No fan of the driving range...

[Fatphil]

I'm going to say this, take it as you will but I think it's pretty accurate:

remember jamo,,,medical marijuana is legal in California.

[Leftygolfer]

I'm not a huge of the range myself. I believe if you don't have a purpose you are wasting your time. I go to work on alignment since this is my issue. I had my biggest advancements in golf by playing a ton. I don't think practicing is the same. To be great at this stupid game, you got to play.

[sean_miller]

I'm not a huge of the range myself. I believe if you don't have a purpose you are wasting your time. I go to work on alignment since this is my issue. I had my biggest advancements in golf by playing a ton. I don't think practicing is the same. To be great at this stupid game, you got to play.

When I play a lot, I get somewhat better at golf and really good at walking while carrying a golf bag. That's good too.

I can duplicate, and work on mastering, any shot while at the range (we have a really good range), and it's playing rounds that tells me to work on. It's good to have a basic routine for every trip to the range, but working in something that was a struggle the last time out keeps it interesting.

[Zeph]

Using the course as a place to practice can be useful. On the range, many tend to start minigunning balls and get too hot. On the course you hit the ball, then have to walk a long way to hit your next shot. If you enter a round with a single swing thought, you can get better by being more focused on what you do. Being on the course also puts more pressure on you, so you can actually practice better than on the range. After a shot you got the distance up to the ball to think about the previous shot. What went wrong, what went right. Don't always go out on the course to shoot the lowest score, play rounds where you don't keep score, but just work on your game.

I like doing both, hitting balls at the range and walk the course. The range is quicker, but cost more since I have to pay for the balls. The course takes more time, but with free play, it doesn't cost me anything.

[Leftygolfer]

One thing I've noticed is I am much better on the course. I know all the games and visualization techniques to make the range more "golf" like but I am just not as good. When I identify something I need to work on I go to the range. For me golf is more about managing misses and a mental game. Once I get serious about getting better, I will probably be at the range alot but for now and my life I am happy to shoot right around 80, enjoy the walk, forget the bad shots, remember the good ones. I don't know if I will ever put in the time to be as good as I can be. In order to do that, I would like to go to a golf school with Dave in Erie, buy a video camera, participate in Evolvr, and practice or play 4-5 times a week. Having a 3 year old and a wife that is happy is more important to me than being a 5 HC. If things go as planned, I will join the club near my house, my son will play with me everyday, my wife will have things she enjoys, and I will be a really good player. It is just flat out expensive. I love competitive golf but talk about an expense and time killer. If you don't compete you never know how good you really are.

[GolfBear]

Jamo, I'm dead serious. Ask any Pros or Low handicapers, they would rather spend time practicing on the course rather than pounding balls at the driving range. My friends who play golf more than 5 years only go to a driving range 3 or 4 times a year.

Vijay Singh has been known to hit over 1200 balls a day on the RANGE. Tiger was talking about getting his "ball count up" to around 1000 before he played in the Masters this year. I've personally watched a PGA pro hit sand wedges on the range for over two hours at a local tournament. PGA pro's hit thousands of balls a week on the range. Some even go to the range immediately after a round to work on things. It may not be the most enjoyable thing they do but it's an integral part of their game.

I've played golf for over 30 years and at one point my handicap was 3.5. I never would have gotten there without going to the range at least twice a week in addition to playing 36 holes every Saturday. What you WON'T see pro's do is what you see amateurs do and that's smash a bucket of balls downrange with their driver with absolutely no clue of what they're trying to accomplish. Proper work at the range involves a plan and execution of that plan. Unfortunately too many amateurs treat it like a carnival game. Practice rounds where you work on your game on the course are also a huge help but they can be an expensive way to practice!

[McGolf-Doggie]

Last week my swing off the mats was in tatters, but yesterday I went out and shot my best 9 holes to date on the course (39), even with residual pain and stiffness from an old herniated neck flare up. (Long game wasn't pretty, although straight enough at key points. Short game bailed me out again, in spades from most of the sketchy tee shots.)

Sure I prefer to hit off grass, but I use the range a lot to keep the swing as grooved as possible, but also for aiming at varying targets .

Rotella, I think, advises something like 60% of range time be spent on "non-mechanical" practice, i.e. shooting as if you were on a course. (I guess that is assuming one has some kind of a swing going.)

Choi, in his clinic I attended also spoke a lot about picking various targets during his practice. He spends quite a few hours a day on the short game in the morning, and the long game in the afternoon at his own personal practice area.


http://thesandtrap.com/forum/threads...highlight=Choi

[Zeph]

Vijay Singh has been known to hit over 1200 balls a day on the RANGE. Tiger was talking about getting his "ball count up" to around 1000 before he played in the Masters this year. I've personally watched a PGA pro hit sand wedges on the range for over two hours at a local tournament. PGA pro's hit thousands of balls a week on the range. Some even go to the range immediately after a round to work on things. It may not be the most enjoyable thing they do but it's an integral part of their game.

Too bad 1000 balls would run me $140, and I would run out of balls all the time.

[GolfBear]

Last week my swing off the mats was in tatters, but yesterday I went out and shot my best 9 holes to date on the course (39), even with residual pain and stiffness from an old herniated neck flare up. (Long game wasn't pretty, although straight enough at key points. Short game bailed me out again, in spades from most of the sketchy tee shots.)

I think the key to the range is not what you practice but how you practice. I'd recommend to anyone starting out that they don't hit more than 10 to 15 balls with their driver. Even then, I wouldn't recommend hitting more than 3 in a row. If you mash 20-30 balls with your driver you can absolutely wreck your tempo and it make problems worse.

What I recommend to people is to ALWAYS have a target. Don't just hit it downrange, hit it to a specific spot. I prefer to always aim at a flag when I'm hitting irons. If your range doesn't have flags or simulated greens then pick different colored sections of the ground. If I'm hitting the driver I try to hit to a specific portion of the range, maybe a space between two flags or a flag and the side of the range. You also shouldn't make every swing with mechanics in mind. Hit five balls focusing on mechanics and then hit 5 just swinging the club. Finally, use the rest of your bucket to play a game. Pretend you're playing a par 5. Hit your driver but determine what your fairway will be. If you hit a great shot then hit a mid iron. If you don't hit a great shot then hit a long iron, utility or maybe even a 3 wood from the deck. Also, take the opportunity to practice odd shots such as "punching out from under a tree". The course I normally play is short but tight and tree lined. Missed drives mean your inevitably hitting out from under a tree. The ability to hit a low shot that hooks or slices is HUGE! Last week I punched a 4 iron out from under a pine tree from 120 yards away and left it 4 feet from the pin. The only reason I was able to do this was because I practice that shot on the range. It's also hella fun to curve shots although range balls make it harder because they don't curve as much as my Penta's. The range can be an enjoyable experience if you do it right.

[Greg]

I always hit all my clubs at the range, starting with the short irons then working my way up to driver. Aiming at certain targets at the range like the distance markers helps too, pretend thats the flag and see how close you can get to them. At my range theres a flag at about 70-75 yards that you can aim at, they've got it sitting inside a milk crate and its fun to see if you can hit one in the crate, got pretty close yesterday, missed by about 2 feet. I mostly just use the range to make my muscles remember how to hit shots and keep everything fresh in my mind about my swing so when i play i feel more comfortable and more relaxed. Yeah its fun to try to see how far you can smash your driver but im more concerned with how straight i can hit it and whether its a hook or slice and how to try to straighten it out and try to judge if that drive would be in the fairway or not if i were actually playing. Same thing with irons, try to judge how far off my target i am and if they would hit the green.

[nuck81]

I've actually been doing things a little different lately and it's helped a ton. Instead of starting with a wedge and working down, I've been starting with a 7 or 8 and then going down every other club till I get to Driver. Only hit five balls with Driver and go back up catching the clubs I messed till I have about ten or so balls left with the Wedge.

[popeyegolfer]

I tend to like the range just as an in between to stay loose when I can't play a lot. When I just hit balls at the range I tend to just hurt my confidence. One reason is they have really small greens, so mentally when I dont hit the green every time it gets me upset. Another reason is because of how the bays are sometimes lined up, it tends to mis-align some of my shots. When it comes to the driver I can't hit it at the range. I end up feeling claustrophobic and can't do any good which just hurts my confidence. I find that my scores improve the most when I play a lot and get to feel how to play shots you can't simulate on the range. So in the end I just use the range to stay loose and try to hit no more than a medium bucket and focus on making good contact.

[nuck81]

I always use an alignment aid when I hit at the range....ALWAYS.

[GolfBear]

http://www.golf.com/golf/gallery/art...151-11,00.html

That's how you get better. Playing just isn't enough!

[andef]

I find the range helful to warm up for a round but if I'm at the golf course I tend to focus on chipping and putting, unless I'm having a lesson where I usually work on my full swing.
Trying to hit certain targets and playing fade/draw shots has helped my ballstricking. Since we only have about 6 flags to aim at, for most clubs my focus is to hit my shot on the line of the flag without really focusing too much on distance.

[Stretch]

I like the range. I enjoy working on my swing as both a physical and intellectual exercise and think regular practice is key to building the confidence in your ball-striking ability that you need to go out and make good shots on the course.

Also find that the mechanical focus of, say, pitching three dozen balls at the same flag on the chipping green is a great way to clear the mind and get into a kinda zen state. Which is nice etc.

[westcyderydin]

me neather

[pbillaa]

Perhaps all the work you put in at the range, is the reason your game is actually progressing.