Drivin Range

[Spear]

Greetings and salutatiuons!

Went to a very nicely floodlit range last night with a game plan. I knew exactly what I wanted to work on with my swing, practise moving the ball left and right and get a good tempo. Bought 100 balls but there were already 100 in the automatic feed thingy so I thought bonus this is a good start. First 50 went sweet as a nut, was hitting everything near enough where I want it. The next 50 were less accurate so I thought to myself "nail the next 100"! Easier said than done. Its like I had never played before! I actually checked to make sure I wasn't playing left handed all of a sudden! I realise I didnt have the concentration to hit all those balls non stop but I cant fathom how you go from hitting them sweet to topping them! When you guys go the range do you have a set practise ritual?vDo you use all your clubs or just a 3 or 4?
Thanks

 

[HTL]

Hi Spear, good to have you on the forum.

That is way too many balls to be hitting in one go. No wounder you lost your concentration. After you hit 50 balls sweet I would have packed up and left with a big grin on my face, dying to return.

Its much better to do 20-30 mins full concentration practise than an hour of just hitting ball.

I try to never be at the range for more tan 30 mins, and give my full concentration and effort for the full duration.

 

[Basher]

Hi Spear and welcome!

When I took up the game last year I used to visit the range. I'd buy 60 or 90 balls and simply knock the Bejayzus out of them with no plan at all.
No swing thoughts, no objective but to see how far I could hit the ball.

After a few rounds on a course I came to the conclusion that my game left a lot to be desired so planned my visits.

One thing I did do was to imagine playing a hole, ie drive off, long iron, short iron then pitch.
It made the visit more enjoyable.
Recently I've been trying out different parts of my game such as backswing, follow through. Iron play accuracy to different lengths and chipping and pitching to various distances.
Usually 3/4 of an hour sees me ok. I once went down with my so and his friend. We were there for about 2 hours! I must have hit around 175 balls and came home knackered. Way too many balls!

 

[Spear]

Thanks for the replies and ideas. I definetly wont be hitting that many balls in one sitting again. Back and arms are stiff today too!

 

[madandra]

Spear, welcome to THE forum m8.

200 balls is a hell of a lot of golf. Think of it like this:

If you shoot and 80 chances are yopu have had 50 blows and 30 putts so in fact you played approximately 4 rounds of golf last night. It takes the big boys FOUR days to do that.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Its all about quality and not quantity. I normally go to the range and hit a bucket (60 balls) working on specific swing thoughts (at the moment posture and takeaway). It always go through my pre-shot routine with each ball so it can take me a fair time to get through these.

Once I have done these (and hopefully swinging well) I use the 2nd bucket purely to work on short game shots from <60 yards.

Not only is it great fun to try and play different shots with different clubs I am working on tempo and feel. I'm not trying to work on mechanics but develop more of a sub-conscious feel to my short game.

 

[thecraw]

200!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Blooming eck thats a nightmare.

I cant go to the practice area without a flask and a radio. Practice should be fun not a chore. If I go to the practice area and hit 20-25 sweat as a nut I chuck it and call it a good session.

 

[MVP]

I hit 300balls tuesday, 200 wednesday and 220 today....i feel good too, been trying to sort my swing plane out before i play saturday, i been bringin the club back to flat and dropping in steep, so im reversing it picking up steep and dropping it in flatter. hopefully it should bee a bit neater when i play.

Also hit some Mizuno MP67s they are the best ever irons ive ever hit!!!!!!!(No im not just copying Poulter) They feel So nice to hit even for a blade, i prefer them to the mp57s but when i hit them they had a nippon shaft in not an s300,
s300 shafts are the don!

 

[RGuk]

I've hit 200 frequently. Hit 300 the day before a gross 74 when I was trying to kill my pull.

Generally though, 50-100 is about my best.

 

[Boabski]

do you guys not work

 

[thecraw]

I take my hat off to you guys who can stand and hit balls for hours on end. 100 Max for me and even thats a struggle.

 

[Spear]

Thanks for the advice guys. I reckon I will try to batches of 25 with a break in between next time and see how that goes. Do most of you have a few before you play or do you go straight to the 1st? I find when playing at 7 half 7 my muscles etc are still a bit stiff!

 

[billyg]

Thanks for the advice guys. I reckon I will try to batches of 25 with a break in between next time and see how that goes. Do most of you have a few before you play or do you go straight to the 1st? I find when playing at 7 half 7 my muscles etc are still a bit stiff!

I probably wouldn't make a special trip to a range before playing but if you have one at your club then why not? I don't but the nets we have still help to work the kinks out of the muscles early on.

As far as the range goes ive been down that road too i.e. hitting balls to until you run out of credits/money/time etc. I'm not sure there's much value in it as far as developing ones swing but sometimes having an hour or so to oneself just swinging a club can help to unwind after a tough day/week or just take your mind off other things like a sort of meditation.

On the other end of the scale the focussed, checklist approach to range time has it's place too.

It's as much hassle for me to get out to a range as it is to get out to the course so I tend to err on the focus side. With more time and greater access to range facilities I might use it more to unwind.

It's whatever suits you really. Sometimes it's just nice to approach some free time with out having to be goal centered about it. Oddly enough I tend to have my most rewarding and productive sessions when I can muster this mindset.

I'll get that pesky bloke in the armoured mini tractor yet though. He's like the big spaceship going across the top of the screen in Space Invaders and I can't resist having a quick blast-reload-blast for the hell of it

 

[Nico]

Hi Spear,new here too!
I agree with Homer, the range is for focus and quality is better than quantity. This does not mean that you and a few mates cant get together for a hit and giggle session though. The best advice I have been given came from my coach who said "On the range you are training your body to react automatically on the course" that leaves you free to concentrate on the outcome of the shot not the process.

Good golfing Spear!!

 

[TonyN]

100-150 for me,If i am not working on anythin particular i always use about 25 balls just loosining up with half swing pitch shot, then about 25 full pitch shots, then move down the clubs 10 with each club and finish with some drives.

Or i can just get 50 balls and concentrate on 1 or 2 clubs. The above is not so exhausting if you take your time.

 

[RGuk]

As far as the range goes ive been down that road too i.e. hitting balls to until you run out of credits/money/time etc. I'm not sure there's much value in it as far as developing ones swing

I agree with this, practice without purpose is BAD!

A lot depends on your ability to stay focused of course. I can hit 50 in 25? minutes if I go one ball after another. If I have lots of drills/practice swings, 50 can last 90 minutes!!

 

[medwayjon]

I have really cut down on the range, it is fair to say that I was addicted but hitting 1000 balls a week has consequences and my back, arms and chest muscles were suffering from it, as was my game.

It is ok hitting balls off of perfectly flat mats but once into a autonomous routine off the mats I found it harder to hit iron shots off of varying surfaces.

 

[Smudge]

I can only manage 100 at most. About half full shots the rest pitches at the net. Quality not quantity counts.

 

[madandra]

I find if I hit too many balls from the matts my fingers get sore the next day probably from the shock traveling up the club that you don't get when playing off grass. I know I am not gripping too tight as my gimmicky Mizuno glove stops over grip.

 

[TonyN]

since playing golf my little finger locks up in the morning.