golfrewind.com

There have been a couple of discussions fairly recently on (driving range) practice pace. Some golfers mentioned that they were wearing themselves out, getting tired on the range, with their practice session deteriorating as they went along.

I used to machine-gun my shots out there a few years ago, raking the balls into position whithout getting out of my golf posture, hitting the next ball pretty much as fast as I could go.

I have since adjusted my routine and I set up for each hit 'fresh' (as if playing golf).

I timed my practice session last week, from getting out of my car to getting back into my car. It was exactly one hour.

In that time I walked to the clubhouse, obtained my bucket of balls. Walked to the station. Set myself up. And hit 60 balls (with just one club). Halfway through the session, I took a short break and walked around for a minute or two.

I figure I was 'on task' for about 50 minutes, for 60 balls (nominal 'large bucket' size, I did not count them). So I took around 50 seconds per shot. That seems like a long time, but I felt like I was moving along at a decent clip.

I am curious to find out how long you take 'per shot' when practicing.

I generally take 100 balls and will take around 1.5-2hrs to hit them...and I'm tired afterwards! I usually practice midafternoon, and the Jakarta sun is not forgiving at that time of day...I think that I would be tired just standing in place for that long...

I turned a corner in play when I increased the quality of my practice...I often alternate clubs on every shot, and will never hit more than 5 in a row with one club...always go through a preshot routine complete with picking a target as well as something behind the target and a couple of intermediate point just like on the course...sometimes I use an alignment club on the ground, sometimes two for guaging ball position (putting them in a cross)...but I always regrip, imagine the flight, pick a target, take a practice swing, take my stance and waggle before I hit each shot...this has helped alot as it seems the adage is true in that you play like you practice...

i usually only hit 40 balls and it takes about an hour i play thirty of them like im playing my home course. the last ten i grip it and rip it.. i like to smash a few just for fun. less is more for me. i dont practice well if im tired.

At least a minute for me. Depends on the club though. I usually go thru the whol routine 8 iron on up to Driver. Wedges I will tend to rapid fire shots as I have less setup and alignment with those, same with small pitches.

i use to hit ball after ball after ball not aiming, just hoping it will go straight. that was stupid.
i now take time with my shots. i buy one large bucket of balls and take each ball as though it was my shot on the course, do some practice swings behind the ball. pick a target and line up with it and commit to every shot. but before i play a round, i hit maybe 20 balls with my PW and then 5 balls with my driver.

Since golf is all about repetition every shot on practice should be exactly like you would do it on the course?

Best way to learn both muscle memory and "feel" memory?

Thing is, if you have nothing specific on which to work, hitting balls rapidly one after the other is usually the result. Hitting balls is boring if you are not working on some ideas or at least taking aim at a target. I used to hate the range but now that I understand my swing much better I use much less balls. I target specific clubs and specific shots as well as working on the swing mechanics. I amost always hit a few with the driver.