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Driving range target for distance


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Work on my 8YO kid's swing, he has been trying to get more efficient and increased distance. While on the range, I always want him to be aiming at something regardless of the club in hand. For driver, I have been having him aim at this flag 125 yards out and telling him to hit it over it (which he can do if he strikes it well).

 

Perhaps from a mental aspect, would he be better served to be trying to carry it over a flag that is 150 yards out (which he can NOT do yet even on his best strike)? Curious as to what others have done. It's sort of a "aim high" (set your goals high) vs "build confidence" (achievable success) question.

It's no fun when the rabbit's got the gun.

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Depending on the range have him try to land a driver between two Flag Sticks, two greens etc. like he is parting a fairway. We have trees on our range and work on hitting it in between them.

I am GenX.  If you really think I care about what you have to say, I don't.

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Depending on the range have him try to land a driver between two Flag Sticks, two greens etc. like he is parting a fairway. We have trees on our range and work on hitting it in between them.

 

Yes, I am a big fan of the aiming part. Have you tried anything to get your kid to strive for more distance? I suppose the answer is you need to do a little bit of both...sort of like playing forward tees to learn to go low and playing tees back to learn to save par.

It's no fun when the rabbit's got the gun.

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Depending on the range have him try to land a driver between two Flag Sticks, two greens etc. like he is parting a fairway. We have trees on our range and work on hitting it in between them.

 

Yes, I am a big fan of the aiming part. Have you tried anything to get your kid to strive for more distance? I suppose the answer is you need to do a little bit of both...sort of like playing forward tees to learn to go low and playing tees back to learn to save par.

We have a sign way out down the middle of the range and we've been aiming at it for years now. Finally hit it on the fly last week. We're always trying to hit it hard with speed.

 

Only thing I'll caution you on is that most ranges use distance limited balls so you don't necessarily want to use them for measuring distance.

There's definitely something more important that I should be doing.
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Depending on the range have him try to land a driver between two Flag Sticks, two greens etc. like he is parting a fairway. We have trees on our range and work on hitting it in between them.

 

Yes, I am a big fan of the aiming part. Have you tried anything to get your kid to strive for more distance? I suppose the answer is you need to do a little bit of both...sort of like playing forward tees to learn to go low and playing tees back to learn to save par.

We have a sign way out down the middle of the range and we've been aiming at it for years now. Finally hit it on the fly last week. We're always trying to hit it hard with speed.

 

Only thing I'll caution you on is that most ranges use distance limited balls so you don't necessarily want to use them for measuring distance.

 

Thanks, we'll try aiming at the flags waaaaaay out there for a while. I've trained myself to tell him to always "swing fast" and never use the phrase "swing hard". And yes, I'm pretty sure our course uses distance limited balls. Each large bucket seems to contain either a couple cracked balls or ones with the cover peeling off.

It's no fun when the rabbit's got the gun.

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Like everyone else we use targets on the range and make believe fairways and have targets way out there. Only thing I hate is range mats. Our range just installed mats which keeps the range open longer but you want to hit off grass as much as possible. Also range balls are limited flight so we never worry about distance.

 

So we basically now will never go more then one session without going out on the course to play a few holes and make sure we hit off grass.

 

Also if you want them to swing fast get a swing speed radar. What you think is fast may actually not be. The radar helps them learn what a faster swing feels like.

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Like everyone else we have a target, fairway and shot that needs to be called out prior to the swing. Otherwise, I get a lot

Kid : "That was good"

me : "You missed left"

Kid: "I was going for the green flag on the left"

Me: "Since when?, we have been hitting to the red flag"

 

The other aspect of range practice; is we keep the bucket of balls behind him or far away. It forces him to walk away, get the ball, go through his pre shot routine rather than just swinging away.

 

For distance: There are times I will ask him to swing aggressively while maintaining balance, or we club will down and try and hit the same target (that takes away the variance of the ball ).

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  • 2 weeks later...

That is great that you have him hitting at a target regardless of what club is in his hand! My PGA Mentor/Teacher taught this and I do the same with my students. Every single time that they pull a club and hit a ball, whether on the line or on the course, they must have a target, regardless of the club. Regarding distance, with my children(65% of my book), I do not really speak to it as much as accuracy and swinging as hard as they can while staying in balance. Balance is key!! I don’t want my students focusing on distance so much as accuracy & balance. The distance will come. To put “distance“ in a child’s mind is putting the same thought that so many adult male amatures have, whether it be in selecting their driver, swinging on the line or on the course, and this is and can be very counter productive if they happen to be smaller in build or not swinging as fast as their peers. The swing speed & distance will come as they grow into their swing, much as Tiger’s did, as long as they focus on swinging as hard as they can while keeping perfect balance.

 

Believe me, if you swing and hit that ball in the center of that driver, the distance will be fine, lol. I would not have them focus on the distance of the flag and instead just have one major focus: TARGET/ACCURACY. Regarding having a pin up or further back, it doesn’t really matter to me as we have greens/pins from 100-200yds every 25yds and 200-300yds every 50yds. Just pick a pin for accuracy and let ‘er rip ? I guess my point is that I want my student’s thoughts to be “target, target, target,” just as mine and every accomplished Player’s are. As long as he/she is swinging in balance, they will be fine. They will naturally learn to “reach back” when they need that fifth gear/distance by the experimentation and trial and error that we all went/go through. Good luck :) M

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The other aspect of range practice; is we keep the bucket of balls behind him or far away. It forces him to walk away, get the ball, go through his pre shot routine rather than just swinging away.

Great point and I do the same though I ommitted this from my initial post. I put the bucket behind them back by their bag, which while only 5-6’ away, as KC mentioned, it forces them to step away, and breaks the routine of developing the condition that Richard so eloquently refers to as “scrapeitis” and he categorizes this group of golfers as “scrapers,” haha. I then have them approach their next ball as they would a shot on the course, first standing behind their ball after placing it down and then going through their PSR, then stepping into the box. Take care :) M
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  • 2 weeks later...

Made a deal with my son the other day that if he hits his ball over a fence that's 240 out and 20 feet high I'll buy him a new Xbox. I figure I have a year or so before he can carry it over. He has a tendency to hit from the far right end of the range so we'll see how long until he figures out that the left center of the range is actually closer.

There's definitely something more important that I should be doing.
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Made a deal with my son the other day that if he hits his ball over a fence that's 240 out and 20 feet high I'll buy him a new Xbox. I figure I have a year or so before he can carry it over. He has a tendency to hit from the far right end of the range so we'll see how long until he figures out that the left center of the range is actually closer.

 

I have a feeling your going to be buying an Xbox sooner then you think. Those kind of bets get expensive for us parents. :)

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Made a deal with my son the other day that if he hits his ball over a fence that's 240 out and 20 feet high I'll buy him a new Xbox. I figure I have a year or so before he can carry it over. He has a tendency to hit from the far right end of the range so we'll see how long until he figures out that the left center of the range is actually closer.

 

I have a feeling your going to be buying an Xbox sooner then you think. Those kind of bets get expensive for us parents. :)

 

I'm also praying he doesn't figure out our range has distance limited balls and start firing at it with any of the 1,000 real balls from the backyard or shag bag. I probably should have told Mom about the bet...

There's definitely something more important that I should be doing.
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  • 2 weeks later...

Made a deal with my son the other day that if he hits his ball over a fence that's 240 out and 20 feet high I'll buy him a new Xbox. I figure I have a year or so before he can carry it over. He has a tendency to hit from the far right end of the range so we'll see how long until he figures out that the left center of the range is actually closer.

 

I have a feeling your going to be buying an Xbox sooner then you think. Those kind of bets get expensive for us parents. :)

 

I'm also praying he doesn't figure out our range has distance limited balls and start firing at it with any of the 1,000 real balls from the backyard or shag bag. I probably should have told Mom about the bet...

 

I've lost a few of bets.

 

Well one. Son was looking at a TM spider. He said Dad I really like it and can make everything with it.

 

I back him up to about 50 feet. I said one chance. You make it and I will buy it.

 

You can guess the rest. Dad was lighter by 300 dollars.

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Made a deal with my son the other day that if he hits his ball over a fence that's 240 out and 20 feet high I'll buy him a new Xbox. I figure I have a year or so before he can carry it over. He has a tendency to hit from the far right end of the range so we'll see how long until he figures out that the left center of the range is actually closer.

 

I have a feeling your going to be buying an Xbox sooner then you think. Those kind of bets get expensive for us parents. :)

 

I'm also praying he doesn't figure out our range has distance limited balls and start firing at it with any of the 1,000 real balls from the backyard or shag bag. I probably should have told Mom about the bet...

 

I've lost a few of bets.

 

Well one. Son was looking at a TM spider. He said Dad I really like it and can make everything with it.

 

I back him up to about 50 feet. I said one chance. You make it and I will buy it.

 

You can guess the rest. Dad was lighter by 300 dollars.

 

That’s fantastic.

 

Was this inside a store, or was there some break involved?

 

And please share if that putter improved his game, or if he just got lucky on one shot.

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Made a deal with my son the other day that if he hits his ball over a fence that's 240 out and 20 feet high I'll buy him a new Xbox. I figure I have a year or so before he can carry it over. He has a tendency to hit from the far right end of the range so we'll see how long until he figures out that the left center of the range is actually closer.

 

I have a feeling your going to be buying an Xbox sooner then you think. Those kind of bets get expensive for us parents. :)

 

I'm also praying he doesn't figure out our range has distance limited balls and start firing at it with any of the 1,000 real balls from the backyard or shag bag. I probably should have told Mom about the bet...

 

I've lost a few of bets.

 

Well one. Son was looking at a TM spider. He said Dad I really like it and can make everything with it.

 

I back him up to about 50 feet. I said one chance. You make it and I will buy it.

 

You can guess the rest. Dad was lighter by 300 dollars.

 

That's fantastic.

 

Was this inside a store, or was there some break involved?

 

And please share if that putter improved his game, or if he just got lucky on one shot.

 

Indoors on a putter showroom if you will. nice indoor putting so it wasn't like a big box with some lowes putting carpet.

 

He was making all the 30 footers, so the reason I backed him up to 50.

 

It honestly really did help his putting. He was already a descent putter with a blade. The sweet spot on a mill blade vs a oversized mallet is way different.

 

All in all its really help. He still does go back to his blade from time to time.

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Almost back to the OP.

 

On the range (when its not cold and wet here) we play games. We only have a couple of flags. There are signs.

 

Example: One shot we have to land left of the board. Right is bad! Maybe a slight fade

 

Next shot: right of the 125. Left is water.

 

Makes it interesting.

 

You can be crazy!!!! We got to an area near the chipping and putting. It just crab grass. A line of trees. Usually no one is around. There is one old oak that looks like a V. You know whats coming next. :-)

 

Junior and I back up 50 yards. We pop off 4 iron stingers and see who can hit the most through the V. Its super fun!!

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