One of the biggest problems in golf is taking your game from the range to the course. Here’s why I think this is such a problem.

When you’re on the range, you have a bucket of balls and you hit them one after the other. Maybe you take a few practice swings in between, or maybe do a drill, and then you hit the ball to see how it went, and then you hit another one and you don’t really mind if the shot you hit is not your best because that’s what the range is all about. You’re here to learn, you’re here to correct mistakes, and mistakes are OK at the range.

But they’re not OK on the golf course. And the difference between the course and the range is that on the course you get to hit one shot, then you move on. And it might be three or four minutes since you hit your last shot. You don’t get to hit one maybe every 30 seconds and get into a groove like you do at the range, with lots of practice swings in between, and so forth.

That puts a bit of pressure on you when you play, and I understand that because I feel it myself. I only have one chance to get this right and then I have to live with the consequences.

So here’s how you minimize that problem over time. At the range, when you’re finished with most of your bucket, and you’ve accomplished what you sent to accomplish, leave about five balls.

Hit one. And sit down for about three minutes. And get up and hit another one, just like you were on the course. Align your shot, maybe take one practice swing, and then hit the ball. And then sit down again for another three or four minutes. Repeat.

Don’t limit yourself to full swings. Maybe hit a 75-yard pitch. Hit your driver one time. Mix it up, because that’s what you do when you play.

Now, you’re simulating the way you have to hit the balls on the golf course, one shot at a time, with a significant amount of time between shots. This kind of practicing gets you used to that, so on the course you’ll be a lot more at ease when it’s your turn to hit. It will just be business as usual.

I think if you make this procedure a regular part to your trips to the range, you’ll start feeling free to put your best swing on the ball more often than not when you play.