To range or not to range before each round?

[21lw]

I never hit the range before. Last time I did was before a club championship a few years ago and shot my worst round in a long time. I usually just stretch, MAYBE roll 5-10 putts, and tee off.

[Weirfan]

My Experience is that i dont play any better or worse by hitting balls before. I probably do 20% of the time.

What i like to do if there is time , is stretch, putt a few and chip a few. If im in a tournament I will go practice the first tee shot I have upcomming....thats more psychological than anything else.

[Jeffc]

Range definitely if I can. It really helps loosen me up to help avoid injury. It also helps to get few swings on the ball and avoids taking the first few holes to do the same thing. 20-30 balls max.

[trebor]

Stretch and putt. If I do go to the range first, I work on a few drives that I will have to make, depending on what my rotation will be. I may do more post round range time - try to fix something that didn't work during a round. Not a long session - just a fix.

[Pingnut]

I like to make contact a couple times before the first tee if possible. Wouldn't want to whiff on the first tee.

[golfingtime]

The first shot first tee off of the morning is sometimes an adventure, but pretty much okay after that.

[wigler]

At age 55 I need to hit 15-20 balls to loosen the back and hands. Bit of arthritis so first 10 5-10 swings hurt, even with taking Aleve before hand. Range or net, all the same. So not to practice, just to loosen up.

[WestendStew]

I find I play better if I work on short game before the round. A few chip and pitch shots, couple flop shots and some putting gets my mind focused. I stretch before every round so that gets my body ready to play.

When I hit the range I'm in the camp where it seems to ruin my round. I'll hit beautiful shots for an hour on the range and leave them all there. There's probably a combination of mental and physical fatigue that comes into play. If I'm playing in a scramble / tournament or on a voucher where range balls are included I'll hit a few then go chip and putt before I tee off. Seems to be the best of both worlds - but I do limit my full shots on the range.

[Tom Morris]

Practice, who needs practice as Alan Iverson would say. I walk to the tee and off. Should maybe see the speed of greens and a few putts.

Agree. Walk directly to the first tee and hit. No stretching. No practice swings. No putting. Haven't been to the range in 10 years.

[Pin Seeker]

Once past 30 or there about hitting a small bucket becomes in partitive. Your muscles will love you

[rulie]

If the opportunity is there, why would anyone not go the range and warm up? Do the Blue Jays bring in a relief pitcher who hasn't thrown pitches in the bull pen?

[DigitalMachine]

The only thing I do before a round is putt and check the speed of the greens, maybe a few hits with my driver and iron but I try to stay focused and relaxed, I only like checking the speed of the greens.

[Benz]

I never made a habit of hitting balls before a round, mainly because we usually teed off so early that it wasn't practical. Also, I didn't want to hit even a small bucket, so it was a pain to get a range token and then only use some of the balls.

However, now that the range balls are available for all at Osprey Valley, I will hit a few chips and a few wedges and short irons before teeing off. I found that it just helps to loosen up a little and makes the first tee ball and first approach shots less of an adventure.

[jackblack]

I don't think a solid golf swing is something you can just walk into. Without a few practice balls I think you spend your first few holes figuring it out. Unfortunately that's what i do most of the time.

[Ignatius Reilly]

If you play every day, you can probably just arrive at the course and 'find your swing' pretty easily.

Most of us don't have that luxury.

Even if you play every day, your body still needs to warm up. Every world class athlete in every sport does this. If a guy like Tiger Woods needs to warm up before a round, what makes anyone else think they don't?

Having said that, like jackblack and Benz above, I too find it impractical to warm up. More often than not I'll just take a dozen warmup swings on (or beside!) the 1st tee and hope it all works out. But I know that's not optimal.