The Beginner’s Guide to Practicing at the Driving Range
There are dozens of guides out there highlighting the best ways for beginner golfers to play their first round of golf. They are filled with etiquette and slow play tips, as well as information about how to make contact with the golf ball.
However, most beginners start their journey at the driving range.
Interestingly, the driving range has its own set of rules and best practices. If you want to make the most of your practice time at the driving range, this complete guide will help you do so.
For an interactive guide on structuring your range session and drills to work on at the driving range, check out our driving range practice plan!
Key Takeaways
If you want to bookmark this guide and come back to it when you are at the driving range, that makes a lot of sense. Here are a few key tips to take with you right now.
- Familiarize yourself with the different areas of the range and what shots you should hit in each location.
- Take the right equipment with you: golf clubs, tees, gloves, proper attire, and your cell phone.
- Create a warm-up routine so you don’t get hurt during your practice session.
- Take a look at what targets you have available to you and how you can incorporate those into your practice.
- Vary your practice between clubs so you don’t get stuck being good at just one.
- Consider investing in technology that you can use while you practice and learn the game of golf.
- Follow proper driving range etiquette.
- Consider taking a lesson to get yourself started on the right track.
Contents
Understand How the Driving Range Works
Most golf driving ranges are set up into three sections. You’ll have the area where you hit full swing shots, a chipping area, and a putting green.
Full Swing
The full swing area of the range is where you will hit the majority of your shots. When you first start with the full swing shots, it’s completely acceptable to hit some shorter chips and pitches just to warm up your body.
You’ll want to save the majority of your chipping practice for the chipping area so you can see the way the ball reacts when it hits the green.
Chipping Area
Don’t putt or take big swings in the chipping area. This spot is for those short shots around the green.
Sometimes, you take just a single wedge with you and put some golf balls down around the green in different areas.
Hopefully, your driving range also has a sand practice area that gives you a place to work on your sand shots and get better out of the bunkers.
Putting Green
The putting green is used only for putting practice. Don’t chip shots onto the putting green.
Not only is this a maintenance issue for the golf course it’s also an etiquette issue for others who are trying to work on their putting.
What Equipment to Bring to the Range
You don’t always have to bring your entire bag to the driving range to practice.
Be sure to have:
- Wedge or short iron for warming up and shorter shots.
- A mid iron for working on your swing related issues.
- A longer club like hybrid, fairway wood, or driver to work on the long game.
If you bring your pitching wedge, 7 iron, and driver to the range once, the next time, bring your 9 iron, 6 iron, and 3 wood.
Varying the clubs you bring with you will help you work on all areas of your game.
It’s also smart to bring a golf glove with you; the chance of developing a blister as you learn to practice more at the range is quite high.
Warm Up Routine
Before you start hitting golf balls, it’s smart to do some stretches. Create a simple warm-up routine (it can be just a few minutes long) and use this to get your body ready to hit.
You’ll want to warm up to prevent injury, but you will also likely benefit from the additional flexibility that this warm-up routine helps you create.
Alternate Clubs While You Practice – Create a Driving Range Practice Plan
One of the biggest mistakes that beginner golfers make when they practice at the range is to use the same golf club over and over again. Beginners will go out there and hit 35 drivers in a row.
This is not a smart plan.
Never in a round of golf will you have 35 drivers in a row to hit.
Instead, you should create a timed driving range practice plan and work through the areas of your game that need the most help. With a great plan in place, your routine may look something like this:
For this long game routine, you’ll need about an hour and 75 to 100 golf balls to use.
- Stretching and Swinging (5 minutes)
- Warm-Up with Wedges (10 minutes)
- Straight Shot Practice (10 minutes)
- Fade and Draw Shots (10 minutes)
- Distance Control with 7 Iron (10 minutes)
- Imaginary Course Play – First 3 Holes (10 minutes)
- Work on Weaknesses (10 minutes)
- Finish with Confidence – Favorite Club/Driver (5 minutes)
Take a look at our individualized driving range practice plans that you can fine-tune to work for your golf game.
Considering Incorporating Technology Into the Routine
Bringing some technology with you to the range will really help your driving range practice become more effective.
Technology that you can use includes things like a launch monitor, cell phone video of your swing, and even the HackMotion wrist sensor.
As a new player, you won’t have a professional to help guide you through every practice session. Therefore it makes sense to consider technology that will guide you.
- Portable launch monitor: even a basic beginners type launch monitor can help you narrow down exactly how far you hit each of your golf clubs.
- Video of your swing: start to analyze down the line and face on views of your swing to look for mistakes in setup, swing path, alignment, and more.
- HackMotion wrist sensor: the wrists control the clubface of your golf clubs. An open clubface leads to shots that go right, and a closed clubface causes shots to go left; fixing your wrist angles will straighten out the clubface.
Follow Proper Etiquette and Take Advice from Professionals
Don’t be afraid to take a golf lesson or two before you head to the driving range for the first time. You can learn a lot from the professional about what to practice, how to practice, and whether or not you are following the range rules.
Here are a few of the most important golf driving range etiquette tips to follow:
- Keep your space and don’t cause distraction to those around you.
- Speak softly; other golfers are trying to concentrate.
- Try to keep divots in a straight line instead of making a mess of the entire hitting station.
- Only swing when you are in your hitting booth.
- Make sure it’s acceptable to listen to music before disturbing other players.
- Read any signs or guides at the range about clubs you can hit (some ranges are too short to accommodate drivers).
- Don’t ask other players for advice; work on your game, and if a professional is there and wants to help you, that’s great.
Final Thoughts
As a beginner golfer, you should get used to the driving range. You’ll spend a lot of time here over the years and use this place to lower your scores and take your game to the next level.
However, establishing a smart practice routine and then following proper etiquette will make your practice more enjoyable and effective.
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