Hitting the range

[mnel]

How often do you go to the driving range, and how many balls do you hit ? Currently, I am working on my swing big time, going four times a week. I try to go as often as I can. What would be best, in terms of muscle memory: hitting 70 balls 4 times a week, or 150 balls twice a week?

[sungho_kr]

I usually spend 2 to 3 hours on the range everyday, somedays only 6 irons, someday all the clubs. Try to get a 5 iron and hit like an hour for 5 days because the more days, the better, but you have to hit a lot of balls. Also, don't go to the range if 1. you don't have anyone watching you, cameras are considered as people. 2. You are not working on a specific part of your game. IE>DOWNSING, backswing, cocking, rotation of shoulders, whatever. Make sure you go to the range with a goal in mind. That's all I can say

[Finn07]

I would say to answer your question hitting 70 balls 4X a week would be more beneficial to you. Sometimes less is better. Its not easy hitting 150 balls at the range, sometimes I feel that would do you more harm then good and then at the end of the session your leaving there feeling that nothing was accomplished because of the poor last 50 swings that you took. If you were to stay there for that long you would definitely have to build your muscles and stamina up.

[Tsukihime]

I would also recommend going to the range 4times a week instead of 2 times , like Finn said , it is not easy to hit 150 balls per session , off course anyone could do it in less than an hour probably but , it would not benefit you at all.

Also i always go to the range with a specific goal in mind , dont go to the range just to hit balls , i mean sure you can do that if youre going with friends but if you are planning on working on your swing , establish some goals first .

And dont go to the range unsupervised , this is probably the worst mistake most amateurs are making , it is really hard to hit balls without someone watching you and telling you what you are doing wrong , if you are not willing to spend money on a teacher , you can videotape yourself , have it analyzed once in a while by a professionnal and work on what they are going to tell you!

[Snoogans]

Depends, but it's been raining like crazy here so I just practice my form in the mirror haha. Usually, I'll go 3-5 times a week and hit 1-2 of the largest buckets they have. I just don't go to hit balls though. I always have some kind of goal when I'm hitting.

[Finn07]

I went to the range to take a lesson today and it was snowing so hard that when I hit the ball it was difficult to see where it was going. (Lower NY) That snow didnt last for too long though. Now its about 50 degrees and sunny a few hours later.

[golfchief]

I always practice with a goal, usually first with a good turn and always a target to aim at, then some shots for distance and ball flight,when the weather is good I will play a practice round everyday and hit the range once or twice a week, then I'll hit 40-80 balls and quit when things start going bad or I'm happy with what I was working on. If nothing seems to be working after 20-30 ball I go home and try the next day.

[JPsuff]

Given those choices, I'd go with 70 balls, four times a week.

Additionally, if you're working on your swing, I'd make the majority of those swings with a wedge or other short iron. So out of a 70-ball session, I'd hit 50 with short irons, ten with a mid iron and ten with a long iron. I wouldn't even bother with a driver or woods in general until I felt that I had developed a dependable, repeatable swing with the shorter clubs.

Your swing is in the short irons. That's where you learn balance, timing, tempo acceleration and good habits like watching the ball leave before raising your head.

Short iron practice will groove your swing. In fact, when I start a typical practice session, I start with my 52-deg. wedge and move on up. But I never put the wedge away when I change to other clubs. I keep it nearby so that if I feel myself overswinging with the longer clubs, I'll immediately go right back to the wedge to regain my swing and then try the other clubs again.

If I were you, I wouldn't even bring a driver or fairway metal to practice for the first couple of weeks. This way there's no temptation to start blasting shots over the nets and you can focus on the real nuts and bolts of your swing.