The Driving Range

[WWG]

I have been told countless amounts of times that I have to put the practice in on the driving range if I am ever going to be any good. Now, I have only been playing 5 months, and being retired I have the time to put the practice on both the driving range and the local course. To be honest, I just don't see the range being any good. I can hit nice shot after nice shot on the range, whereas a nice shot on the course is as rare as Ant and Dec saying something vaguely funny. In fact, I am starting to believe that using the driving range may be detrimental to my golf, as it may have deceived me into believing I am playing shots correctly, whereas perhaps I am not.

So, what do you you think ?

 

[One Planer]

You learn to hit a ball on the driving range. You learn to play golf on the course.

If you want to improve you have to practice the right things. The place for that is the range not the course.

 

[351DRIVER]

Golfers at a range hit the ball better than they do on the course

You are not being blown about
You have a perfectly flat stance
You hit the same shot over and over *on the course you get 1 try
The range is so wide that even a big hook or slice will look like a controlled fade
There is no peril, you lose nothing for hitting a bad shot
Your tee is 100% the same height each time
Big drivers are easy to hit as you can bounce them off the mat and they ball still goes

I hit the ball at the range, you think i am a tour pro
I play golf, i hope to break 80

The range is best used hitting 2 shots, hit the one shot at your target, then put another one down and try and hit it better
I NEVER DO THIS, for me, i go to the range to blast some drivers, its fun, which unless you are getting paid is all golf ever should be.

Try and find a GRASS range to hit from, makes the world of difference and DOES help you a lot!

 

[ArnoldArmChewer]

Try and visualise a round on the range rather than just hitting ball after ball ie think of a hole you know and play it in your mind.

 

[patricks148]

You learn to hit a ball on the driving range. You learn to play golf on the course.

If you want to improve you have to practice the right things. The place for that is the range not the course.

what gaz says.

i didn't start playing till later in life and rarely go to a driving range, just played and practiced chipping in the garden.

result handicap dropped from 24 to 12 in a few months.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I disagree and the range does have a purpose. It allows you to develop a swing that over time should become somewhere near repeatable and there's plenty that can be done in terms of aiming at different targets and playing an imaginary round. I do however concur that you'll learn to score only by getting out on a course and scoring. Trust the work you've done on the range when you go on the course, relax and let the good shots you've developed to come out.

If your range has some targets near the bays, from say 20-80 yard, develop your pitching and distance control. If you can get a strong short game it'll give your game a boost.

 

[WWG]

You learn to hit a ball on the driving range. You learn to play golf on the course.

If you want to improve you have to practice the right things. The place for that is the range not the course.

But the problem is that because what I do on the range works, I then do the same thing on the course, and it doesn't ?

 

[sawtooth]

Golfers at a range hit the ball better than they do on the course

You are not being blown about
You have a perfectly flat stance
You hit the same shot over and over *on the course you get 1 try
The range is so wide that even a big hook or slice will look like a controlled fade
There is no peril, you lose nothing for hitting a bad shot
Your tee is 100% the same height each time
Big drivers are easy to hit as you can bounce them off the mat and they ball still goes

I hit the ball at the range, you think i am a tour pro
I play golf, i hope to break 80

The range is best used hitting 2 shots, hit the one shot at your target, then put another one down and try and hit it better
I NEVER DO THIS, for me, i go to the range to blast some drivers, its fun, which unless you are getting paid is all golf ever should be.

Try and find a GRASS range to hit from, makes the world of difference and DOES help you a lot!

Unfortunately they are few and far between and to find a floodlit is one is even rarer. I agree though, there is no substitute to practicing from grass and with proper golf balls.

Growing up I could hit balls over the local park but that is impossible to do now.

 

[One Planer]

But the problem is that because what I do on the range works, I then do the same thing on the course, and it doesn't ?

That's because on the course you get one chance to do it. At the range you have a bucket full so there is no pressure.

Also the fact you're trying to make a score adds pressure to your play.

If you hit it will on the range, there's no reason why you can't repeat it on the course. It's having a swing or stroke that you can trust under the pressure of making a score.

They are best made at the driving range IMHO.

 

[garyinderry]

You can hit fat shots at the range and get away with it as the club skips along the mat. This doesn't happen out on the course. Especially at this time of the year with the soft turf.

Relax. You have been playing only 5 months. It's a tough game with a very steep learning curve. You will get there.

 

[Hobbit]

If your range has some targets near the bays, from say 20-80 yard, develop your pitching and distance control. If you can get a strong short game it'll give your game a boost.

Unless the range has decent balls this is definitely not the place to learn distance control. If you learn distance control with a ball that only flies 80% of what the balls in your bag fly you're going to have problems out on the course.

 

[ChrisB0210]

I practice regularly at a range and I'm finally seeing the benefits on course, although there have been previous occasions when changes honed in the range have paid off.

As others have said, it is a tricky game to learn and master so stick at the practice and it will definitely pay off.

One tip I've been given for range practice that has worked for me is to log my practice in a notebook. I usually have a 100 ball basket and split it into 5 lots of 20, 1st lot is warm up (typically chipping), 2nd, 3rd & 4th are practice mode (swing/shot drills). Last is competition mode - pick a target, scenario and club and then mark where each ball finishes on a diagram of my target area (green or fairway). When I have a lesson I take my book with me so my pro can see what I've worked on and how it's gone.

 

[ScienceBoy]

Use the range to learn to hit a golf ball or do drills to improve.

You learn to play golf on the course.

Also don't neglect the practice green.

 

[paddyc]

For me the range (the covered one with mats and the lights come on after dark) is used between November and March when the weather is usually poor and daylight is less I use to work on drills that my pro gives me until that then that hopefully works. Once the weather gets better and its lighter I will then revert to the range at the course hitting proper balls, and working on the short game.Frustratingly I do struggle to take my practice range game to the course but hoping new swing changes and new shinies may help this year.

 

[the_coach]

I have been told countless amounts of times that I have to put the practice in on the driving range if I am ever going to be any good. Now, I have only been playing 5 months, and being retired I have the time to put the practice on both the driving range and the local course. To be honest, I just don't see the range being any good. I can hit nice shot after nice shot on the range, whereas a nice shot on the course is as rare as Ant and Dec saying something vaguely funny. In fact, I am starting to believe that using the driving range may be detrimental to my golf, as it may have deceived me into believing I am playing shots correctly, whereas perhaps I am not.

So, what do you you think ?

my take from a different end of the golf spectrum

it depends what exactly folks mean by 'practice'

so what exactly is the practice at the range?

what's the intent, how is the time structured, what are the practice plans, how are the results monitored, with what kind of criteria and rigor you utilize to assess what is being done

what percentage of the sessions is given to the different parts of game through the 'bag'

how is the set-up, ball position, posture being monitored through the session
do you use a 'work station' on the mat

find many folks are just swinging and hitting ball after ball, is it just drag and hit, or if auto tee is it wait for the ball to appear then strike it
do you use "block practice', 'random practice' and 'game practice'

how is the target line picked for the shot - without moving from the mat?

'good practice' cannot really be anyways detrimental