Question:
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hi, I have a question about driving range practice. I noticed at my last session that I did not hit as well and I thought it might be attributable to the fact that I had to share the tee with our almost 4 year old son. His idea of sharing is he hits 3 balls and I get to hit 1 – providing I do it in a timely manner 
He was crushing his new 25 degree metal wood! Seriously though, this forced me to take a lot longer between shots than I normally do at the range. I’m starting to wonder if hitting balls to quickly at the range is a bad idea. In a 4 hour round of golf with 90 strokes is about 2 1/2 minutes per shot, maybe something similar or at least closer to that would be better for range practice. I usually get the jumbo bucket – 250 balls and finish it in about 90 minutes which is about 1/2 minute per ball. I’ve never timed the pros but they seem to take there time when hitting practice balls. Any opinions on this? Cheers, Steve
How about hitting one ball with the driver, then one with a five iron then maybe one with a wedge. Or maybe think how you you play each hole on your home course and switch clubs for each shot. This would be more like the normal club rotation during play. Jude
Response:
Steve, before his final round at the Open on Sunday, Jeff Maggert showed up less than an hour before tee-off. To the TV interviewer he commented (at least for tournaments) he only hits a few balls to warm up and that’s it. IMHO he appeared to be in no hurry to the range as he answered several questions in a calm manner. The minute or two that I watched Tiger on TV starting to warm up, he must have pumped out 30 short wedge shots. Didn’t see what happened much after that for his practice/warm-up. As has been discussed here before, last week before my round on the range, I hit 25 of 25 perfect (for me) shots with little effort. After a push into the trees on the first hole and other feeble shots, my game was its regular atrocious one. What really galls me… I tried flubbing a couple on the range and they were even good. Carl F. Prenner
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hi, I’m starting to wonder if hitting balls to quickly at the range is a bad idea. In a 4 hour round of golf with 90 strokes is about 2 1/2 minutes per shot, maybe something similar or at least closer to that would be better for range practice. I usually get the jumbo bucket – 250 balls and finish it in about 90 minutes which is about 1/2 minute per ball. I’ve never timed the pros but they seem to take there time when hitting practice balls.
Response:
As has been discussed here before, last week before my round on the range, I hit 25 of 25 perfect (for me) shots with little effort. After a push into the trees on the first hole and other feeble shots, my game was its regular atrocious one. What really galls me… I tried flubbing a couple on the range and they were even good. Carl F. Prenner
The secret is in the balls themselves… Gotta play with the same balls you use for practice… And think of the raised eyebrows when you tee up a range ball in front of the rest of your foursome. Eliyahu
Response:
I would say it depends on the golfer. I use the same preshot routine at the range as I do on the course and usually hit 350 – 400 balls at a session. I get to the range around 6:30 in the morning and finish around 9:30 or 10:00 AM. So that’s 3 to 3 1/2 hours or about 30 – 40 seconds a ball. I mix up short shots, drives, chips, knock downs and any other shot that may come up. That being said, I don’t take practice swings on the course other than occasionally doing a grass cutting drill or the like after an exceptionally long wait for the groups in front of us to clear out. Also, my setup and tempo are relatively quick as I am always looking at the shot that I have coming up before while I am walking to the ball. Knowing that I practice the same way that I play on the course. I got into that habit early on since I did not like taking too long over my shots and do not like to over think a shot as that usually leads to a bad decision. I also find that since I know there are not too many types of shots that I have not already hit thousands of times before at the range I have a lot of confidence in the first decision I make about the shot at hand. I know that the average time that I take per ball at the range is short but you also have to take into consideration that I also do a lot of drills to make sure that the swing is ingrained in my muscle memory. An example would be using a grass cutting drill in which I walk through a row of 6 balls while continuing to swing back and through the ball using an iron without stopping. This one is good for helping to eliminate a hit response and can also knocks out balls real fast. The bottom line is that you should not worry about how long other golfers take to hit balls at the range. If you feel that you are practicing effectively and your scores on the course support that feeling then you are probably on the right track. I’ve seen tons of golfers take a lot of time over every shot they hit at the range, but they never get better because they just take full swings on ball after ball (weak slice after weak slice), don’t work on mechanics and never practice the shots necessary to get out of trouble. That, in my opinion, is just time and money wasted since there is little or no payoff in the time spent. As a side note, never consider the time with your son real practice time. When I take my son to the range, it’s to spend time with him and have fun. I save the real practice for the time that I have by myself on the range, as there are no distractions and I don’t have to constantly worry about his safety. (Especially from the guy 2 boxes down that always seems to shank the ball down the line as soon as the boy decides to run and retrieve a short shot he just hit.) That’s enough rambling for now. Good luck and keep practicing however you feel is most effective. @posting.google.com: – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hi, I have a question about driving range practice. I noticed at my last session that I did not hit as well and I thought it might be attributable to the fact that I had to share the tee with our almost 4 year old son. His idea of sharing is he hits 3 balls and I get to hit 1 – providing I do it in a timely manner He was crushing his new 25 degree metal wood! Seriously though, this forced me to take a lot longer between shots than I normally do at the range. I’m starting to wonder if hitting balls to quickly at the range is a bad idea. In a 4 hour round of golf with 90 strokes is about 2 1/2 minutes per shot, maybe something similar or at least closer to that would be better for range practice. I usually get the jumbo bucket – 250 balls and finish it in about 90 minutes which is about 1/2 minute per ball. I’ve never timed the pros but they seem to take there time when hitting practice balls. Any opinions on this? Cheers, Steve
Response:
I’ve never timed the pros but they seem to take there time when hitting practice balls. Any opinions on this?
Sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t. Probably depends on what the purpose is – warmup the muscles, practice actually taking shots, or working on specific swing mechanics.
Response:
I’m starting to wonder if hitting balls to quickly at the range is a bad idea. In a 4 hour round of golf with 90 strokes is about 2 1/2 minutes per shot, maybe something similar or at least closer to that would be better for range practice. I usually get the jumbo bucket – 250 balls and finish it in about 90 minutes which is about 1/2 minute per ball.
I can normally polish off a large (110-ball) bucket at the range in about two hours, Steve, which works out to about a minute per ball. That gives me plenty of time to go through my regular pre-shot routine and focus on any adjustments I happen to be working on in my swing. I suppose someone who has a wonderful swing can just go to the range and bang out balls in rapid success as a way of keeping his swing in groove. But I’m always tinkering with someting with my swing, so I tend to spend a fair amount of time setting up for each shot. I also will take a couple of five or 10 minute breaks during a range session to grab a drink and think about what I’m working on and how well I’m accomplishing what I set out to do at the session. My goal is an improved swing, not grooving a bad one.
Response:
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hi, I have a question about driving range practice. I noticed at my last session that I did not hit as well and I thought it might be attributable to the fact that I had to share the tee with our almost 4 year old son. His idea of sharing is he hits 3 balls and I get to hit 1 – providing I do it in a timely manner He was crushing his new 25 degree metal wood! Seriously though, this forced me to take a lot longer between shots than I normally do at the range. I’m starting to wonder if hitting balls to quickly at the range is a bad idea. In a 4 hour round of golf with 90 strokes is about 2 1/2 minutes per shot, maybe something similar or at least closer to that would be better for range practice. I usually get the jumbo bucket – 250 balls and finish it in about 90 minutes which is about 1/2 minute per ball.
Tournament professionals hit about 400 balls in 8 hours when they are practising. Crispin Roche
Response:
Having watched a number of pros warm up, the main difference is that they plan each shot as if it was an ‘on the course’ shot. There’s a purpose behind each shot with each club pulled from the bag. I suspect they take 20-40 seconds or more per ball and they take time to analyze the prior results including, usually, caddie or coach input. They just don’t beat balls and, except for Vijay Singh, Tom Kite and their ilk, they usually hit only about the equivalent of one large bucket – maybe in the 50-80 ball range. Going through a bucket of balls in 5 minutes is energetic, but not the best use of the range. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I have a question about driving range practice. I noticed at my last session that I did not hit as well and I thought it might be attributable to the fact that I had to share the tee with our almost 4 year old son. His idea of sharing is he hits 3 balls and I get to hit 1 – providing I do it in a timely manner He was crushing his new 25 degree metal wood! Seriously though, this forced me to take a lot longer between shots than I normally do at the range. I’m starting to wonder if hitting balls to quickly at the range is a bad idea. In a 4 hour round of golf with 90 strokes is about 2 1/2 minutes per shot, maybe something similar or at least closer to that would be better for range practice. I usually get the jumbo bucket – 250 balls and finish it in about 90 minutes which is about 1/2 minute per ball. I’ve never timed the pros but they seem to take there time when hitting practice balls.
Response:
I’ve never timed the pros but they seem to take there time when hitting practice balls. Any opinions on this?
IMHO, just bashing balls is a waste of time. You should be practicing with the same pre-shot routine that you’d use on the course, to line up the shot and address the ball. One purpose of practice should actually be to develop and define a pre-shot routine that works. It’s all in the name of being *consistent* … doing the same thing all the time to achieve as reliable a result as possible. Cheers Colin Wilson RSG Roll Call: http://rec-sport-golf.com/members/?rollcall=wilsonc Trentham Golf Club: http://www.trenthamgolf.com
Response:
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hi, I have a question about driving range practice. I noticed at my last session that I did not hit as well and I thought it might be attributable to the fact that I had to share the tee with our almost 4 year old son. His idea of sharing is he hits 3 balls and I get to hit 1 – providing I do it in a timely manner He was crushing his new 25 degree metal wood! Seriously though, this forced me to take a lot longer between shots than I normally do at the range. I’m starting to wonder if hitting balls to quickly at the range is a bad idea. In a 4 hour round of golf with 90 strokes is about 2 1/2 minutes per shot, maybe something similar or at least closer to that would be better for range practice. I usually get the jumbo bucket – 250 balls and finish it in about 90 minutes which is about 1/2 minute per ball. I’ve never timed the pros but they seem to take there time when hitting practice balls. Any opinions on this? Cheers, Steve
I like to say that you don’t teach your club to hit the ball: you teach YOU how to THINK in preparation FOR hitting a ball. So practice is more practice thinking than hitting – setting up with precision, being thorough in diagnosis of EACH SHOT so that any faults evident in ball flight are correctly addressed — using impact tape or chalk, etc. If a car needs tuning up, there are specific things one does to make it perfect; get to know what adjustments are necessary to produce dead center impact, dead straight ball flight, distance control, depth control, etc. Just hitting balls is largely wasting time. Specific goals, thinking clearly, thorough complete total preparation for each shot – that is the best practice. It also saves money on range balls. FWIW George Hibbard www.perfectimpact.com
Response:
Hi, I have a question about driving range practice. I noticed at my last session that I did not hit as well and I thought it might be attributable to the fact that I had to share the tee with our almost 4 year old son. His idea of sharing is he hits 3 balls and I get to hit 1 – providing I do it in a timely manner He was crushing his new 25 degree metal wood! Seriously though, this forced me to take a lot longer between shots than I normally do at the range. I’m starting to wonder if hitting balls to quickly at the range is a bad idea. In a 4 hour round of golf with 90 strokes is about 2 1/2 minutes per shot, maybe something similar or at least closer to that would be better for range practice. I usually get the jumbo bucket – 250 balls and finish it in about 90 minutes which is about 1/2 minute per ball. I’ve never timed the pros but they seem to take there time when hitting practice balls. Any opinions on this? Cheers, Steve