New Job, New Baby = More Range?

[Thibide1]

Due to some magnificent life changes I am finding myself with more 45-minute to 1-hour openings than 2-hour openings. With one kid in the picture in 2020 I have been able to play 18-27 holes per week and have just been doing all my practice on the course. Taken myself from a golfer who had never broken 100 to an 11 handicap in that 1-year period. But with the recent arrival of my 2nd daughter time becomes a lot more strapped. 

So now it is looking like I am going to have a lot more range time since 30-45 minutes at the range over lunch is a decent stretch (and a good range is 7 minutes from work while the club where I belong is 20). Any ideas for how to make the most of this range time? Ideas for fun drills to keep it light? Any ideas for a new (2nd-kid) dad looking to keep golf in his life? I know I will miss the feel of walking a course, and am working on some strategies to still at least play 9-holes each week. 

Appreciate any insight. 

[Crane263]

12 minutes ago, Thibide1 said:

Due to some magnificent life changes I am finding myself with more 45-minute to 1-hour openings than 2-hour openings. With one kid in the picture in 2020 I have been able to play 18-27 holes per week and have just been doing all my practice on the course. Taken myself from a golfer who had never broken 100 to an 11 handicap in that 1-year period. But with the recent arrival of my 2nd daughter time becomes a lot more strapped. 

So now it is looking like I am going to have a lot more range time since 30-45 minutes at the range over lunch is a decent stretch (and a good range is 7 minutes from work while the club where I belong is 20). Any ideas for how to make the most of this range time? Ideas for fun drills to keep it light? Any ideas for a new (2nd-kid) dad looking to keep golf in his life? I know I will miss the feel of walking a course, and am working on some strategies to still at least play 9-holes each week. 

Appreciate any insight. 

I’m in the same boat I have 4 kids and a wife who is finishing her nursing degree that she quit in when our 1st was born. I only get to play once or twice a month. I have a hitting bay set up in my garage and I bought a sc300 launch monitor to keep my swing in check. The launch monitor makes practice a lot more fun and helps to work on dialing your yardages for those times you do get to play your not all over the place. 

[vandyland]

Interested in this as I am having my second child this month. For the first baby, I find I have time after we put our son down at 7:15 PM and I go out and hit birdie balls or wedges at a park across the street. Not ideal but keeps my game, relatively in check. Also, I can get up early before work most days and hit balls either at the range, play a quick 9 or hit balls in a field. Playing 18 holes on a weekend is probably going to be a lot less frequent. I love the idea of getting a launch monitor or sim but I don't have the ceiling height for it in my garage sadly. 

[ejgaudette]

I already have two and a third on the way. When the kids are very little it was just less golf in general. This year is a bit more as the kids are a bit older. To help things out I mostly play on my own at the crack of dawn. Usually am done 18 in about 2.5 hours and home not too long after the kids wake up.

[juspoole]

Hello to fellow Hamilton County resident.  I'm right in Fishers, but (used to) commute to Carmel for work, but now working from home as you can imagine.  

I've got 3 kids (Ages 6/4/2) and definitely found that more range time was happening rather than playing for quite a while.   My wife works full time as a Nurse Manager, so I'm usually getting everyone ready and dropping off/picking up so it limits my time.   I still do putting/chipping sessions when I can find a spare 45 minutes to try and keep the touch.

One other thing I noticed is that I hardly play on weekends any more.  I just don't have the time to play 4 - 5+ hour rounds.  I'll play by myself more often to try and get in a quick 9 holes and play over a long lunch break or better yet try and get your boss to catch the golf bug.  Last summer, I played a lot of Friday afternoon rounds last summer with my boss and will likely do the same this year.  

A few have stated this, but having a net at your home, just to hit balls into can be great.  Keeping the golf swing relatively in tune makes a big difference once you finally can get back out and play.  I was granted the green light on a Skytrak this winter and only just started using it more recently since I was down with injury for a few months.

I've not tried the crack of dawn approach as @ejgaudettementioned, seems like a good option, although I think my game wouldn't be quite as sharp since I'd still be loosening up the body.

[ejgaudette]

48 minutes ago, juspoole said:

I've not tried the crack of dawn approach as @ejgaudettementioned, seems like a good option, although I think my game wouldn't be quite as sharp since I'd still be loosening up the body.

I am usually a bit of a morning person, but yes it does take a little while to warm up but gotta make it work right. Also that way I always have an excuse if I don't play well or a ball comes up short. If only it was warmer and I got to hit some warm up balls first.

[russtopherb]

My unpopular opinion - don't even think about golf. You have the rest of your life to play as much as you want, eventually. Maximize every opportunity to be home with those kiddos. Mine are 20 & 15 and it went by way too fast. I wish I had more time with them when they were younger.

[tony@CIC]

51 minutes ago, russtopherb said:

My unpopular opinion - don't even think about golf. You have the rest of your life to play as much as you want, eventually. Maximize every opportunity to be home with those kiddos. Mine are 20 & 15 and it went by way too fast. I wish I had more time with them when they were younger.

Absolutely correct! They're up and gone before you realize it. 

[wolfpacker92]

I agree with the previous two posters.  I took a 10 year hiatus (only played a few charity Captains Choice tournaments) and spent all that time with the kids on various ball fields and trips.  I wouldn't trade that time and those memories for anything.  As soon as baseball is over my son wants to begin playing golf so that will allow me to make all new memories!

[Thibide1]

These are all awesome suggestions! Yeah I already make sure my golf time never takes away from kid time. I don’t want to miss anything and I also don’t want them to associate golf negatively with dad leaving the house. The long lunch solo 9, par 3 course, and dawn rounds after daycare drop off are all in my wheelhouse.  I’ve lost about 20 lbs in the last year golfing and have also found solo rounds in particular to be great for my mental health so working to find a balance that allows me to stay healthy and also not overfeed the golf addiction 

Edited May 4, 2021 by Thibide1

[Bossfan]

Just remember those babies are future players and you can teach them the game. Hopefully they enjoy it as much as you. I was able to get one of mine hooked and my daughter has mentioned she would at least try Topgolf. 

[myherobobhope]

4 hours ago, Thibide1 said:

These are all awesome suggestions! Yeah I already make sure my golf time never takes away from kid time. I don’t want to miss anything and I also don’t want them to associate golf negatively with dad leaving the house. The long lunch solo 9, par 3 course, and dawn rounds after daycare drop off are all in my wheelhouse.  I’ve lost about 20 lbs in the last year golfing and have also found solo rounds in particular to be great for my mental health so working to find a balance that allows me to stay healthy and also not overfeed the golf addiction 

If you have 45 minutes of range time, you can definitely get some improvement in... just depends what you want to do!

Adam Young has a bunch of stuff on differential training. Making yourself hit heel And toe shots to learn how to adjust where you are hitting the ball... hitting draws and fades (and straight shots) to better control your path. 
 

You can also start learning a clock wedge system... worry less about the number the range ball travels and instead focus on hitting them the same Distance... 1/4, 1/2 and 3/4 wedge swings and just work on making a repeatable motion (and make sure the ball is going the same distance)... take those swings to the course and figure out what they do with your gamer ball.

 

Improve driver launch parameters... learn how to hit up on the ball and make a good transition. Just build confidence with your driver swing... do some “fast” swings and push your club head speed... speed training might also be a good use of this time and doesn’t require a range.

I really like my seemore tempo mat... it doesn’t require a ball, but can use one. Just focus on developing tempo and a good takeaway to follow through... no range required, but can be used on a practice green.

ladder drills with chipping and putting... either just constantly hitting past one ball And short of a target, or set up a 3 foot section with one foot markers, and putt into the first foot from 5-10 feet, 2 feet from 10-15 feet and 3 feet from 15+ feet 

[Crane263]

21 hours ago, Bossfan said:

Just remember those babies are future players and you can teach them the game. Hopefully they enjoy it as much as you. I was able to get one of mine hooked and my daughter has mentioned she would at least try Topgolf. 

My oldest girl is 9 she goes with me almost everytime I play. I cut a 52 degree wedge down for my 2 year old and he hits the ball pretty good my middle kids could care less about golf lol

[ColoradoFife]

I am in the same boat. I have a 1 year and 3 year old daughters at home. I picked up golf after my first daughter was born since I didn't have the time for a full day fly fishing these wonderful Colorado mountains. Now, I maybe fish 2-4 times a year and spend most of my free time golfing when I am not working on the house. In order to get the most out of my golf game, I have employed a few strategies. First, I find the off times to go to the range. This means I go to the range either early in the morning, during lunch, or in the evening (We have a lighted range that is opened until 11pm). Second, I focus on one part of my game. Because my practice time is limited to 30-45 minutes, I try to make the most out of it. Although I want to go out an hit driver every time, I focus each practice on different parts of the game. I will spend the whole time working on chipping, putting, long irons, short irons, wedge shots, etc... Recently, I have been trying to get my oldest into golf. At home we will practice putting and make a game out of it. This summer I will be taking her to the range to use the practice green. When it comes to playing a full round, I tend to play early in the morning. I find that usually I am the only one out there and can play a full round in sub 4 hours allowing me to get back early. During the summer with the long hours, I will go play 9 in the evening. I am fortunate to have a lot of public courses within a short distance of me including two executive courses, which have been great for getting a quick 18 or 9 in (plus I need to work on my game plan for par 3, i.e. quick attacking the pin and go for the center of the green).