Driving range practice drills

Junior

Tour Winner
Joined
Apr 1, 2007
Messages
5,194
Visit site
Given the inclement weather I’ve been to the range a few times in the past couple of weeks.

It’s a great range (The Beeches near Knutsford in Cheshire) with a great cafe and trackman screen in every bay. I enjoy playing the courses on the trackman and every now and then they upload a local course which is fun…right now it’s Manchester GC which I’ve played a lot in opens.

The thing is, I’m conscious I don’t practise that great. I just jump on , clip a few to warm up and then play a course.

I was therefore wondering what are your go to drills to do at the range …..especially when your swing goes a bit wonkier than usual ?
 
I personally feel playing a course on Trackman is better than an old school range where you just pound balls, as it's more relatable to actual golf. I just take a Mulligan to rehit a shot if I mess one up. On a conventional range I'll work on driver, maybe find something that works after 15-20 balls, but you don't get that out on a round do you? You don't get 20 drives to get it right. I prefer to have some sort of target as well and the Trackman helps with that, even if you're just visualising what's on the screen.

Also you're going to get 'in-between' yardages and 60-70 yard pitch shots on a Trackman course, whereas how many times do you practise them on a normal range session? And of course it's important to do your normal pre-shot routine for each ball, which you're more likely to do in a 'round of golf' set-up as opposed to just dragging balls and hitting.
 
I personally feel playing a course on Trackman is better than an old school range where you just pound balls, as it's more relatable to actual golf. I just take a Mulligan to rehit a shot if I mess one up. On a conventional range I'll work on driver, maybe find something that works after 15-20 balls, but you don't get that out on a round do you? You don't get 20 drives to get it right. I prefer to have some sort of target as well and the Trackman helps with that, even if you're just visualising what's on the screen.

Also you're going to get 'in-between' yardages and 60-70 yard pitch shots on a Trackman course, whereas how many times do you practise them on a normal range session? And of course it's important to do your normal pre-shot routine for each ball, which you're more likely to do in a 'round of golf' set-up as opposed to just dragging balls and hitting.

I like the track man 12 aswell . Dial in those yardages and see how you stack up for your handicap
 
Given the inclement weather I’ve been to the range a few times in the past couple of weeks.

It’s a great range (The Beeches near Knutsford in Cheshire) with a great cafe and trackman screen in every bay. I enjoy playing the courses on the trackman and every now and then they upload a local course which is fun…right now it’s Manchester GC which I’ve played a lot in opens.

The thing is, I’m conscious I don’t practise that great. I just jump on , clip a few to warm up and then play a course.

I was therefore wondering what are your go to drills to do at the range …..especially when your swing goes a bit wonkier than usual ?
Really depends on why you/I are going to the range, I never just go and hit balls, I’ll only go if I have a “plan” worked out before and I’m going to work on something specific.

Atm it’s been taking just 1 iron at s time and trying to work on getting my hands in to the right pisition on impact and half way back, I’m very prone to “flipping” my wrists and with the help of a local Pro I’m doing drills to try and get them in the right position. Drill for this one is “the merrygoround”

Only time I’ll play a course is if I use the simulator at the Club.👍🏻
 
Learn how to hit the ball 50 yards.
Which wedge
What grip position (middle or bottom)
Which length of swing (8-4, 9-3, 10-2) etc
My favourite was SW, bottom of the grip, 10-2


That was the combination that helped me consistently hit it 50 yards.
YOURS WILL BE DIFFERENT.
Once you can do that consistently, you can use it as a starting point, so if the shot is 60 yards, go up a club so 60 yards will be
PW, bottom of the grip, 10-2 = 60 yards
SW, bottom of the grip, 10-2 = 50 yards
LW, bottom of the grip, 10-2 = 40 yards
etc
Then you can experiment with 45,55,65 etc by changing your grip position so FOR ME...
SW, bottom of the grip, 10-2 = 50 Yards
SW, middle of the grip, 10-2 = 55 Yards
So 10 yard gap, change club
5 yard gap, change grip position

You'll be amazed how often you'll use this shot.

There are similar drills for height control but master the 50 yard shot first.
 
We have a series of greens and buckets, so depending on what I want to work on I’ll position myself to hit a certain yardage into one of those. Usually the majority of the time is spent on sub 100 yards as that’s my real weakness.

My bad full swings used to be from the club getting behind me on the backswing and then getting stuck coming back to the ball so my path would be too extreme in to out. I worked a lot with alignment sticks to make sure I had the club in the correct place going back.
 
I've had a couple of lessons recently and am working on what came up in those. I'm just taking an 8 iron and trying to ingrain the changes.
The first couple of times was a struggle but yesterday I started to get the feel and will probably keep going over the winter.
 
Learn how to hit the ball 50 yards.
Which wedge
What grip position (middle or bottom)
Which length of swing (8-4, 9-3, 10-2) etc
My favourite was SW, bottom of the grip, 10-2


That was the combination that helped me consistently hit it 50 yards.
YOURS WILL BE DIFFERENT.
Once you can do that consistently, you can use it as a starting point, so if the shot is 60 yards, go up a club so 60 yards will be
PW, bottom of the grip, 10-2 = 60 yards
SW, bottom of the grip, 10-2 = 50 yards
LW, bottom of the grip, 10-2 = 40 yards
etc
Then you can experiment with 45,55,65 etc by changing your grip position so FOR ME...
SW, bottom of the grip, 10-2 = 50 Yards
SW, middle of the grip, 10-2 = 55 Yards
So 10 yard gap, change club
5 yard gap, change grip position

You'll be amazed how often you'll use this shot.

There are similar drills for height control but master the 50 yard shot first.

Thanks for this. I did this, then I also played a game that I saw online to test it. You hit 7 shots…40,45,50,55,60,65,70 and for each yard your out (carry) you add up your total score. My best is 14 but I’m usually around 20
 
I go on our straightforward range with no trackman, video or swing analysis devices. I simply apply a strike spray to club face as that tells me everything I need to know (certainly at the moment). My sole and ultimate objective in and from any practice session is control of the flight of my golf ball.

I usually just take something like a 7i and 4h. I start by hitting the iron little 50yd shots, then a bit longer, before ‘full’ shots hit straight. I then add in some shaping…fade and draw. I have to be careful as can drift into manipulation when shaping so I don’t repeat the same shape thought multiple times in a row. Every shot I look to see where on the club face I hit the ball…and link that to the flight of the ball that resulted. I watch the flight of any shot. Was it what I intended? And work back to stance and ball position.

Then switch to hybrid and repeat above. Then to finish back to a few balls with the iron and then same with hybrid. Done.

I don’t much bother about working on a yardage I think I should get for any club. My yardages with a club will be what they will become when my strike is good and consistent. I don’t work on, or have in mind, any backswing thoughts or swing metrics other than strike accuracy.

For me it’s all about ball flight and ball-clubface strike accuracy.
 
Last edited:
I do like the trackman/top tracer ranges and the screens/games are great, especially on likes of the old course etc. and great for getting more people into golf, younger folk in particular.

But I’m pretty old fashioned and quite like just a bucket of balls and a target, which is good considering the range at my club is as basic as they come. Few bays and handful of flags at 100-200yds.

I did buy a couple of alignment sticks recently and have been doing a wee drill that I’d seen where the stick is through the ball basket at the back of the ball, sort of forcing you not to come in over the top
 
I do like the trackman/top tracer ranges and the screens/games are great, especially on likes of the old course etc. and great for getting more people into golf, younger folk in particular.

But I’m pretty old fashioned and quite like just a bucket of balls and a target, which is good considering the range at my club is as basic as they come. Few bays and handful of flags at 100-200yds.

I did buy a couple of alignment sticks recently and have been doing a wee drill that I’d seen where the stick is through the ball basket at the back of the ball, sort of forcing you not to come in over the top
8B191F8F-19F1-4F31-986F-64885628657A.jpeg
 


In an attempt to actually practice, this is a three quarter shot drill Ive just started to do. Working on connection and turn. Some people put gloves/towel under their arms.

Anybody else do stuff like this?
 
Last edited:


In an attempt to actually practice, this is a three quarter shot drill Ive just started to do. Working on connection and turn. Some people put gloves/towel under their arms.

Anybody else do stuff like this?

I've got a ProSendr and one of the V-Plane, they will both come out occasionally to check with things.
 


In an attempt to actually practice, this is a three quarter shot drill Ive just started to do. Working on connection and turn. Some people put gloves/towel under their arms.

Anybody else do stuff like this?
Funnily enough I had a lesson today, aim is to have 3 over the next 4 months to give me something to work on.
My biggest issue is inconsistencey with my alignment in to the green.

I also started using Hackmotion 2 weeks ago and this has identified I “flip” my wrists through impact.

Lesson went very well, Pro identified a couple of alignment issues for me to work on and the other drill he gave me is to put a towel under both arms at the front, almost like a bra and swing from 9 to 3 whilst keeping my wrists locked to get my legs in sync with my top half, this hopefully will not only stop my top half moving ahead of my legs, but also help get my hands in to the correct impact position.
 
Funnily enough I had a lesson today, aim is to have 3 over the next 4 months to give me something to work on.
My biggest issue is inconsistencey with my alignment in to the green.

I also started using Hackmotion 2 weeks ago and this has identified I “flip” my wrists through impact.

Lesson went very well, Pro identified a couple of alignment issues for me to work on and the other drill he gave me is to put a towel under both arms at the front, almost like a bra and swing from 9 to 3 whilst keeping my wrists locked to get my legs in sync with my top half, this hopefully will not only stop my top half moving ahead of my legs, but also help get my hands in to the correct impact position.
What do you think to the hack motion? I’ve seen loads of you tubers start to use them (prob because they’ve been sent them for free lol)
 
What do you think to the hack motion? I’ve seen loads of you tubers start to use them (prob because they’ve been sent them for free lol)
I’ll be honest in 6 months😂😂
Did a lot of research, watched the vids, read quite a bit etc and it seems to be an excellent training aid, and hopefully targets a few of my issues, however, probably like all these things, they only work if you put the effort it.😬

I mainly play Golf in the winter for no more than exercise, but decided this winter I’d try and be a bit more focussed, Hackmotion can be used in the house or Range or on Simulator, so no excuses.
 
I've only been to the range twice in maybe 2 years. I'm now back at a course that has a small practice area and have been out twice for some quick work. If I hit a shag bag of balls (85-90) 80 of those will be wedges to cones that I put out short of 100 yards. Unless I was desperate to work on fixing something like a slice...it's a waste of money. I'd rather use my own old balls....I kind of like the routine of picking them up as well. Although at this time of the year you have to work a lot harder to find them....even at 80 yards or so they can sit completely beneath the ground when they hit.
 
My usual winter practice drills are just for the wedges. I keep the short game ticking over and on the odd occassion i will take the big dog out and give that a rap for 20-30 balls. It can be cold and boring at times on the range throughout winter.
 
I do like the trackman/top tracer ranges and the screens/games are great, especially on likes of the old course etc. and great for getting more people into golf, younger folk in particular.

But I’m pretty old fashioned and quite like just a bucket of balls and a target, which is good considering the range at my club is as basic as they come. Few bays and handful of flags at 100-200yds.

I did buy a couple of alignment sticks recently and have been doing a wee drill that I’d seen where the stick is through the ball basket at the back of the ball, sort of forcing you not to come in over the top

I really like this.

A similar problem I have and I often resort to a bucket on the outside to hit from the inside, prob is this can result in being too flat.

Thanks for posting.
 
Top