purposeful practice.

I have started going to the range once to twice a week and was wondering what everyone else does for practice, this week for instance on Tuesday i took only my 9,P,S and played to different flags, baskets trying to work on accuracy and distance control, this was due to shots from 100 yards in being the worst part of my round last week. Today was a practice with each club hitting , noting distances to help with shot making decisions, and loosen up a little for tomorows round

I was wondering what everyone else works on, does this sound like i am doing the correct things?

On a side note without seeing me swing can anyone suggest reasons why my 5 iron off the mat goes 150 yards and my driver was going 150 yards off the tee, I am working on the theories that the set tees they have at the range are not ideal height for my swing, and that as it is a new driver and i am scared of breaking it so reducing my swing. Do these sound feasible?

rudey poo balls.

Its good to hear your working on specifics as too often we hear and see people mindlessly bashing balls on the range.

If your working on finding out distances for each club your better off on the practice ground with real balls as LJ said range balls tend to be rudey poo. Range balls tend to be made up in a way that they are always shorter than normal balls to stop them disappearing into the distance.

I've put a little thought into this...

And when I practice I do this... first up I'll hit about 10 or so lazy, long swinging 6 or 7 irons. That loosens me up and lets me 'feel' the strike.

Then I'll work for 30 balls on the move I want to focus on. Executing the drill and not really worrying about the strike or the result.

Then I'll hit another 10 working the drill into my swing but also focusing on strike and result. That's the seeing how it works and how it will be over time.

Then I'll carry on hitting 2 with the move and the drill and 1 with the result and the strike. Alternate that for 10 or 20 balls or so.

Then after that I'll hit 5 or so drivers... and finish off with a bit of wedge work to keep the feel in my hands and warm down until I have no balls left.

That will take me though a bucket of 80 or so and will take the best part of an hour usually. If not more as I'll sit and watch other people. Might take a little flask of tea, stop for water... chat to anyone I know... that sort of thing.

With my new club I'll do that sort of range work and couple that with an hour of chipping/pitching practice and as much putting as I can take. Which is usually a lot. And then play a few holes. The setup lends itself to 4 holes, 8 holes, or a few more in various arrangements. Which I like.

That'll be a half day session... with short hour long (roughly) focused sessions I'll do one of the above but to the same sort of routine.

cool Thanks

Was decent from 100 yards in today, getting there was an issue tho pfft

Started with a 4 as well

Think i will just have to go for a few lessons, hopefully will help bring a little more consistancy in the swing

LJ

that sound like a good practice session.

its always good to work on a swing and not wory about the results but i always grudge paying for range balls to work on a drill
when i was a member at a private club i had access to practice net and short game area and would find that when i hit 40 or 50 balls it didnt really matter that i hadnt hit them well but found that when i went to the 1st tee i was loose and warmed up which then helped my round

McIlroy a chip off the old Nicklaus block
BRIAN KEOGH at Palm Beach

GOLF TOUR NEWS: WHEN JACK Nicklaus speaks, the golfing world sits up straight and pays attention. And it turns out Rory McIlroy took in every word of advice he was given by the Golden Bear when they sat down for lunch not far from here 12 months ago.

If you are wondering why McIlroy raised a few eyebrows last week when he insisted the short game is less important that the long game, you can blame Nicklaus.

“I agree with Rory. In fact, it was me who told him so in the first place, when we had lunch last year,” Nicklaus said after a news conference that was dominated by talk of the forthcoming 25th anniversary of his iconic 1986 Masters win at the age of 46.

“I always thought the long game was more important. I’ve always felt that way. I never worried much about my short game and I didn’t practise it.”

McIlroy is sensitive about his short game and putting, which appears decidedly ordinary in comparison with his stellar long game.

“I don’t care what anyone says about the short game being the most important. It’s not,” McIlroy said in Tucson last week.

“The long game puts you in position to have putts to win tournaments. Guys say you have to have a short game to win tournaments and it is not the case. Not at all.”

Nicklaus recalled his own chipping troubles yesterday as he took a stroll down memory lane and explained how he rebuilt his game from scratch early in 1980 following the first winless season of his career.

But his views on the short game haven’t changed and he agrees with McIlroy that it’s consistency from tee to green that defines champions. Nicklaus said: “I told Rory that I never practised my short game because I felt like if I can hit 15 greens a round and hit a couple of par fives in two and if I can make all my putts inside 10 feet, who cares where I chip it? And I didn’t enjoy practising that part of the game, I enjoyed the other part. But that was just me.”

McIlroy is excellent outside 20 feet and inside six feet but knows that he needs to hole more 10-15 footers if he is to become a prolific winner.