Range Practice

[Adjani]

Just finished "Golf is not a game of Perfect", picked up some nice tips; one of those was the method of practice, looking for quality and conditions.

Took this to the range today, and had a much more productive session.

Rather than warming up and going through the bag, short irons to driver, i focused more on randomising the clubs used (as you would on the course) shaping some shots, generally trying to simulate a round of golf, picking specific targets, playing particular shots.

Just wondered what form your practice takes when on the range ?

Any tips you would add to get more from the session ?

 

[GB72]

I also mix up my clubs on the range. I try and roughly play my course in my head (adding in a few wedge shots for inevetable misssed greens) so, for example, I would start with a driver, five iron then a chip for the first hole and so on. Seems to help.

 

[TonyN]

I try to work on what i feel is mostly letting me down, I warm up with wedges but also use it to get my rythem and timing.

At the moment its driver ad 3 wood, but all other clubs get a few mins aswell.

 

[RGuk]

I apply all the same principles to my golf that I do with everything else. It would take too long to describe it all in detail, but there are things that work and things that don't work in terms of improving muscle control/memory (or whatever you want to call physical "ingraining" of subtle movements). I expect most of the forum know well enough for themselves the dangers of bad practice.

It's such a shame that 90% of folks at the range are just making themselves worse.

"Simulating a game" of golf is only any use if you learn from each shot and apply the correct "attitude" to the next. It CAN work if you are disciplined.
For example - if you are serving (in tennis) with a bad action, there's no point AT ALL in adjusting your aim/length for the next serve. Same with golf...if you are cutting across the ball and then try to "balance" the face of the club to land the ball on target (i.e. a fade) then swinging it along the same path again is simply ingraining the underlying fault.

I practice with a bucket of 45 balls and swing the club 150-250? times per practice.....

 

[ColinR]

Try this one...

Take all of your irons out of the bag and line them up in front of you. Pick up your longest Iron ( for me it is a 4 iron) and hit a shot with it, if it is a good clean shot, then move to the 5 iron, then to the 6 etc etc. If at anytime you hit a shot that you are not 100% happy with, go straight back to the longest Iron and start again.

The reason I do this is because it really keeps my mind focused on preparing for a shot as I dont want to start all over again !!

If you get round the clubs once, then try to get round again. It beats just hammering balls up the range.

 

[RGuk]

That sounds like a ColinM routine!

I believe it was Monty that used to hit 100 four footers and start again if he missed one.

I moved from my favoured bay the other day, because I wanted a marker board (the 175) 10 yards right of target.

I tried starting all my balls at the board trying to land left of it. I hit some pukka draws......shame it never lasts.

What drives me mad (well, not anymore, because I don't take my wedges any more) is inaccurate 100 yard flags. I know my GW (52*) goes between 92-98 yards on the course and to see it fly well over the 100 is not very helpful!!!

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Have to say our practice ground has markers and flags at 50, 100, 150 and 200 and having used Sky Caddy to measure them they are actually pretty accurate +-1 yard. That means when I use it I can be fairly happy knowing how far I am hitting each club. However the downside is the wind tends to be predominantly into and from the left which means and fades or slices are exaggerated and it is hard to draw a ball into the wind.

If I go to my local range I have the opposite problem where the wind is normally with and from the right and like most ranges I'm not sure the yardages apre particularly accurate so it does make a mockery of club selection.

As a result if I am using the driving range I tend to make my sessions a lot more about mechanics and trying to groove in any swing adjustments from recent lessons or correcting and flaws (having already sought professional advice). In these sessions I'll hit wedges to warm up and then work on either odd or even nuimbers up to the driver and then back through the other side of the bag hitting approximately 100-120 balls. If I am concentrating and checking my swing and fundamentals these 120 balls can take at least 90 minutes plus.

If however I am on the practice ground where I can get more instant feedback (divot depth and direction, distance etc) I tend to vary my practice and after warming up will hit 20 at the 50 and 20 at the 100 yard markers trying to average at least 15 feet (50) and 20 (100). Doesn't sound much but if you can get into that area each time you are not going to 3 putt and will make a few as well.

I then tend to spend an hour working on longer shots trying to hit my 5 iron over the 150 marker and then trying to get 5 woods as close as possible to the 200 yard mark. I'll then hit a few tee shots with my hybrid and 4 iron to replicate playing longer par 3's looking to land it down a 15 yard corridor (taking that as an average green width). Might hit a few drivers (not reallly allowed given the length but if it is into the wind I'm not long enough to bomb it out the far end) and a few 3 woods. The number of balls I hit also depends how busy it is and how bothered I can be to go out and pick them all up again

 

[RGuk]

.....As a result if I am using the driving range I tend to make my sessions a lot more about mechanics and trying to groove in any swing adjustments from recent lessons or correcting and flaws (having already sought professional advice).

I don't take anything from the range distances.....it's just unnerving with short clubs.....

I have a dilema a.t.m. I can't hit anything more than a 5 wood at the course range (only 220 long) and pretty much have to go to the driving range for 3w/driver. As I have to go there anyway, I'm only using the course range for dinking around wedges and 7-9 irons. So, a bit of both.

I've also taken to warming up in a net. As there are basicaly 3 things to watch for (head, in-out, hands crossed over through impact) I'm not worried about where the thing goes.
As it happens, the straightness seems to hold up anyway.
I started like this on Wednesday pm.....after 30 balls not knowing where the heck they'd have gone

 

[Cernunnos]

I've done the work through the bag thing, sometimes going up every other odd club & back down on the evens, so

But I trend to start on a mid iron. So two or three shots with 7, then 5, 3 (if its in the bag, or hybrid) 3 wood Driver, then back down 5 wood 4 iron, 6 iron 8 iron, PW SW, 60, 50, 9 iron & back to 7 iron.

Or I'll pick a mid length target green, say depending on the bay, an 8 iron or even a 6 iron away. Will hit half a dozen shots with that then try hitting the same target flag with an alternative flag, then I'll move up in length to a target flag further away & choose two alternat clubs for the shot & then probably take 3 wood & driver & aim at the furthest target green. Then I'll work my way through the short distance flags with differnt wedges, again choosing two different clubs for each of these closeup target flags, from say 40 yards up to 100 yards, if I've chosen my bay carefully.

Then I'll play an essential game around the target greens I'll choose one of the three main target greens take the club I think will get me there. Now if I miss the green I estimate how far I was off the green & what sort of shot might be the likely next, then choose one of the close in flags 40 - 100 yarders, making a pitch or chip type shot with various shot making clubs. Then move onto another of the three main target greens go through the same & so on. I may decide to mix it up & imagine a parr 5 & hit a drive down the line of the main yardage markers, then decide how much I've got left for this imaginary par 5. Say for instance I'm imagining 550yards, I hit my driver & its say dropped at the 250 yarder or maybe slightly past. So for instance this 550, now becomes 300 yards on the range. What now? decide is this a lay up water hole or a go as far as I can hole. So for instance its a lay up, where I need to leave 150 for a safe imaginary water hazard, I'll pick out the 150 yard marker & aim to drop the next infront of it, but not over it. so then I know Ive 150left for this imaginary parr 5 . So can aim at the target green nearest this distance & then if I've missed the green go through the procedure I went through earlier for the short close in flags. If you can't imagine a hole or want something to work different ways of handling holes you know, dig out an old score card from the bag & go through yardages & take into account hazards you know are on the actual course.

I quite like this sort of fun round played on the range, makes you think about a lot of things & means more swapping between clubs with no second chances. Especially good when the course is full or bored of working on iron shot techniques.

I really do like to vary practice to keep things fresh, when I'm down on the range.

Not really worked enough on the range this year, but an example of things I was doing last year, & to a certain extent this year, though as I say, don't really seem to have had the drive as much this year.

 

[billyg]

Is it just me or does anyone else have a problem with using mats for hitting irons off the floor? If it's ball -turf were striving for then the unyielding mat (unless your lucky enough to have a range with those ball reservoir, poppy-uppy tees- which also have a strip of cropped turf*) caused me to mentally hold back from trying to trap the ball properly as I know I'm going to get a jolt of unpleasant feedback through the shaft. This can't be good in the long run if were trying to groove a repeatable action can it?

Fine for tee'd up woods and woods/hybrids off the deck at a push but I'm a bit disillusioned with trying to practice off what equates to hardpan on a course.

On the other hand I can see that the owners of the golf range don't want to have to re-fit fluffy mats every six months because some complete barnicle has tried to dig a trench with his/her PW.

(I know the answer is to use grass bays but they're not always available)



* I haven't yet worked out a way of taking a practice swing off this strip of fluffy stuff without the machine thinking I want another ball. It all goes a bit 'Frank Spencer' from there if I'm not careful.

bill

 

[andiritchie]

i warm up with afew wedges to the 50yard marker then 75 yard marker,general swing mechanics with a 6 iron for half the session then 2 long irons 2 rescues and 3 woods then 1 driver,my range session on a friday night once a warm up i just get some good tempo shots going still only hitting one driver at a time ready for the weekends game,i generally dont find any differnce from hitting balls on the range than the course

 

[Cernunnos]

Warming up for me is different than all out practice.

A few 6,7, or 8 iron shots to a target green, a driver shot or two off the tee & a fairway wood or two off the deck. A few wedge shots to closein flags. Finish with 4 or 5 shots with whatever club I'm likely to use on the first tee & then off to do a few putts on the putting green to gauge the speed of the greens then off

 

[RGuk]

I enjoyed your post BillyG....very funny....
I know that silly thing with the self-loading tees....it drives me mad!! I take my practice swing, set up for the ball at my normal pace and ohhhh...the tee drops away just as I'm ready. I quit the only range that has these tees.

As for the mat thing, it's an old chestnut that crops up on here from time to time. It is hard to make the ideal swing with short irons on a mat.....we all know this.....but the doomsayers who say you can't become proficient on mats are exagerating a tad.

I got down to single figures never having practiced on turf. The guys at my club said it couldn't be done. Admittedly, I tend to pick off the ball a little cleaner than I should, but on the course I don't struggle with fats or thins and I do take divots, just maybe not with mid-irons.

Of late, I've been hitting only mid & long clubs at the driving range and short clubs & wedges at the course range. I've got to say i.m.o. that this has helped NO END. If you learn to hit wedges on a mat (especially the 1/2 and 3/4 shots) and develop a clean strike (i.e. little or no divot) my personal recommendation would be to quit this practice immediately. To hit a clean 1/2 wedge so clean is gambling with tiny margins for error.

Personally (getting on my soapbox) I reckon OFF A MAT using up 1/4 off your balls on warm-up short swings is a complete waste of time. Better to develop some good warm-up drills and go straight in with 7/8 iron, then move onto longer clubs. I've seen guys hitting most of their balls into nets and stuff.....why???.....it's a totally different game off turf...better to do this at the pitching area of the club.

Am I wrong or do I sound like an ex-waster of balls??

 

[Cernunnos]

Well one good thing about mats are that they are a regular surface with minimal variables. Meaning the only variables are ourselves, especially for those of us who need to work on mechanics of our swing So although we all complain about mats & how the club contacts mat & ball the idea still surely is to squeeze that ball off the surface.

Okay, so my elbows & wrists hate me sometimes, especially when the mat is starting to shift away from its underlay after the ball.

There are some mats with a little give which maybe a little closer to turf.

Fair enough nothing can compare with playing off turf & off varying surface conditions & angles, but without working on the basics on the range mats & level ground where would many of us who may not be like those that are completely natural to the game.

I think that's part of the reason why when I go for lessons I like to mix up what I get taught to me on the range with time on the course.

I do wish our range did have a choice of mats or turf, like say Morley Hayes does near Derby, but I'm not driving all the way up there everytime I want to hit balls.

I also don't like these new mats that send a ball up to you from a special hopper, but we don't need to use that hopper & at lest you get two different surfaces to take balls off of. As whats wrong with tipping a basket of balls on its side as we used to & use the club to get the next ball.

I hate those rubber tees if the truth is to be told & I'm none too chuffed with those supposed brilliant brush tees. Not brilliant in my book. But that's another subject.

 

[RGuk]

Fair enough nothing can compare with playing off turf & off varying surface conditions & angles, but without working on the basics on the range mats & level ground where would many of us who may not be like those that are completely natural to the game.

Good call.....I find that little square of astro the best place to work on my swing.....no distractions, no bad lies, just me and the ball, my drills/thoughts and ingraining a swing I can take to the course.