A Driving Range Outing

I have been doing a few balance exercises recently along with some stretching so I thought it was time to take to the driving range. (Still too cold for me to take to a course, I’ll admit!).

While I was preparing my old muscles with some stretching and flexing (!) I noted that several people came to the range, took the allotted balls to the bay and went straight to hitting balls with a Driver - no thought of preparing or warming up. Surely that’s not the way to practice.

Well, watching the quality of their shots it was obvious that they were not doing things properly.

Not that I am perfect, you understand, just still trying to warm up.

Getting ready to hit the 50 balls that I had purchased, I split the balls into groups of 5.

The first batch were really for warm up. The second batch was 90% for wedges while the third and fourth were for full 9 irons.

Thus far things were going ok. I had a tendency to hit the ball slightly to the toe of the club but this, I think, was due lack of muscle control in my lower legs allowing the momentum of the club to push my torso backwards. More work required here.

I then progressed to full 6 irons and hit two batches of 5 balls.

I was happy to take my time and think about ensuring some basic set up positions were adhered to: grip, posture, alignment, posture and posture.

As you might be able to tell I think that posture is quite important!! Bent knees above balls of feet, shoulders not rounded but as straight as age allows, head held up and upper arms hanging vertical.

I remember a comment from someone who was learning golf which went something like “I started off feeling comfortable but when I was in the correct address position everything felt as uncomfortable and unnatural as you can imagine”.

In order to make sure that I was adhering to some of these basics I had my phone camera on a small tripod. Post practice review is fun. Well, no, what I should say is post practice review is funny. Very funny in my case although I do like this slow mo!

The other thing that I noticed was that the balls were very cold (as cold as the weather -5ºC) so ball flight was maybe 15 to 20 yards less than normal.

The next stage of practice was to hit another 2 batches with my 17º Mizuno rescue club. I bought this to replace an old 2 iron which was becoming more difficult to hit. I was quite pleased with the results - ball hit generally out the centre with a reasonable flight.

I went back to my wedge for the final 10 balls, selecting a variety of targets at varied distances from 50 yards to 90 yards. Just trying to build a little feel although this will take thousands of balls to build back up after a winter of golfing very little.

I finished off by a visit to the putting green. After 15 minutes I was glad to get back to the car and switch on the heat to the seat.

All in all a fun afternoon out and even better that my driving range now has an upper tier. There’s something a little more manly about hitting golf balls from a second storey!!

Quote of the Week

Practice Makes Perfect: How to Practice Golf

“Practice makes perfect”

“The more I practice, the luckier I get.”

“Practice by the objective not by the clock.”

These mantras have always stuck a chord with me and as I get more senior (okay, fine - older) I am gaining an understanding of what they really mean.

One thing that has changed with me throughout the years is that I am now an advocate of sensible practicing. I can imagine the response I would get if I told my younger self to do anything sensibly!! By practicing in a sensible way, I mean that I no longer hit several hundred balls one after an other in a session and think I’m practising well. Why not, you ask! Surely this will imprint muscle memory allowing me to swing consistently.

Certainly on the practice range, after a long session of rote, I would often feel that my swing is in sync and everything was ready for the course. Bring on the next round - I am ready!

However the pressure of actually playing introduces different challenges from hitting the first tee shot in front of your fellow players and dealing with a shot from semi rough to hitting a 50 yard approach or making that final 6ft putt. 

Once you make one mistake your brain fixates on that and the round does not get better.

In theory, hitting ball after ball will help your swing - in a purely physical sense. But, and this is a big but, golf is not purely a physical game. If it was, you could probably train a 300 pound gorilla to play.

So three things come to mind from that - and I’m always willing to share!

I often see golfers on the driving range start out by hitting a driver as hard as they can. Seldom do they warm up and seldom do they hit 50 yard approach shots. And very few go to the practice green (or the practice bunker).

When you are playing a round of golf you are faced with a wide array of different shots and yet we rarely practice them. We should practice a wide range of shots and try to replicate the shots you face on a course. You hit your driver maybe a dozen times - you putt 2-3 times as many times as that. You hit iron shots at most holes. We really need to practice in the same ratios. Try to replicate playing a round of golf when you practice.

Hit a driver then a five iron, ensuring that you have chosen a target. Depending on where the ball lands, make a chip shot (or longer approach). Go to the next virtual hole and do the same again

Consider the mental aspects of the game and also the aspects of “feel”.

I recently read an article which mentioned “interleaving”. This is a fancy name for alternating clubs, targets and drills. Let’s assume your practice objective is to improve your shots to 100 yards. Your routine should be to hit a number of shots to 80 yards, a similar number to 100 yards and a similar number to 120 yards.

This alternating routine will help to improve your feel for the shots by imprinting memory patterns in the brain. You can also introduce shot difficulty into the session by simulating lower or higher shots.

These types of practice introduce feel and keeps the brain alert.

If you take a golf lesson and the pro gives you advice on how to correct a swing flaw you feel good. Yes? Until your next game when nothing seems to be right.

Don't get down on yourself. Remember that when a tour pro changes their swing they will often say it will take a year to get the benefit of the change.

That seems a long time, especially when they are hitting shots every day and they have coaches on hand to help. Golfers need coaches to give them the swing drills, monitor the progress, give them feedback. Why do you think most tour players have coaches on their team?

Most of us can’t afford the cost of a coach (or even regular lessons) - so let’s set out your own objectives, plans and drills for the next season and use short regular sessions to try them out. It’s all about training the mind.

Quote of the Week