Both beginners and seasoned golfers often head to the practice range and pull out their drivers to pound the ball as hard and as far as possible, without giving much thought to swing technique or exercise structure.
While there is nothing wrong with using your driver on the practice range, this is not the preferred club with which to begin your practice round. The goal of the range play is to first loosen up stiff muscles, establish a rhythm and to select different targets on the range using different clubs.
Get to know your clubs. The range is a great place to discover the distance you can achieve with each club. Use these few drills effectively to add purpose and structure to your practice routine that can ultimately help you in your game.
Warm Up It is always a good idea to begin your practice round with about 10 minutes of stretching and warm-up exercises to prepare your body for the strenuous exercise to come. To ensure a full range of motion in your swing and to prevent injury, warm up your upper and lower bodies, paying special attention to your back.
Aim and Alignment The first step in your practice round is to place two clubs or alignment sticks on the ground. A club should be laid perpendicular to the target line for correct ball alignment, and the second club should be laid parallel to the target line for correct ball positioning. Straddle the perpendicular club outside the parallel club.
Make solid contact with the ball and incorporate a smooth rhythm into your swing by starting with your sand wedge and hitting several balls using the sand wedge, then moving on to the pitching wedge.
Mid-iron Shots Then move up to your mid-irons once you've grooved a rhythm with your sand wedges and pitching wedges. Strike about a dozen shots at different targets using your five, six, and seven irons, focusing again on good ball striking, great aim, alignment, balance, timing, and tempo.
Fairway Woods and Driver Turn your attention now to your fairway woods, and finally your driver. Concentrate on rhythm, balance, and solid contact with the centre of the club face while using 70 to 80 percent of your power. Our range has a variety of targets that can be used for practice.
Time to develop a pre-shot routine. Standing behind the ball, pick your primary and intermediate targets. Envision the ball's line of flight. Practice a few swings, step into the shot, aim the club face at your immediate target, and swing.
Chip and Putt Warm up with chip shots around the practice green after you've used your driver on the range. Simulate the types of shots you might encounter on the course. Practice chipping up close to the pin, then putt down. In contrast to hitting a half dozen balls in a row from the same position into the cup, chip shots have slightly different landing spots, allowing for more effective putting routines.
Thank you for reading! We hope that these tips and routines will work wonders for you and your driving range practice sessions. You can put these tips straight to the test by booking a bay online at Branston Golf Range.