[EscaCsamas]

WHile you are at the range, do you find that you are actually practicing or just beating balls? I try and work on my swing and its flaws (mainly weight shift with driver). But I look up and down the range and see most people just beating balls. I find that when I am tired, I do the same.

[AngelinaLip]

I find doing a combination of both can really help. Usually with the first bucket I'll practise things that are slightly off during my round, when they are fixed, or when I get so tired that I can no longer focus, I start to just beat balls to loosen me up.

[EzequielTMann]

WHile you are at the range, do you find that you are actually practicing or just beating balls? I try and work on my swing and its flaws (mainly weight shift with driver). But I look up and down the range and see most people just beating balls. I find that when I am tired, I do the same.

This is the thing. You have to "work" on something specific. Take your time. Think things through. It should take 1.5-2 hours to go through a large bucket of about 100-120 balls, if you are doing it right.


ironinsand

[ivandiadser]

I think it's a mix of three different things for me.

1.) Trying out new types of shots that I am not confident to try out on the course.

2.) Working on my swing flaws, tweaking swing.

3.) Needing to get out of the house....and yeah, just beating balls.

I find I do number three when I am tired, am practicing just because I have nothing else to do or went to the range with a friend (i.e. distraction).

[nuncEtedben]

Both.
My spring routine will be...bunch of balls to loosen up. Then my swing guy will give me a new thing to work on, along with what else I have been working on. At least that's my game plan. Trying to make it simple, yet effective.

[Rithlilky]

I think it's a mix of three different things for me.

1.) Trying out new types of shots that I am not confident to try out on the course.

2.) Working on my swing flaws, tweaking swing.

3.) Needing to get out of the house....and yeah, just beating balls.

I find I do number three when I am tired, am practicing just because I have nothing else to do or went to the range with a friend (i.e. distraction).

I'm very much the same on all three of those.

When I'm serious about working on something, I'll take my notebook, a few cigars, and plan on spending some quality time working on some part of my swing or a particular shot.

My next session like this will be hitting the new 4 wood off the deck. I'm not doing this well at all right now, but I'm killing it off the tee on short par 4's and long par 3's.

[MatueHarton]

the way my country club does it is with bags of about 65-75 balls each. the first bag i hit with only lob, sand, and pitching wedge. they have a pretty decent distance setup with flags and greens at 70 and 125 yards. the second bag i will hit mostly long irons and a few woods then about 10 shots with my driver

[SHpuntik]

I've noticed in the past when I get the "jumbo" bucket most of the time I spend just beating balls. But if I get the medium or large bucket I'll spend more time actually trying to work on something. I think alot of times I get the jumbo bucket and after hitting slice, after slice, after slice with my 3 wood or driver I give up and stop practicing anything and just hit the balls to get it over with. The last couple times I was at the range I started with my wedges and worked up so I had fewer balls to hit with my 3w and driver. So I had to make sure I made good swings.

[Drugmachine]

I'm sure I look like I'm beating balls at the range, but I just work quickly. For example, when I slice my driver I think about how my body felt that time and what I want my swing to feel like the next time. So, I go right to the next ball so I have the thoughts fresh in my mind.

[jarsbars]

You left out the most important (well, maybe not the most, but valuable) part of a range session--looking at the other golfers' swings and realizing how lousy most of them are, too. It's not all schadenfreude; sometimes it helps to know I'm not the worst golfer out there.

[xtc2d6u8]

The range can be either valuable practice or just beating balls. Its really in how you go about it.
If you take your time and really focus on how your swing feels and where the ball is going, it can be valuable practice.
If you just go out there and blast balls, it can be seen a just simple, mindless fun.

[surefireinvest]

Not only is practice important, but not trying to show off is important. I see people kill themselves trying to nail their driver, get through a dozen shots before they're tired and leaving with that. Ugh.

Practice doesn't make perfect...perfect practice makes perfect. (Forget who said that but I like it.)

[Lapsiks]

The range can be either valuable practice or just beating balls. Its really in how you go about it.
If you take your time and really focus on how your swing feels and where the ball is going, it can be valuable practice.
If you just go out there and blast balls, it can be seen a just simple, mindless fun.

Not too long ago I was at the range and the guy next to me had got there a few minutes before me. He proceeded to hit his driver 90% of the time, just ball after ball non stop. Just about every one he hit was a huge slice or a straight up shank. At one point I turned around and watched him and his swing wasn't that bad, but he was covered in sweat. I probably finished 20-30 minutes after him, it always amazed me how people do that at the range and think they are going to benifit from it.

[infelconi]

I know for me it makes a huge difference. I was out of town for a couple of weeks last fall, didn't touch a club. My playing partner said oh you'll probably play even better than before, time off is good for you. Wrong answer, I struggled badly.
I need to be at the range a couple of times a week. I get a large bucket and take around 1.5 to 2 hours, hitting every club in the bag. I try and play holes from my home course, driver and then mid iron, chip, etc.

[RogerButton33]

I just get a small bucket. Anymore than that and it seems I lose focus on what I came to do.

[Lapsiks]

One of the best range sessions I have had recently is when I went with a buddy and we played a few games of H-O-R-S-E. We had pretty basic rules of pick a green and hit it, but it was actually fun and made us think about the shots a little. Played a game each at the range, on the chipping green and the putting green.

[infelconi]

We do that on the chipping/putting green sometimes, good time

[xtc2d6u8]

Not too long ago I was at the range and the guy next to me had got there a few minutes before me. He proceeded to hit his driver 90% of the time, just ball after ball non stop. Just about every one he hit was a huge slice or a straight up shank. At one point I turned around and watched him and his swing wasn't that bad, but he was covered in sweat. I probably finished 20-30 minutes after him, it always amazed me how people do that at the range and think they are going to benifit from it.

Thats one of the reasons I dont go to the driving range very often. If I dont have a hole that Im playing, I have a hard time focusing on the shot.
For me, the best practice is just playing golf.

[jesyflowers]

I like pretending I'm on the course, and running through the shots for each hole. For instance, my local muni starts with a 162 yard par 3, then a 430 yard par 4, etc., and I take a shot with the specific club I would play if I were out on the course. The only difference is I sometimes allow mulligans -- that is, I require myself to complete a correct shot with each club for the distance I would want it to go on that hole before moving on to the next mental position.

Other times I just beat hell out of the balls.

[Flieteewell]

I don't have a grass range so I essentially beat balls... I can't work on things without grass and taking divots.