after some advice please !

Hi all after some advice please ! A few questions 1. Is it better to practice on the range or having a round ? 2. I hit balls on the range. But it seems to me that I hit the ball further when playing a round (ie with my own ball.) ( a srixon distance) than a range ball. Is this the norm ? 3 if this is so ! Whats the best way to find how far I am hitting each club. ? Using my own balls ( I know it can be painfull lol) . 4 whats the best app or tool for measuring distance we hit a ball ? Hope u can help me out. Thanks ian

Hi Ian, 1. depends on what you want to work on and whats better value, if your a member of somewhere id say play more rounds - that said if theres a part of your technique you want to work on, hit the range. 2.Yes completely normal to hit real balls further, the range balls are designed to spin more/less and they are softer, the distance you loose isn't standard though, i.e. not 10 yards for each club but rule of thumb is the longer you hit it the more distance you loose (driver might be 40 yards but there may be no loss from a pitch) 3. Difficult one this, my recommendation would be to take a load of balls to the course on a quiet day and find a quiet hole start at the 150 markers and hit balls till you find the right club then move in either direction. several problems with this method - watch out for groups behind you, repair pitch marks, etc etc. 4. Obviously laser range finders are the best but very expensive, so I use an app called Swing by swing golf, very good and accurate to within a couple of yards. Hope this helps

My advice would be to get out on the course as often as you can. The range is OK but is no substitute for course experience. Get to know the ball you intend to use in regular play. Range balls will give you no real indication of how far you can expect to hit on the course. Finally, I would say get to trust your eyes on distance. Eventually if you play competition this is what you will have to do. Good luck.

Completely agree with dan on that, course management I think is the key to breaking 20. so many of my playing partners week in week out try to go for par 5's in 2, or take the tv shot through trees over bunkers with a 30 yard hook, a simple bit of course management will make the difference. My favourite practice session is where I go to the course and choose 3 holes and play them 3 times each. this way I find i learn my yardages and clubs better, i tend to learn the greens pretty well from all over and learn the rolls and bounces of the hole. Another one is when i take 1 ball and see how many holes i can play before i loose it. ive done this with friends and its helped a lot. Don't pay attention to your score but the only thing that matters is putts. You instantly learn to lay up from everywhere, last time out my friend took 4 8 irons on a par 5 and chipped in!

Question 1: I would say it depends on what you are doing and how much time you have. Playing golf is always better than being on the range, that's my personal preference. If you have time to play nine holes then I would play nine holes. Remember, if the course is quiet there is nothing to stop you playing two or three balls at the same time. If the course isn't busy and I'm catching the group in front I will often practice my pitching/chipping until they have gone out of range.

Question 2: I was always told that range balls are designed to be ten percent less distance than a normal golf ball. But on a driving range they would put the distance markers ten percent closer to you! This saves the range space, as they don't need as much space. Also, people wouldn't take the range balls home with the to play golf with. Although I have seen many range balls in the water at my golf courses and I often wonder if the person who hit that ball changed his ball in case it went in the pond!

Question 3: You should already have an idea how far you hit each club. Normally you would have a ten yard difference between each iron. Although this could be different for your set. Check the driving ranges around you. One of my ranges does a trackman session where they will measure the distance you hit each club. It's already be said, get out on the course when it's quiet and play a par three with a few balls, find the club that puts you on the green. You need to know how far each iron carries, not how far the ball goes, forget total distance. I use a skycaddie that has a feature to measure each shot. The problem with that is that it does the total distance, you would have to work out where you golf ball landed to get the carry distance.

Question 4: Not sure on this one!

Hope this helps, Russ

I never work on distance on a range only technique, that way I can focus on what I am trying to do to groove the required action, I am not intertested in how far the ball goes, only that I am striking the ball pure and it goes over my target. Also as others have said, I see it all the time on the range, people trying to smash driver after after driver, that will never improve your game, you could practice for years and you will still miss fairways, far better to spend you time on mid and short iron approach shots , chipping and putting, if you can hit your irons pure then you should be able to hit your driver, if you can't hit your irons pure then you won't hit your driver as well as you should.

I have to say that they both go together.

You won't improve your ball striking on the course as quick as on the range and you won't see the difference it makes without playing.

It is knowing how much of each you need. And don't forget the short game. You should do 2hrs chipping and putting for every hour you spend on the range 'smashing' balls.