Lunch Break Driving Range and Putting Green Practice

[TheMomentGolf]

I can literally walk out to my vehicle at lunch grab my bag and then immediately head to the driving range I'm that close to my home course. This year I want to focus down on as much practice as I can outside of playing a round. We recently had a baby and I think my time after work or the weekends will be cut down dramatically so I want to be sure I can still stay in playing shape and still compete in the annual tournaments I play. I honestly don't warm up at the range and when I played college golf I'd go down hit a few 6-iron shots and then head to the putting green. I'm a bigger guy, 6'2" 250. There's no muscle there, all pudge and belly, like Gru from Despicable Me. I want to take this year to buckle down on my physical capabilities and then get on the mental capabilities. I'm still young by any means, but I'm to the point now where what I do will define me for the future.

I get a generous 1 hour break to do all of this.

So, I'm here to get some tips on what to do at the driving range and practice green during a lunch break. My thoughts were M/W/F driving range and T/Th putting green or some combination there of. I don't want to just solely show up and hit a bucket or two at the range, maybe get some chipping and sand work in some days.

Does anyone have this sort of regiment for a daily routine? Can anyone share some advice or drills to do and what or how to move on after learning a drill to doing it well? Any help or criticism will be much appreciated and I hope to post the journey as we go. Below are yardages I played last year out of my book. I have a big gap between my 8i and 9i and an even bigger gap between my max 52 and max PW. I am not sure where I lost that distance or if I gained that distance off the PW over the years. Since about 2013 I stopped hitting for distance and went with accuracy, I'd like to improve both. 

 

*EDIT*

Above is the original posting so when you read the first few replies there's the reason for the replies...

I joined and created this post to engage conversation of what people do in similar situations and what drills or skills you may practice when you head to the range or putting green. I'm not looking for any swing advice but rather what can be done to keep my game on its toes and to be play ready. If you have drills you may want to share or scenarios, this is the post for that! What do you do to practice putting? What do you do to practice keeping your swing in check? What can you do at the range you can't do on the course? How do you bring the course to the range and vice versa the range to the course? This is the type of discussion I initially wanted to start. Thanks!

*END EDIT*

 

Driver - 270

3wood/Hybrid - I'm looking for new

3i - 215

4i - 205

5i - 195

6i - 185

7i - 175

8i - 165

9i - 150

pw - 140

52 - 115

56 - 95

 

Edited April 1, 2021 by TheMomentGolf

[cnosil]

I can literally walk out to my vehicle at lunch grab my bag and then immediately head to the driving range I'm that close to my home course. This year I want to focus down on as much practice as I can outside of playing a round. We recently had a baby and I think my time after work or the weekends will be cut down dramatically so I want to be sure I can still stay in playing shape and still compete in the annual tournaments I play. I honestly don't warm up at the range and when I played college golf I'd go down hit a few 6-iron shots and then head to the putting green. I'm a bigger guy, 6'2" 250. There's no muscle there, all pudge and belly, like Gru from Despicable Me. I want to take this year to buckle down on my physical capabilities and then get on the mental capabilities. I'm still young by any means, but I'm to the point now where what I do will define me for the future.
I get a generous 1 hour break to do all of this.
So, I'm here to get some tips on what to do at the driving range and practice green during a lunch break. My thoughts were M/W/F driving range and T/Th putting green or some combination there of. I don't want to just solely show up and hit a bucket or two at the range, maybe get some chipping and sand work in some days.
Does anyone have this sort of regiment for a daily routine? Can anyone share some advice or drills to do and what or how to move on after learning a drill to doing it well? Any help or criticism will be much appreciated and I hope to post the journey as we go. Below are yardages I played last year out of my book. I have a big gap between my 8i and 9i and an even bigger gap between my max 52 and max PW. I am not sure where I lost that distance or if I gained that distance off the PW over the years. Since about 2013 I stopped hitting for distance and went with accuracy, I'd like to improve both. 
 
Driver - 270
3wood/Hybrid - I'm looking for new
3i - 215
4i - 205
5i - 195
6i - 185
7i - 175
8i - 165
9i - 150
pw - 140
52 - 115
56 - 95
 

What do you want to accomplish at the range? I would personally focus almost all the time on short game, around the green and putting.

That is a big gap between clubs, what is the loft of your PW to help understand if the gapping is related to a big gap in loft or if it may be related to the difference from a set wedge to a specialty wedge. Have you had the lofts on your clubs checked?

[TheMomentGolf]

2 minutes ago, cnosil said:

What do you want to accomplish at the range? I would personally focus almost all the time on short game, around the green and putting.

That is a big gap between clubs, what is the loft of your PW to help understand if the gapping is related to a big gap in loft or if it may be related to the difference from a set wedge to a specialty wedge. Have you had the lofts on your clubs checked?

I'd like to accomplish a lot. Keep my iron play strong while also working on those short game shots. My putting has improved over the past two years but I'm still a two putt for par kind of player. Burn a lot of edges and will focus on making those this year. I'm hoping someone has a "workout chart" for what to do at the range and drills for someone that's going to go from playing 3 full rounds a week consistently to probably one full round unless in competition play. I'd like to just keep my swing and have a purpose rather than go hit balls. What I've done this year so far is set up on one side of the range or the other and use the tree line or fence line to move my balls and shots. Helps with the workability of draw/fade IMO. When I do that in the middle of the range I don't hold true to the actual drill and I hope someone can shine light on that.

PW is 46. I've been thinking of getting a 50 degree wedge to close that gap. I have not had them checked and will see if the local pro can do that.

[GolfSpy AFG]

@cnosilalready said it, but I'd spend a lot more time around the green than on the range.  At the very least, MWF on the short game and Tues-Thur on the range.  And yeah, your gaps are off, definitely need to get them checked and (if picking up some equipment is an option for you) look at your wedge set up.  I count 12 clubs plus putter in your post, so you've got room for another wedge.  With that big of a gap after PW you might want to consider wedges at 50, 54, and 58.

One other thing:  don't limit yourself thinking your lunch-hour range sessions are your only opportunity to improve.  I'm married, 3 little kids, have had some time-intensive jobs, workout 90-minutes or more 3 times a week, coach baseball, etc., etc.  Not trying to be arrogant, but point is I'm busy, but I've lowered my handicap each year anyway with minimal range time.  There are tons of training aids and "dry" swing drills you can do without a ball in your basement or garage. Orange Whip, SmartBall, PlaneMate...I'd look into them.

[TheMomentGolf]

4 minutes ago, Getoffmylawn said:

@cnosilalready said it, but I'd spend a lot more time around the green than on the range.  At the very least, MWF on the short game and Tues-Thur on the range.  And yeah, your gaps are off, definitely need to get them checked and (if picking up some equipment is an option for you) look at your wedge set up.  I count 12 clubs plus putter in your post, so you've got room for another wedge.  With that big of a gap after PW you might want to consider wedges at 50, 54, and 58.

One other thing:  don't limit yourself thinking your lunch-hour range sessions are your only opportunity to improve.  I'm married, 3 little kids, have had some time-intensive jobs, workout 90-minutes or more 3 times a week, coach baseball, etc., etc.  Not trying to be arrogant, but point is I'm busy, but I've lowered my handicap each year anyway with minimal range time.  There are tons of training aids and "dry" swing drills you can do without a ball in your basement or garage. Orange Whip, SmartBall, PlaneMate...I'd look into them.

Thanks to you and @cnosil for the replies. I think that's a better option more on the short game now that I'm looking it over. I have 12 clubs because I threw out my 3wood and hybrid out of the mark up since I don't know what to do between 3i and driver. It leaves that open for a possibly hybrid and wedge combo to fill the bag. 

You're not being arrogant, I'm glad to hear there's always room for activities and that's exactly why I posted. Hope to see a lot of responses with tips and tricks even outside of being at the course.

[DaveP043]

I rarely quibble with @cnosil but today I will just a bit.  First, we can't know your swing or your game to understand where work will actually help you, so anything any of us suggests will be based on generalities.  Generality number ONE, the biggest difference between two different levels of golf is generally in full swing shots, something like 2/3, with the remaining third being in short game and putting.  But that's a generality.  Generality number TWO, work on whatever part of your game costs you strokes.  If putting is really a weakness, by all means work on it.  You're obviously a pretty good player, but its possible you could really use some mechanical tweaks to your full swing.  If so, you'll want to find a good instructor, follow whatever drills or feels or whatever learning tools he recommends.  You'll need to devote a large part of your available practice time to full swing work if you decide to actually make changes.  Allocate the lion's share of your scarce time to improve your biggest weaknesses.  Its up to you to determine that, the best way is through statistics, and I'm no expert in those.  One easy statistic to get is Strokes Gained Putting.  Simply input your starting distance, and the number of putts you take for a round into something like this: https://www.golfrankingstats.com/strokes-gained-calculator/.  That's a nice calculator, you can compare yourself to almost any handicap range.  If you're losing strokes to the "standard" for a 2 handicap, putting is a weakness.  But if you're not losing strokes there, its unlikely you can gain a whole lot, no matter how much you practice your putting.  You can compare to a Tour Pro if you enter a handicap or -5.

 

 

[TheMomentGolf]

6 minutes ago, DaveP043 said:

I rarely quibble with @cnosil but today I will just a bit.  First, we can't know your swing or your game to understand where work will actually help you, so anything any of us suggests will be based on generalities.  Generality number ONE, the biggest difference between two different levels of golf is generally in full swing shots, something like 2/3, with the remaining third being in short game and putting.  But that's a generality.  Generality number TWO, work on whatever part of your game costs you strokes.  If putting is really a weakness, by all means work on it.  You're obviously a pretty good player, but its possible you could really use some mechanical tweaks to your full swing.  If so, you'll want to find a good instructor, follow whatever drills or feels or whatever learning tools he recommends.  You'll need to devote a large part of your available practice time to full swing work if you decide to actually make changes.  Allocate the lion's share of your scarce time to improve your biggest weaknesses.  Its up to you to determine that, the best way is through statistics, and I'm no expert in those.  One easy statistic to get is Strokes Gained Putting.  Simply input your starting distance, and the number of putts you take for a round into something like this: https://www.golfrankingstats.com/strokes-gained-calculator/.  That's a nice calculator, you can compare yourself to almost any handicap range.  If you're losing strokes to the "standard" for a 2 handicap, putting is a weakness.  But if you're not losing strokes there, its unlikely you can gain a whole lot, no matter how much you practice your putting.  You can compare to a Tour Pro if you enter a handicap or -5.

 

 

Thanks for the response. I want to be clear I'm just looking for tips and tricks at a practice area. It's an open conversation in all honesty. In my response above I had said I use the edges of the range to help shape shots, using the tree line and fence line as a guide. That was an example I use to help me in practicing left or right. This is what I am here for, to get an understanding of what everyone does at the range or green and if anyone has similar circumstances where they can get to a practice green or range on a consistent basis day to day. Our good weather season just started, I don't know what I need to tweak yet. The net I hit into all winter doesn't really give me that great of a feel of what my balls are doing and the carpet I putt on is just a remnant from our house remodel to keep a stroke going. If I have anything to tweak, I'll ask the local pro for help.

I am definitely going to try that link out and see what it is I can improve on. Thanks for sharing that!

I should have edited my original post to ask what everyone does if they have the same scenario or limited time. Just here to learn what people across the world do to help keep their game sharp.

[RickyBobby_PR]

2 minutes ago, TheMomentGolf said:

Thanks for the response. I want to be clear I'm just looking for tips and tricks at a practice area. It's an open conversation in all honesty. In my response above I had said I use the edges of the range to help shape shots, using the tree line and fence line as a guide. That was an example I use to help me in practicing left or right. This is what I am here for, to get an understanding of what everyone does at the range or green and if anyone has similar circumstances where they can get to a practice green or range on a consistent basis day to day. Our good weather season just started, I don't know what I need to tweak yet. The net I hit into all winter doesn't really give me that great of a feel of what my balls are doing and the carpet I putt on is just a remnant from our house remodel to keep a stroke going. If I have anything to tweak, I'll ask the local pro for help.

I am definitely going to try that link out and see what it is I can improve on. Thanks for sharing that!

I should have edited my original post to ask what everyone does if they have the same scenario or limited time. Just here to learn what people across the world do to help keep their game sharp.

I’ve had and have seen instructors talk about spending as much time on short game and full switch and some say 2:1 shirt game to long game.

The key is to have a plan and approach to each practice session. For full swing break it down to 3 blocks for full swing. First block is doing whatever drill work you have. Second block is to take the drill work and create feels to execute them in a full swing and the last part of the practice block is to hitting golf shots to different targets.

For short game have dedicated amount of time for putting practice to work on speed/distance control and some for short putt 3-5’

Time for working on chip/pitch and sand.

 

[DaveP043]

1 minute ago, TheMomentGolf said:

I should have edited my original post to ask what everyone does if they have the same scenario or limited time. Just here to learn what people across the world do to help keep their game sharp.

I'm not at your level, nor at your age range, but at age 65 I'm playing to a 4 or 5 handicap.  I enjoy practice, but a while ago I realized that lengthy sessions didn't work for me.  I'd get bored or tired,  so I'll practice for maybe 45 minutes max.  I do a moderate amount of slow-motion rehearsals or partial swings combined with full swings, all as recommended by a good teacher.  I've made progress over the past few years primarily through full-swing work, dropping 3 or 4 strokes over the past 5 or 6 years.  I might practice my putting 4 or 5 times a season for a half hour at a shot, chipping a similar amount, the rest of my practice is full swing.

[cnosil]

I rarely quibble with [mention=15174]cnosil[/mention] but today I will just a bit. 
 

Your points were very relevant and more in depth than mine. I was going to come back and post more stuff.

As Dave mentioned, identify and work on your weaknesses. To do this you should figure out how to identify those weaknesses. This could be compiled from your on course stats or from executing tests on the range. I’ve seen sheets on the Internet that detail practice plans and you should be able to find them by doing some google searches.

Some things to work on at the practice area:

Mechanics - are you trying to change anything in your swing. Mechanical swing changes may direct you work on those areas more than others

Shot dispersion with each club - knowing this is key to determining targets when playing.

125 and in - starting to get into flag hunting distance so you need to know how to hit clubs these specific distances

Putting - are you going to work on stroke mechanics, startline, distance control, or read? All these are important skills that should be practiced with distance control probably being most important; although, we could argue green reading.

Don’t know how much you know about strokes gained metrics, but I would recommend understanding this concept as it can help you see you weak areas. Additionally I would look at pga player proximity to the hole stats
To help manage expectations. Lou Stagner is a great follow on Twitter for this type of info.

[alfriday101]

I suggest making your practice time as game-like as possible.  

Play games or do performance drills that are scored.  The key is to keep score and track your progress. In one hour, you should be able to play one or two games to keep your skills sharp.   

 

There are literally hundreds of games you can play on the range or short game area.  You'll have to look around and find the ones that fit you.  

 

A few examples:

 

Par 18.  Play one ball from 9 different positions around the green.  Some easy, some hard, sand, rough, etc.  Play each ball just like you would on the course.  Goal is to get each ball up and down for a par of 18.  On your score card, note C-chip, P-pitch, R-rough, S-sand, and score to hole the ball.  You can also track your leave (first putt distance) if you want. Track your progress over time.  

 

The Dead Zone.  Same as above, but hit shots from your dead zone,  i.e. 20 to 70 yards.  Again, play exactly as you would on the course.  Keep score, track your progress.  

 

Putt 9 holes.  Play one ball and play nine holes, each to a different cup if possible. 3 balls from 6-10 feet, three balls from 10-20 feet and three balls from 20+ feet, mixing up the order so you don't have 3 six foot putts in a row.  When that becomes too easy, lengthen the putts.  

 

On the Range:

 

Play your home course.  Play the front or back nine but on the range.  Pick out an area of the range that is the width of the fairway on your course.  Hit drive and note on your score card if you hit the fairway.  If your drive would leave you a 7 iron into the green, pick a target and hit 7-iron to the target.  Note distance ball lands from the target.  If you miss the "green", hit the appropriate short game shot.  Keep track of FWs hit and GIR.  

Horse.  Find a partner and play a game of horse.  

Knock the flag down.  Pick three flags/targets on the range, each at a different distance.  Hit one ball to each target with the club you would normally hit on the course.  If the ball would land on an imaginary green, give yourself 2 points.  If green high but right or left, 1 point.  Short of green, 0 points.  Then hit to the same targets, but use one more club than you would on the course.  Then hit to the same three targets, with 2 clubs more than your would on the course.  Same scoring system.  

 

9 Point.  (The Tiger Drill.)  Hit one club to one target 9 times.  Fade, draw, straght, low fade, low draw, low straight, high fade, low fade low straight.  One point for each good shot.   

 

One club ladder.  Take a club, say your sand wedge, and hit it to a target.  Then see how many balls you can hit in a ladder.  Each shot must land short of the previous one.  Keep track of how many shots you can fit in the distance.  You can go up or down the ladder.  Start hitting a short shot and each following shot must land past the previous shot, or start with a full shot and hit each next shot to land short of the previous shot.  (This is a challenge with a driver.)  

Commitment.  Hit 9 shots to 9 targets.  Give yourself a rating of 1 (low) to 5 (high) on your commitment to the shot--not the result.  

Fade, Straight, Draw.  Hit 9 shots in groups of three.  The first a draw, the second straight, the third a fade.  You get one point if you hit the shot you envision.  Change clubs and repeat.  Change clubs again and repeat.  

Short, medium, long.  Pick a target area the size of a standard green.  Hit three shots with the same club, one in the area, one short of the area, one long of the area.  You get one point for each shot.  Play 3 groups of three shots, or 9 holes.  

Driver in the Fairway.  Pick and area 50 yards wide and hit a drive.  1 point if it lands in the area.  Repeat twice more to different target areas.  Pick an area 40 yards wide, and repeat 3 times.  2 points if hit the area.  Pick an area 30 yards wide and hit 3 shots, 3 points if you hit the area.  (Scale to your proficiency.)  You can mix this game with Knock the Flag Down, so you hit one drive, one iron, one drive, one iron, etc.  

 

A week of practice might look like this:

 

M.  2 games in short game area.

T.   Range games.

W.  Work on fundamentals or mechanics. Technical practice.   

T.  2 games/drills in short game area. 

F.  Range games.

 

"Game Like Practice" on Youtube has a number of challenges in their videos.  They call them "Golf-out of the Day."  Challenges that are scored so you can measure your results and track your progress.

 

You can mix and match the games to suit what area you want to work on and scale them to your level.  Variety is the spice of life, so mix them up so you don't get bored.  Google "golf practice games" for ideas.     

 

 

 

 

[higherplane]

Congrats on your baby.  I too go out at lunch, 5 min away, during week.  Here is what I have found.  Driving range, don't rush, and only useful for general understanding of wedge distances (60-140 yds) and working on one specific club at a time (ex. right to left w 8 iron), to improve you need a lot of shots.  Putting adds value/confidence, use tees to play games.  Chipping if available area is also valuable, great time to try different spins.  Lastly, would plan on 3-4 days.  You will be more busy than you think.                      

[Bfriedman121]

On 4/1/2021 at 1:01 PM, alfriday101 said:

I suggest making your practice time as game-like as possible.  

Play games or do performance drills that are scored.  The key is to keep score and track your progress. In one hour, you should be able to play one or two games to keep your skills sharp.   

 

There are literally hundreds of games you can play on the range or short game area.  You'll have to look around and find the ones that fit you.  

 

 

 

 

I have implemented this in a similar situation to you with great affect on my scores.  Twice a week I have ~hour of practice at the short game area of a local course. 

The chipping area is separate from the putting green, so I set up a modified "18 holes".  For the sake of the game I assume I hit 9 GIR and set up 9 separate chip/pitch/sand shots in the short game area.  I track the distance left after each chip and then walk over to the putting green.

From there I hit 18 putts (9 from the short game distances + 9 for the GIR putts).  Each time I have a target score and it is a well rounded way to practice IMO.

[revkev]

Congrats on the baby and a job that would allow for daily practice sessions.

Living in Florida the summers are way too hot to hit balls on the range and return to work but I do regularly get two short game lunch/afternoon break short game sessions and one after work or weekend long game session a week.

Unless there’s something truly crappy going on I make the short game ones as random as possible - toss three balls around the green and play them out.

Long game really depends - if I had your time I would definitely devote session to playing a simulated round - perhaps I’d do a regular range session Monday, work on some short game deficiency Tuesday, simulate 9 Weds, randomize short game on Thursday, simulate 9 Friday.

Good luck!!!


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