Time On The Driving Range

[NoName]

Have been golfing a little over a month now and have played a total of 5 rounds, with my first 18 being yesterday. Made a conscious decision this past weekend to golf more and hit the driving range less (mainly due to what I've been reading on this forum, YouTube videos, etc. in regards to becoming a better golfer), as before I was hitting the driving range 4-5 times a week, for roughly and hour or two. After TODAY'S 9 however lol ... whew ... I don't know. Tempted to go back to the driving range and stay off the golf course lol (though to be fair, today seemed to be purely mental). 

[Randtrap]

Many golfers have difficulty transferring their performance from the range to the course. Maybe you can make some adjustments on the range to challenge yourself more, like being on the course.

[Typhoon92]

On May 27, 2018 at 7:19 PM, Vinsk said:

Honestly I just love it. It’s absolutely therapy for me. I’m usually alone with an entire practice facility to myself. In all the sports I’ve played nothing is as glorious to me as a well struck iron. I just can’t seem to carry it to the course. I’m ridiculous, I know, but playing poorly...and I mean poorly isn’t enjoyable to me at all. So I’ll warm up with a bucket....I’ll feel great hitting from rough, divots, normal lie, do some side hill pitches and then go tee off. Sure enough despite flushing my irons not 10 minutes prior...I shank my first approach shot. The rest of my holes I feel lost. Applying the same ‘feels’ I just did before tee off...gone. So I discouragingly finish and the next day I’m back for 5-8 hours on the range...300 balls and no shanks. I dunno, I just don’t know what’s it gonna take for me.

How about NOT hitting balls before u go out to play?  Just hit some putts and maybe a few chips from the fringe...

If I hit balls before I go out, I end up sucking...something gets in my head, I think it's trying to be perfect.  It's never been my routine.  I remember years ago at my first US Open qualifier I got there early and hit balls...developed a snap hook I could not get rid of.  Played awful.  Never did it again, learned my lesson.  

[Vinsk]

1 hour ago, Typhoon92 said:

How about NOT hitting balls before u go out to play?  Just hit some putts and maybe a few chips from the fringe...

If I hit balls before I go out, I end up sucking...something gets in my head, I think it's trying to be perfect.  It's never been my routine.  I remember years ago at my first US Open qualifier I got there early and hit balls...developed a snap hook I could not get rid of.  Played awful.  Never did it again, learned my lesson.  

Probably not a bad idea. It’s mental. When I go hit balls...it always takes me 20-25 balls before I feel a groove and start flushing them. What’s so frustrating is when I hit so well then immediately fall apart 1st or 2nd hole. Might as well try not hitting any like you said..few putts, chips...then hit it. I think I’ll try that.

[Typhoon92]

8 hours ago, Vinsk said:

Probably not a bad idea. It’s mental. When I go hit balls...it always takes me 20-25 balls before I feel a groove and start flushing them. What’s so frustrating is when I hit so well then immediately fall apart 1st or 2nd hole. Might as well try not hitting any like you said..few putts, chips...then hit it. I think I’ll try that.

Right, you've added MORE pressure on yourself by striping it on the range.  You get on the 1st tee and this goes through your mind, " u hit everything good on the range so this one should be good too...what did I do on the range that I have to do now..". And then it's in your head.  You hit one bad and it's a panic to try to think about what you did on the range.  Your expectations are too high.

I remember even at a scramble if invaded hit a couple balls i start overthinking on the first hole...wondering why lunges shot went left.

If I just stick to my putting routine then play, it's a better mindset.  Nothing cluttering up my head.

Practice days are fun...hit you 5-6 buckets and enjoy.  But play days are different

Good luck!

[saevel25]

28 minutes ago, Typhoon92 said:

Right, you've added MORE pressure on yourself by striping it on the range.  You get on the 1st tee and this goes through your mind, " u hit everything good on the range so this one should be good too...what did I do on the range that I have to do now..". And then it's in your head.  You hit one bad and it's a panic to try to think about what you did on the range.  Your expectations are too high.

The range is notorious for getting people into hitting fast, where you start to get into a rhythm on matching up clubface to swing path and finding the center of the clubface. You don't get to do that on the course. Instead of trying to just get into that sort of rhythm, just focus on feels that produce a consistent draw or fade. Then take that feel to the course.

 

[jsgolfer]

5 minutes ago, saevel25 said:

The range is notorious for getting people into hitting fast, where you start to get into a rhythm on matching up clubface to swing path and finding the center of the clubface. You don't get to do that on the course. Instead of trying to just get into that sort of rhythm, just focus on feels that produce a consistent draw or fade. Then take that feel to the course.

 

Yes, especially with the way ranges are set up, a lot of golfers just rake balls towards them (I see this a lot) and then hit them.  They don't take time to think about their shots, they just hit balls.  Which can lead to bad habits on the course.

[Patch]

Something I do when on the range before playing a round for a score, is too make sure I end my range swings with the club I am going to use on the first tee. Seems to make that first tee swing easier. 

[rehmwa]

Range time is one of two things for me.  Either I'm 'practicing', then I'm going for a specific purpose or to train something I want to get better at. 

OR, I'm just hitting balls to kill time for entertainment - then I play games, shape shots, whatever.

The only thing in common with those two goals is I'll leave balls - I always leave on a good shot.  So if there are leftovers,

I really need to get a stand for video - I use the Technique (Ubersense) app and it's good.  So just something to mount the iPad on.  It's tricky getting friends schedules aligned so we can video each other.

Rarely is it more than a large bucket or an hour long.  I've been neglecting chipping/pitching practice lately, and it's clearly showing in my play.

[Kalnoky]

I usually hit a medium (50-60 balls). Before a round I will hit maybe 20 balls, just to try and get my muscles loosened up. 

For a while I was grading my range practices and comparing to my scores. I found there was very little correlation. I could practice poorly and play very well, or vice versa. 

IME range time does not translate to the course. My swing does get better very slowly over time. However, on any given day playing golf, that week's practices have very little impact on how I play. Things like muscle stiffness, high wind, or playing partners have a much bigger impact.

Edited May 29, 2018 by Kalnoky

[Randtrap]

Kalnoky, there's also the difference between range balls and our own plus the possible difference in hitting surfaces. Basically, I like to hit a few range balls to loosen up plus 5 minutes of putting practice before a round.

[NCGolfer]

On 5/27/2018 at 7:48 PM, sofingaw said:

I also LOVE hitting balls. I’m truly convinced that I could spend a full day hitting shots every day if I didn’t have to work a real job, and as long as I avoided injury.

I’m reminded of the classic Hogan quote: “You hear stories about me beating my brains out practicing, but the truth is, I was enjoying myself. I couldn't wait to get up in the morning so I could hit balls. I'd be at the practice tee at the crack of dawn, hit balls for a few hours, then take a break and get right back to it. And I still thoroughly enjoy it. When I'm hitting the ball where I want, hard and crisply—when anyone is—it's a joy that very few people experience.”

I love this quote...and I'm the same way.  I hit balls 3-4 times a week which is a large bucket normally.  The range feels very relaxing when things are going well and I can focus on very small things and simplifying swing thoughts.  Nothing feels better than a pure iron to me.  I might hit a few of those a round but at the range I can try and do it over and over...it's like a drug honestly.

The downside to this is that i've developed tennis elbow (right) and have to take precaution not to make it worse.  Still, I go out there with no worries and continue to work on my swing as best I can with a specific plan in mind to hit those crisp, pure shots.

[p1n9183]

1 hour and a half at most and i´m done. half hour for short game, at the moment putting because i suck at it. Afterwards 1 hour of hitting balls, that´s 50 balls for me.

I usually go to the range with P,7 and 4 iron. (short/mid/long iron) and warm-up 5 minutes with some exercises. 
I set up a fairway with the range targets and hit 3 balls with each club trying to hit the fairway and working on something. This way i know that the change i´m working on make me hit it good with all the irons. 

Once I´m hitting it good with all the clubs I imagine that there´s water hazard on one side of the fairway and see what happend with my swing. I lot of times I start to slice it or hook it away from trouble, that´s where i know the swing have some trust issues and I need to change something. If i run out of balls and i still didn´t fiure it out it will be task for next session. 

Before a round i don´t hit the range. I warm up short game for 20 minutes and warm up my body 5 minutes. Altough i like to hit the range the day before I play.  

 

[lastings]

never more than one small bucket (about 40 balls).   But, that can take over an hour for me.   

I start with an mid Iron to warm up for 5 to 10 balls.   focus on taking big full turns and hitting the ball on an in-to-out path.   usually takes 6 or 7 balls with a couple practice swings between each ball, but once I hit 2 big push-draws to my full distance with the club I consider myself warm.   

After that I'll pick an iron that I want to work on and hit 3 shots to a desired target, with full routine and practice swing in-between.   If I am happy with the results, I'll move to a different iron on the other side of the bag and repeat.   
(happy with results for me usually means hitting 2 of 3 crisply with intended ball flight.   3 of 3 with a 9-iron or wedge).   If I am not happy with results, I'll hit 2 more.  But, never more than 5 with one club. 

typically. I do that with four irons.  2 longer, 2 shorter.   Then I'll do the same with my hybrid, which always ends up being 5 balls, because I'm rarely happy with the results.   

Then I hit 5-10 balls with my Driver.  

any balls left over, I hit half-wedges with.   

however, I think for the foreseeable future, I'm going to dedicate one range session per week just to hitting 30-80 yard shots with my sand wedge because, frankly, that part of my game needs quite a bit of work.   

 

 

[Groucho Valentine]

20 minutes ago, lastings said:

never more than one small bucket (about 40 balls).   But, that can take over an hour for me.   

 

 

About the same for me. I can get most of what i need done with 30-40 swings. 

Short game and putting, though, i sometimes spent hours practicing when i was at my peak as a player. 

[Vinsk]

I guess the most frustrating situation for me is when I go through 150 balls...various targets, rough, good lies and keep track of my shanks. Ten shanks spread across W-7i. Yet I’ll be damned if every one of those ten shanks don’t show up in my round. 

[Lihu]

On 5/27/2018 at 6:53 AM, Patch said:

I have heard stories of the PGA Pros hitting balls for hours, but that's golf at it's highest level. Their job is to hit balls. 

 

I've heard this as well. I'd guess that a pro can get a lot more from this than a typical amateur? Guessing they're doing "target practice" or something?

 

On 5/27/2018 at 6:53 AM, Patch said:

Anyone else spend a large amount of time, full swinging on the DR? Does it help?

Sounds like the young iron man can hit a lot of balls more effectively than I would.

Used to hit that many balls, but it didn't help me hit farther nor any better. I still know a lot of people who spend hours on the range, though. Typically at my home course. Players club management even cut the number of practice balls from 250 per day down to 120 to reduce the number of people hitting for hours on end. Another course where I go, a lot of people leave balls behind and I can typically get another bucket from the scraps players leave behind and I leave a bucket myself.

At this point, I hit better than I've ever hit the ball and use a Mevo to monitor my strikes and typically find that 60 to 80 balls is more than enough with a full swing including my warmup swings. Can't really imagine getting any better by hitting 600 to 700 balls? Even two large buckets would be far too many.

[Vinsk]

12 minutes ago, Lihu said:

Can't really imagine getting any better by hitting 600 to 700 balls? Even two large buckets would be far too many.

I’m not (getting better) for the most part. But again I’m not hitting hundreds of balls thinking I’m getting better and better. I do it because I love it. I’m much better with my ball striking overall on the DR. I hit much more better than poor than I used to. I still have bad days where nothing seems to flow. Unfortunately it is most apparent when I play a round.