I HATE the driving range.

[thedue]

Hang in there hawk, I'm just the opposite. I can generally count my good shots on the course on one hand, lol.

 

[Chunkylover77]

I am a golfing god on the range. I've had an instructor ask to video my swing to show his student a proper swing. The range I go to now the instructor there talks about my swing all the time. I get to the course and I throw up 90's. I think I prefer just hitting balls at the range lol.

 

[sacul1573]

I am a golfing god on the range. I've had an instructor ask to video my swing to show his student a proper swing. The range I go to now the instructor there talks about my swing all the time. I get to the course and I throw up 90's. I think I prefer just hitting balls at the range lol.

Freaking ditto. I even help teach a highschool team. But I get on the course, and I'm spraying like a shotgun.

 

[Capt Golf]

I LOVE the driving range. I have a nice one close to my house and when I don't have time for a round of golf, I go there. It's true what happens on the range doesn't always translate to the course but, without it I wouldn't get the chance to swing the club as much as I'd like. I think Obama's stimulus package should include more ranges everywhere......

 

[TC]

I LOVE the driving range. I have a nice one close to my house and when I don't have time for a round of golf, I go there. It's true what happens on the range doesn't always translate to the course but, without it I wouldn't get the chance to swing the club as much as I'd like. I think Obama's stimulus package should include more ranges everywhere......

Love it! Great post captain!

Sent from my Ally using Tapatalk

 

[Ole Gray]

Kelly, I have read that thread and I am very interested in the Vision Track. My thought was to finish out the year (as is, on the course) and start working on my swing itself this winter. We have an indoor dome that is pretty good for iron practice. I think I am going to pick one up then.

Or you could come down to Georgia and play golf with KellyBo and myself during the winter months

 

[aznhero913]

I like hitting on the natural grass but I love to see all the stats from every hit I make.
Seems like I'm actually I get more out of it from the indoor ones.

 

[ken419]

I've posted this elsewhere before, but I don't care for driving ranges either. For me though, it's an attention span thing.

Most I can deal with is a small bucket just to warm up. Anything more and my mind starts to wander and that's where the mistakes and negative thoughts happen.

 

[aubs88]

I've posted this elsewhere before, but I don't care for driving ranges either. For me though, it's an attention span thing.

Most I can deal with is a small bucket just to warm up. Anything more and my mind starts to wander and that's where the mistakes and negative thoughts happen.

I think that is my problem too. A large bucket allows too many thoughts and I start to mishit every shot.

 

[smoothduffer]

My range swing is better,i am just so much looser than on the course and i dont think about my swing i just do it and i can make the ball do whatever i want,literally.But on course i think about my swing or where i want to put the ball do i want a fade or draw do i flop it to the hole or let it run out,im just always thinking.But it is finally starting to get much better on the course,i think its just experience and the more im out there the better it will get.I get really frustrated sometimes but then i remember how bad i sucked when i started playing and how much better i have gotten in just a year.

 

[Sean]

Or you could come down to Georgia and play golf with KellyBo and myself during the winter months

What's the weather like, Gray? I'm may be looking for a place to play in the winter for a week or so that has semi decent temps and won't break the bank.

Back on topic. I like the range. It give me the opportunity to experiment and discover a lot about the swing. It's where I have made my break throughs. That said, I also made another discovery about the range. I finally discovered why some of us are range golfers and why we have difficulties bringing that swing to the course. It may seem obvious to you folks but for me it was kind of an epiphany. On the range I'm much more relaxed and there are no consequence to a bad swing. The range is wide open, the course is not. So what I now do is try to mimic the course conditions on the range as much as I can. And, on the course I try to mimic the range conditions as much as I can. Does it work? Sometimes.

The key for me is to be as relaxed and tension free when I make a swing on the course as I do when I am on the range. Easier said than done. LOL

 

[bogey_russ]

i hate the range unless i have nothing better to do
i dont warm up on the range before a round id rather warm up on the short game putting area
hitting the range before a round give me a false sense of hope... lol
ill pipe shots on the range and my ego tells me its gonna be a career round... then epic fail

 

[Ole Gray]

What's the weather like, Gray? I'm may be looking for a place to play in the winter for a week or so that has semi decent temps and won't break the bank.

Sean I will send you a pm about a outing that I would like to have for our southeastern group sometime in November. The weather is very pleasant up to January & February in Ga. More info in the pm.

When I do practice I take my shag bag to an old par five hole that they still mow the grass and maintain the green with course conditions. It's perfect for nine iron in, pitches, lobs, and putts. It's much better shape wise than our regular driving range which gets beat up with the constant pounding of non members who hit a bucket of balls instead of playing a round.

 

[JPsuff]

Driving ranges are not for everybody and not everyone is geared towards heavy-duty practice.

I go through cycles with driving ranges. Sometimes it's three or four times a week while other weeks it's not at all. I think the biggest thing to deal with at the range is boredom. It's real easy to just stand there and mindlessly hit shot after shot and then not really remember anything afterward.

What I like to do is to try to hit each ball with a purpose. That's not to say that I plan this ahead of time, but rather to just hit each ball with something in mind. Like there's this "150" green at one range which is pretty big; it's around 140 or so to the front and about 165 to the back so sometimes I'll either try to hit like a 9-iron to the front, an 8 to the middle and a 7 to the back. Or I'll just try to fade a 7 to the middle and then try to draw a 9 there and so forth - whatever makes it more interesting than just beating ball after ball.

On the distances where I really can't see the ball land, then I just try for "shapes". Try to make one ball go left, make one go right, or up or down - whatever, just as long as I'm trying to do something other than just hit ball after ball.

The most important thing for me is to just stop when it's time to stop.

I learned long ago that practicing works until it doesn't and that no matter how many balls are left in the bucket, if I'm done, I'm done.

I think I used to do more damage to whatever I was trying to fix by trying to "get my money's worth" out of whatever size bucket I paid for, rather than simply stopping and going home. Over the years, I've given away plenty of "extra" balls to other people or just left half-full buckets on the range, but that's fine. It's better than over-practicing and ruining everything I tried so hard to fix.

Overall, I like driving ranges and I like practicing but it has to hold my interest and that's up to me. And if I get bored or distracted more so than I want to, then it's time to leave.

I sometimes envy those who can play well without a lot of (or any) practice, but that works for them and not for me. I've made a lot of friends at various ranges and we've swapped clubs and offered each other opinions and advice or sometimes just told a good story, so I guess that for me there's a bit more to ranges than just beating balls. I mean, there ARE other people there, so why not talk to them?


After all, that's part of it too, right?


-JP

 

[TC]

i think JP makes some good points. i use to fall victim to the "i need to hit all of them b/c i paid for them", but he's right, i often find that when i'm done and i have balls left and i hit them, i rush through them and then something weird creeps in and it's hard to shake.

there's more to being at the range for me than just hitting balls as well. i like being outside, listening to the sounds of club contact, i like peeping into other's bags, seeing what equipment they're playing, and i'm a bit of a talker out there as well. i've made some decent golf buddies on the range.

at any rate, range time is important to me, but i can have bad range sessions too. when things are going south i just go to the chipping/pitching area and slow things down, concentrate more on keeping things still and making good contact.

don't worry hawk, next time you go out there, you'll be hitting everything pure, that's how this crazy game works.

 

[Hawk]

One thing that I learned this year is that a bad range session has no bearing on my actual on-course play. When I'm tired of hitting balls I just hit chips and pitches.

 

[Hanks]

awesome post TC...sums up my feelings about range time exactly. I've learned that if bad moojoo starts to creep in, I start hitting wedges again until my mind clears and my swing comes back. if it doesn't I walk away and spend extra time on the putting green

i think JP makes some good points. i use to fall victim to the "i need to hit all of them b/c i paid for them", but he's right, i often find that when i'm done and i have balls left and i hit them, i rush through them and then something weird creeps in and it's hard to shake.

there's more to being at the range for me than just hitting balls as well. i like being outside, listening to the sounds of club contact, i like peeping into other's bags, seeing what equipment they're playing, and i'm a bit of a talker out there as well. i've made some decent golf buddies on the range.

at any rate, range time is important to me, but i can have bad range sessions too. when things are going south i just go to the chipping/pitching area and slow things down, concentrate more on keeping things still and making good contact.

don't worry hawk, next time you go out there, you'll be hitting everything pure, that's how this crazy game works.

 

[Ole Gray]

awesome post TC...sums up my feelings about range time exactly. I've learned that if bad moojoo starts to creep in, I start hitting wedges again until my mind clears and my swing comes back. if it doesn't I walk away and spend extra time on the putting green

Great posts from JP, TC, and Hanks I Thanks. It is amazing how you can get your tempo back just hitting the baby wedges and chipping around the green. Once the solid contact and confidence comes back it's surprising how the big shots start coming back around.

 

[Kmac]

Another thing that helps me when I got to the range goes along with what has already been said and not hitting too many balls. I go to the range and will purposely only hit one token instead of two and try to make each shot count as much as the last one. And not having a huge bucket of balls makes me really think about each shot and concentrate on hitting it pure. Mindlessly blasting through a bucket of balls just for the sake of doing it never accomplishes much but a bunch of shanks and thins.

 

[jmaier]

I usually limit what I'm working on at the range to 1-2 objectives. Normally with my 7i - Driver, I'm only looking a tempo -- the takeaway, the transition and just smooth 75% swing looking to strike the ball first (irons). I'll always work distances with wedges 85 - 110 with the PW, 50 - 90 with the SW. That's it. I'll note the distance on the irons/hybrids/driver, but I'm not focused on the outcome with these clubs. With the wedge work, I'm looking for a specific distance and landing point. On pre-game range sessions, I'll do something like the wedge workout with my 8-9i also.

I find that if I setup properly and control tempo, my longer clubs take care of themselves (since I'm not really one who works the ball, I don't have a lot of exotic practice requirements.)

I'm pretty fond of the range and find it difficult to find the time to play these days but not to spend 1-1.5 hours practicing.

 

[jnug]

I really like going to the range. We have a turf range that is well maintained and I think that makes a big difference.

Fortunately, mechanics do not go way off for me anymore. While I will try to work out a mechanical problem at the range if I have one, golf is very much a game of feel at least for me. So, mostly what I do at the range is try to understand how to get and keep the feel for critical components of my swing with different clubs in different situations. I want to be able to keep it rolling when things are going good and correct errors quickly when they leak into my game. I absolutely want to have tools available to me that keep any tension from leaking into my arms as I am doomed when that happens. I need to get rid of it quickly so that my hips and shoulders continue to govern my swing. I work on developing tools that allow me to get my tempo right quickly, keep it for as long as possible and get it back as quickly as I can if I do lose it.

 

[Hawk]

So, apparently FLTC is not only a man among men, he is also a genious and a psychic. Went to the range today and had a great session.

I have to give tons of credit to JB and amollerud. I listened (it takes me a bit to catch on, JB) to a tip I heard from both of them and took some short pitch shots when things were going bad. Then I realized if I just use the same motion, but make it a full swing, BOOM the ball flies. I didn't want to leave. Funny how the range is more fun when you actually hit the ball well.

Also, took my Ci's with me today for a little head-to-head testing. Afterwards, I'm seriously considering putting them back in the bag. Distance was similar and accuracy was better than the a30S. Think I might do it as an experiment next time I go out.

 

[thedue]

Good stuff hawk. It's amazing what we can learn on this board to improve our game. You have me wanting to go to the range and I rarely ever do, lol. Short punch shots eh?

 

[Hawk]

JB was helping me on the range a bit and I've read Andy say the same thing. Bascially, I just took a couple practice pitch shots and then set up and fired away.

 

[thedue]

Sounds like its working good. Figure out how to hit a good 3 or 4 iron and I'm coming up for lessons, lol. Those are hurting me worst than my hybrids right now. I took the 3 out completely and the four is only there as a token.