Practice routine on the driving range-Practice ONLY

[Avid Golfer]

Does anyone have a routine that they use when they are practicing thats works for them? When I go, I feel like I am warming up for a round of golf, not really practicing. I start with my LW and move up to my driver. How should I go about doing this? Should I hit a few of each club, or start with what I am struggling with, or something like that? Any help or advice would be appreciated. Thanks

But what about a day when you are NOT going to play and need to work on something? Do you just work on that club(s) or do you focus on everything during your practice session?

If you are going to practice with the intent to improve your game (or maintain it), and you aren't warming up for a round I think you need to modify your practice to deal with your weaknesses. Here is what I suggest:

Start by hitting a couple of shots with a club you normally hit well to loosen up and get in a rhythm. (I don't recommend starting with the clubs your hitting bad as you can get discouraged quickly). After you've developed a rhythm, loosened up, and have some confidence setup a practice station to try to help elimanate fundamentals as faults. (Lay down clubs or other objects for alignment, ball position, and an intermediate target. Monitor your grip, posture, and balance to make sure they are sound). Finally have an idea of what you want to work on (beating balls just for the sake of it will do you little good - unless you are trying to maintain the game/swing you already have). If you have directional problems (hooks, slices, blocks, pulls, etc) have drills in mind that are geared to address those problems specifically. If you are working on your swing plane, or path have in mind the drills you are going to work on before hand. If your mind starts to wander, or you get tired call it a day, and schedule your practice for another day. That's my advise, do with it what you will.

[meenman]

When i hit the range I always hit my clubs in this order (8-10 of each)

3 hybrid
9 iron
4 iron
8 iron
6 iron
5 iron
7 iron
3 wood

then maybe 5-6 shots with my driver - from there its off to the putting area or chipping area for 1/2 hour

[x-forged]

good i dea realist, i do the same. on the range, i will set up a hole. pick a fairway between two flags and hit the driver or other long club, hit to a reachable flag. pretend you missed the green and hit a pitch shot.

[Crafty]

I do a lot of work with my 8 iron and down. These are known as scoring clubs. Solid short iron play is a key factor in scoring well. I work on both hitting them straight and varying the trajectory. I tend to stay away from hitting a lot of long irons. I have found that it only decreases my confidence in the clubs.

Let it be known though that there is a major difference between a warm-up on the range and a workout on the range. Warming up is hitting balls in order to strectch out the mauscle and get a vague idea of your swing for the day. Don't go into "fix-it mode" when warming up.

I attached the spreadsheet I made to show my range routine. Although I often add and take things out base on time on how I am currently hitting the ball.

[joseywales]

I started doing something last year that really helped me alot. Before each round, I went to the range and hit balls in the exact order that I would as if I was actually playing a round on that particular course. When I was done and went to the first tee to actually play a round, I felt as if I had already played the course once. It took alot of anxiety and nervousness away before playing in any tournaments especially.
For example: On the first hole (par 4) Driver,8 iron
second hole (par 4) 3 wood,9 iron
and so on and so on.
It also helps so you don't just hit a bunch of 7 irons in a row only grooving that club. You are able to go from driver to irons shot after shot. It also helps you to slow down after every swing so you can think more about what you are doing.

[Parker0065]

My practice routine for the winter months here in the Northeast is a bit different than the Summer months. My only option is to hit balls in a dome which is better than nothing, or a golf net!

My winter routine is grooved at this point,,lol and goes like this.
I hit 2 buckets or roughly 120 balls. I'll will begin by warming up as if I were playing that day. I will start with stretching then swing with a weighted club, and then hit balls with a wedge and work my way up. Once I'm warmed up I will go through a couple drills that I have used for years. One is hitting balls with my right hand only and the other is hitting balls with my feet together. These two drills have been great for my timing.

After that I will go into "Play Mode"! This is where I'll play a course in my mind and go through each hole from Tee Shot to Approach Shot!

I will save the last 7-10 shots for touch shots of 50-75 yard. Basically hit half wedges to targets.


In the Summer I will basically exclude the "Play Mode" part because I try to practice immediately after I play 18 holes. It may seem like a drag to practice right after you play but it took my game to a new level when I started it 15 years ago!!!

[clubmaker15]

Crafty- Did you mean to send a range workout routine because it is your weight-room routine? I am happy you sent out the workout routine, but is there a range routine that you do too? Thanks

[nykfan4life]

I usually am working on one or two things in particular. but sometimes i just hit balls aimlessly

[Crafty]

I do a lot of work with my 8 iron and down. These are known as scoring clubs. Solid short iron play is a key factor in scoring well. I work on both hitting them straight and varying the trajectory. I tend to stay away from hitting a lot of long irons. I have found that it only decreases my confidence in the clubs.

my mistake I put my lifting routine on by accident...... here is the actual practice routine....

[Doctorfro]

8i...5i....3w...Driver...W or SW and then maybe a couple of hybrids..If I have even more time I hit some half shots or punches. Really depends what's going on with my game lately

[wedge player]

to practice i first hit some partial wedges to 50 yd flag then full pw then 8 iron,then 6i then 4i then 3 wood then driver,then go to short game area then go back to range and pound 4 irons till i leave

[kevin.chan]

I start with Sand Wedge , hitting 25% , 50% , 75% & 100% to get the feel and rhythm.

Then slowly move up to longer Irons till Driver.

I normally spend 50% of the range balls on wedge shot.

[granitegolf]

clubmaker 15-

I often go and practice without playing afterwords. I try and spend 1-2 hours. For me it is very important to have a goal for each session. Sometimes it is putting, sometimes short game, distance control under 100 or driving etc etc...

When hitting balls I always use alignment sticks and pay special attention to grip and posture.

I also work on at least two drills from my instructor. Right now I'm working on pre hinging and hitting full shots with a nerf ball between my arms.

Most important though is to keep it fun. If it starts to be boring or a chore I change it up or head home.

[ks8829]

Practice most of your time with your wedge game, focusing on solid contact, distance control and direction.

One your achieve solid contact, test it with an occasional 7 iron, 5 iron, fairway wood to achieve the same solid contact. next focus on distance control and finally direction.

[Nickynoodles]

If im not playing 18 that day and im just getting some reps in. I warm up with a sand wedge and hit 10 balls then i hit my 7 iron for 10 balls, 5 iron 10 balls and 3 irons 10 balls. After i hit them 40 balls i will hit like im playing a course. I will pick a target, tee a ball and drive it. Then i'll drop a ball and hit a 6 iron and then a PW. Then tee a ball hit a drive, drop one and hit a 8 iron, then a LW. And just repeat using different irons after every drive. If i notice that im hitting 1 particular iron worse then the others, after i hit a large bucket i will buy a small and work on that particular iron.

[PhilsRHman]

Depends on what I'm working on.

Early in the season, long layoff, or just making terrible contact:
Warm up with a short iron (usually 8) to get loose. After 10-15 balls and solid contact, move to a mid iron (usually a 5I). If I have a lot of trouble I'll drop to a 6, then a 7, then an 8 until I find a comfortable spot, then jump back to the 5. Once I'm hitting it well with the 5I, I'll jump to the 3I and repeat as above. Keep in mind, this is when I'm really trying to find my swing. The better I hit my longer irons, the better overall I'm swinging. Often it means several short irons mixed in just to get that better feel back in. All the time I'm focusing on alignment, target and making solid contact. Sometimes I'll even break out my 1I, which serves as a training aid when I'm having overall trouble.

When playing often and trying to hone in:
I start with 8I to warm up. After getting loose, jump to a 3I, hit 3-4 just to get the feel. Then drop to PW. Then a few 4I, to get a full swing mixed in, then gap wedge. A few drivers, then I'll shift back into scoring irons. Jumping between 8I, GW, LW, 9I, etc. The key is to constantly change clubs (never more than 3-4 swings with one), and mixing in quite a few half shots (90 yards with a 8I, 50 yards yards with a SW, etc), messing with knock-downs, trajectory, draws, cuts, etc. The key for me to stay entertained is to try different things. I especially like if I'm with someone and have them call out draw, cut, low, high, etc. On the course you're constantly hitting different shots, and I think the key to developing touch and feel and distance control is to mix it up often on the range. After I've spent quite a while hitting full shots with the short irons (8, 9, PW, GW), then I do basically the same but completely with the wedges. Some low, some high, some full, some half. In my mind, the ability to make pure contact with a 50 pct swing on a SW, or a 75 pct LW, translates even better than grooving full swing after full swing. Sometimes I'll try to see how SHORT I can hit a 7I. For me, the concentration on clipping the ball perfectly is exactly what I need.

You'll notice I've barely mentioned the driver. I'm too inclined to fall in love with cranking drivers and I know for sure it robs me of energy and does me no good. However, I will devote specific time for tee shot. So that's driver, 5W, 3I. For the most part, I hit 10 drives for ever 1-2 of the others. To avoid simply blasting away, I choose very specific targets and shape of shot. I'll also try to imagine a fairway to help measure just how accurate I was.

Overall, driving range practice for me breaks down to 65-75 pct scoring clubs, 20-25 pct tee shots, 5 pct mid and long irons. Doing the math, you hit 14 tee balls a day, so it's important to have confidence in those. Figure 6-7 shots from 3I-7I, and the rest are going to be 8I or shorter. All the work you do should keep your longer irons sharp but allow you to really hone in with the scoring clubs.

One caveat. When I was first learning to play, one of the best pieces of advice I followed was Harvey Penick's suggestion to find one club and learn to love it. For me, it was 8I, which at the time was my 150 club. I hits hundreds of balls with it, learned to punch it out of the woods, learned to hit it high, hit it low, hit it with a huge hook and a high stinky cut, and how to hit it 100 yards while never getting higher than the flag stick. On the course, I knew that as long as I could get between 130-165, I could hit it and find a piece of the green. To this day, I'm always most comfortable with an 8I in my hands.

[Stickbo]

Wow i learned a lot after reading these. I am going to change up my routine a bit for next summer.

But here is what I usually do when I am practicing at the range. Start with 50 yard shots, half wedges. then full wedges to the 150 yard flag. I feel this stretches me aout pretty good. Then 7 iron, 5 iron, 5 wood then driver. Then back to the problem areas. Usually "cool" down with some more wedges from 100 yds and in.

[DaSportsGuy]

When I'm at the driving range I only practice with my Driver, 3 Wood, and Hybrid. Everything else I can hit in my back yard without worrying about hitting any houses.

When I get to the range I usually take two with all my wedges and irons to warm up, then I take 5 swings with my Driver, 3 Wood, and Hybrid rotating in order.


-2 with 60°
-2 with 56°
-2 with 52°
-2 with PW
-2 with 9i
-2 with 8i
-2 with 7i
-2 with 6i
-2 with 5i
-2 with 4i
-5 with Hybrid
-5 with 3 Wood
-5 with Driver
-5 with Hybrid
-5 with 3 Wood
-5 with Driver
...