Games at the driving range....?

[ScottL]

I'v made a commitment to go to the range and practice more than rounds I play this year. Last year I played around 15-20 rounds, but probably only hit range 10 times. I think I should practice more.

One thing my buddy and I do when we go together is, we each pick a certain club (example 7 iron) and pick a particular flag/green. They all have a "green" (although not checkup quality, but there is a distincive green area around the flags".

We both take 10 balls and compete against each other to see who can get the highest percetage on the green. Our goal is to get 7-8 balls on the green, then we switch to another club/green.

Its actually really good practice and fun. Iv yet to ever go 10/10.

But Im curious, are there other good little driving range games out there rather than just hacking it down the field?? Love to hear what else you guys do

[kpaulhus]

We do the same thing, but we throw in twists, like it has to be a punch, draw, or fade.

Of course pelting the ball picker guy is always fun.

[B-Con]

When driving, I pick a couple markers a hundred or so feet apart and declare those the virtual markers of my fairway. I then count how many "fairways" I hit while I drive.

[Randy4h]

Same as kpaulhus - Call your shot. High draw, low fade, 1/2 swings to short flag, etc.

[bananas]

Same as you guys basically horse. Pick shot pick club pick location winner calls next shot... ect

[RIduffer]

I've heard people on this forum mention playing 'virtual holes'. So pretend you're at your home course and hit the clubs you would need for each hole. I like this idea because you have to switch clubs after each shot...hitting ten 7-irons in a row is not something you'll ever do on the course.

[aca247]

there was an artical in a golf magazine i read where someone trys to hit the ball under 200 yards with a driver to teach tempo

[Fairway_CY]

there was an artical in a golf magazine i read where someone trys to hit the ball under 200 yards with a driver to teach tempo

That would be mighty difficult for a lot of the people here. Trying to hit the ball under 200 yards with a driver would require a quarter swing with a driver gripped down to the metal/graphite.

On a more serious note... I'm one who plays a virtual/simulated round. Keeps my mind in the practice session. I also tend to work on my short game by hitting 15-20 balls to a specific target and seeing how many I can land 'in the zone'. I start at about 20 yards and move up to about 65 by the time I'm done. CY

[KwSipp]

Some of my buddies and I play "the wedge game". We have about 5 flags within 75 yards that we have to make inside a 10 yard wide pad, we play a points system with it too, 3 if you hole out 2 if you make the 3 foot pad around the flag and 1 if you make the 10 yard wide pad, oh and deduct a point if you miss all together. Makes for some good ole fun.

[pearfootball]

Here are a couple of techniques/games i've found benficial on the driving range:

1. If hitting wedges at the 50 or 100 yard signs, try aiming for the individual digits, as opposed to the target itself. Helps your mind focus on a more precise target.

2. Take a particular club and hit a straight shot, a draw and a fade. Then a high straight one, high draw and a high fade. Then a low straight one, low draw and a low fade. If you do not execute any of the shots to a satisfactory level (depending on your level), start from the beginning.

3. Play imaginary holes on your home course. (Try and choose holes which you find tough or generally tend to struggle with.) This is a good exercise for visualisation and can also be used prior to a competitive round. (As part of your warm up, play the first hole that you wil play on the course. )

4. Only hit one shot with each club. I sometimes find that I get caught up in hitting too many wedges, or 6 irons or drivers at the range. By switching club every shot, it keeps your mind fresh, forces you to pick new targets and more accurately simulates an actual round

[James_Black]

We have ad signs at around 150 yards out.
Pretty good way to practice punch shots!

[Gebus]

My friends and I have a darts style 201 game we play. We set the score we wish to attain say 5000 and just like darts you have to get to 5000 but you use the yardages you hit.
The rules:

1. Set the limit 5000 is good if you all hit the driver around 250
2. Set the left and right limits for each shot (the tighter the better, any shot outside the lines gets a 0)
3. You have to hit every club in the bag (other than the putter, I know you were thinking it) in rotation for example if you hit driver on your first ball you cant hit driver again until your 14th shoot.
4. If you have target greens on your golf course you can call a shoot to the target green and if it lands (first bounce since range balls rarely stop) on it you get 3X that distance added to your score, if you miss the green you get 0
5. You must finish with exactly 5000 (with in measurable proximity), so if you have 120 and have to hit driver... good luck. If a player goes over 5000 3X his last shot is subtracted from the score.

The thing I really like about this game is that it really forces accuracy, we usually give ourselves 30 yds left to right to work with so you really have to make each shot count. It also places a lot of pressure on long shots games usually finish within 500 points so two missed drives could mean a loss...

Tips for playing:

• If you know your going to play pack a little notepad and pen and even a calculator for the arithmetically impaired.
• For keeping track of which clubs you've used when you use a club don't put it back in the bag just lean them against the bag and when your done the rotation put them back in.
• I would hazard a guess (its a real shot in the dark) that the point limit should be reduced by about 200 points per stroke-difference in handicap between players.

[LeftyTrevor]

I tend to stick with the virtual hole practice. Sometimes, I play the hole backwards i.e from the green to the tee starting with 8-9 iron or wedge. Helps me sometimes with visualizing a little bit better.

[The GENERAL]

I like some of the other suggestions of playing virtual holes.

Another one that I do is when I get to the bigger clubs in the bag, I will play the 14 tee shots (par 4's and 5's) that I expect to face in my next round. So I will be using either a Driver, 3-wood, hybrid or 3 iron, and imagining what my thought process will be on that hole, and how I will shape my shot off the tee.

[right handed phil mickelson]

My biggest problem at the moment is driving accuracy, so what I do is do exactly what B-Con does and pick some flags 100 feet or so apart (nice narrowish fariway), and see how many balls out of 14 I can hit in that area. (14 fairways on a par 72 course).

[BonoVox]

Pretty basic. Pick a target and closest to. Winner picks next target. We try to alternate distances and directions. At the range we frequent they have some nets that you can fly a ball into at partial wedge shot distances. We sometimes will alternate until one of us gets a ball into it.

[senorchipotle]

there was an artical in a golf magazine i read where someone trys to hit the ball under 200 yards with a driver to teach tempo

i fail to understand how this could help with tempo.

[golf_junkie27]

Something I read from Ian Poulter and that's hitting to the same target with various clubs. For example, from 100 to 150 yards, using a 5I through 8I. This teaches you control, how to swing easy and more importantly, how to hit different shots depending on the conditions.

I also play a game where I hit the same club, say a 7 iron and choose an easy distance like 140 yards and hit a variety of shots.

One other thing I do is overclub and grip down. I find this helpful for those days where my swing is just not there. Knowing I have more than enough club relaxes me, I swing easier and have a much better time hitting targets. Since I'm going under a swing change, this has been really helpful.