No fan of the driving range...

[James_Black]

I take clubs that are hard to hit to the range.
If i can hit them well I'll be able to hit anything well.

I normally take my 3i and 3 wood to the range.

[WUTiger]

I log in my most concentrated range time in the spring, when I'm trying to get my swing back. In years when I've done this, I tended to have a good season and break 90 regularly. In recent years, I didn't bother to do this, and regularly had a 20+ HDCP.

Since last season, I do swing drills 2-3 times a week in my back yard, or my living room. This fills in with one or two rounds a week, and separate trip to the range. If I would pick up a club five days a week for at least 30 minutes each, I think I can make progress.

My teaching pro suggests using practice rounds . Find the slow play times for your course. Then, you could go out and play a practice round where you punch out of the rough on the tight dogleg hole, hit a couple of shots out of all five greenside bunkers on the Sahara hole, etc. Just don't slow down play, and fix ball marks if you're juicing a lot of lofted shots.

[Deryck Griffith]

Less time on the range, more time on the putting green.

Bingo! I hae reduced my range sessions to 15 minutes on my swing, 20 minutes on short game and 25 minutes on putting. The rest of my learning is under pressure on the course.

[ronaldkuntoro]

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.

1000 balls at a range is as expensive as playing at a local course (about $30 at my area)....

[Deryck Griffith]

1000 balls at a range is as expensive as playing at a local course (about $30 at my area)....

You make a good point but It depends on where you live. In Toronto, we have VERY nice golf courses however, you can't get in a round at a say Tier 2 course for under $70 on the weekends. And the really nice Tier 1 courses are either private or $100+.

[Tomboys]

IMO, driving ranges are neither good nor bad. It's what you do there that makes it beneficial or not. You have to have a specific goal--and I don't mean a broad one like "hit my irons straight". For me, I break it down even further than that. My "routine" is based on CDD (contact, direction, distance), in that order.

I've been playing for quite a few years and have had my fair share of (position) lessons. So, overall, my swing is technically decent. However, my rhythm is horrible which leads me to hit it all over the clubface, so I start off by practicing contact drills. Once I'm able to establish consistent solid contact, I start to work on direction. Once I'm able to do those consistently, I move to distance.

I also agree with those that say spend more time on the putting green and chipping/pitching from just off the green. Play a variety of shots to different hole locations on the green. Practice chipping/pitching from a variety of lies. My instructor makes me do that. He throws down a few balls at random locations just off the green on the course and has me tell him what shot I plan to play. From there, I hit my shot. Depending on the conditions, there are times that I pick the "right" shot and execute the shot well. There are times that I pick the "wrong" shot and execute the shot poorly. And, every other combination in between. If I'm having a good day and pick the "right" shot and execute it well, then he throws down a few more balls and steps on them, or puts a ball on a downhill lie in the rough with a close-cut pin and makes me play those.

Once you get better at chipping/pitching and putting, practice hitting one shot to the hole you decide and draining the putt. Each time, play a ball in a different lie to a different pin location.

[McGolf-Doggie]

I think it was Bob Rotella that advised devoting 40% of range time to swing mechanics (as needed), and 60% to picking spots shots and executing shots as if you were in a real game situation. Fortunately — although I hate mats — I have a 3 or 4 ranges nearby with target greens and features I can aim for. When I get too used to those features and shots, I pick out other spots to aim for.

When I have the backyard net up, with one of those half fieldturf/half-mat things to hit off, I find it's more conducive for working on mechanics and tempo (since one can't really see where the ball ends up, unless it's on the neighbor's roof, oops*).

That, in turn allows me to spend less of the actual range buckets on mechanics, and more of tho$e buckets on shot-making.



* be careful when setting up a net in a new position in the garden, and don't test it with a pitching wedge from too far away -- duh!