Winter is officially here which means it’s time to hit the range to make the most of the off season. I opened a golf academy 8 years ago and have seen so many technological advances in that time. One such advance for ranges is Toptracer which we introduced to our range in 2018, it has been game changing in terms of the user experience, but are people improving from having these tools at their fingertips? I’m not so sure.
For the vast majority, going to the driving range will always mean one thing and one thing only, whacking as many balls as hard as you can! It's safe to say that this is as far away from quality practice as you can get and one of the biggest golf practice mistakes made, but that’s not to say you can’t indulge in the odd whacking session now and again!
If however, you want to maximise your practice time, here are my top 10 of what to work on at the range.
Decide What You Want To Work On
Fail to plan, plan to fail. To ensure your time is well spent, it’s vital that you make a firm decision on what you would like to work on for the session. When you walk out of there, what do you want to be better at? Decide and then stick to the plan.
If you decide to work on your driving to stop slicing the ball or avoid hitting hooks, how are you going to achieve that? Injury prevention should always be considered, so do not start hitting your driver straight away.
Begin by warming up with a shorter club and build up your swing movement. Then get the driver out and make it interesting for yourself by setting challenges involving different targets. Try to create scenarios that add pressure and consequence to the shots you are hitting. Apply this process for any area of the game you are working on - decide, warm up and then make it matter.
About That Warm-Up
Yes, you need to warm up! As mentioned, it’s vital for injury prevention and to get your eye in.
This does not mean you have to run sprints or do star jumps up and down the range, its more about getting your joints loose and mobile and making some soft easy connections with the ball. Plus, it’s wintertime, it’s cold and you will likely have a few layers on, so it’s important to give yourself the time to ease into what you are doing. Use the time to transition from work or home life and let yourself get fully immersed into what you are trying to do.
Sets And Reps
A great way to ensure you stay focused is to work in sets and reps like a gym programme. If you have a particular swing movement you are trying to ingrain, do 5 reps off the ball, rehearsing the movement, and then 5 reps hitting the ball, then repeat. There are plenty of great golf drills to work on.
Always try to finish the set you are doing by hitting some shots to different targets to put some pressure onto what you are doing. Test yourself.
But I Can Do It At The Range...
This has got to be one of the most common things I hear golfers say about their practice at the driving range compared to their performance on the course. No matter how many times I hear golfers say, "But I can do it at the range," I’m always intrigued how they think being able to smack twenty 7-irons in a row on a square mat is anything like the real game when you never hit the same shot twice.
If it’s improvement for the course you are after, you need to practice smarter. Hit shots that you know you will face on the course. You can even take it further and practice playing holes on your course, hitting the clubs you will likely use on certain holes. This not only puts you through your paces practically, mentally you will feel more prepared.
Guarantee Success
Book a lesson. Of course, as a PGA professional I am biased, but if ever there was a way to ensure practicing success it is to have a lesson and for a pro to set some focus points to work on. A pro will also be able to monitor your progress and adapt your practice programme accordingly to keep things fresh, interesting, and most importantly, challenging, which is how lasting improvement is made.
Did I Mention Toptracer?
Toptracer is a phenomenal practice tool, but like the theory of humans only using 10% of our brain capabilities, the vast majority of golfers don’t venture further than the Warm Up and Longest Drive function, but it has so much more to offer!
Not only can you download an App that enables you to save your shot data and scores from your sessions, it allows you to look at how you measure up to all users at not only your local range but globally. The My Practice App is one of my favourite functions that I encourage my pupils to work with, as it records your club averages and consistency with each club, which is great knowledge to have when back out on the course.
I could write a long TED Talk on the potential benefits of using the different game options available, but the running theme through all of them is that Toptracer provides a way for you to practice, measure the outcomes and manage them. It provides challenges and scenarios that will put you through your golfing paces, which is great practice for the real deal.
Line Up
There is a reason why every tour player uses alignment sticks when practicing. That’s because poor alignment means missed fairways, missed greens, and missed cuts!
Alignment is everything in golf and using alignment sticks can help in many ways. Taking the time to set up alignment sticks will help you identify your shot shape and get you used to the feel of lining up correctly every time. It is one of the easiest ways to improve with very little effort, so start using them.
Golf Friend
Practicing with a friend is a great way to get more out of a session. They will be able to help you film your swing and work on any swing changes you are trying to make by giving you feedback and provide a bit of friendly competition if you take on any challenges. Sharing a bay can also slow you down from hitting too many balls too quickly (one of the common driving range mistakes) and when it comes to good practice, less is more.
Your Dreams Are Closer Than You Think
If you want to make real leaps with your game, practicing those 100 yards and in shots are where the real gains can be made. Landing your ball that bit closer to the pin will improve your par and birdie opportunities no end.
It can almost feel wasteful when at the range to practice wedge play, but just think about how it will feel to hole more putts and shooting lower scores. Improving at the sport is what practice is all about, so work on the things that will make you play better.
Oh, Go On Then
It's always important to remember that ultimately the reason we even have hobbies is to have fun, so if having the odd session of mindlessly whacking some golf balls to shake off the stresses of the day, or just because it's fun, that's fine, and what is needed sometimes. So, go ahead, embrace your inner child and whack, whack, whack!
Golf is fascinating for being a sport so strongly associated with needing lots of practice and yet is so poorly practiced. Usually, practice getting better at anything involves skills and drills that are often harder than the real game, but not golf. With golf it is all too easy to kid ourselves that hitting the same club off the same lie again and again will make us better at playing the game, it won’t. It might give you a solid swing, but to play a good game of golf involves being able to play with what you’ve got on the day and making that score.
Hopefully some of the above tips will help you upgrade your range practice so that 2024 can be your best season of golf yet!
