 Let's go and find out.
04:25 Okay, so you've done your homework on the range, you know, your carry distances for
04:28 your driver and your fairway woods, the other key driving clubs that you have in your bag.
04:33 Plus you've done some work on your pre-shot routine and that this is where all of that
04:37 should, should come to fruition and help you hit a good shot.
04:41 But there's some more important thinking to do, Katie, isn't there?
04:44 Tell us what do you need to do?
04:46 So I think the fact that we've been on the range and we've done a bit of homework, our
04:50 confidence should be much higher.
04:52 If you haven't prepared on the range, so you haven't had a good practice, you haven't seen
04:56 yourself hit those good shots, then chances are you can't visualize them.
05:00 So it's really important to have that in the bank before you then expect yourself to do
05:04 well out here.
05:05 Yes, exactly.
05:06 And then once you are stood here, a lot of it is about information gathering because
05:10 you need to develop a picture for exactly where you need to hit the ball, don't you?
05:14 Absolutely.
05:15 And also how far your clubs carry, because we know that that bunker on the right is about
05:19 140 and the bunker on the left about 174.
05:22 And I know that my five wood, for example, is going to carry both of those quite happily.
05:27 And I've suddenly devised myself a lovely safe plateau to land my ball on.
05:33 Yes.
05:34 The heather's about 200, isn't it?
05:35 The heather, well, the heather is actually 210.
05:37 It's 210, we know that because the...
05:39 Yeah, because the laser has told us that it's 210.
05:41 But importantly, you don't have to hit it 209, do you?
05:44 No, you don't.
05:45 And I think it's important to hit a club that you like.
05:48 And this is the thing, you look at your distances and go, well, my three wood goes this far,
05:52 so I must hit that.
05:53 Well, you don't have to.
05:55 You could be 10, 15 yards further back than that and probably be more likely to hit a
05:59 good shot because you like your five wood more than your three wood.
06:03 You've had more success rate with it.
06:05 Therefore, you're more likely to commit to the swing and finish it and be way more confident
06:08 with the way you hit the shot.
06:09 This is it.
06:10 And this is where, Katie, your concept of having a personal par really comes into play,
06:14 doesn't it?
06:15 It's something that we've talked about before, but explain to us what is a personal par and
06:19 how does it work in a scenario like this?
06:20 It's very easy for a golfer to stand on the tee, look at the scorecard and go, wow, this
06:24 is a par five.
06:25 I've got to get down the hole in five shots.
06:28 That's not the case.
06:29 You have a handicap for a reason.
06:31 That's the wonderful thing about golf is you're on a kind of fairly even keel with the people
06:34 you're playing because of your handicap.
06:36 So if you were playing off a handicap of 18, your personal par on this hole isn't five,
06:40 it's six because you get an extra shot in each hole.
06:43 So you would stand here thinking, well, actually, I've got another shot to play with.
06:47 So you can then start to devise yourself the safest route up that hole.
06:51 Yes.
06:52 Taking into account the shots, the shots you love to hit and the clubs that your favorites.
06:57 And I think you can sort of start to make a picture almost, especially using the course
07:01 planner on your watch.
07:02 Yes.
07:03 You can almost plot yourself a nice little safe route.
07:06 So the bunker on the right is 145 to carry.
07:08 The bunker on the left is 174 to carry.
07:11 The heather to reach it is 210.
07:13 So this is a club that should deal with all of that really, isn't it?
07:16 It should do.
07:17 And I'm looking in the distance at that white post.
07:19 OK, so although that's in line with my lovely safe zone, it's way further than this is going
07:25 to go.
07:26 Yes, but it's important to pick a target beyond your landing area.
07:29 Why is that?
07:30 That's because you're visualizing then a good shot.
07:32 Also, by focusing on something in the distance, it helps all the hazards and all the trouble
07:37 you're trying to get over to sort of merge and blur away, if you like.
07:41 OK, Katie, so run through the routine that we've already talked about and hit it for
07:45 us.
07:46 So really important.
07:47 We're going to do one rehearsal.
07:48 Make sure we make decent contact with the turf.
07:50 I always do it looking down the hole.
07:52 So nice back and through.
07:54 Take a look at the turf.
07:56 Point my club at my target in the distance, the white post in this.
08:00 Pick a mini target and just try and recreate what I did on the range.
08:07 Oh, oh, straight on that white post.
08:14 It is.
08:15 It's very good.
08:16 And it's in a really it's in that safe spot.
08:17 It's in a perfect.
08:18 You're then able to go and attack the green.
08:20 You don't have to play perfect golf to get the ball round in a lower score.
08:24 But what you do need to do is you really need to think smart.
08:26 And if you can employ what Katie said there, it should make a big difference.
08:33 OK, so for the second part of our video, we're going to focus on one of the areas I think
08:40 a lot of players really struggle with when it comes to taking their game from the range
08:43 to the course, and that's ball striking, particularly with your eyes when the golf ball is on the
08:47 ground.
08:48 So I'm going to start by asking you for just a straight up tip.
08:51 Give us a drill.
08:52 Give us a tip that people can use while they're on the range to really help them with their
08:55 ball striking.
08:56 So I think, first of all, starting with what people don't do a lot of the time when they're
09:01 not striking it well.
09:03 They're not getting the ground under the ball, whether that's the grass, the teepeg,
09:07 whatever the ball's sat on, they're not making contact with it because they're almost trying
09:09 to lift the ball in the air.
09:11 So that's the first reason that sometimes it doesn't work.
09:14 So that's what we want to focus on on the range.
09:16 By placing something down just in front of the ball, whether it be a little teepeg, a
09:20 leaf, a feather, whatever you can find, you've got something that you're just aware of that's
09:25 after the ball.
09:26 What that's going to help you to do is going to help you to hit the ball first and be aware
09:29 you've got to collect that little mini target just after the ball as well.
09:33 So it helps you stay lower for longer.
09:35 So seven iron shot.
09:37 We've got the R10 running again.
09:42 Very nice.
09:43 Okay, so Katie, the carry distance for that was 140, total distance 148, five yards left
09:49 to the centre line.
09:50 Looked perfect to me.
09:51 It felt good.
09:52 Yeah, really good shot.
09:53 Now, obviously you want to spend some time on your ball striking to make sure that you
09:58 feel comfortable running through your routine as we've already talked about.
10:01 But you also need to gather some information in this session.
10:05 So what information are you trying to gather about your irons?
10:08 You're trying to gather your average carry with them.
10:11 Right, so it's very similar way we did with the driver.
10:14 Oh, absolutely.
10:15 100% so that you know when you're out on the golf course that your seven iron will carry
10:18 over the bunker just short of the green.
10:21 That kind of information.
10:22 Why is the total distance less important?
10:26 Well, because the conditions are going to vary.
10:28 So sometimes you're going to be landing the ball in the summer on quite hard ground.
10:32 Sometimes you're going to be landing the ball in the winter on soft ground.
10:35 The ball's not going to get any roll at all.
10:37 So it's important to know you're going to carry any trouble.
10:40 And this is also really important to say this is about developing your confidence so that
10:44 when you get to the golf course, you know what it feels like to have the ball coming
10:47 flush out the middle of the golf club from time after time by using that drill and then
10:52 gathering the data.
10:53 It can really help you.
10:54 OK, so with your iron play, this is all about good quality ball striking when you're on
10:59 the golf course.
11:00 Katie, you've given us a really good drill to use on the range to make sure you're getting
11:04 that ball first, ground second contact that we all need.
11:07 But you're still on the golf course here.
11:09 You've got trouble in front of you.
11:11 You still need to focus on that good quality contact.
11:14 How do you do it when you're on the course?
11:15 So on the range, we put a little something rather a little mini target ahead of the ball
11:20 just to encourage ourselves to stay lower for longer.
11:23 But on the course, it's very easy to suddenly get result orientated.
11:27 You suddenly worry about the water, the bunkers.
11:31 What happens if it goes wrong?
11:33 What happens with that then is you come up on the ball.
11:35 Therefore, you don't get the grass underneath it.
11:38 Right.
11:39 Yes.
11:40 So just having an awareness of what's ahead of the ball helps you just to keep the club
11:43 a little bit lower.
11:44 Therefore, get little ball, then the big ball.
11:46 See, the last thing you need to be doing during a medal at your golf clubs is go, hang on,
11:50 everyone.
11:51 I'm just going to stick a little something or other just in front of the ball because
11:53 you can't touch your line of play.
11:55 So you can just have a look.
11:57 We're on the golf course.
11:58 It's a natural surface.
11:59 It's grass.
12:00 There's some little bits and pieces on the ground.
12:02 We've actually got a little twig just in front of our ball.
12:05 So when I stand behind my ball and go through that really important pre-shot routine and
12:09 I point the club at the target line, draw a line down, I'm going to pick something just
12:12 ahead of the ball on that.
12:14 That simple.
12:15 It's effective.
12:16 It's something we can all do.
12:17 The other part that we can all get do and get right is figuring out the yardages, the
12:21 work that we've done on the range to work out our carry yardages.
12:23 You need to now apply it.
12:24 So the shot that we've got here, the second shot into 16 here at West Hill, the back of
12:29 the green, the laser is telling me is 164, flag is 160.
12:33 To cover the bunker on the right is 152.
12:36 That's to carry that.
12:37 So what club are you going to play?
12:39 What's the key yardage of all of that that you're trying to take into account?
12:42 So I want to carry the bunker, but at the same time, it's a really good idea when you're
12:47 going for your approach shots to actually focus on hitting the middle of the green.
12:50 My watch says 153 to the centre, so I'm going to hit something I'm confident on average,
12:55 and it's really important that part on average goes 150 yards.
12:59 Right, Katie, so you're going to hit this for us.
13:01 Now it is quite dewy this morning.
13:03 You just gave me a very good tip in this scenario.
13:05 What is it?
13:06 So when there is dew on the ground, you can actually see where your club hits the world.
13:11 And that's important.
13:12 That gives you immediate feedback.
13:14 And for us, immediate feedback, if you've done a good swing, is real confidence booster.
13:19 So you would have picked a little mini target just ahead of the ball.
13:22 But then, so we know where we're aiming because we've got that spot.
13:26 Then you're going to set up level with the ball and you're going to do your practice
13:29 swing back and through.
13:31 Yeah, and you can see where you hit the ground.
13:33 And you can really see.
13:34 So I can see that my first point of contact would have been the ball.
13:37 After that, I've made a nice little neat divot mark ahead of that.
13:41 So I know that I'm collecting that mini target that we were using on the range.
13:45 I'm ticking that box, I've committed to the shot and I've hit under the ball.
13:50 Yes, and the dew really highlights.
13:52 Go for it.
13:55 Lovely.
13:56 Great strike.
13:57 Now, where's that going?
13:58 Middle of the green.
13:59 It's fine.
14:00 Very good.
14:01 It's a decent two-part.
14:02 I'd be happy with that.
14:03 Yes, indeed.
14:04 And it's just a really good way to think.
14:05 It doesn't need to take you an awful lot of time, but just having the awareness to think
14:06 about some of these factors while you're on the golf course should really help.
14:07 And I think that's a really good way to think.
14:08 And I think that's a really good way to think.
14:09 And I think that's a really good way to think.
14:10 And I think that's a really good way to think.
14:11 And I think that's a really good way to think.
14:18 Okay, so for the final part of our video, we're looking at pitching.
14:26 Now pitching, Katie, is one of those areas that coaches like you will tell amateurs like
14:30 me, you need to focus on this because it's the fastest way to save your shots out on
14:33 the golf course.
14:34 But you've got to practice it, right?
14:37 And so the first question is, how do you practice your pitching?
14:40 Well, I think like you say, this is like your score zone.
14:43 So if you can get your wedges actually hitting the greens, you are going to save shots.
14:47 It's quite simple.
14:49 But a lot of people don't like doing the half shots, three-quarter shots.
14:52 So you need to know your wedge distances with a full swing first and foremost.
14:56 That's your first port of call.
14:57 Right.
14:58 And we can do that on the range.
14:59 Yes, you can.
15:00 And it helps to have a laser to identify how far the flags are.
15:03 So I've already done it.
15:04 The first flag is 71.
15:06 Second flag is 83.
15:08 And the third flag is 109.
15:10 So Katie, why don't you hit a full shot with your, which club is this?
15:14 This is my sand wedge, so it's 54 degrees.
15:15 Right, fine.
15:16 And we've got the Approach R10 on the floor as well, so I'll be able to get some feedback.
15:22 Okay.
15:23 Right.
15:24 Good shot, Katie.
15:25 Now that's carried 74.
15:26 And again, the carry yardages are what you're looking for.
15:28 You're looking at average carry yardages.
15:30 And I guess having a good understanding for how far a full wedge shot goes for each of
15:35 your wedges, maybe your nine-iron, et cetera, is going to be really useful to you.
15:38 But if you really want to get good at pitching, you need to add an extra dimension to everything.
15:44 What is that?
15:45 So the extra dimension that you need is to be able to control the length of your swing.
15:48 Because it's all very well knowing how far you hit a full shot, but we're not always
15:52 going to have a full shot out there.
15:54 And people try and manufacture that less length by slowing down and decelerating.
15:59 We all know what that results in.
16:00 Yeah, fat shots.
16:01 I've done that before.
16:02 Lovely big old fat shots.
16:03 And you think that was a lovely drive for water weight.
16:04 And so it's just a point of frustration for everybody.
16:08 So you can practice this.
16:09 And so how do you, what's the way that you think about it?
16:11 So one of the best visuals that I tend to use when I'm coaching is that your head is
16:14 12 o'clock and you're doing a length of swing that's almost nine, bang, through to three.
16:19 Okay.
16:20 So it's like a half swing.
16:21 Yeah.
16:22 And you would work on your averages, like we talked about before.
16:25 So the average distance that say you'd hit between seven and 10 balls, doing that length
16:29 swing with each of your clubs.
16:30 Yes.
16:31 Now you can get more in-depth in this.
16:33 You can do sort of 10 o'clock swings.
16:35 Yeah, you can lengthen it.
16:36 So we're suggesting in this instance, just to get a foothold in all of this, that nine
16:40 till three swing with each of your clubs through to, I guess, even up to seven, nine.
16:44 Yeah.
16:45 Even up to a seven or a six sign.
16:46 If you imagine you're playing links golf out by the seaside, you need to bump and run that
16:52 ball in.
16:53 You need to be able to control how far you carry it.
16:55 Yeah.
16:56 And obviously the result there on in.
16:57 Yeah.
16:58 So it's important to go all the way through your clubs, but initially just sort of four
17:01 wedges or so would be sufficient.
17:03 Would be a good start.
17:04 I'm now interested to find out how much a nine to three swing takes off your normal
17:09 full pitching swing shot, which was, as we know, carry distance 74.
17:14 So yeah, hit a full, sorry, hit a nine to three sandwich shot for us.
17:22 Lovely.
17:23 Okay.
17:25 And now that's interesting, Katie, because that's carried 60.
17:29 So there's a 14 yard carry distance gap between those two shots.
17:36 And I hit that pretty well.
17:37 You hit that.
17:38 Okay.
17:39 Probably one of my better wedge shots.
17:40 Right.
17:41 So I probably wouldn't take that probably more than I'd normally hit my nine to three
17:44 on average.
17:45 So that's an important point is not to take that's why it's so important to do the sort
17:49 of seven to 10 shots.
17:50 Shots.
17:51 Yes.
17:52 Okay, fine.
17:53 So once you've got that, that average for each of the shots, then you can do that with
17:56 each of the different clubs.
17:58 Yeah.
17:59 And that's a key point here is practice.
18:00 Just the repetition of being comfortable hitting those hard shots.
18:03 Yeah.
18:04 And when you're going through your routine on the course, you're rehearsing, you've got
18:07 a definite place to go.
18:09 That nine o'clock is a really good kind of band of distance to swing that club back and
18:13 through.
18:15 And obviously if you've written it down, you look at, you look at the yardage on the course
18:18 and you go, what's that?
18:19 Oh, that's my nine o'clock pitching wedge.
18:21 Yeah.
18:22 My nine o'clock.
18:23 And the other great thing about this is that when you get to the golf course, this process
18:27 gives you options as you're about to find out.
18:29 Okay.
18:30 So you've done all of that work on your pitching.
18:32 You should have some confidence in hitting the numbers that you're trying to hit.
18:36 But again, you need to be smart while you're out on the golf course.
18:39 Now Katie, the flag, I've lasered the flag.
18:42 It's 80 to the flag.
18:43 What is it to the back?
18:44 What is it to the middle?
18:45 So you've got 71 to the middle of the green.
18:47 And like we mentioned, we've mentioned before, the middle of the green is just safe place.
18:51 Yes.
18:52 Safe option.
18:53 So 71 to the middle, uphill a little bit.
18:55 So we're going to take that into account, but it's 83 to the back.
18:57 So hit one for us then Katie.
18:59 This is a, this will be a full sand wedge shot for you, but we've got two clubs because
19:03 we're going to, I'm going to ask you to play it in two different ways because this is the
19:05 beauty of really getting to know your pitching distances.
19:09 You can play these shots in different ways.
19:11 Yeah.
19:12 So I'm going to hit my full sand wedge first of all.
19:16 Lovely.
19:19 That's good.
19:20 Do you know, that's actually, I think that's pin high.
19:24 What did you say?
19:25 Yeah, that's pretty good.
19:26 Literally my full sand wedge will go about 75, 80 yards.
19:30 Perfect.
19:31 So my watch, you know, said 72 and actually we went for the backyard just so it's perfect.
19:36 Yeah.
19:37 So we're going to play the same shot again, but with a nine iron using that nine to three
19:41 action and hopefully the ball will go to the similar sort of distance.
19:45 Yeah.
19:46 And the reason this is quite a good idea as well is there's no trouble in between us and
19:49 the flag.
19:50 So you can bump and run it in if you like.
19:53 And a shorter swing is a lot safer.
19:55 Yeah.
19:56 A lot of golfers would stand there with a full sand wedge.
19:59 That's a lot of golf swing if you catch it skinny.
20:01 Yeah.
20:02 And you can hit big pulls or pushes as with any other part of your game.
20:05 So maybe this is the most consistent way of doing it.
20:07 Absolutely.
20:08 It's the safest way of doing it.
20:12 Yeah.
20:14 And I'm from where I'm stood, it's so interesting because it's a lot more of a driven ball flight.
20:20 It's a lot lower.
20:21 And it's half a swing.
20:22 It's run once it's gone onto the green, it's run probably a yard or two further than the
20:26 first one, but not a huge amount.
20:28 No.
20:29 And probably the most important thing is if I hadn't quite caught that, say I had caught
20:33 it a little bit skinny, there's not enough swing there to send me into a lot of trouble.
20:37 I may be at the back of the green, but I'm not going to be really in a pickle.
20:41 Yeah.
20:42 So as I said before, this might feel like a really kind of advanced technique, but you
20:45 can see from Katie's, the way that Katie's played it, it's actually really simple, but
20:49 it does require that time on the range to make sure that you know what you're doing.
20:53 Because once you become comfortable with shots like this, they can really, really help you
20:57 out on the course.
20:59 So there you have it.
21:00 That's our look at how you take your game from the range to the golf course.
21:04 Yeah.
21:05 And I think it's not just about what you do on the golf course.
21:09 It's about building good habits when you're practicing so that you are in fact practicing
21:13 the same game here as you play out there.
21:16 Yeah.
21:17 So simple piece of advice, but it requires real discipline and real thought to make sure
21:22 that you get it right.
21:23 Hopefully Katie's tips today will make a big difference.
21:25 But that's it for now.
21:27 Thanks very much for watching.
21:28 We'll see you next time.
21:29 [Music]