Hitting balls on the driving range can get old pretty quick and you might be practicing bad habits. You should try to mix in a competitive game so that you are more focused on your practice time. Here are a few games that can help you play better golf!
HORSE
This is just like the basketball game where someone picks a shot and you have to copy it or you will receive a letter. You might be saying, “Well how do I hit a 185 yard shot within a 15 yard radius?” It becomes easier the more you play because it is the closest you can get to real golf on the driving range. If you are just blindly hitting golf balls on a 300 yard wide range it won’t do you any good.
You will have to find a friend to play with, but this is a great game to help get your focus up and practice better habits on the range.
Golf on the Range
Try to remember a course that you know well, like very well, and then play it on the range. So say the first hole is a 425 yard par 4. Take out whatever club you would hit on the first tee and hit the ball, then take out the club for the approach shot and so on. Obviously you won’t be putting, but say you miss your target, then you can take out a wedge and chip or pitch it back on the green.
I like this game because it feels like I am actually doing something on the range. You never sit on a real golf course and it 7 irons until your hands start to callus, so why do it on the range? This will also help get you prepared better for a round of golf because you will already be used to switching clubs and the body gets loose easier. You can also give yourself some type of score based on each shot you hit to keep it fun.
Shot Maker
Are you able to hit all 9 types of golf shots? (3 types of draws, 3 types of fades, 3 types of straight balls) The range is a great place to get comfortable with all of these shots. If you watch PGA Tour players on the range before a tournament they go through a routine of hitting all the different types of shots that they will need on the course. If you have trouble hitting draws, then you can work on it at the range instead of hitting 50 balls in the same direction.
Don’t worry about topping a ball or hitting it fat, the driving range is for practice and to get better. Everyone hits bad shots on the range, even tour pros.
Flags Only
Have you ever hit a ball on the range and wondered how far it went? I think we all have. There is no point in hitting balls to an empty space on the range because it gives us no feedback other than how it felt and looked. Have you ever seen a PGA Tour driving range? All of the golf balls are gathered near all of the flags on the range. So, this game requires you to only hit clubs that are targeted at the flags on the range. It will help you have a better understanding of how far you hit each club and will help immensely on the course when you are trying to figure out which club to hit.
The Dollar Game
You should spend most of your practice time in the short game area and there are some fun ways to make it enjoyable. The dollar game is a chipping game where you place a dollar on the chipping green and put two tees on either side to keep it in place. Then you simply try to land your ball on the dollar or you can modify the game to allow the winner to roll the ball over the dollar. This helps you pick a smaller target and will improve your focus on short game shots.
Crazy 3’s
Another great chipping game is called Crazy 3’s. Both players will pick a chip shot and each hit three shots to the target. After each player has played, you will walk up and pace out the distance from the hole to each of the players shots. The winner will be the one with the lowest amount of total feet to the target. It’s a great game because it promotes creativity by trying something different if your first or second shot wasn’t the best.