Summer 2026

TAKE YOUR BEST SHOT B Y L A I RD SMA L L How to Take Your Range Swing to the First Tee ne of the most common things I hear from students is: “Laird, I hit the ball great on the range, but when I get to the first tee, it all falls apart.” If that sounds familiar, the issue usually isn’t your swing— it might be how you’re preparing your body and mind for the transition from the range to the course. Most amateurs head to the range with the intention of warming up, but somewhere along the way that turns into a full-blown practice ses- sion.They hit a couple of bad shots and want to fix them. Or they stripe a few and want to lock in the feeling. Before they know it, the final min- utes before teeing off are spent working on mechanics. That’s where trouble begins. You now have those 25 swing thoughts that don’t hold up well under pressure. There’s another factor at play here that hurts most golfers far more than they realize: adrenaline. It’s not a bad thing if you are aware of it—and know how to control it! On the practice range, adrenaline is almost nonexistent. There’s no score- card, no audience, no opening tee shot that “counts.” But step onto the first tee and suddenly the body is flooded with adrenaline. Heart rate increases, muscles tighten, tempo speeds up and decision-making gets rushed.You want to hit a good shot, not be embarrassed, not hold up the course, etc. For many golfers, that physiological shift alone is enough to derail a round before it ever gets started. In my observation, adrenaline has sidelined more good golf rounds than poor swing mechanics—especially when a player hits one or two bad shots early. Once adrenaline spikes, tension builds—and tension kills your golf swing! Tour players understand this. They don’t try to eliminate adrena- line—they manage it. During their warm-up and once they step onto the course, they control it through simple but deliberate behaviors: slower walking, deeper breathing and a more intentional pace in every- thing they do. Most importantly, they carry the same feelings from the range to the course. Nothing suddenly speeds up just because the round has started. That’s why their approach to warming up looks so different. Tour players go to the range with the intention of getting loose and developing rhythm and timing, not chasing perfect shots.They’re focused on the feel of solid contact and ball control.You’ll see them go through their full pre-shot routine, switch clubs often, and hit to different targets. This prepares them for the single-shot environment of the golf course. They also spend a significant portion of their warm-up on what I call “scorecard-relevant shots.”They start on the putting green, rolling short putts from three to six feet all around the hole—uphill, downhill, left-to- right and right-to-left.They’re building early success and confidence with the simplest shots. From there, they move into lag put- ting to establish distance control. Next comes chipping and pitching, gradually lengthening the swing while learning how the greens are reacting that day. Only then do they head to the range, where much of their time is spent hit- ting shots from 50 to 100 yards.Those shots matter. If you combine shots around the green with shots from 100 yards and in, they account for well over 65 percent of the shots on your scorecard. Most amateurs do the opposite.They go straight to the range, pound drivers and maybe roll a few putts, if time allows. Reorganizing your warm-up—starting with the short game—helps develop feel, improve timing and calm the body. Practice the same way—and you can take your swing to the course! Golf is a game we play for a lifetime—be a lifelong learner. Laird Small recently retired from a nearly half-century career as a golf professional. Most well known for his 19 years of leadership of the Pebble Beach Golf Academy, Small is a PGA Master Professional, one of GOLF Magazine’s top 100 teachers in America and was 2003 National PGA Teacher of the Year. Tour players go to the range with the intention of getting loose and developing rhythm and timing, not chasing perfect shots. O 100 C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • S U M M E R 2 0 2 6