Anyone else have problems at the range?

[phil17]

I will start Off this thread by saying that I am not a great golfer. I started this season and I average around 103 or 101 a round. But it seems whenever I go to the range I cannot make good shots at all. I usually make descent wedge shots, but when I pull out my other irons or the driver at the range I especially I can not get any good shots. Today I was at Wedgewood driving range and I was making horrible shots. I was trying to work on my drives but all of the shots were either bad hooks and really low shots and none of them ( except 1 or 2 got good distance). Now I played Tyandaga on thursday and I was driving the ball not to bad, and my irons shots were descent. My thoery is that it is the really hard ( topflite 3000 i think) range balls that give me horrible shots. Like I said I am not a great player, but at least when I play on the course I can get descent drives and iron shots and It seems like every time I go to the range I get many horrible shots. I do not think I am going to go the the range anymore and Next time I want to go to the range in the evening I might just pay abit more and play a course with a good twilite rate, or a cheap 9 hole course. Does anyone else have this problem with the driving range?

[pir2]

are you hitting off the mats or the grass?

[phil17]

Thats the thing, I was hitting off the mats and then Switched to the grass and Both with bad results. I live in the country so I have a very big lawn and I hit balls on my lawn all the time ( kinda like my own driving range) and I usually get good shots, on my lawn( I have plenty of room to take full shots). I just dont know what it is about the driving range but it seems everytime I go I get nothing but horrible shots, I usually have a hook also but when I am at the range it seems to get alot worse. I am convinced that It is the balls, I have no other explanation.

[hogannut]

First of all you should try to stick with grass as mats give an unatural lie. I consider myself a decent player with a 4 handicap and a former instructor with CGTF. In my opinion what you should do is get an instruction book, read it and practice a particular drill with one club until you start hitting it solid and consistently. I recommend the Hogan 5 step book. It's a relatively short read and is as technocally sound as any day modern instruction. In fact most teaching pros would admit that not much has changed since Hogan wrote the book 50 years ago. I have always encouraged new players to take a year and develop a swing that they can take to an instructor for review. At least you will have a consistent swing to start with even if it has flaws in it. The opposite to this opinion is to get lessons from the start so you are starting off right. There is certainly merit to that argument and if you are analytical by nature it could be considered. The good news is that whenever you do decide to get formal instructions the modern day software the instructors use is to good it practically eliminates all of the guess work of the mechanics. In the olden days you would go to 3 different instructors and get possibly 3 different views. Nowadays everything is right there on the screen.

One drill I did quite a bit when I was a higher handicap player was to hit balls with my feet together with like a 7 iron. This is a good drill for balance. Also consider getting a heavy training club like the momentus. This club will teach muscle memory of swinging down the line and will help reduce the over the top tendancies a lot of new players have. Good luck!!

[laxgolf]

My thoery is that it is the really hard ( topflite 3000 i think) range balls that give me horrible shots. Like I said I am not a great player, but at least when I play on the course I can get descent drives and iron shots and It seems like every time I go to the range I get many horrible shots.

I love it when people blame their equipment or balls when things aren't going well. I do it myself. The balls at the range aren't your problem. Top Flight 3000's aren't the best balls in the world, but bad hooks and low shots aren't because of the balls you're using. My suggestion is lessons. What will take you months or even years to figure out on your own, a qualified instructor will identify and help remedy in 10 minutes.

[westbeach]

I've heard of people blaming their equipment (ie. shaft too whippy or head is too low lofted, etc) but never balls before.

Just think about it this way....If you've hit good shots before....you think you have a good swing. But then when you hit bad shots, why put the blame on the equipment? The equimpent doesn't change. ;)

[Thimble]

Thats the thing, I was hitting off the mats and then Switched to the grass and Both with bad results. I live in the country so I have a very big lawn and I hit balls on my lawn all the time ( kinda like my own driving range) and I usually get good shots, on my lawn( I have plenty of room to take full shots).

it could be a mental thing.

the thing that screws up my swing the most at the range is when i try to swing on a line different than the T box. i can't do it. i have to basically aim in the exact same direction as the T box or i gotta move the T box blocks (if possible) to match where I'm aiming.

for you, it could be that you feel uncomfortable with the confined space. a kind of "golf claustrophobia" if you will. you feel confined, so your swing gets "small" 'cause you're subconsciously afraid that you don't have enough space around you.

now, the answer is not "don't go to the range" as it will be difficult to get any kind of decent practice that way. one possibility is to find a range that is wide open and go when nobody else is there. but that's not very convenient either.

my advice would be to start with a very short swing with a 9i. 1/4 swing from hip to hip. once you've mastered that, move to a 1/2 swing (waist to waist). then 3/4. then full swing. once you feel okay with the 9i, do the same with a 7i (1/4, 1/2, 3/4, 1/1). then move to a SW, then 5i, then a hybrid or wood and finally driver. *note: even if this doesn't cure your problems, it's a pretty good drill on its own.

the key here is to gradually move from the easiest club to the hardest club.

[laxgolf]

The equimpent doesn't change. ;)

But it can. :D

[el tigre]

it could be a mental thing.

the thing that screws up my swing the most at the range is when i try to swing on a line different than the T box. i can't do it. i have to basically aim in the exact same direction as the T box or i gotta move the T box blocks (if possible) to match where I'm aiming. At the range I lay a club or broken shaft down on the mat to indicate the target line, and/or put the ball in a location where the rubber tee acts as an alignment aid.

IMHO, bad alignment can lead to swing flaws. If you simply step up to the ball without aligning yourself, then most right-handed golfers will tend to line up to hit right of the target and then subconciously develop an outside-in "pull" swing path. That's why I align myself for every shot (even chips and pitches), both on the course and at the range.

Phil17, there are a couple of things that can cause me to have a bad session at the range. The first is working on too many swing changes at the same time. That can happen on the course too, but I generally try and keep it to a minimum there. But on the range it is sometimes useful to learn what doesn't work, and to exaggerate a swing change to get a certain feel for what is supposed to happen. So I hit a lot of bad shots but it is not necessarily a bad range session.

The other problem is tempo. Hitting an entire bucket one ball after another can cause your tempo to get too quick very easily. I never hit the same club more than 10 times in a row, and change the targets I'm aiming at frequently. If I feel I'm getting a little quick I step back and take a few practice swings to find the tempo I want before starting again. Works for me.

[golfinseb]

Doesn't an out to in swing path produce a slice?

As for tempo, I completely agree, when I spend some time at the range I rarely hit more than 10 shots with the same club. I work on a swing thought for a while until my mind wanders. At that point I'll play a little game with myself. Like imagine you are playing a hole and hit a tee shot, than follow with an approach (iron) shot, and maybe a chip or two. Or another thing I enjoy doing is picking a flag and hitting draws and fades at it using different clubs but always going for the same target. It makes the range a little more interesting.

[leftintherough]

Lots of good advice here.

I was having trouble at the range as well. Sometimes I would have a good session, but things could go into the tank and I couldn't get it back for the rest of the bucket. I took my concerns to my instructor and he gave me specific drills to work while at the range. The first thing he changed was not to stand up there a flail away with my driver. He started me rotating between my 4, 7 and pw. Now one of my most reliable clubs in my bag is my 4 iron.

Also as Hogannut mentioned, The Five Lesson book by Hogan is an excellent study.

[phil17]

I love it when people blame their equipment or balls when things aren't going well. I do it myself. The balls at the range aren't your problem. Top Flight 3000's aren't the best balls in the world, but bad hooks and low shots aren't because of the balls you're using. My suggestion is lessons. What will take you months or even years to figure out on your own, a qualified instructor will identify and help remedy in 10 minutes.

The problem is that I hit all bad shots at the range. Now I do not know if it is the ball's or just a mental block when I am at the range but I just can not kit good shots at the range period. Now I know I am not a amazing player but when I am at home and on the course I hit way better shots then when I am at the range so there has to be some reason for this. I can easily play in the 90's if I can get my putting down ( got alot of 3 putts at Tyndaga and one or 2 four putts, and shot a 103). Now I do not normally blame my equipment on things, and I am going to get lessons this summer but there is something about hitting a hard ball that I just can not do. Say what you may about me blaming my equipment, but I have afew hard balls that are mixed in with the bucket of balls I shoot on my lawn and when I Hit the really hard balls they almost always have horrible results, alot worse then the other balls. I do not know why this is, it just is that way. But like I said instead of going to the range in the evening I will just play a cheap twiligt course, I prefer playing a course alot better then going to the range, and it gives me more practice with a varity of different shots.

[Frankrul]

I have a theory, i think your game is probably where mine was at the begining of last year. I used to go to the range and practice practice practice... id leave sore and broke over the 3 buckets of balls I hit. Now I don't go as often, but my practice is much more focused. I don't have a regiment or a plan.. wait.. im rambling.. my point is.. when you play the course, each shot counts, therefore you give each shot the deserved attention, make sure to setup properly, visualize the shot, take a few practice swings, etc etc.. all to prepare yourself mentally for the shot. If you shoot in the 100's, then for example on a par 5 you would be hitting what, 5-7 shots (not including putts)? How long does it take you to finish out a par 5 assuming no one is in front of you? If you spent the same amount of time at the range, would you hit 5-7 balls, or more? My point is, sometimes we get too caught up in going through the motions of just repeating the swing we feel is right, yet we don't take the time for everything else that actually makes the swing work.

Go to the range and play a round of golf, bring your score card from a local course if you want. Setup with a driver on the first, guess how far you hit it and what direction and then switch clubs, pick a spot and yardage and go for that shot. Think about each shot as if it counts.. go through the motions of a good golf game and it will show in your real golf game.

Don't go to the range to practice your shots, go to the range to practice breaking 90!

[The Kicker of Elves]

The only issue I can see with range balls (and the range in general) is distance. I usually ignore distances at the range and work primarily on contact and ball flight.

Once in a while I might sacrifice a new ball out of my bag (nothing 3 piece and expensive of course) with the driver just to get a look at carry. I find the range balls just don't seem to carry that far, they've probably been beaten so bad they are hardly round anymore.