Anyone else hate driving ranges?

[TigerTime]

Prior to tonight, I hadn’t visited a driving range for a practice session since about late March apart from the odd warm up balls prior to a round. From April onwards, I got better at golf, purely because I played. The last two years I’ve been on a plateau, not this year. My handicaps dropped from 16 to 11 this year, my biggest ever drop. My scores have been averaging lower, including a new personal best 4/5 times. My heads in a good spot with golf.

Obviously weather sucks and dark nights are here, so trundled up to the range tonight. Had a plan to work on wedges and get some distances dialled in. Shanks appeared a few times, hosel rocketing into the darkness. Hit it off the toe, heel, high on the face, low on the face, I’d never do that on the course, I know that for a fact these days.

Even thinking back over the last few winters, when i practiced properly on the range over winter I never did get better after that. I’ve always got better just by playing the game on the grass.

Anyone else hate driving ranges?

 

[IanM]

I always hit it worse at a driving range... that's the preferable way round!

 

[VVega]

Feel your pain, but happens to everyone. They appear out of nowhere. Wouldn’t blame the range, just find a routine for yourself that helps to “reset”.

Was listening to some podcast of plus hcp players who are trying compete and effectively said the above…

 

[Orikoru]

I used to have a real problem with the driving range. Sometimes I would go there and literally hit 20 shanks out of 50 balls and leave there in shock, dreading my next round. That usually wouldn't happen on the course. I just put it down to the fact I'm more target-focused, and when I think about my swing too much it goes wrong.

Lately I haven't had the issue though. Not really sure what's changed, maybe my swing is better, maybe my practising routine is better, I don't know. I try and make sure I do my full pre-shot routine before every ball, and pick out a target to aim at, that definitely helps. When it was bad, I'd hit a crap strike and just rush into hitting the next one and the next one without thinking. I like the TopTracer range now too, as I can set it up to play on a virtual course so it feels more applicable to real golf.

 

[TigerTime]

I always hit it worse at a driving range... that's the preferable way round!

That is also the alternative fear!

 

[TigerTime]

I used to have a real problem with the driving range. Sometimes I would go there and literally hit 20 shanks out of 50 balls and leave there in shock, dreading my next round. That usually wouldn't happen on the course. I just put it down to the fact I'm more target-focused, and when I think about my swing too much it goes wrong.

Lately I haven't had the issue though. Not really sure what's changed, maybe my swing is better, maybe my practising routine is better, I don't know. I try and make sure I do my full pre-shot routine before every ball, and pick out a target to aim at, that definitely helps. When it was bad, I'd hit a crap strike and just rush into hitting the next one and the next one without thinking. I like the TopTracer range now too, as I can set it up to play on a virtual course so it feels more applicable to real golf.

Yeah I get you. Although I was pretty focused tonight. Had a solid plan to work on approaches from 100 yards and in. Picked different targets at differing yardages, pictured greens at my home club. It was just a disaster.

I wish I had a grass practice facility, it would be game changing for me. Maybe I should just keep buying new turf every other week in 3m squares for the garden.

 

[RichA]

Yep. Hate the balls, hate the crappy mats on a concrete floor.
Hate them. Haven't been since a wet weekend in the Spring. Probably won't bother again.
I'd rather stay home and learn to do something creative; maybe crochet myself some nice headcovers.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I have a decent range which has recently invested in new balls a 5 minute drive away. It has Trackman and so very good for doing work on your distances or you can play courses so I always find it a useful session. A necessary evil in winter to keep the swing ticking over

 

[Maninblack4612]

I used to shank regularly at the range. The pro there, during a lesson, told me to use the mat to line up & to only hit parallel to the edge. He said that hitting at an angle, when the mat & bay were pointing in a different direction confused your brain & threw the swing out. Now, when I go, I try to use bay 4, which points directly at one of the targets. If I aim elsewhere, the shanks come back.

It's a bit like when you're on the course & a tee doesn't boint at the green., it's a bit off putting.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I do get shanks at the range but usually when I am warming up and hitting the first few balls so assuming I am simply stiff and not moving properly. Does seem to go though and I can do the same thing at the club warming up before a round so its not a range thing

 

[Voyager EMH]

I haven't been to a driving range since the 1970s.
We have an area of waste ground at the club, just a field, but I haven't used that since the 1990s.
Prefer to save my mind and energy for playing golf.
Social games are my practice.
I do practice chipping and putting. Sometimes after a round as well as before.
I know how to swing a club - been doing that for 55 years.

 

[Mandofred]

I very rarely go to a range, twice in the last couple of years....mostly I don't want to pay to practice. I LIKE to practice, but I'd much rather take a bag of my own old balls out onto a field....getting hard to find that these days.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

I used to.

That all changed when I started on lessons and I learned what and how I should practice - and why.

Before lessons I could hit a few balls ok, but as soon as things started going wrong I had no idea what to do to correct things. Plus if I ever tried something a little different from my ‘standard’ shot, I had no idea how to do it, I might think I knew how to do it, but I was invariably wrong. And as before things would rapidly go wrong…and I would struggle to fix it.

Now I know my old/bad strike and the strike I now look to achieve, plus I know what I have done to change from bad to now…I’m ok with the range, indeed I enjoy going there.

 

[LincolnShep]

In general I don't like ranges because I don't like practice. I am tempted by going to a TopTracer type range with mates and playing some kind of game. I need some kind of competition or my concentration wanders and I just hit crap shots!

 

[nickjdavis]

Must admit...my local range is excellent and I'm happy to spend time there practicing.

Balls are decent enough (firm but not marbles), two tiered range, power tees, plenty of space in each bay with tables, in Range ball tracking/LM system. Lots of target greens, a "virtual fairway" created by planting bushes 30 yards apart from 180 yards onwards. Only thing I can complain about is how bloody busy it gets, especially in school holidays and especially with families including part time/occasional golfers who go more to play the games on the InRange system than actually seriously practice their golf....can get a bit noisy/chaotic with "enthusiasm"...but hey...who am I to deny others a bit of fun. The model that the range has created obviously is working, given the number of folks using it and I reckon it is a real cash cow for the club/resort where it is located.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

In general I don't like ranges because I don't like practice. I am tempted by going to a TopTracer type range with mates and playing some kind of game. I need some kind of competition or my concentration wanders and I just hit crap shots!

The competition that I have when on the range is against myself.

I put strike spray on the club face and I compete with myself to get the ball strike as close to the sweet spot as possible. It’s not about whether or not the shot looks good. Any shot hosel side more than just a very small amount (5-10mm) away from the right place go in the ‘poor’ column - shots off or close to the right place go in ‘good’ column, shots off a spot too close to toe go in OK.

Plus our balls are pretty good and they are supplied and collected free by the club. Besides…as noted above, distance is not the objective of my practice…not at the moment anyway.

 

[jim8flog]

For me it is not so much about hating ranges it is more about missing a practice ground.

So much can be learned from a the divot hole.

I am someone who takes fairly divots so a my range work is limited to something like a 6 iron. I have broken an iron shaft on a range

I used to use the same make of ball on the practice ground as I used on the course.

One of the most noticeable things where I play it is hard to get on the range for a warm up before play because the place is now rammed with those just using the range, particularly Saturdays I am told.

All of this does not worry me that much these days because my days of long practice sessions have long.