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The Official Driving Range Session Thread

I am working on rebuilding my swing, tonight I went and hit a bucket with my 7,5 & 3 irons. Was not worrying about distances, I never do at the range, range balls are the cheapest that they can get and just not very good. The main focus of today was the 3 to 9 drill, making sure to cock my wrists at 3 and then hold that position until the shaft is parallel to the ground on the downswing, releasing and generating the club head speed there. I am focusing on solid contact with the sweet spot. This is something that is more important than ever for me, since I am gaming players irons now. I recently bought sticks that are intended for someone with a much lower handicap than I have, and they are forcing me to become a better ball striker, which I gladly welcome. Tonight's session went really well, I am hitting them straight and predominantly in the sweet spot, and distances are looking good considering the range balls and only a 1/2 swing.
 
had a very good range session tonight i am really trying to work on holding my finish. My buddy told me if you hold your finish on the range you jcan just try to get to the finish position stress free on the course wich should produce good shots.
 
I have been working the last couple days on the first 3 feet of my backswing. I am really focusing on keeping the clubhead outside my hands on this initial part of the backswing. It works really well with ballstriking on my irons, but I have found that my driver and 3-wood suffer when using this approach. Need to work on it more...
 
Crazy thing happened at the range today. The course was packed. And the range was packed. I went into the pro shop and asked if I could get onto the range. I was told yeah no problem, just go to the end of the range. So I do. As I am walking out, I am seeing a lot of the guys' swings, it is quickly apparent that this isn't some corporate outing. Everyone that turns to look at me gives me a wave or a tip of the hat. I return the gestures. I get to the end and a guy stop and thanks me for putting on the day and asks me if I get an apperance fee. I say "No I am just here to practice. What's going on today?" They guy says that it is a PGA Sectional Tournament and it's sponsored by Adams Golf. He thought I worked for Adams or was staffed by Adams, because of my staff bag. I tell him that it is just a crazy coincidence. I put my work in, quietly at the end of the range. I go into the pro shop and look at the course pro, he starts laughing. "I knew the moment you went out there you were going to get attention." He said laughing. I am dressed in slacks a golf shirt so I blended right in, except for the staff bag. All those pros thought I was a hustler.
 
So, I'm working with a new pro to make my swing a little more dependable. First lesson was two weeks ago. He made some alterations to my grip and stance, and gave me some drills to work on increasing my lag. I was wondering where my power had gone, and I saw quickly in the video that my lag is terrible.

I like what I'm working on, but I'm seeing a lot of left to right shots. Not too many giant slices, but just about every shot is ending up right of my target, and often a little short.

So, I'm reading Golf Digest, and there is a tip from Sean Foley saying that golfers who are trying to increase their lag will sometimes hold off on their release too long and wind up with an open clubface at impact. I started thinking about it, and, yeah, I think I have not been full releasing the club. I went out to the range at lunchtime with the primary swing thought being forearm rotation through impact. Nothing drastic, just a natural rotation to get my clubface back to square.

It was money. High, straight shots...good divots...plenty of distance, and even got a little draw going. I'm pretty excited about this.
 
Best range session this season. Pretty much 8i-4i were straight shots with the desired trajectory and distance I feel is my reasonable best as a 12 hcp. I really had a couple of keys -- slower tempo, stay wide and extend fully through to the left side. Never took a hard swing and it worked since all of my misses with the irons would have been acceptable. Driver was improved as well using the same keys. If I get quick or swing hard then its all pulls, slices and hooks! Keep my tempo and they were generally straight down the pipe.
 
blugold said:
Crazy thing happened at the range today. The course was packed. And the range was packed. I went into the pro shop and asked if I could get onto the range. I was told yeah no problem, just go to the end of the range. So I do. As I am walking out, I am seeing a lot of the guys' swings, it is quickly apparent that this isn't some corporate outing. Everyone that turns to look at me gives me a wave or a tip of the hat. I return the gestures. I get to the end and a guy stop and thanks me for putting on the day and asks me if I get an apperance fee. I say "No I am just here to practice. What's going on today?" They guy says that it is a PGA Sectional Tournament and it's sponsored by Adams Golf. He thought I worked for Adams or was staffed by Adams, because of my staff bag. I tell him that it is just a crazy coincidence. I put my work in, quietly at the end of the range. I go into the pro shop and look at the course pro, he starts laughing. "I knew the moment you went out there you were going to get attention." He said laughing. I am dressed in slacks a golf shirt so I blended right in, except for the staff bag. All those pros thought I was a hustler.
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That's awesome!
 
I had a positive driving range session tonight. I focused on the driver almost exclusively. A few went sideways but I really focused on some alignment type adjustments and hit a lot of very nice balls. Very encouraging development.
 
well i decided to just pay for the month membership to rotaryswing.com just to check out all the "paid" videos
some of the videos have been eye opening on turning properly whether or not it will translate to the range we will have to see but im def turning with my core now instead of arms pushing the swing around.
 
Just spent the last 90 minutes working out my clubs and different shots from 100 yards to the hole. I now have it all sorted in my mind so there will be less confusion on the course as I had been having over the last few rounds. I know once this part starts to click and become second nature my scores will be dropping.
 
Range sessions for me have been lackluster lately. I have been pulling my irons left, pushing my wedges right, and driver has been all over the place. Ball position is the problem I am thinking, too far forward of center on irons, back on wedges, and too close/faraway on driver. Have been putting the most work in on the putting green, as I just switched back to my long putter and need to work on my distance control. Swing will come around soon. Scoring has stayed consistently in the 80's but I should be shooting in the 70's allot more.
 
I've got another 1.5 hour range session scheduled on a grass range tomorrow. Also should get lots of putting and chipping in. I'm pretty excited as last Saturday's was awesome.
 
Been hitting it poorly so yesterday I spent 6 hours on the range, hit 300 balls and did a lot of video to get it right.
 
White Rhino said:
Just spent the last 90 minutes working out my clubs and different shots from 100 yards to the hole. I now have it all sorted in my mind so there will be less confusion on the course as I had been having over the last few rounds. I know once this part starts to click and become second nature my scores will be dropping.
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So what's going to be your 'go to shot' inside 100 assuming a good lie and reachable pin?


^^^^^^ I Tapped That.....On My iPad ^^^^^^
 
Started playing back in April and decided to take lessons for the first time. The instructor changed my grip and impact follow thru. Went out to the range and hit over 500 balls in two days with my Ping Zing irons in the blistering southern heat. The range sessions were an improvement on my accuracy and definitely my distance. My 160 yard 7i shots are now at 180 yards, sometimes nailing at impact around 185,190. The ball jumps higher, faster, and straighter . My 9i, PW, 58 Wedges were great, high flying.
 
Been awhile since I've been to the range, just been too hot to go at lunch and been playing more than practicing lately. Saturday I took my 3 wood in to have the original shaft replaced because I have not been able to hit it to save my life as of late and it lost it's place in my bag. Today I went to the range at lunch and warmed up with a few 7 iron shots and then tried the 3 wood. What a difference a shaft makes, this was the best I've hit a 3 wood in a very long time, only lost the first couple badly to the right, topped one and hit one extremely fat, but all the others were falling withing a fairways width near my target. Going to place it back in my bag for my next round and see how it goes from there.
 
Went out to the range today even though it was kinda rainy because I have only played 9 holes since I've been back from The Morgan Cup and I am DYING to play golf. I have been moving so every minute I am not working I have been packing and also going over to the new place to paint. Anyhow, went out to the range not really sure what to expect. I was hitting the ball so well in Myrtle Beach I was sure that I couldn't keep striping the ball like that, but man I had one of the best range sessions. I think I have the perfect bag setup for me for the first time ever, and it shows in how I hit the ball. Its crazy how it all came from one company as well. I am getting really consistent at just hitting nice straight shots, and I've got a slight draw any time I hit a long iron but I know where to aim to draw it right in there. My next goal is to learn how to shape shots, which I will begin working on at the range through the rest of this year and into the next. I think once you can start controlling shot shape you can give yourself a better shot at having a "good miss" on the tough ones.

For example, hole 16 at True Blue is a par 3 with waste bunkers on the left and water all along the right. The pin was right center of the green. I was having a great round and was hitting consistently so I actually aimed out over the water and hit a nice draw right back at the pin because that is my natural shot shape right now with longer irons. However, what I WANTED to be able to do was hit a fade, because in the back of my mind I knew that if I would have hit the ball straight on my shot it would have gone in the water. If I can hit a fade then I know if I am left and I don't get it to cut then I just end up on the left side of the green or in the bunker, a much better miss than being in the water. So that is my next goal on the range...which I'm sure will be a long process
 
I had a FANTASTIC range session this evening. I have been hitting my irons the best I have ever hit them in my life. I was hitting full, 3/4, 1/2 wedge shots really well. I felt great...............

And then I grabbed the driver. I have never been more embarrassed in my tee game, than I am right now. I can't stop pulling and pull hooking, every, single, driver. I am so frustrated. I have tried everything I can think of, and nothing is helping. I have never dealt with this in my life, so I have no idea what to do to correct it. I bet I hit 30 consecutive pulls or hooks, in a row, to close out my evening. I was so deflated, I actually cursed the Golf Gods and asked what the *bleep* I did to deserve this. I was hitting the driver reasonably well, as recently as a week ago. It's been a battle, all freaking year, and it's just gotten worse and worse the last two times out. I am going to finally succumb to the "PLEASE! HELP ME!" thread and have Kelly shoot some video of me on Wednesday, and get it posted in the Ask A Pro. There is no way, I can play a decent round of golf, hitting balls straight left, or 7 feet of the ground, banana hooks. I probably hit 75 balls with the driver tonight, and I can honestly say I was happy with about 10 of them, that went tall, and straight. I know I can do it. But something just isn't clicking right now.

I am at the mercy of the Golf God's at the moment. If anyone has any brain storms, or ideas to throw at me, please do. Feel free to PM me or respond here.
 
JeffReedMO said:
I had a FANTASTIC range session this evening. I have been hitting my irons the best I have ever hit them in my life. I was hitting full, 3/4, 1/2 wedge shots really well. I felt great...............

And then I grabbed the driver. I have never been more embarrassed in my tee game, than I am right now. I can't stop pulling and pull hooking, every, single, driver. I am so frustrated. I have tried everything I can think of, and nothing is helping. I have never dealt with this in my life, so I have no idea what to do to correct it. I bet I hit 30 consecutive pulls or hooks, in a row, to close out my evening. I was so deflated, I actually cursed the Golf Gods and asked what the *bleep* I did to deserve this. I was hitting the driver reasonably well, as recently as a week ago. It's been a battle, all freaking year, and it's just gotten worse and worse the last two times out. I am going to finally succumb to the "PLEASE! HELP ME!" thread and have Kelly shoot some video of me on Wednesday, and get it posted in the Ask A Pro. There is no way, I can play a decent round of golf, hitting balls straight left, or 7 feet of the ground, banana hooks. I probably hit 75 balls with the driver tonight, and I can honestly say I was happy with about 10 of them, that went tall, and straight. I know I can do it. But something just isn't clicking right now.

I am at the mercy of the Golf God's at the moment. If anyone has any brain storms, or ideas to throw at me, please do. Feel free to PM me or respond here.
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I'd say I'm going through something similar - for a couple of rounds back in June, I was really pleased with my driver shots....and then I turned into a pull-hook machine...and lately it's been slice-o-rama. It's frustrating as all heck! I've decided it's just my body's way of telling me "dude, this hand-eye-body coordination thing is really confusing...let's just stick to the shorter clubs this month, mkay?"

So that is what I'm doing - no driver until Sept 1, focus on the other 13 clubs. My situation is probably a little different, as I gather you've made it out of golf basic training, while I'm still working on some more fundamental stuff, but who knows, just taking a vacation away from driver-land may do the trick for you.

In my case, I'm just starting to see some progress with my hybrids and irons (especially today). Probably wouldn't have happened if I were allowing my driver woes to cloud my thoughts.
 
LeftySean said:
I'd say I'm going through something similar - for a couple of rounds back in June, I was really pleased with my driver shots....and then I turned into a pull-hook machine...and lately it's been slice-o-rama. It's frustrating as all heck! I've decided it's just my body's way of telling me "dude, this hand-eye-body coordination thing is really confusing...let's just stick to the shorter clubs this month, mkay?"

So that is what I'm doing - no driver until Sept 1, focus on the other 13 clubs. My situation is probably a little different, as I gather you've made it out of golf basic training, while I'm still working on some more fundamental stuff, but who knows, just taking a vacation away from driver-land may do the trick for you.

In my case, I'm just starting to see some progress with my hybrids and irons (especially today). Probably wouldn't have happened if I were allowing my driver woes to cloud my thoughts.
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I have actually gotten away from hitting the driver a ton the past couple of months, because of my struggles with it (even before a recent shaft change) and because I have been more successful just going at it with a three wood or 2 hybrid. I pull/hook an occasional three wood, and straight pull an occasional 2 hybrid, but nothing like the driver has been and was today. Today was embarrassing. Had anyone else been at the range, I would have put it away and only hit something I knew I could hit (the mid irons work well with me), because I looked like a flipping idiot down there, snap hooking and pulling balls into the trees lining the left side of the range. I have battled the s***ks, which are demoralizing as sin. But the driver being this bad, is taking away my bread and butter, and the thing that instills confidence for me, all the way through the bag.
 
So I decided to go out to the range today after this past weekend to find out what the heck is up with my woods. I am striking my irons and wedges great, and I'm putting well. But I could not for the life if me hit a dang ball straight off the tee yesterday. Went to the range today and went all the way down the bag, starting with wedges and moved to short irons, long irons, and then woods. Hit everything, and I mean everything, deadly accurate...until I got to woods. I don't know what has gotten in to me but for the last month I haven't been able to hit my 3 wood, and now it has carried into my driver.
 
Since I've gotten my two hybrids I've taken my woods out of the bag. I really see no need for them anymore, not even off the tee. I see NO need to struggle with them anymore when my hybrids can be just as long but WAY more accurate. Because I feel so much more comfortable with how easy it is to hit these hybrids I can swing harder and get the same distance. And it's made the game a lot more fun as well.

I have two Bridgestone J36 hybrids that I bought used but are in excellent shape. It's unreal how "hot" the face is. The first time I hit the 25* 4h the ball went dead straight 225 yards. I was literally standing there with my mouth wide open and a stupid stare on my face. And it was off the deck too. With range balls.

It has me rethinking the driver because while I can get 250-260 with it, it's only 6 out of 10 times that happens. And when I shank the driver I'm in trouble and it's costing me strokes.

I would say if you're having trouble with your driver to slow down and work on fundamentals until you get your speed back. I had to switch to a very strong grip and it made all the difference in the world. Not only does it help me to square the face at impact but it forces my right shoulder down which helps my swing.
 
I am using the following routine just about every time I go to the range, learned this from someone who studies the game and the swing more than anyone else I have ever known.

Usually in the order shown.
80-100 chip shots
20-30 pitch shots (30-60 yards).... More for getting my swing right than for distance but it doesn't hurt for the latter.
30-40 wedge shots (52, 56, PW)
Then mostly my 7 iron to work on my swing followed up by a hybrid and maybe my 7 wood, never touch my driver at the range.
10-15 minutes of putting.

That's it and it seems to be helping, take at least 2 hours, usually 3.
 
Acmike said:
I am using the following routine just about every time I go to the range, learned this from someone who studies the game and the swing more than anyone else I have ever known.

Usually in the order shown.
80-100 chip shots
20-30 pitch shots (30-60 yards).... More for getting my swing right than for distance but it doesn't hurt for the latter.
30-40 wedge shots (52, 56, PW)
Then mostly my 7 iron to work on my swing followed up by a hybrid and maybe my 7 wood, never touch my driver at the range.
10-15 minutes of putting.

That's it and it seems to be helping, take at least 2 hours, usually 3.
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That's interesting you never hit your driver at the range. For me my best rounds come when I feel confident and am thinking of "where" I am going to hit my ball rather than, "don't hit it fat, don't skull it, don't hook it, etc". I don't know that hitting my driver at the range has EVER built up my confidence! LOL But hitting my wedges and mid irons sure has. Hmmm I am usually more random at the range but I like your plan and next spring will give something like this a try. Although my back could never hold up to hitting that many balls!
 
I've been to the range after my round the past 2 days to keep working on things. Yesterday it was iron game and it helped, today I was hitting irons too fast so I put them away and moved to the short game area. Pitching work only. Long / Mid / Short pitches with the 56 degree. Hitting that much more solidly right now.
 
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