How to Take Your Range Game to the Course

On this blog we’re going to be talking about how to bring your range game to the golf course and why that proves so difficult. You should leave this article with an actionable way to think the next time you go play.

Something happens when you go from the range to the first tee. It’s rarely some massive, revelatory moment that feels dramatically different. It’s often so subtle that we don’t even notice it. But it’s there. Something changes. So what is it that changes?

I think there’s one word that describes what changes the most: importance.

What happens on the course is simply more important to you than what happens on the range. And what happens in the club championship is more important than what happens when you’re playing by yourself. And what happens in the finals of a USGA Championship is more important than what happens in the club championship.

As these levels of importance rise, so does the feeling of pressure. And as the feeling of pressure rises, our performance decreases. But why? Why do we play worse when there’s more pressure?

This starts with your brain. Your brain at it’s most basic level is designed to help you survive and keep you comfortable. Our brains are capable of much more than that, which we’ll get to. But what are brains are basically designed to do is keep us comfortable and alive.

So when you enter a scenario that feels a little less comfortable, like the first tee of your club championship, your brain usually responds in a “whoa whoa whoa what’s going on here I’m not too sure about this” kind of way. And because it wants to keep you comfortable, it usually tries to give you reasons you should get out of there. This is why you start projecting into the future, worrying about how it might go, simulating the possible events that could happen. Or how suddenly you can remember with picture perfect clarity the last time you topped it off the first tee cuz other people were watching. Your brain is saying “yo, this doesn’t feel so good. Look at all the bad things that could happen. Remember last time you were here? Maybe we should get out of here.”

And if things get ramped up strongly enough, it goes from uncomfortable to potentially dangerous. At least to your brain. It feels so unpredictable and uncomfortable that now it feels like our life could be on the line. This could be a life or death scenario. So we definitely need to get outta here.

What happens to your body when you’re in a potential life or death scenario? It goes into protection mode. You tense up, heart rate and breathing get faster, you start sweating, and your movements get tight and quick. Starting to sound familiar?

So naturally when you’re in a situation of increased importance, this is where your brain goes.

The mental progression often goes like this:

Important round of golf → uncomfortable scenario → concern with the situation → uncertain outcome → worrying about how it might go → oh wait we don’t know how it’ll go and that’s not ok → we need to get out of here fast → tense, guidey, protective swings.

This is all because our brain is trying to help us survive what feels like a potential life threatening situation. Sounds a little dramatic, but your brain doesn’t lie. What it perceives is true might as well be true to your brain.

So what can we do about this? Are we just always going to play worse when we go from the range to the first tee? Well, the short answer is unfortunately probably so. Unless you can find a way to reduce the importance of a round of golf, then your brain will always ramp up it’s threat response mode. This usually entails us trying to care less, or lower our expectations. But both us these can be really inauthentic. And your brain cuts right through inauthentic. It doesn’t work. You’re trying to pretend reality isn’t true. The club championship really is more important. The USGA Championship really is more important. You care more. The consequences are higher. What you have to gain and lose have more weight to them. Denying this reality creates a sense that I’m not supposed to feel pressure or nerves or uncomfortable. But when you inevitably feel pressure and nerves and discomfort you think something’s wrong. And now you get caught up fighting a battle in your own head, instead of just playing golf.

So what’s a way we can handle pressure better? Surely there’s a way to perform well under pressure. This leads us to acceptance. Accepting reality for what it is. Matching how you feel with reality.

Saying things like “of course there’s more pressure, it’s a bigger tournament.” “Of course I’m uncomfortable, this is very important to me.” “Of course I care, because I want to do well.” And most importantly, “Of course the consequences of failure would sting, but I know what they are and I can live with them.”

Realizing you feel this way, and that’s because of the reality of the situation. You come to an acceptance of the situation, and how you feel about the situation.

This is how you can get as close as possible to performing the way you do on the range, on the course. You will almost always have at least some decrease in performance as the pressure rises. But the sooner you accept that, rather than fight it, the closer you’ll be to getting out of your own way and playing up to your potential.

Let’s summarize.

• The difference between the range and the course is the increased level of importance

• Increased level of importance leads to the feeling of pressure because of your brain’s perception of the situation you’re in

• Because your brain wants to keep you comfortable and safe, it doesn’t like pressure situations

• Your brain puts you into threat response mode, which means getting tighter and quicker

• This naturally leads to playing worse

• You can choose to fight the feeling of importance and pressure, or you can choose to accept the reality of the importance and how you feel about it

• Acceptance doesn’t make the uncomfortable feelings go away, but it allows you to be uncomfortable and still be present and hit the shot despite the discomfort

The next time you go from the range to the course, tap in to how you feel. And instead of fighting it or wanting out, accept it. Tell yourself “I’m feeling this because this round of golf is important to me. So let’s lean in and play anyway.”