Anyone ever build up a range session mentally only for it to be an absolute flop?
Due to work, i hit the range on Tuesday after and then play Thursday. What intend to find is i am awful on the range, lose interest and always leave earlier than planned.
Yet when i hit the course i rarely suffer same issues with misses, scuffs etc
I know the range is important but how do i make it worth while?
You have to have specific goals and games to play… try to hit funky shots.
Intentional hosel shanks… toe strikes…
Hit big hooks, hit a ball perfectly straight… just experiment and have fun.
Hitting driver 20 times in a row gets old… pick a target and hit it ten times…
If you can’t make the range fun or productive, don’t waste your time.
Cheers for this; even though i have a decent handicap I’ve always struggled with motivating myself to train properly so will def try
Read up on random practice… Adam young is a great resource.
Have fun practicing because it will encourage you to practice more.
I never hit more than five balls with the same club unless I am specifically working on something. In fact I love going from drive to lob wedge. Everything is different from length, stance, and steepness. It’s a mental mind…, well you can fill in the blank.
I have two types of range sessions.
The first is targeted, purposeful practice where I’m working on very specific things. This is the most important kind.
The other is staying loose, maintaining my swing. I’m a busy guy, so I don’t play nearly as much as I’d like, so I try to get out at least once a week to just keep the swing fresh. Not necessarily working on anything other than keeping my feel fresh.
I have the same general feelings about the range. Some lengthy discussion and good advice about it here in this thread.
Maybe don’t put so much pressure on your practice plan for the day. If you were going to work on drawing iron shots and just don’t have it in you to draw the ball that day, don’t worry about it. Go to the short game area and play a chipping game with yourself. It will improve your feel and you just might be able to hit those draws the next time you visit the range.
so is the moral of the story “don’t practice”?
Thanks guys, all common sense answers…naturally, I’d rather just play all the time but we all need to find a way to practice (with purpose).
I agree that range practice should have a plan instead of just beating balls. I try to incorporate some specific goals and/or targets in my sessions. I also try to run through every club in order to keep it fresh. (Just whacking away on your driver for the entire session is not very productive.) If I can get to the range prior to a round, I also try to “play” the first 7 or 8 holes that I will soon encounter. For example, if the 1st hole is 400 yard par 4, I’ll hit my driver and then my 7 iron to simulate my approach shot. I’ll do that for the next 7-8 “holes”.
The more balls I hit on the range, the higher my tension level gets and the worse my shots. So I’ve been trying 2 remedies:
Take more time between shots (one minute)
Practice at 50% speed and work on club face and path only
Pick 1 thing and work on it. Then move on. You have to figure out what you are capable of.
I am exactly like you and range practice is not my thing. Most of my practice comes on the course. Not everyone can do it but I am lucky enough to belong to a club that I can go out almost every afternoon and encounter very few people.