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Driving Range - How many balls?


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Hi guys,

I've been playing for about 2.5 months and got so addicted to golf, that taking a day off is next to impossible and I end up in a golf club anyway for a sandwich and a cup of tea while watching people finishing the 18th hole :)

My question is - when you are out on a driving range, how many balls do you use on an average session? I am feeling quite exhausted after 150-180, but I notice people practicing there with at least 250+ ? Is it a matter of training? I am 28, average build, but haven't done much sport before.

Love this forum! Probably read like 20+ pages completely of different topics in the last 5 days. A lot of very helpful people around here! Glad I joined in!

P.S Sorry for any English mistakes, not my first language :)

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Welcome, Trap!

150-180 balls in one session is a lot!

I usually hit a medium bucket, which is about 60 balls.

But it takes me about an hour to an hour and a half.  I practice by going through the same routine as if I am actually playing.  For example, I line up my shot, and go through checking the stance, posture, and the grip before I hit.  I do that for each shot.

Just remember, it's NOT how many you hit, but it's how well you practice.

Don

:titleist: 910 D2, 8.5˚, Adila RIP 60 S-Flex
:titleist: 980F 15˚
:yonex: EZone Blades (3-PW) Dynamic Gold S-200
:vokey:   Vokey wedges, 52˚; 56˚; and 60˚
:scotty_cameron:  2014 Scotty Cameron Select Newport 2

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Agree with @Yukari . Hitting that many balls is more likely to ingrained bad habits than good ones. Once you get fatigued you start to quit on your pivot, weight shift etc... Personally, I wish they had 20 ball buckets. That would be perfect for my practice needs.

Yours in earnest, Jason.
Call me Ernest, or EJ or Ernie.

PSA - "If you find yourself in a hole, STOP DIGGING!"

My Whackin' Sticks: :cleveland: 330cc 2003 Launcher 10.5*  :tmade: RBZ HL 3w  :nickent: 3DX DC 3H, 3DX RC 4H  :callaway: X-22 5-AW  :nike:SV tour 56* SW :mizuno: MP-T11 60* LW :bridgestone: customized TD-03 putter :tmade:Penta TP3   :aimpoint:

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Usually 250 balls, But, a good majority of those are used for my drills, some for short, med, and longer chip shots, and pitch shots. I think out of the 250 I hit last night, maybe 15 were with driver. I tend to work on my scoring irons, i.e. PW to 7i alot.

As for getting tired, I would say that maybe you are just Pounding balls, instead of having a Structured practice plan, i.e working on your weaknesses, whether it be your set up, grip swing, ect. and do them SLOWLY. I'm almost 66 yrs old, have a bad back and after 250 balls, I feel pretty good, unless my back acts up.

Rest every now and then, if you have a drill your doing, do it with purpose, and take your time, ranges don't charge by the hour..lol

Slowly over time, your body will get accustom to hitting balls, heck when I was playing a bunch in the mid 90's, I'd hit up to 400 balls a day..which got to be kind of expensive... :doh:

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Agree with @Yukari. Hitting that many balls is more likely to ingrained bad habits than good ones. Once you get fatigued you start to quit on your pivot, weight shift etc...

Personally, I wish they had 20 ball buckets. That would be perfect for my practice needs.

20..? shoot takes me at least 30 just to get warmed up...haha

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I hit 200 blls when I go practice ... its the most cost efficient too for me $15 ... under the lights ... I practice with a purpose.  I do have to wear headphones with my tunes loud ... especially when the guy next to me is teaching his girlfriend or buddy ... that way I stay in my thoughts are practice zone ...

Ken Proud member of the iSuk Golf Association ... Sponsored by roofing companies across the US, Canada, and the UK

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112 balls is the cheapest price I get for the range balls.

But oftentimes we split the 112 to about 56 balls between me and my dad.

Then we take a coffee break afterwards.

No noticable difference between hitting 112 alone at the range, or 56 at a time though...

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Unlimited balls,  3 hours time, $12 is the best option for me at the local range. I hit about 300 balls. Sometimes get weary and find that this tiredness, esp my legs, forces me to 'get back to basics', and that is good.  I would prefer to play more but each time on the course is $100+..

As far as beginners and fatigue, such is common as your body and mind are working overtime to do it correctly. I can swim for 45 mins at normal pace but beginners get into the water with fear and confusion and can't last 10 mins before deep fatigue.

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I only ever hit about 100, max. Any more than that and I can feel myself getting tired. I generally manage to get an hour to an hour and a half out of that though.

In my bag:

Driver: Titleist TSi3 | 15º 3-Wood: Ping G410 | 17º 2-Hybrid: Ping G410 | 19º 3-Iron: TaylorMade GAPR Lo |4-PW Irons: Nike VR Pro Combo | 54º SW, 60º LW: Titleist Vokey SM8 | Putter: Odyssey Toulon Las Vegas H7

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I could literally hit balls all day, it doesn't fatigue me that much. I've had long practice sessions and walked 30ish holes in the same day, 7-8 hours total and still fresh as a daisy.

However, I usually get the best results from 2-4 buckets, any more than that and I tend to get off track a bit.

In My Bag:

Adams Super LS 9.5˚ driver, Aldila Phenom NL 65TX
Adams Super LS 15˚ fairway, Kusala black 72x
Adams Super LS 18˚ fairway, Aldila Rip'd NV 75TX
Adams Idea pro VST hybrid, 21˚, RIP Alpha 105x
Adams DHY 24˚, RIP Alpha 89x
5-PW Maltby TE irons, KBS C taper X, soft stepped once 130g
Mizuno T4, 54.9 KBS Wedge X
Mizuno R12 60.5, black nickel, KBS Wedge X
Odyssey Metal X #1 putter 
Bridgestone E5, Adidas samba bag, True Linkswear Stealth
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I could literally hit balls all day, it doesn't fatigue me that much. I've had long practice sessions and walked 30ish holes in the same day, 7-8 hours total and still fresh as a daisy.

However, I usually get the best results from 2-4 buckets, any more than that and I tend to get off track a bit.

Your such a Stud..... :-$

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Welcome, Trap!

150-180 balls in one session is a lot!

I usually hit a medium bucket, which is about 60 balls.

But it takes me about an hour to an hour and a half.  I practice by going through the same routine as if I am actually playing.  For example, I line up my shot, and go through checking the stance, posture, and the grip before I hit.  I do that for each shot.

Just remember, it's NOT how many you hit, but it's how well you practice.

+1 on this.  I am 54 and hitting a lot of balls is counter productive.  Once fatigue sets in, my form goes down and I miss the point of the session.  With a medium bucket, I will save 10 - 15 for pitches and other shots I wank to try like get out of trouble shots.  I work on one specific thing during a session from my instructor using slower swings with a few full speed swings.  I get much better results with that than hitting bucket after bucket.  If I had three hours to hit balls, I would play instead.

After the range session, I will spend time on the short game if I have time.

Scott

Titleist, Edel, Scotty Cameron Putter, Snell - AimPoint - Evolvr - MirrorVision

My Swing Thread

boogielicious - Adjective describing the perfect surf wave

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My range has 60 ball buckets and I start to lose focus with that big pile of balls staring at me, which is why I prefer to practice at home with a net of some kind and a handful of balls. I find it easier to stay on point with my practice and not get sucked into machine gun mode. That's just me and YMMV.

Yours in earnest, Jason.
Call me Ernest, or EJ or Ernie.

PSA - "If you find yourself in a hole, STOP DIGGING!"

My Whackin' Sticks: :cleveland: 330cc 2003 Launcher 10.5*  :tmade: RBZ HL 3w  :nickent: 3DX DC 3H, 3DX RC 4H  :callaway: X-22 5-AW  :nike:SV tour 56* SW :mizuno: MP-T11 60* LW :bridgestone: customized TD-03 putter :tmade:Penta TP3   :aimpoint:

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My range only has one size bucket, and I think it is about 40. Usually I hit one bucket, sometimes two. For a good practice session, one is not quite enough, but two is too many for me. I either get tired or stale. Sometimes I go to work on something specific, and sometimes just to sort of go through the bag. A good practice session for me is about 1.5-2.5 hours, including 30-45 minutes of chipping and putting.

Don

In the bag:

Driver: PING 410 Plus 9 degrees, Alta CB55 S  Fairway: Callaway Rogue 3W PX Even Flow Blue 6.0; Hybrid: Titleist 818H1 21* PX Even Flow Blue 6.0;  Irons: Titleist 718 AP1 5-W2(53*) Shafts- TT AMT Red S300 ; Wedges Vokey SM8 56-10D Putter: Scotty Cameron 2016 Newport 2.5  Ball: Titleist AVX or 2021 ProV1

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I've found that, for me, it's not the number of balls I hit but instead HOW I hit them. If I'm just swinging away with the driver and am hitting the balls as fast as I can tee them up, it's both counter productive and quite tiring. My preferred way to practice is grab some balls (usually a medium or large bucket for practice, a small for a pre-round warmup. Sizes are 40, 80, and 120 balls) and head out to the range, but I won't hit a full shot for at least the first five swings. The first target on the range is a 3/4 60* from the front grass and a "full" (75% power is the max when I hit a wedge with a full swing for accuracy reason) from the back grass, so I always start with a gap wedge and pitch it halfway to the green the first two shots. Then I transition up into bigger swings and shorter clubs until I've hit about 20 wedge shots at that green. From there, when I've loosened up, I tend to practice whatever needs the most work. Recently my tee shots have been my Achilles heel so I've spent a good portion of time working with the 3-wood and driver, but it really depends on what needs work. The biggest thing about this though is that I will never just hit balls to hit balls. Every shot I go through my pre-shot routine, pick a specific target, and then hit the shot. Once the shot is hit I usually go and at least brush the sand off my club with my toe because a dirty club is a pet peeve of mine, but sometimes I go and wipe it down completely. All this usually means that I end up spending around a minute on each ball, except for the first 10 where I'm just trying to stretch out and loosen up. At that pace I can keep practicing for as long as it continues to feel productive to do so without getting tired provided that I eat and drink plenty of water.
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Your such a Stud.....

Well, maybe. But 5k of running or a few sets of lifting and I'm usually wishing for death. Just have a pretty well conditioned core and legs, anything requiring much muscle mass or endurance and I'm screwed.

The point I was trying to make was that I do best when I hit far less than my capacity. Being patient is better than being able to hit hundreds of balls on the range.

EDIT: Out of curiosity, does everyone here pay by the bucket, have a membership plan, or a home setup? I personally have unlimited range with my membership but I think a lot of guys have different habits if they pay.

In My Bag:

Adams Super LS 9.5˚ driver, Aldila Phenom NL 65TX
Adams Super LS 15˚ fairway, Kusala black 72x
Adams Super LS 18˚ fairway, Aldila Rip'd NV 75TX
Adams Idea pro VST hybrid, 21˚, RIP Alpha 105x
Adams DHY 24˚, RIP Alpha 89x
5-PW Maltby TE irons, KBS C taper X, soft stepped once 130g
Mizuno T4, 54.9 KBS Wedge X
Mizuno R12 60.5, black nickel, KBS Wedge X
Odyssey Metal X #1 putter 
Bridgestone E5, Adidas samba bag, True Linkswear Stealth
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EDIT: Out of curiosity, does everyone here pay by the bucket, have a membership plan, or a home setup? I personally have unlimited range with my membership but I think a lot of guys have different habits if they pay.

I have unlimited range use with my membership, but only use it to warm up before I play.

If I am driving up to the club, I may as well play a round. I will use the putting green after a weekday round if I end up finishing too fast.

Follow me on twitter

Chris, although my friends call me Mr.L

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Note: This thread is 3602 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

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