It’s important to always go into a range session with a practice plan. As they say, prior planning prevents poor performance.

Too many golfers go to the driving range and just blindly hit a bucket of balls. I know I’ve been guilty of whipping my driver out of my bag and hitting a whole bucket.

That’s not the best way to capitalize your time at the range though. You should be strategic about how you practice. Develop a routine and follow it.

In this article, I’ll review some golf driving range tips and give you a practice guide to follow.

Driving range 101

One of the first things my golf instructor told me was to use the driving range to work on new things. Use your range time to focus on all of the swing tips and corrections. Then, when you’re on the course, you should only be focusing on one or two things.

For me, that is the main difference between playing a round of golf and hitting some balls on the range.

The range is for practice and the course is for applying what you’ve learned to compete at the highest possible level you’re capable of.

Keep that mindset and you will set yourself up for success.

What is the best driving range routine?

So what are the best driving range routines? That’s a tough question because there really is no correct answer. Higher handicap golfers will need to work on different aspects of their swing then a mid or low handicapper.

Below I listed a few different ways to practice at the range…

Play a simulated round

One of my favorite ways to use range time is playing a simulated round. You can do this with any course, but it’s easier to do with a track you’ve played many times before. That way, you’ll be able to replicate a mock round from memory, without having to look at a scorecard or course map.

Let’s go through an example together. Pretend we are playing a pretty straight 420 yard par 4. 

Start with a tee shot on the “first hole” of the course you picked. Assuming you are teeing off with your driver, and you hit it about 250 yards, then aim for a spot on the center of the range about that distance and try to land near it.

Tip: I use a rangefinder to get actual distances when I do this drill myself. It helps me know for sure how accurate my shot was, and helps me in determining the distance of my second/third shots in.

If you land within the width of your imaginary fairway, then you should hit your second shot in. Since the driving range will most closely replicate a fairway, you’re hitting the same shot by all means, roughly 170 yards in. Again, pick a spot on the range about that distance away and take your shot.

If you ever “miss” left or right, adjust the distance of your next shot to account for the miss. Chances are you won’t be able to replicate a shot out of the rough or a bunker shot. That’s okay though, since this is imaginary anyways.

I also like to try and hit punch shots if I end up in a wooded area to make the round even more realistic.

Finally, if I land “short” of the green, I’ll practice a chip shot or bump and run to get up on the green. Since you’re on the range you need to stop there. You can move onto your next hole now.

Work through your bag

This is one of the most common methods golfers use to practice at the range.

Starting with your highest lofted club, usually a sand wedge, hit a short shot. Aim 20 yards away and attempt to land within a small radius. Once you hit a couple balls (and hopefully your target!) then you can move on. Hit that same club, bringing it back roughly halfway and aiming for a target about 50 to 60 yards away. Again, hit a few shots and move on.

Finally, hit the same wedge 100%, but only if you’re able to make good contact with a half swing. The reason for that is if you can’t make solid contact with a half swing, then you’re gonna have trouble hitting a full shot and you probably need to do more work on the shorter shot.

Once you go through those shots you’re ready to practice with your next club. If you have one, that would be a loft wedge. If not, you can move onto your pitching wedge. With your lob wedge or pitching wedge in hand, practice 50%, 75%, and 100% shots, aiming for targets on the range using adjusted distances that make sense for how far you hit the ball.

After hitting your wedges, you should still have about ⅔ of your bucket of balls remaining. If you have more or less then you either hit too many balls with your wedges or not enough.

Next, you will want to hit full power shots with each of your irons. Start with your highest lofted iron, usually a 9 iron, and work your way through them in descending order. End with your lowest lofted iron, which for me is a 3 iron. Some higher handicap golfers don’t hit their lower irons, in which case, don’t be afraid to skip those and work on the irons you do hit.

After hitting your irons, you should still have roughly ⅓ of your bucket of balls remaining.

Use your fairway woods, hybrid and then driver for your remaining shots. With the fairway woods and hybrids, take a few shots off a tee, especially if you regularly hit them off the tee box. 

You should end your range session by hitting your driver.

Oftentimes golfers will go right to hitting their driver, but this doesn’t give you a chance to warm up and get in the flow with your lower lofted clubs. Take the time to build up to your longest club and you will see better results while practicing.

Practice shots within 100 yards

For the majority of golfers, shots within 100 yards will make up the largest percentage of shots you’ll hit in a round. Even further, higher handicap golfers often struggle around the green and calibrating their wedges for shorter shots. 

What better way to lower your score than practice the shots you hit and struggle with the most! Here’s how you can practice short shots…

This drill requires that you only hit your wedges, so leave your irons, woods and driver at home. The goal is to hit all of your wedges, hitting two different targets/distances for each one.

Find a target on the driving range roughly 60 yards away. Hit a ball towards the target using your highest lofted wedge. Now, aim 10 yards in front of the same target and attempt to land there with the same club.

Then find another target, this time 80 yards away and hit the normal club you would hit to reach that distance. Once you hit that target, aim 10 yards in front and attempt to land there with the same club.

Finally, find a target 100 yards away and hit the club you would normally from this distance. Finish by hitting that same club, this time attempting to hit a target 90 yards out.

You should have hit 3 wedges, 2 different distances for each. Repeat this exercise until you finish your bucket of balls. This will help you adjust your clubs for different yardages and learn how much power to give each shot.

Spend time chipping and putting

Many ranges also have a chipping and putting green for practicing. For those looking to improve their game, it’s best practice to spend time working on both of these before or after you hit a bucket of balls.

For chipping, setup in the rough beside the green. Usually there will be a couple different pins to aim for, each a variety of distances away. Practice hitting a shot towards each and work on landing as close to the pin as possible. Next, move to the fringe and practice the same shots. This will help improve your touch when chipping out of different surfaces.

There are also a bunch of great putting drills.

For the first drill, grab 8 balls. Head over to any cup and arrange the balls in a circle around the hole. Use your putter as a measuring stick to make sure they’re all the same distance away, which for most putters should be around 3 feet. Work your way through all 8 balls, attempting to hit every put. Start over if you miss one.

This will work on your accuracy from within 3 feet. If you can hit these putts regularly, you will drastically improve your game and stop wasting strokes on make-able putts.

Once you complete the first putting drill, you’re ready to practice some longer putts. You’ll only need 3 balls for this drill. Setup about 10 feet away from the cup and hit all 3 balls, adjusting your line and pace if you miss. If you don’t make any of the putts, make sure to practice the second shot and attempt to make it with only two strokes.

Move around the putting green, practicing shots from the same distance, but in different spots. This will help work on your pace for longer putts and hopefully reduce the number of two and three putts.

Drills for the driving range

The driving range is the perfect place to use drills for practicing. You can work on the same exercise repeatedly until you start making progress.

As a disclaimer, there are dozens of drills you can do at the range, but I’ve only selected a few that work well for me. I encourage you to do some additional research and find what works best for you.

Driving range drills with alignment sticks

Again, there are a number of driving range drills, especially with alignment sticks. A few I like are…

For those who struggle with basic shot alignment, set up an alignment stick in your bay, pointing at a target on the range. Ensure that it is pointing directly at the target and in front of where you will attempt your shot. Place your ball 2 or 3 inches behind the stick and hit your shot, aiming at the same target. Any substantial miss left or right will indicate an incorrect swing path or that your stance is not the correct distance from the ball.

For those who struggle with setting up in the correct position in relation to the ball, set up with the same alignment stick pointing towards your target. Grab another stick and point it towards you.

Depending on which club you’re using, place the stick in line with where you want to line up with the ball. If you’re hitting your driver, you will want the stick at your front heel. With a long iron, the stick should line up in the front center of your stance. Finally, with your irons and wedges, the ball and alignment stick should be in the middle of your stance.

I will add more alignment stick drills over time, but these are two basic drills to get you started with proper alignment.

Golf swing bucket drill

There are actually a number of drills that use a range bucket as an aid. I’m only covering one in this post, but I encourage you to check out others. Maybe I’ll write a post with just bucket drills.

This golf swing bucket drill is intended to encourage quality arm, wrist and club positions at the top of your golf swing, which is important to setting you up for a quality downswing.

Using a half-filled range basket, bring it back to the takeaway position, where your arms are at a 45 degree angle. The basket should still be facing up and away from you, with the balls still in the basket.

Next, continuing your takeaway, you should make sure your left arm is parallel to the ground and try to dump the balls out behind you.

This teaches proper arm roll or rotation, getting the trail elbow to bend a little bit, and setting your wrist up into a position to come into impact properly.

Tiger woods golf glove drill

This drill was made popular by golf great Tiger Woods, although I’m confident that he’s not the originator of the golf glove drill. Regardless, this is an exercise that is supposed to help train your upper arms to move in unison with your torso. 

Staying connected, or having your arms and elbows move on plane, will help make a positive impact with your swing.

To do this drill, you will place a golf glove underneath your back arm and attempt to keep it in place while swinging a club. In the video below, you can see Tiger practice this live on the range.

What clubs to bring to the driving range

You can bring your entire bag to the driving range, including your driver, fairway woods, hybrid, irons, and wedges. Unless there’s a putting green then it’s safe to leave your putter at home.

That said, if you only intend to work on wedge shots then it’s perfectly okay to only bring your pitching wedge, gap wedge, sand wedge, and/or lob wedge. You will force yourself to only hit shots with those clubs if you leave the other clubs out of your bag.

The best club for the driving range is the driver. Regardless of skill, anyone can have fun launching balls with their driver. 

How many balls should you hit at the range (in a day)

Consistently hitting between 100 and 150 shots per day will help improve your golf game. For most, that would be a large bucket of balls. Of course, not everyone has the time to hit a bucket of balls every day, but we’re talking about an ideal world.

Hitting any more than that will risk injury or straining muscles. Since you’re most likely not a professional, don’t overdo it.

FAQ