How many practice balls to reach scratch

[Beachcomber]

You have $20K to spend?  I'd get an indoor Trackman and a return net.  The indoor Trackman is ~ $15K to $18K from what I've been told.  Outdoor Trackman can be another $5K+ on top of the indoor radar.

Here is the US Office to contact them to learn more about Trackman:

US Office
ISG A/S
6575 White Pines Drive
Brighton, MI 48116
USA

Contact: Matt Frelich
Phone: (810) 225-9855
Fax: (810) 225-3295
E-m ail: sales_us@trackman.dk

In terms of the number of balls that you need to hit.  I'd say it is totally dependent on how solid your mechanics are.  If you have a fundamentally sound swing... You can take very few practice swings to stretch your muscles/tendons and - BOOM.  Start striping the golf ball on the first or second shot.

Now if your mechanics are not sound... Then most likely you will need to hit a lot more shots as your feel and timing may be off until you get loose and start finding your swing plane/timing.  The goal should be to learn the proper mechanics... Then groove that swing.

Personally, I go to the range nearly every day... And hit at least 50 to 60 balls (medium bucket).  I'm currently a low 4.  But I've been focusing on learning the proper mechanics of the golf swing now since February/March of 2012.  My handicap has dropped (from a 6+), and I'm just starting to get to a point now where I can go to the range and hit one or two balls and then really start stripping it.  It doesn't take me long to find my plane/groove.  Whereas before, it would take me 10 to 20 balls (if not more) to really feel like I was hitting the ball somewhat decent/clean.

I believe if I had a Trackman at home, I'd be scratch pretty quickly.  Because Trackman gives you immediate feedback on what you are doing with your path and clubface.  And with that - you can modify your mechanics accordingly until you find a swing that is repeatable over and over and over again.  Under any circumstance.  And having that type of device in my garage - being able to hit hundreds of shots a day - until I really had it mastered... I don't think it would take very long before I was really maximizing my ball striking capabilities.

[Stevep21]

Whereabouts in UK are you located and play Chris? I'm from UK and may know a couple of people depending on whereabouts you are?

[iacas]

Originally Posted by Beachcomber

You have $20K to spend?  I'd get an indoor Trackman and a return net.  The indoor Trackman is ~ $15K to $18K from what I've been told.  Outdoor Trackman can be another $5K+ on top of the indoor radar.

We have an indoor/outdoor one with a camera (a TM 2) for sale for $14k. Just recalibrated and in great condition. Probably even happy to sell it with a small laptop to run the software too.

[Ben]

I reached my playing ability, not by banging balls, but rather playing tons. I'm not, nor have ever been a range rat. When I was a kid I spent hours hitting various chips and developed a great short game. As an adult I've combined that with bunker and putter work. Now its more about maintenance work, and still spend the majority of "practice" time, on the course. Hitting actual shots. Keeping score.

When I started playing competitively I realized how easy the guys more advanced then me made the game look, and introduced mental practice to my routine. Stay cool, stay positive, play conservatively, don't chase a score.

I work at a club and have a few members that spend hours on the range. Take their game to their course and more often then not, don't break 80. Becoming scratch is about playing the entire game very well.

[GaijinGolfer]

Originally Posted by Large chris

I know there are many other elements required to reach scratch, but purely in terms of swing repetitions how many balls a day have forum members hit to reach zero index?

The only honest answer is, "as many as it takes".  There is no way for anyone to give you even a ballpark number for how many balls it will take because theres just too many variables.

[Zeph]

9473 balls.

[Jon Robert]

Two golfers practiced at the SAME RANGE side by side for 20 years

One has 20 years of experience

The other has 1 year of experience repeated 20 times

============================================

How many practice balls to become scratch?

[Large chris]

I reached my playing ability, not by banging balls, but rather playing tons. I'm not, nor have ever been a range rat. When I was a kid I spent hours hitting various chips and developed a great short game. As an adult I've combined that with bunker and putter work. Now its more about maintenance work, and still spend the majority of "practice" time, on the course. Hitting actual shots. Keeping score. When I started playing competitively I realized how easy the guys more advanced then me made the game look, and introduced mental practice to my routine. Stay cool, stay positive, play conservatively, don't chase a score. I work at a club and have a few members that spend hours on the range. Take their game to their course and more often then not, don't break 80. Becoming scratch is about playing the entire game very well.

Some great answers here lots to think about thanks everyone, Sometimes I see guys claiming to hit 300 balls a day.... At the moment I hit about 250 a week, I mix it up, try to hit the 9 shots, chipping and putting etc. I enjoy practicing and get more time to practice than playing rounds, but I spent some time on trackman earlier in the year and it is really tempting to set something similar up at home. But I'd really like to set this up with the ability to tilt the mat for all different angles - don't know if any radar systems can cope with that? I totally agree that ideal would be playing a round every day but I dont have that opportunity.