Routine at the driving range?

[BEAN]

I was just wondering when I go to the driving range what order of clubs do I hit?

Do you start with the Driver and work your way down?  What do you do different when hitting the range before a round as opposed to just practicing?

Thanks

[Adam Young]

Definitely start with the shorter clubs - the wedge and so, and work your way up to the driver. This should be done after a full body warm up, and lots of practice swings. If you start hitting the driver with all that force straight away, you are much more likely to get injured. not to mention, you have to ease yourself into striking it. It is much easier to strike and control the golf ball with the shorter clubs and then progressively make it more difficult. I think every good player throughout history has done it in this order

[Limpinswinger]

When I have time, I hit a whole bucket (30 balls), with just my wedges to warm up and get my technique working.  Then I move up and hit 5-6 balls with each iron (9-2), fairway woods (5 & 3) and driver.

[Kapanda]

Originally Posted by Adam Young

Definitely start with the shorter clubs - the wedge and so, and work your way up to the driver. This should be done after a full body warm up, and lots of practice swings. If you start hitting the driver with all that force straight away, you are much more likely to get injured. not to mention, you have to ease yourself into striking it. It is much easier to strike and control the golf ball with the shorter clubs and then progressively make it more difficult. I think every good player throughout history has done it in this order

Sorta just makes sense really...

[vision]

I start with my short irons for 20 or so ball's then work my way down to a 5 or 6 iron then a few driver's  after that what i do is hit 1 ball with the driver  then 1 ball with a hybrid or 6/7 iron then a wedge  i try to simulate what i would do on the course

[Alvin Tsang]

I think it's a matter of personal preference. If you find you have more trouble with a particular club, then perhaps spend more time practicing that club relative to other clubs.

As to the difference between practising and hitting the range just before a round, I would hit less balls if I were going to play a round next to conserve my energy. Plus I wouldn't hit as hard just before a round for the same reasons. But that's just me.

[Mr3Wiggle]

I start with the 6 iron.  Pretty much hit all my balls with it.  Doing drills and whatnot.  Maybe once every 3 range sessions I'll go through the bag.  When I do, I'll still start with the 6, then go 8, PW, back to 6, hybrid, 5 wood, driver, back to 6, and then finish with some assorted wedge shots.

[dak4n6]

I start with 7 iron punches, work my way up to a full swing, and then work my way up to my 3 iron. When I'm flushing the 3 iron consistently, I'll hit some drivers and woods, and some full short irons. Then, I'll move to the practice greens and work the short game for a little bit just for maintenance purposes.

[blue72ss]

The general consensus throughout time is what Adam said, start with your sand wedge and work through the bag to your driver.

That being said, it is no secret that the shorter the club the more precise your contact needs to be due the steep angle of attack, making a full sand wedge off a tight fairway lie not the easiest shot in the world for your first shot of the day, hence I believe further elaborating on Adam's comments, you'll see most veteran golfers start with a sand wedge pitch half swing.

My favorite club is my 8 iron, so I start with small pitch swings with my 8 iron, I hit down pretty steeply ensuring solid contact and that solid contact gets my confidence going to start my practice or warmup session.

[GaijinGolfer]

I start with my lob wedge and worth my way through the bag, hitting 5 balls with each club.  Then, I play imaginary golf holes where I play holes that are 500 yards and start out with driver, then 3-wood then a short iron.  That way, in my mind Im playing golf instead of just blasting away with no clear target in my mind.

[The4HourGolfPro]

I've found the best results come from starting with putting, and working up to driving. This held true for not only myself, but for a lot of others as well.

Putting - Chipping - Short Irons - Long Irons/Hybrids - Woods seems to be the optimal routine for a few reasons

1. Putting allows you to warm up your muscles very slowly to prevent injury. Taking a very small, controlled swing improves your hand-eye coordination and helps your concentration for the rest of the routine.
2. Chipping is the next easiest thing to do because it uses a combination of fine motor skills and more muscles to swing. Plus, it's closer to the putting green, which will save wasted time walking back and forth
3. Progressing towards the most powerful swing (driver) helps condition your body and mind
4. Hitting you woods/driver last prepares you for the first hole, so the swing you need on the tee box is still fresh in your mind

It's really tempting to go hit irons first, because it's a lot more fun and easier to do. But I've used this routine and it really helps get me in the right mindset not only on practice days, but before I go play 9/18.

[Kapanda]

Putting is such a gentle stroke, I would be really surprised if there is any warming of the muscles at all!

[x129]

It isn't just the stroke. There is also the walking around which help warm up the muscles.

When practicing, this working up and down has limited use. You want to be switching clubs every couple of shots. Pulling out the driver and hitting 10 draws in a row isn't as good as alternating shots between the driver and 7 iron and alternating the shots. Obviously if you can't hit  a draw with a driver, hitting 10 draws in a row makes sense. But if you are getting ready to play that shot in a game, you need to be able to do it on command not after 3 warm up shots. You can google block versus random practice if you want more info on it.

Originally Posted by Kapanda

Putting is such a gentle stroke, I would be really surprised if there is any warming of the muscles at all!

[1puttit]

I think you have to make a distinction between practicing and warming up for a round. I was watching a show where Jack Nicklaus was opening a new golf course and giving a little clinic. He basically said that before a round you are just warming up and NOT trying to fix anything. You're just getting loose and seeing what kind of swing you have today. Some days you'll have your "A" game and some days you won't.  Start with a few wedges and work your way through your bag up to the driver. If you happen to hooking the ball that day, so be it. Play for the hook. If you're got a 15 yard fade, they play for a fade that day. The biggest mistake us amateurs make is trying to fix our swing before around. Usually it just screws us up even more.

Now for practice, I have a completely different routine depending on what I'm trying to accomplish that day. Usually I'll hit some wedges to warm up. Then I'll work on a specific drill for 30 balls or so. Sometimes I will do a "32 ball" drill where I hit four balls doing the drill I'm working on, focusing on the feeling/change I'm trying to make. Then hit four balls trying to incorporate the change without any swing thoughts. Repeat until you've gone through 32 balls. I think this helps you ingrain the change into your normal swing faster. With the remainder of the balls I'll "play golf" on the range. Pretend you are playing a par 5, hit driver, then 4Hybrid, then a 9iron. Keep working through your imaginary course, aiming at targets, switching clubs each shot until you are out of balls.

[moparman426]

I get my warmup from walking out onto the range, having to fill my own basket because the automatic vending machine is always empty and never spits my token back out, and the people that take care of it are too lazy to run the ball picker......After that, I start with a few wedge swings w/o a ball.  Then I'll hit a few with the wedge.  Then usually the PW, 7i, 4i, 3w, 5i, 3i again , driver and finish off with either the 3i or 4i again.  I intently focus on every single shot, not just go out to whack the balls into yonder field.  I want the exact same feel between shots.

[Diece]

Recently I have started to change up my routine and it has helped tremendously with my game. I used to just warm up with full swings but my shoulders and back would be in tremendous pain at the end of practice so I decided to change things up a little heres my warm up.

1st - Putting to a tee time 3 times in 3 different locations, this helped me get a better tempo for my full swings and for the day -10 mins (30 balls)

2nd - Putt once from a foot from the hole, this is done for confidence making every single putt from within a foot boosts confidence - 5 min (30 balls)

3rd - Chip to a tee 3 times

4th - Chip to a hole once

5th - Stretch making sure all parts of the body are stretched

6th - I head to the range and hit a 9 iron or pw and just go from there

This takes around an hour and I found it had helped a lot with my game.

[VoidOfEnigmas]

Always end with your driver, if you have a tee time and are hitting your bucket, start with your wedges, finish with your driver as close to your tee off. Nothing greater then going to the confidence with the first 2 after putting 5 where you want to on the driving range.

[Kieran123]

30 minutes with SW only, then the next hour and a half - 2 hours on the rest