Driving range: Better for practice or is it better to just play 9 to practice?

[enis750]

One of the things that I think has really helped me on the range is the speed at which I go through the bucket.

EXACTLY! this is the exact same routine i go through when at the range i see too many guys pull out driver and hit 80 driver shots....ALL OVER THE MAP work on the short game and then move up as mentioned a 100 times before, if you can get your short game good, things will straighten out up top and you will start taking strokes off each round if you can produce from 100 yds in well said RRTTU

[Divot]

Having wasted years at the range hitting buckets...I have two routines:

The first is similar to what others have mentioned...I pretend it is a hole. I drive, hit a second shot, and usually pitch/lob/etc. Sometimes it is a par 5, and I break out the 3-wood/hybrid, other times it is a short/long par 4 where I utilize my middle irons. Just depends. However, I always try to pace myself...hit a ball...step away...watch the guy next to me hit a ball, then I might hit my shot. Pace is important for my game. I like to think of it as simulation-time.

The second is when I am trying to correct or add something to my game. Because I have been playing courses more recently, I have really concentrated on my shots inside 100 yards at the range. That means spending a lot of time hitting different shots with my pitch, sand, and lob wedge.

I always find a target too. I don't care if it is brown section of grass or a tree in the distance.

[Marinemike]

...watch the guy next to me hit a ball, then I might hit my shot. Pace is important for my game. I like to think of it as simulation-time.

So you're the overweight guy at my range that drags an office chair out with his bag, hits 2 or 3, and then sits down and smokes, and then repeats this until the bucket is gone.

Seriously though, I practice on the range, BUT it has to be PRACTICE. Otherwise it's a waste of 4 to 8 bucks.

[NorCalGolfer]

if it's a grass driving range...i'd rather go to the range than play 9. i won't go to a matt driving range.

[Divot]

Seriously though, I practice on the range, BUT it has to be PRACTICE. Otherwise it's a waste of 4 to 8 bucks.

From all of my experience in other sports...the best practice is game-like situations. Typically, you have to alternate shots with another fella on the course. So I like to pace myself by alternating my shots with other people at the range. It just helps pace my play and simulate on-course routine.

[pittpanther]

I pretend it is a hole. I drive, hit a second shot, and usually pitch/lob/etc. Sometimes it is a par 5, and I break out the 3-wood/hybrid, other times it is a short/long par 4 where I utilize my middle irons. Just depends. However, I always try to pace myself...hit a ball...step away...watch the guy next to me hit a ball, then I might hit my shot. Pace is important for my game. I like to think of it as simulation-time.

OK, but then what do you do if on your "second" shot, let's say a 5-iron, you top it? Do you then try to work on your 5-iron with the next few balls, or do you just continue with your pretend hole, and now select a 7-iron for your "third" shot?

In other words if you make a bad shot, do you try to work on that?

[mdvaldosta]

Best advice for the range:

1. ALWAYS have a specific target. A flag or yard marker. ALWAYS. Get in a mindset that you're hitting an approach shot to a green or laying up with a long iron.
2. ALWAYS hit at least 1/3 of your balls with half or 3/4 swings. Something like 60-75 yards. I like to start and finish with these. Lots of people just hit full shots and drivers, thus have little/no touch on pitch shots.
3. If you're a good ballstriker as-is, then work on working the ball. Hit a cut, draw, then straight. Repeat. Tiger, for example, hits 9 different trajectories in a rotation. low cut, low draw, low straight, then doing the same thing for medium and high shots. While you may not need or want to work the ball, learning how to do it is the easiest way to learn how to hit it straight as well.

[PiKapp23]

I've always been a fan of playing as opposed to the range. When I do hit range it's usually to try to work out one specific issue or just to work on tempo and the like. Most of the time at the range ,when I'm not trying to work on one specific thing, I play a 'simulated round'. At times I even pull out a scorecard from some course and hit shots as if I was playing that course, judging what club to hit next based on how well I hit the previous shot. I have always found this makes the range more fun and seems to benefit my game more. This helps me keep my tempo and rhythm better than just banging balls and improves focus. Additionally, it seems that next time I play the course I was 'playing' at the range I seem to play better.

[wachesawgolfer]

The best practice is on the golf course if you have a place you can access late in the door and play: several balls, say one from the blue, one from the white and one from the red and hole out on each. This puts a whole new prospective on each ball as different trouble comes into play. or play one ball hit twice from there and play the worst shot each time. or hit a driver on one ball, three or five wood the other and play out: or carry a few clubs say a 7 iron, wedge and putter and play on adjusting the shots with the 7 iron : or drop balls within 100 yards and attempt to get up and down....the list is endless. Merely playing regulation helps your game mettle and scoring but doesn't give you the many shots you need for real on the course "practice"

To me the range is only good for certain basic swing fundamental tuneup or a warm up for the full swing as the body quickly adjusts to make the compensations necessary to hit the ball with whatever swing you have that day from repeatedly hitting balls off a flat lie to the open, but such compensations will not repeat on the course. Save the range for the short game.

[TN94z]

My question is for all of the guys that practice on the course and keep a handicap. Do you post the scores from your practice sessions? Do you only post if it was good? Say you go out to the course after having decided to practice only, and all of the sudden you shoot a good score or vice versa? The reason I ask is because my cousin practices on the course a lot. The problem I have with this is he will go out and say that he is practicing unless he shoots a good score then it gets posted. It also happens that when we go play, if he starts playing badly then it is easy for him to say, well this is just a practice and I am not going to post this score.

For me, I like to keep my practice sessions and the course seperate. I am not talking about practice rounds.

[Fourputt]

The range is the place to work on your swing . For the necessary repetition needed to groove a swing you have to repeat over and over the same swing with the same grip and stance, something that you can't really do on the course. On those rare occasions when I do put in time at the range I usually only take my 7 iron and work purely on swing fundamentals. Those fundamentals will carry over to the entire bag.

The course is the place to work on your game . To improve your overall game, you need the sense of immediacy that each shot counts for something. That is why I even play my "practice" rounds by the Rules of Golf. If you get do-overs then you have eliminated that needed focus on each shot. Learning good course management requires practice too, and you can only do that on the course playing one ball for score. Again, it's the immediate feedback that you get which forces you to make the best decision and stroke possible on each shot. When you only get one chance to do it right, then you see where your game really stands, and you will also be able to pinpoint some specific areas which may need more work at the range or on the chipping and putting greens.

[ramrockgolfer35]

My question is for all of the guys that practice on the course and keep a handicap. Do you post the scores from your practice sessions? Do you only post if it was good? Say you go out to the course after having decided to practice only, and all of the sudden you shoot a good score or vice versa? The reason I ask is because my cousin practices on the course a lot. The problem I have with this is he will go out and say that he is practicing unless he shoots a good score then it gets posted. It also happens that when we go play, if he starts playing badly then it is easy for him to say, well this is just a practice and I am not going to post this score.

I only have my HCI in my profile to give everyone an idea of how I shoot. I have never actually logged a handicap, and all my rounds are practice. Until I consistently break 110, I will always be practicing.

[TN94z]

I only have my HCI in my profile to give everyone an idea of how I shoot. I have never actually logged a handicap, and all my rounds are practice. Until I consistently break 110, I will always be practicing.

That's a little different situation than what I am referring to. That is understandable.

[nevets88]

My question is for all of the guys that practice on the course and keep a handicap. Do you post the scores from your practice sessions? Do you only post if it was good?

I wonder what the rules of golf say about that. For me, I keep the first ball is in play and score it, but playing multiple balls probably breaks some rule I'm guessing. Can't you play 9 and have it not go towards your handicap?

[TN94z]

I wonder what the rules of golf say about that. For me, I keep the first ball is in play and score it, but playing multiple balls probably breaks some rule I'm guessing. Can't you play 9 and have it not go towards your handicap?

You can play as many rounds as you want and it not go toward your handicap..that's part of the honor system. And practice rounds are fine...I play them as well, but if I playing a round that I intend on posting and happen to shoot badly, I am still going to post it. Vice versa, if I am practicing and my ball striking is better than its been in weeks, I am not posting it just because it ends up being a good round.

I try to tell my cousin that this is going to hurt him in the long run. His handicap will not be accurate and it will easily show through in any tournament.

[bogeyhitter25]

I'd much rather play 9 then hit shots at the range.

When your hitting shots at the range, you aren't getting real life scenarios.

The only time I go to the range is if I'm working with something new in my swing, or I got a new club (excluding putter and wedge).

[TN94z]

I'd much rather play 9 then hit shots at the range.

Personally I don't go to the range for real life scenarios. I go because the lie is the same everytime which gives me the best opportunity to focus on ball striking which is the entire reason I practice.

Here is my question for you: If you are "practicing on the course" and you hit your ball in the middle of the fairway, then you hit your appoach shot on the green, and then you make your putt....where is the difference? Unless you take your ball and put it in the rough, take your ball and put it on a sidehill lie, face of a bunker, etc....there is not much difference. I understand when you hit errant shots you need to understand how to hit them, but my reasoning for going to the range is to greatly reduce the possibility for those errant shots. I go to the range to hit the ball in the fairway, onto the green, and then make my putt. To me, the "real life situations" thing is used too much as a crutch for not praciting at the range. I am not saying it is wrong, I am just saying I don't understand it. The only reasons I could see would be money, time, or you are working on course mgt. Not to mention that if you are practicing 100 shots from 150, you are beating the expensive greens to death.

[Fourputt]

Personally I don't go to the range for real life scenarios. I go because the lie is the same everytime which gives me the best opportunity to focus on ball striking which is the entire reason I practice.

Are all of your fairways dead flat? Mine aren't. But every range I've ever been to is. At the range I can't practice that 135 yard shot from a downhill, sidehill lie. Or the 160 yard fairway bunker shot with the ball 4 inches above my feet. And if I miss the shot I'm trying for at the range, who cares? There's always another ball in the basket... I'll hit it better next time.

And how am I beating expensive greens to death by playing golf. I may just be out practicing, but I'm still playing as if it means something. I'm not standing in the fairway hitting 40 balls at the green. At most I might hit a second one, and even that is rare. If I do hit a second ball, it's because the first one missed the green anyway, and I'm just trying to get a feel for the particular lie and how I should have played it. It is NOT a crutch. Just because I don't practice like you do doesn't make it wrong, just different. I find the range to be boring in the extreme, so I spend as little time as possible there, even though I get all the free balls I want. When I practice off the course, you'll find me on the chipping green practicing chips, pitches, and bunker shots.