Hitting 200 balls a day a bad thing?

[Travis Robinson]

I have configured an indoor driving range, I live in Wisconsin where it gets cold and the winter months are long, and I just bought a golf launch monitor.

My plan is to hit a crap ton of golf balls every day.  Maybe some days I'll hit 100, other days I might hit up to 200 or 300 even.

If I'm swinging as regular as I would always swing a golf club, are there any real dangers of doing this every single day?

My regular swing would be around 75 percent of my full power.

Thanks everyone!

[MEfree]

you mentioned in another post that you haven't had much in the way of instruction or practiced a lot in recent months...PERFECT practice makes perfect, so if you care about the end results, make sure you are practicing the right things

[mvmac]

.PERFECT practice makes perfect

Well said. Good chance just hitting balls won't help you improve. Need to focus on a specific goal

[Shorty]

Originally Posted by Travis Robinson

I have configured an indoor driving range, I live in Wisconsin where it gets cold and the winter months are long, and I just bought a golf launch monitor.

My plan is to hit a crap ton of golf balls every day.  Maybe some days I'll hit 100, other days I might hit up to 200 or 300 even.

If I'm swinging as regular as I would always swing a golf club, are there any real dangers of doing this every single day?

My regular swing would be around 75 percent of my full power.

Thanks everyone!

There is a danger that you'll ingrain swing flaws.

It's quality of practice, not quantity that matters.

[Travis Robinson]

Hey everyone,

Thanks for all the responses.

I'm definitely on the same page as you, practice makes perfect is not true, perfect practice makes perfect.

I am working with a swing coach throughout the winter as I will usually videotape my swing and send to him so he will break it down and analyze.

And yes, I do know that I have to hit with a purpose each time and not mindlessly hit balls.  I go through my pre shot routine, I imagine being on the course, and I am aiming at a specific point every single time.

But still, I'm not quite sure if down the road, my wrists start going bad because I didn't lay off a few days, etc.

Thanks for the feedback everyone.  Take care and hope to hear from you!

[Beukes]

Originally Posted by Shorty

There is a danger that you'll ingrain swing flaws.

It's quality of practice, not quantity that matters.

Very valid point, and I have experienced myself how counter-productive hitting range balls bucket after bucket can actually be - apart from injuries (right elbow, left wrist in particular, dropping me from 5 to 8 from April this year, when I injured myself overdoing range work), it disturbs my timing and rhythm, as one would seldom hit two balls on the course within seconds of each other. One has to be technically very good to make good use of the range without the aid of a coach: otherwise, it becomes just a barbaric kind of hockey. Actually, I tend to become 'frenzied' on the range, hitting more and more balls faster and faster, often leading to poor striking in the follow-up round.

I nowadays try to follow Nick Faldo's advice and play a practice round early morning on my home course, hitting two from the tee, three to the green, and spend at least 10 minutes around and on every green. I find that it is quality practice time. Apart from the practice round, I then play my normal two competitive rounds per week.

Kudos to thread starter Travis who realizes the risks of too many buckets and will have a swing coach evaluate his posture, striking, timing and so on, even if only digitally.

[zeg]

I have two thoughts on this.  I'll preface this by pointing out that I've not personally practiced golf with that kind of intensity, but I don't think golf is specifically better or worse than other activities in this regard.

First, in addition to being sure that you're practicing effectively, with good form, etc, you also want to be sure that you're taking care of yourself.  A couple hundred balls a day is not an absurd amount, but it's enough that you want to be sure you're warming up and cooling down effectively.  Stretching before and after the exertion and taking care not to add wear and tear, e.g., by gripping too tightly will be important.  Pay attention to your body as well---little aches and sore spots can be early warnings, so take it easy for a while if something feels off.

Second, don't burn yourself out psychologically.  Your goal should be to put in solid practice each day, not to make some number of swings.  If you can set performance-oriented goals, those are the best.  This is both to keep yourself from burning out and to help avoid getting into the mindset of hitting balls just for the sake of hitting them.  The latter is something I have trouble with sometimes, and something that's fed by buying golf balls by the bucket---it's hard to stop when you're done if you still have some balls left.  Since you're not paying per-ball any more, use that to your advantage.  If you meet your goal after 30 or 50 balls for the day and you're feeling a little tired, you don't have to go and hit 50 or 150 more.

I would personally take a couple days off per week, perhaps just doing warm-up on those days but no intense practice.

[saevel25]

Invest in a mirror, or video camera. You can't get feedback like you can on the driving range with a pro or just seeing the shape of the ball flight. So its good idea to get something set up were you can view your swing. Mirrors are nice, and you can run tape along it at an angle for the swing plane. I like video..

But i agree, just don't hit balls just to hit them, create a plan. Actually writing one out might be good, maybe come up with a check sheet of things you want to work on. For me i know i need to work on not getting the clubhead behind me in the backswing, and not dropping my head down and back in the downswing.

So i might create a check sheet, maybe make some measurements, like how far off my clubhead is from the swing plane when its parallel to the ground. Then i can slowly keep track, until i get to were i want it.

Good thing about a mirror is, you can actually see your swing in real time. Unless you hook up the video camera to a big screen TV, or a computer monitor.

[BigBird]

I wouldnt say there is any problem. Most of the pros did this, and currently still do. What you want to do though is act like a pro and make sure you warm up properly and keep it going at a steady pace. Don't smash 200 balls in an hour. Take your time and a bit of a breather between shots to compose yourself etc.

[UruguayanPGA]

May I ask what simulator you bought? I really want to buy one too

[WarEagle]

I am also planning on a net and matt too in my basement for swing changes because I hate using the range, I never hit driver at range, and the balls hurt to use.

[Travis Robinson]

Hey sorry guys, haven't been on here in awhile.

I bought an Accupsort Vector X on ebay and it works great.  My only complaint is that I really have to make sure the launcher is lined up correctly or otherwise it can show some weird things like me pushing or pulling the ball way left or right, I'm going to make a mat with measurement lines on it so it'll be easy to line up.

Works great though.

Yeah the "homemade range" that I made is perfect.  I just hit off my thick carpet which is fine, I have a heavy duty tarp that connects to some screw hooks that I drilled in...I put some pillows on the ride side for the shanks ;) and I'm good to go.

I also set up a webcam behind me so I can videotape my swing and then look at it afterwards.  The one thing I'm missing is a mirror straight ahead (to the right of the ball).

Otherwise, it works fine.

[ajrDPT]

Maybe its just me but 200-300 75% strength swings seems like a lot.....you will likely be setting yourself up for some sort of overuse injury, especially if you are performing this everyday for a few months.

Think about it: how many 75%+ swings do you take during a normal round? Depending on your skill level....50? 60? Maybe not even that?

Baseball pitchers pitch 100+ balls and then rest for 5 days. And those are professional athletes. Your body needs to rest at some point.

Maybe I'm off base, but that seems like alot.

[x129]

You can't compare throwing a baseball with a golf swing. The stress are just too different. As a practical manner, I wouldn't want to spend more than about 45 mins hitting balls in a row so to hit 300 balls would take 3 or 4 sessions which is a lot of time. I would spend some of that time doing strength/power/flexiblity work instead of hitting balls. YMMV

Quote:

Maybe its just me but 200-300 75% strength swings seems like a lot.....you will likely be setting yourself up for some sort of overuse injury, especially if you are performing this everyday for a few months.

Think about it: how many 75%+ swings do you take during a normal round? Depending on your skill level....50? 60? Maybe not even that?

Baseball pitchers pitch 100+ balls and then rest for 5 days. And those are professional athletes. Your body needs to rest at some point.

Maybe I'm off base, but that seems like alot.

[Gioguy21]

i go to the range 4-5x a week. each time it's anywhere from an hour to an hour and a half. i hit a jumbo bucket everytime. i spend the first 30 balls or so hitting wedges, 9i to warm up and then i hit each ball as though i were on the course, with intent and focus. that's why it takes so long. 30-40 seconds on a ball, or longer makes you think, calms your heart rate or at least keeps it at a level that i feel is my optimal zone, and allows me to make quality practice. now, have i hit more than 150? yea, i've hit upwards of 300 in a session BUT when i did that, most of them were shots inside of 130, and i was working on a particular thing, ie hitting pitches versus chips, lobs versus bump and runs, etc. nothing beats a QUALITY work out versus just, oh if i hit 400 balls a day i'll be good.

[Derek02]

I'll go the the range near my work at lunchtime 2-3 times/week in season.  I get a small bucket every time (appx 45 balls), and it takes me at least 45-60 minutes to go through it.  I try to hit each shot with a purpose, and at a specific target.  It's already been said on here, but it is definitely the quality of your practice, not the quantity.  I would think that if you hit more than 75-100 balls you would only do yourself a disservice as your mucles tire and you start getting sloppy.

Plus, if you get a smaller bucket of balls, you may not be as inclined to just whack one after another since you have less balls to hit.

[ycart]

I knew a guy who ONLY hit 72 balls at the range.

[rmfslp]

just a coment,,,,, hit as many balls as your fittnes and body alows you. need to be focused on the routine so it will stick on your mind, that is very important, so where on the match, you need to rely on your muscle & movement memory. i think there is a very important matter to work ok