Driving Range Tips
Warm-Up Properly
Warm up your body: get your muscles warm and blood flowing to the parts of the body we are about to use.
Warm up your swing: get your swing coordinated and synced up
Warming up your body is more important the older you get. Your muscles aren’t automatically warm and pliable like the were 10 or 15 years ago.
There are three areas I concentrate on in my warm-up: 1) shoulders, 2) mid and upper back, 3) hips and thighs.
Warming up my golf-swing was the only warming up I did for the majority of my golfing life - this is not ideal, obviously.
I warm up my golf swing by starting with my lob and/or sand wedge for the first 20 to 30 shots. I start with easy half swings, then to three quarter swings, and profess to full shots. I max out at about 80% swing speed for wedges.
Free free to stay with wedges longer if this is a part of your game you are trying to improve. I hit far more wedges during my practice session than any other clubs.
2. Every Shot Must Have A Purpose
If the purpose of golf practice is to get better, and it is, you need to be thoughtful about what you are doing. This applies to block or skill practice and playing focus practice.
Focus is a skill that needs to be practiced. You can’t do that if you drag ball after ball and hit without clear intentions for each shot.
What’s your target?
What’s your shot shape?
Are you hitting the ball high, normal, or flighting it in?
Full swing? Three quarter swing? Half swing? Etc.
Determine all of the above, then go through your full pre shot routine. This is how you practice playing golf.
You can take less time, hit fewer balls, and help your game a lot more.
3. Keep your Bucket of Balls Just Out of Reach
This tip pairs with #2 above. I always, Always keep my practice balls a step or two away so it is impossible for me to stand in one spot and drag ball after ball and fire away. You learn nothing but bad habits by beating balls without a clear purpose for each swing.
Did that shot come off as you wanted? Yes? Great! No? Why?
You need to reset for every shot. Check your grip. Check your posture. Check your alignment. Etc.
Really want to dial it in? Go through your pre shot routine before every shot. Really make each one count.
4. Set Up A Practice Station
The bare minimum you should have is an alignment stick or two on the ground so you know exactly where you are aiming. There’s a reason every PGA pro has alignment sticks in his/her bag.
5. Don’t Go Full Speed When Working On Something
We all have a tendency to go full-bore and hit the ball a far as we can on every swing. But, this isn’t how we improve or make swing changes.
I suggest going half-speed or three-quarter speed (at most) when your are trying to groove a swing fix.
It’s exceedingly difficult to feel what you need to feel and move the way you need to move when you are trying to kill the ball.
Another way to think of this is to go back only halfway or three-quarters in your backswing. Another way to think about this is to go chest high on the backswing to chest high on the follow through.
You can work your way up to full swings, but it’s best to groove your new swing first.
6. Practice One Thing at a Time (Block Practice)
We all have plenty of things we need to work on in our swing. The trick to rapid improvement is to concentrate on one at a time.
Often, fixing one swing flaw will fix one or more other flaws.
Point is, pick one drill or weakness in your game per session and give it your full attention.
7. Take the Course to the Driving Range
Play a game on the range. Take holes from the course you play and “play” it on the driving range.
Pick our a “fairway” on the range. Pick the proper club to tee off with. Try to hit your tee shot in play, and then hit whatever club is called for next.
This is where the concept of “Think Box” and “Play Box” come into play. It goes like this:
Stand behind your ball around 6 feet or so. This distance isn’t crucial, but you don’t want to be in the hitting area. Formulate your entire plan for this shot and only this shot. Imagine your ball flight. Imagine pure contact. Rehearse a swing or two exactly the way you want it to happen for real. Then
Cross over an imaginary line about 3 feet from your ball and enter the Play box. No swing thoughts. Just you and the target. Set up and go.
Each shot gets full attention. Shot shape. Starting line. Where we want it to finish.
Everything. We are trying to simulate on course conditions so our game will translate from practice to play easier.
8. Practice Skill Development or Playing Focus
It’s ok to practice skill development and playing focus in the same practice session, but never at the same time. They must be distinct.
We all should be improving some skill in our golf game. (Driving, Iron Play, Wedge Play - hitting a draw, hitting a fade, Better contact. Etc). This is where we set up stations and focus on our one thing for the session.
We should devote at least equal time, if not more, to playing focus. The goal is to take whatever skills we have and maximize them with proper focus and preparation.
We leave swing thought behind, focus on our target, and let the swing just happen. We our testing our skills practice.
9. Randomize Practice
When not doing focused block practice: You should be switching clubs and targets for every shot. This is the fastest way to take improvements on the range to the course. It is the only way I practice these days and I wish I had figured this out years ago.
My session will go something like this:
I’ll put my driver through 5 wood to simulate my tee shot. I go through my pre-shot routine. Hit the ball and put the headcover back on. I’ll choose the next club I want to hit. This can be a wedge or a long iron. I hit that shot after going through my pre-shot routine. I’ll clean the club and put it back in my bag. I’ll pull a wedge and hit a recovery shot if I hit the previous shot poorly..
Rinse. Repeat. I’m not picturing or playing a particular hole for this practice. I’m choosing targets on the range and firing at them. But randomized.
What to do next?
Put these driving range tips into practice the next time and every time you hit the range. They don’t cost anything. They aren’t complicated. They just work. And, fast.
Now that you know how to use the driving range effectively, it’ time to get that short game in shape.