I'm going to list some things I've found help me at the driving range...add yours to the list! Most of us usual's already know this stuff, but there seem to be LOTS of guests that visit the site. This may be useful information to some of them...plus it's been a while since we've talked about driving range work. A refresher may be in order!
This is assuming you're attempting to work on something. Sometimes I just want to go to the range, have fun, and blast balls out there. That's fine, it's fun, but not what I'm concerned with in this post.
1. Have a purpose. Whether it's distance control, ball flight shape change, specific swing change, alignment, grip change, etc, have something specific that you are going to work on. Preferably something measurable in some way. If you go in trying to work on 13 different things or something far to general, you won't accomplish much. Make up your mind what you're going to work on before getting to the range.
2. Have a plan. Failure to plan, is planning to fail. Know what drills you want to work on, and what goals you want to achieve while at the range. Check out youtube, golf.com, etc and find drills that are specific to your purpose for being at the range. Study them, take notes if you need to, and execute them on the range. You have wasted you're money and time if you go to the range and don't know how to work on your purpose for being there.
3. Warm up. I typically start with a wedge and a half to three quarter swing to get a good rhythm down. I'm not even really worried about where the shots go at this point, I just want to get warmed up and striking the ball well. I hit a few full easy wedge shots, then move to my 7i, then my 5i, then 3w, then maybe driver. Warming myself up and stretching.
4. Slow down. Go through your entire pre-shot routine before every shot. Focus on your purpose, and carry out your plan. Standing in the same spot blasting balls out there one right after another doesn't help me much. I used to go through an entire large basket in a half hour. What did i learn? Nothing. I could slam balls dead straight into the net @ 300 yds after a while of standing there with the driver swinging. Did I impress anyone at the range? Not likely. Did it change anything on the golf course? Absolutely not. Now it takes me twice that amount of time to go through a medium bucket and I see results on the course. I know when I miss, and I have time to reflect on good shots.
5. Less balls, Francis? Consider dropping to a medium or even a small bucket depending on your purpose. This forces you to really focus on each shot to get the most out of the range session. With 120 balls sitting there, it's easy to just stand back and blast them out there without any real purpose. With only 60, or 30, you have to focus on what you're doing.
6. Remove distractions and inconsistencies. Eat before you go, leave you're wife at home, and shut off the cell phone. Wear what you wear to the golf course, shoes, socks, pants, shirt, sun glasses, hat, etc. Get on real turf. Do you hit off plastic on the course? You're trying to ingrain a swing, hard to do that in your flip flops, cutoff jean shorts, texting your buddy, and eating a sandwich while your wife whine's about her broken nail.
7. Aim small, Miss small. Always have a target. Every single swing requires a target. That doesn't mean it has to be where the ball lands though. It could be that you target a certain position at the top of the back swing, ball flight, or even divot shape...be creative, this should be purpose/plan/drill specific.
8. Documentation. This is something new I'm going to be trying this year. After(or even during...although this may be one of those distractions in #6, haven't decided yet) the range session i'm going to write down accomplishments, future purpose's, plan changes to implement next time, what I like to call 'light bulbs', general notes etc. Light bulbs are those adjustments/moves/etc that give you that 'Aha!' moment. They're remarkably easy to forget sometimes. This also gives you're brain time to interpret and save what happened. When i just grab my clubs, hop in the car, and take off to my next objective, I tend to completely 'purge' what i learned on the range. Writing something down tends to 'save' that thought.
This is assuming you're attempting to work on something. Sometimes I just want to go to the range, have fun, and blast balls out there. That's fine, it's fun, but not what I'm concerned with in this post.
1. Have a purpose. Whether it's distance control, ball flight shape change, specific swing change, alignment, grip change, etc, have something specific that you are going to work on. Preferably something measurable in some way. If you go in trying to work on 13 different things or something far to general, you won't accomplish much. Make up your mind what you're going to work on before getting to the range.
2. Have a plan. Failure to plan, is planning to fail. Know what drills you want to work on, and what goals you want to achieve while at the range. Check out youtube, golf.com, etc and find drills that are specific to your purpose for being at the range. Study them, take notes if you need to, and execute them on the range. You have wasted you're money and time if you go to the range and don't know how to work on your purpose for being there.
3. Warm up. I typically start with a wedge and a half to three quarter swing to get a good rhythm down. I'm not even really worried about where the shots go at this point, I just want to get warmed up and striking the ball well. I hit a few full easy wedge shots, then move to my 7i, then my 5i, then 3w, then maybe driver. Warming myself up and stretching.
4. Slow down. Go through your entire pre-shot routine before every shot. Focus on your purpose, and carry out your plan. Standing in the same spot blasting balls out there one right after another doesn't help me much. I used to go through an entire large basket in a half hour. What did i learn? Nothing. I could slam balls dead straight into the net @ 300 yds after a while of standing there with the driver swinging. Did I impress anyone at the range? Not likely. Did it change anything on the golf course? Absolutely not. Now it takes me twice that amount of time to go through a medium bucket and I see results on the course. I know when I miss, and I have time to reflect on good shots.
5. Less balls, Francis? Consider dropping to a medium or even a small bucket depending on your purpose. This forces you to really focus on each shot to get the most out of the range session. With 120 balls sitting there, it's easy to just stand back and blast them out there without any real purpose. With only 60, or 30, you have to focus on what you're doing.
6. Remove distractions and inconsistencies. Eat before you go, leave you're wife at home, and shut off the cell phone. Wear what you wear to the golf course, shoes, socks, pants, shirt, sun glasses, hat, etc. Get on real turf. Do you hit off plastic on the course? You're trying to ingrain a swing, hard to do that in your flip flops, cutoff jean shorts, texting your buddy, and eating a sandwich while your wife whine's about her broken nail.
7. Aim small, Miss small. Always have a target. Every single swing requires a target. That doesn't mean it has to be where the ball lands though. It could be that you target a certain position at the top of the back swing, ball flight, or even divot shape...be creative, this should be purpose/plan/drill specific.
8. Documentation. This is something new I'm going to be trying this year. After(or even during...although this may be one of those distractions in #6, haven't decided yet) the range session i'm going to write down accomplishments, future purpose's, plan changes to implement next time, what I like to call 'light bulbs', general notes etc. Light bulbs are those adjustments/moves/etc that give you that 'Aha!' moment. They're remarkably easy to forget sometimes. This also gives you're brain time to interpret and save what happened. When i just grab my clubs, hop in the car, and take off to my next objective, I tend to completely 'purge' what i learned on the range. Writing something down tends to 'save' that thought.