Quality time at the driving range

Most golfers find driving range practice an essential part of their golf game, after all it is a great way to hone skills and commit those swing changes into muscle memory.

On the flipside; if swings are not carefully monitored by instructors on the driving range (particularly early on in a golfer’s development) all that practice can be counter-productive and bad habits are all the more difficult to relinquish.

One area of the game that many amateur golfer’s (including myself) have trouble understanding is the relationship between having a good ‘range game’ and being able to transfer the practice to the golf course.

‘But I was striking the ball so well on the range.’ On numerous occasions, after hacking around a course, I have heard a confused golfer attempting to analyse and come to terms with a poor performance by relating it back to how well the practice had been at the driving range.

This article has been written to help amateur golfer’s practice time become more productive. I believe that understanding the differences is an important part of a golfer’s development.

Even Tiger Woods has coined the phrase ‘Rick Range’ for a golfer’s proficiency in practice and subsequent lack of skill in transferring it to the course.
Practice facilities

Unfortunately, most driving range facilities are not as good as they first appear at emulating the natural conditions that we encounter while out on a golf course. One of the main discrepancies we commonly encounter is the synthetic grass mats.

The mats are designed to enable a perfect flat lie every time and to also afford the player more leeway for errors when striking a ball.

Having an endless supply of balls is also a factor when we look at the differences between course reality and the driving range. It might take a player ten practice balls to hit the perfect 5-iron; in reality it is only the first shot that would have counted. By having so many balls available, the focus and concentration of a player is likely to diminish.

An addictive and unhealthy obsession with long distance is also a common theme we encounter in the practice bays all over the world. I see many players hitting driver after driver trying to get an extra few yards. Hitting the 300 yard mark can be good fun and may impress your mates, but in reality (for an amateur) reaching 300 or 250 really isn’t going to make that much difference to scores.

Putting and chipping greens also hold some reality differences. The natural tendencies of golfer’s to have a huge bag of balls and putt or chip from the same spot to the same spot in an attempt to get a nice cluster around the hole can be a counter-productive exercise as it does not mimic any situation on found when out on the course.

Making changes to your practice routine

The common statement that ‘People are creatures of habit’ can be applied to the way we practice golf. Changing routines can be disruptive in daily life and in golf, but it can also bring a calming influence as we are able to look from an outside perspective at a routine that previously we may have followed blindly.

Rather than changing our tried and trusted practice methods, I would suggest that golfer’s add some exercises to their normal regime as a way to bring the range closer to the real situations we find on a golf course.

Alternative training exercises

As a balance to the problems with synthetic grass mats, try to vary the surface by finding substitutes that emulate a course. For example, you could use: a patch of hard mud, sloping grass, or even use the rubber mat that you stand on (my teacher suggested that one).

To address the problem of having an unrealistic amount of balls to get a shot right, the trick is to have the intention of making every one count by focusing on every strike by selecting targets and distances. Quality over quantity is a bit of cliche, but it really does matter in this game.

The one exercise I have found most useful is to use your imagination to play out a round at the next course you are visiting. To aid your imagination in picturing a course, you could use a scorecard with a map of the holes on it. Play the shots that are appropriate for the course layout, matching club selection, distances, hazards as best you can. This really is a good way to prepare for a round, give it a try.

Emulate putting and chipping in real life by using only one ball. Simply chip onto the green then putt out, vary the exercise by chipping from different lies and distances. If you are only working on your putting skills then keep with one ball method; take a putt and if you miss, go and finish it off.

Create new drills and modify these exercises to suit your needs with real scenarios in mind, and I am sure the benefits will show on the course.