Does practicing on the range hurt your game?

[GolfSpy Dave]

I am the king of the driving range. I have a huge variety of shots to multiple range targets. Ball flight is ideal. Club selection always optimal. True dominance.

 

Then I get out on the course and the crazy happens. Shots get curvy. Target line is no longer matching the target. My body really wants to lead the swing with the right shoulder and send the ball well left. Sometimes it feels like I left my swing at the range.

 

I know that there is a mental component to the play vs. practice equation. Obviously, I am more relaxed on the range, knowing that I can just blast another ball after any shot, good or bad. What I have noticed recently is that my posture and alignment to target on the range feel far more natural than when I am on the course. Why is this? Does anyone else run into this issue?

 

I am thinking that it may be the subtle alignment aids on the range that are helping me to target on the range, and whose absence are really hindering me on the course. The range that I go to the most is a mats range. It's close to the house and always has space. I am thinking the by squaring up to the mat, I am subconsciously relying on the mat to aim. I can aim at various targets on the range, but typically this does not require a huge deviation from the mat geometry. That "line" at the edge of the mat is still aiming me in approximately the right direction. Maybe even the "grain" of the fake grass as well.

 

Last weekend, I tried a little experiment to see if the mat was helping. I went to the far right edge of the range and then aimed at targets to the far left. This put the corner of the mat in front of me rather than the straight edge. I found that I had significantly more difficulty getting square and comfortable over the ball, and that I was significantly more prone to going OTT. I could get myself on target, but it took a whole lot more conscious focus, and I had to fight off a feeling of "this is wrong".

 

Has anyone else had a similar issue/observation? What do you do to remove the alignment influence of the 5x5 range mat, especially if finding a grass range may not be possible?

[GolfSpy WD]

The worst part of the mat imo is it fixes bad swings for you. You can hit it fat and still have a good result because your club slides along and hit the ball right where you want to. Put a penny behind your ball and try not to hit it.

 

I also go through my entire sequence at the range as if I were hitting a golf ball and work on what my instructor tells me to and try to repeat it over and over. A while ago someone gave a tip to play a simulated session, so you change your clubs with every shot. Start with the driver, if you hit it badly, go 3w (or 5i if you hit it well).

 

As for the alignment stuff, the range I go to has a bunch of flags to aim at, so a lot of times I don't aim straight across the mat.

[RookieBlue7]

I HATE RANGE MATS. Because they hide misses and they're a bear to clean the residue from your clubs. Not to mention, IMO, they don't do that much to help you with your game. Again, just IMO, but I can't stand going to a range with mats. It's been a long time since I've been to one, and there's a course here that's range has mats and I try not to go play there, even though it's always in good shape (course wise) because of those mats in the warm-up area.

[The Dansome]

Pretty sure range mats give me a false self confidence with the swing. I'm a range guru, but I'm in the same boat where I'm sure they're often hiding fat shots etc.

 

I really like WD's ideas though of the penny and alternated clubs. Will be applying this to my next session.

[Tyk]

I really try to avoid hitting off of mats, in part because of alignment issues but most because I don't like the false feel they give. In the winter here there are no other options so it is a necessary evil some of the time.

 

Something I do to counteract relying on the mat edge for alignment is to deliberately pick targets that are offline from the straight edge of the mat. I especially like to pick a target that's way out on the right side of the range, to where I'm flirting with hitting the stall divider, that really forces me to setup and swing down my chosen line! To force myself to pick my own line, I'll lay a tee down on the front edge of the mat and start behind the ball as if I were on a tee box picking a point in front of me to establish the line. This or something like it should be a part of your preshot routine for any shot anyway. It isn't only mats that will fool you. Misaligned tee boxes or tee markers mess me up sometimes. You gotta get the outside cues out of your head and trust your setup!

 

The good thing is that if you can hit them well using the mat as alignment then all you have to do is train yourself to see and feel the line without it, its not like your swing has a problem, you just have to learn to aim and setup around it. The best thing would be to get off the mat, but when you're on it, make a conscious effort to not rely on it, on occasion I've even turned the mat diagonal to get it out of my head.

[bcgolf]

I'm going a lot less on our mat practice than I used to. I've noticed it makes my swing more shallow. When I go on the grass afterwards I need (sometimes more than) a few balls to get used to hitting down on the ball again. The other way around, when I'm fresh of the grass-practice and step on the mat, impact on the mat can be uncomfortable.

[apprenti23]

I tell all of my students, if you're swinging well, don't hit range balls. I don't understand why people hit balls "just to hit balls." If you're swinging well and are not making changes, then practice your short game. I know too many players who will be hitting it well, go to the range, hit a couple bad ones, and then they want to reinvent the wheel. We can always use more short game practice!

[RoverRick]

I do not spend much time on the range. If I stop at the range at all, it will be hit 7 ball. I typically hit 5 balls with a 7 iron to get warmed up and then 2 with a driver. But this is to get warmed up and establish a tempo. Then I go to chipping and putting. The worst thing I can do is go try to change something just before the round.

 

Having said all that, today I will probably spend more time on the range when I meet RevKev but that is mainly because it will take more time to get loose since I have about an hour's drive to the course. Tee time in exactly 4 hours.

[MattF]

Just on range mats, I try to avoid them too for the issues that were mentioned ie: fat shots are good when they shouldn't be, no feedback.

 

I am in the process of setting up a hitting bay in my garage and am going with a mat from all turf mats that you can down and through with, thereby eliminating the "good" fat shot.

 

I've also heard mentioned elsewhere that spraying the mat where you're hitting with a bit of water will eliminate the material getting all over the sole of the club.

[JMiller]

Well I think you can have two different golfers by practicing on the range poorly. I should know that happened to me from 2009 till this season when I had only a range pass and didn't play a lot of golf.

 

 

I think there are 3 main reasons people can't take their range game to the course

1) The player swings loser on the range as a miss has no consequence.

2) The player practices way different then how they play.

3) The player NEVER practices REAL lies, they are always PERFECT lies.

 

To solve that problem just need adjustments mentally and how a player practices.

1 & 2) force yourself to hit 25 balls with a pre-shot routine and act like every shot counts as if you were on the course. Heck play your home course front 9 in your mind, pick a club for the tee shot, based on what happened play your next shot. Obviously you wouldn't need to putt, but even pitch the ball if needed why not? To play 9 holes if you figure an average of 2 to 3 shots a hole that's not putter based that's a max of 27 swings. so 20 to 25 balls SHOULD be more then enough.

--> Pick a target, visualize the ball flight, make a few 40% power swing to feel the motions and club head to keep muscles lose, line up to the target and ball, waggle or whatever and then pull the trigger with a SMOOTH swing 60% swing (most people over swing or swing too hard, what you feel is 60% really is 80 to 90% and perfect tempo for most people)

 

3) When have you EVER on the course just had the literal perfect lie? flat ground on your stance an ball? Nothing weird between the stance and ball, ball is not sitting down in the fairway grass, or in a little impression, maybe even an old divot or in the rough? I can probably count on one hand that I have had a lie in the fairway or anywhere on the course that was something like a range mat or range grass lie. You have to practice the poor lies and uneven stances somehow.

 

 

 

As for mats they are the worst thing you can do for your game trying to improve.

 

Majority of people can not feel contact very well, meaning the mat has a lot of forgiveness and a false since of accomplishment from the result. If you hit a fat shot the club head skids into the ball like you have not hit the shot fat and you get a perfect result. You hit one a little thin say 1 groove you get a pretty good result (very little surface behind the ball like the ball is sitting on a tee almost on the course).

 

On the course or real grass, a fat shot will cause you a ton of distance the leading edge will dig not skip unless you are hitting off a cart path or very hard ground. On a mat there is nothing behind the ball and not little pits really that could be on the golf course that you can't see your ball sitting in a 1 groove thin shot on the mat could turn into a 3 to 4 groove thin on the course, and thus a drastically different result. There is not way to practice a divot on a mat it will happen to you eventually why not practice it?

 

 

In short the range can only get you down to a given handicap it takes playing the course a lot instead as "practice" to be able to get real life experience. I like what Tiger says about making changes to the swing. "You have to get a grasp on it at the range, then you have to get a grasp on it on the course, then you have to get a grasp on it during tournaments".

[Shambles]

... What do you do to remove the alignment influence of the 5x5 range mat, especially if finding a grass range may not be possible?

 

 

The problems you are encountering in transferring range skills to the fairway are common. I habituated a dirt range in my early days and actually got to the point where I liked being on the range better than being on the fairway and was rather put off at times when friends would pass by and ask me to play a round with them. That range was attached to our course and they knew me for a range rat.

 

The range can subtly encourage bad habits simply because everything is pre marked and in place, and all you have to do is address the ball and swing. You don't even get to question club selection because you have used that club on that target many times and even if you change clubs for that target you know you need a bit of adjustment. Simply no need to think about automatics and bad for your focus. You are practicing wrong.

 

The range is a learning place and not just a place to smash balls, unless that is your needed learning. You need to pay attention and not just be there for attendance and warming a seat. That means, whatever shot you are trying, you verify that you are hitting the little ball before the big ball. You look to make sure of your club head path through the swing and, regardless that the ball flies the way you want it to, you make yourself see the things you are actually doing to make it fly that way. Do this with every ball and you get tired way quick but you also exercise more than just your swing muscles. You learn to pay attention without a whole lot of effort or fumbling.

 

When you move to the fairway you sometimes need a few tricks to make the transfer a bit easier. These days it's way easy because we now have range finders and GPS toys to let us know what distances are involved. That pretty much simplifies the club selection business to two or three, depending on grass, slope, wind and a few other little things that can affect your shot. No more kidding yourself about how far you hit that club. To fix my aim I lay down an extra club to aim at my target and then take my address position, flipping the club away before taking my shot. You need to be making assessments of your situation even as you are still walking to your ball so that you do not end up being the slow player, but are not hurried in your actions. You need to move efficiently in a relaxed manner.

 

The transfer should be reasonably painless, with clumsy moments only in the beginning, if you pay attention.

 

 

Shambles

[xxio]

I go to the range maybe 1xs a year. When I do go the guys at the range love me I take about 40 minutes to hit a bucket of 30 balls. Because I go thru my pre-shot routine on each and every shot. Whether the full swing drive or the 70 yard pitch. It helps translate what I am working on to the course much more easily.

 

I probably only hit 2-3 buckets max (so 60-90 balls in a year). I take up so much stall time for such a small fee, I just make it up by giving bigger tips.

[revkev]

Well the questions that Dave asked were, does anyone have the same experience as I, going to the range, hitting it great and not carrying it to the course and what might be done to overcome it?

 

I'm reading that he has no choice, that every range he has available to him is a mat range - I feel bad for him but if that's the case he needs to make due. Oh and he made it clear that he's a range rat so regaling him with stories about not going to the range isn't likely to work. I'll try and provide some help by saying - JMiller has it right except that you have no choice about the bad lies Dave - you have to realize that you aren't getting the full experience when you practice off a mat. Having written that I would highly recommend always aiming at targets that aren't square to the direction that the mat is pointing and to incorporate a round - at least a 9 hole rehersal round into your session - pick a course you know or the one you'll be playing next and just play it from your stall on the range. I sometimes will even "play" a favorite holes game on the range where I hit the shots that I would use to play my favorite holes of all time.

 

Next when you go to the course remember the good shots that you hit on the range - you go to the range to see those good shots hit so that you can visualize them on the course. The key for taking range to course is to recognize that the range is a rehersal for what happens on the course - draw on that.

 

Good luck!

[finalist]

Dave,

 

Yes, I use to experience that same alignment problem big time. Especially at Haggin Oaks where the mats are two parts and create that strip of black rubber for even more alignment.

 

Get to Ancil on the grass where the soil is like a fairway bunker and you HAVE to hit ball first, or your club digs up black dirt.

 

 

Grass ranges that I use:

 

• Woodcreek - weekends
  
• Mather - Friday-Sun, but ends during the winter
  
• Ancil - weekends?
  
• Morgan Creek - most days I think... it's so peaceful out there.
  
• Empire Ranch - Monday and Tuesday.
  

 

 

Another good option is the faaaaaar right station at Bing. It's one giant mat (maybe 5 feet by 15 feet?) and you can set-up in any direction with no alignment lines in sight - no metal cages, nor rubber dividers.

[GolfSpy Dave]

Thanks to everyone for the great suggestions! I think that I will burn out the card at the usual range and then go hunting for grass. I get the feeling that occasional grass range time will be more beneficial than excessive mat time.

 

I am also going to try the "play nine" idea with the next bucket.

 

Again, thanks for the input!

[Matt Saternus]

Richard,

 

I can't say that I see that too much on the course (mainly because I'm rarely there), but I can say that I NEVER see anyone using them on the range, and EvERYONE tells me that they have a set. So clearly, we've got a few sheep around here, too.

[GolfSpy WD]

I have the fancy $2.95 Home Depot sticks. Problem is, anytime I've used them, I haven't really seen any benefit, but I'm probably doing it wrong. How do you set them up?

[Shambles]

Ive never used sticks nor even old shafts. I have my golf clubs and if I need to show someone how to fix his alignment I just lay one his clubs beside the ball pointing at the target. People used to carry a spare shaft for that purpose but it was more trouble than I was willing to go through so I have always used clubs.

 

 

Shambles

[Matt Saternus]

I have the fancy $2.95 Home Depot sticks. Problem is, anytime I've used them, I haven't really seen any benefit, but I'm probably doing it wrong. How do you set them up?

 

I set them up one of two ways:

 

1) Parallel to each other, pointed at the target. I place one closer to my feet to get them aligned to the target and one outside my club for help aligning that.

 

2) Perpendicular to each other with one pointed at the target. Again, one is near your feet for aligning your body to the target, the other is between your legs to help you see ball position.

 

-Matt

[Adam Hand]

My experience was that most significant improvement comes from actually playing. I used to spend lots of time on the range. Some days I hit it good, others not so good, but it wasn't until I started playing 9 holes instead of having a range session that my scores improved. Now I only go to the range if I have a specific issue to work out. Otherwise, if you're going to spend 60-90 minutes on the range you might as well play. I really liked practicing, but at some point my practice sessions became a different game than golf, which is a condition close to playing "golf swing" rather than "golf."

[bumpandrun]

I tell all of my students, if you're swinging well, don't hit range balls. I don't understand why people hit balls "just to hit balls." If you're swinging well and are not making changes, then practice your short game. I know too many players who will be hitting it well, go to the range, hit a couple bad ones, and then they want to reinvent the wheel. We can always use more short game practice!

 

Oh how I agree with you! I have hit balls on the range for years and it didn't help me a bit. I started getting lessons and have things to work on and I can now tell that the range CAN be a good thing. I only work on certain things and then try to incorporate them though. I never just hit balls anymore. If I don't have something specific I am working on it's the short game for me.

[GolfSpy Tim]

I pretty much have the exact opposite problem, I go to the range and I can't hit shots to save my life and everything goes shorter than it does on the course (I've measured with my laser)

 

I never walk away from a range session feeling like I had any improvement or learned anything (I could NEVER be a pro golfer)

 

And range matts, they're the devil for me :-(

[RoverRick]

I do not go to the range often and have never been on a mat range until last weekend in Florida. It never occurred to me until reading this thread, but I had a great warm up session on the mats. And after hitting a poor drive on the first hole, I had my second shot from the rough. No big deal I had just spent a half an hour hitting shot after shot at the target on the range. I had about 80% probably with in 15-20 feet. I got out there and hit my ball, actually hit near my ball, and hit if fat and advanced the ball 50 feet. Now I have another 170 yarder out of the thick rough. I just started off horribly, and it was probably due to not even considering the hitting off of the mat.

 

Of course after the first couple of holes, that is no longer a valid excuse but I do think it play a factor on the first hole.

[RookieBlue7]

You can also use the alignment sticks to create a gate to hit the ball through. Place them 5-10 feet in front of you, a foot apart, and set them at a 45 or so degree angle away from you (in the direction the ball is going). Hit balls through this gate. It's really helpful to me using low lofted clubs to get the ball started on target and helps with alignment as well. One rule I have is that they must go back in the car before the round. I can't stand seeing people with them in their bag during a round. You can't use them, but the caps could fall off and slip inside your driver or fairway headcover and scratch the hell out of the crown of those clubs, and they could also dent the crowns.

[RoverRick]

I have never used the alignment rods. I have a couple of times laid out a couple of irons and used them but since you can not use any of that on the course I never wanted to get accustom to it. I practice on the range like I do the on the course, however, I usually only hit less than 10 balls to warm up and not even that most days. Today, I drove across the range only. Took three practice swings and then hit a nice easy ball right down the middle. I took several practice swing before my approach shot mainly because it was cold and I had to wait for the green to clear. I under clubbed because I thought with the wind behind me I would carry more but sadly it did not.

[revkev]

Good luck - let us know how it turns out!

 

By the way I thought of this thread at TPC yesterday. They are overseeding and were using mats rather than grass on the range - since I was doing a wood testing it wasn't that big a deal for me in fact they let me hit a few 3 woods off the turf rather than from the mat. I did test the rocketblades from the mat and I warmed up off the mat as well.

[Shambles]

I have never used the alignment rods. I have a couple of times laid out a couple of irons and used them but since you can not use any of that on the course I never wanted to get accustom to it. I practice on the range like I do the on the course, however, I usually only hit less than 10 balls to warm up and not even that most days. Today, I drove across the range only. Took three practice swings and then hit a nice easy ball right down the middle. I took several practice swing before my approach shot mainly because it was cold and I had to wait for the green to clear. I under clubbed because I thought with the wind behind me I would carry more but sadly it did not.

 

The use of alignment aid, rods, old shafts or clubs, is perfectly legal provided you remove it before you swing. You just end up looking silly and you do end up taking a bit more time. I did that way back but always pushed it away when I was satisfied that I was aligned properly for my shot. In my case, the caddy picked it up immediately after I pushed it away but it is just as legal to leave it there but pushed away before taking your shot. Also, it does not take all that long to learn how to align your shot without the use of the rods. In my case I learned to look for marks in the grass within a foot or two of my ball but close enough to the direction I needed to be able to act as a guide. I also use the same trick when I putt, or in my short game. The rest if flight and distance control.

 

 

Shambles

[RookieBlue7]

I have never used the alignment rods. I have a couple of times laid out a couple of irons and used them but since you can not use any of that on the course I never wanted to get accustom to it. I practice on the range like I do the on the course, however, I usually only hit less than 10 balls to warm up and not even that most days. Today, I drove across the range only. Took three practice swings and then hit a nice easy ball right down the middle. I took several practice swing before my approach shot mainly because it was cold and I had to wait for the green to clear. I under clubbed because I thought with the wind behind me I would carry more but sadly it did not.

 

 

Only time I ever use the alignment rods is when my alignment gets off, which I can feel it when it starts creeping in, like it is currently. LOL. And I used to use clubs, but since they were only $2 each and there was so much more I could do with them, I figured why not.

[revkev]

Maybe I'm nuts but I just use clubs. I'm not hitting all 14 at the same time so I'll lay two shafts down - In fact on one of the ranges that I go to I'll use the board that marks the side of my station and a club.

 

I don't use the range that much anymore unless I'm having problems with something or working on something - like now.

 

I do think there is a time and a place for the range but ultimately you need to figure out a way to bring what you do there to the course.

[Matt Saternus]

Leaving a $2 alignment stick on the range - meh.

 

Leaving your 6 iron on the range - big problem.