How many buckets do you pratcice with?

[powert33]

Just a thought but how many buckets or balls do you all hit during a practice session?

I always do 85-170 depending on what i am doing and with at least 5-7 clubs but what is everyone else's routine?

I start PW and work up to 5i, then Hybrids and 3w, Driver, then back ending at 54 and 60* wedges. I use the 54 and 60 less so not so wear down the grooves so much.

[Matt727]

First Bucket-about 75 balls....53 degree, PW, 8i
Seconds Bucket-about 75 balls....6i 4i 3W
Third Bucket-either about 30 or another 75 Driver (and wedges if not playing)
If im playing I will end on driver to take that swing to the first tee...

[EnglishBob]

80 or so working through even numbered clubs one visit, odd numbered the next.

After hitting the bucket I will go onto the 5 hole practice course for a round.

[d0n]

I'm trying to cut the number of balls I use in half and focus on quality and not quantity. But currently here's what I'm using.

I usually hit a 150 or so if I'm working with mid irons or on striking.

For the driver or longer clubs I'll get a big bucket (100). I'll warm up with an 8i hitting 20 or so balls. Then the rest go to the driver, hybrid, or woods. If that's not enough I'll go back and grab a small bucket of 30.

For wedges I'll get a medium bucket (75) and go over and hit 15-20 down the range. Then head over to the practice green. I'll hit into the practice green, gather the balls and do it again usually twice. Then I head over the range and hit what I have left down the range.

If my buddies are there and we're playing horse we will each usually go through 200 or so balls and hit just about every club.

If it's a pre-round warm-up I'll hit a small bucket on the range and use my own balls on the practice green for wedge shots and putting.

[alexthegrrr8]

Only two smalls. 60-75 balls per bucket I believe.

Bucket 1 : work through the bag starting with gw...8 iron...hybrid...driver....3 wood....6 iron....lw (5-10 shots per club)

Bucket 2 : simulated rounds using cards from courses I play or intend to play to prep.

Alex

[Swingtheclub]

When I was a kid growing up I used to hit shag balls (the course did not have a range) you know hit them and pick them up then hit them again .

I would hit about three to four hundred balls a day and play 36 too 45 holes what I did not do was work on my short game and equal amount of time

During the time when I was in the service for a while about a year and a half I got off work daily noon to play with the Wing CO at one pm

He would usually play WED FRi Sat morning and Sunday morning I always played with him he was my backer

Mon Tues and Thurs and often Sat afternoon I would hit five six hundred balls practicing.

As a young assisstant I hit a couple hundred daily and often would hit three or four hundred.

I love to hit balls I loved working on my swing. Now days my tired old butt hits a forty ball bucket ten to fifteen of those with half swings on the two days a week I play and thats it. The truth is I only get to really practice about three times a year . Then a big bucket of balls wears me out but usually when I get the chance I hit balls for about and hour and practice about and hour on the putting green chipping and putting. I finally got the message

I loved Tigers statement he said he works out four hours a day but does not practice as much as he used too most sessions are only about four hours.

The bottom line is if you want it dig it out of the dirt there is no other way.

[MrJones]

I usually get a jumbo which is about 120 balls. I warm up with my 3 or 4 iron, starting with little punch shots and moving up to full shots. After that I pull a club and hit usually 3: one straight, one fade, and one draw. I really like to take my time and think about each shot before I hit it rather than just machine gunning them into the range. I'll put that club down and grab another and do the same thing through the bag sometimes going back to clubs. I usually like to hit 20 to 25 drives and my last 30 balls I'm going to hit little 50 yards and in shots.

I try to do this at least twice a week and play on the weekends.

You guys hitting 200+ balls after work, I don't know how you do it. I'd be so worn out after 150 full swings I'd just be messing my game up if I tried to keep going.

[thenewbie]

wow, some of you guys are very exact. . .I'd wrather just work through whatever I think needs work. anyways, my normal "lots of time to practice today" routine (sometimes up to 5 or 6 hours) is 1 large bucket (I guess 100-110 balls), with almost every club, only a few balls with each, then switch, taking it all very slow. then over to the practice green for chipping and putting (I ALWAYS use just 3 of MY balls), then another large bucket, since chipping usually helps me get a better feel for my striking. then I'll go walk 9, just for practice purposes, and for excersize.

I don't like to be predictable on the range as far as what club I'm hitting. . .your constantly switching on the course, so I constantly switch on the range. a couple drivers, then a couple 1/2 54* wedges; a few punch 9's, then a couple full 6's. hell, sometimes I look at my bag and wish a had more clubs to mess with.

unfortunatly, the range I practice at really doesn't have "targets", persay. theres one single target green at about 175, and most of the time because of the lighting you can't even see if you hit it. luckily I know my distances, so I just work on feeling the good contact. (edit; there are distance markers every 50 yards after 100, but you literally can't see the ground around the markers longer than 150, and they're always wrong because they don't move them as the hitting area moves. its poorly designed, but it does the job)

[JustinFL83]

I have the Geoff Ogilvy theory of only practicing on the range if you need it, or to work out a kink you might have. I do play at least 18 a day though and spend an hour on the putting green. I spend another hour out on the short game area, again, working out shots that might be giving me issues.

I guess I'm an odd ball?

[Swingtheclub]

[quote name='JustinFL83' post='859971' date='Jan 11 2008, 10:47 PM']I have the Geoff Ogilvy theory of only practicing on the range if you need it, or to work out a kink you might have. I do play at least 18 a day though and spend an hour on the putting green. I spend another hour out on the short game area, again, working out shots that might be giving me issues.

I guess I'm an odd ball?[/quote]


Justin if your playing 18 holes a day at 24 your not the oddball your the lucky SOB most of us have jobs LOL

as far as how many balls you hit I will say two things. If your totally satisfied with your swing your GIR's are good why beat balls.

Just the same I always thought the worst time to hit a lot of balls was when I was swinging bad. Why practice something bad?

What I am sayin is if I had a problem I would specifically figure out what the hell I was doing before I practiced.

Good luck to you.

[thenewbie]

[quote name='kenk7us2002' post='860007' date='Jan 11 2008, 11:14 PM'][quote name='JustinFL83' post='859971' date='Jan 11 2008, 10:47 PM']I have the Geoff Ogilvy theory of only practicing on the range if you need it, or to work out a kink you might have. I do play at least 18 a day though and spend an hour on the putting green. I spend another hour out on the short game area, again, working out shots that might be giving me issues.

I guess I'm an odd ball?[/quote]


Justin if your playing 18 holes a day at 24 your not the oddball your the lucky SOB most of us have jobs LOL

as far as how many balls you hit I will say two things. If your totally satisfied with your swing your GIR's are good why beat balls.

Just the same I always thought the worst time to hit a lot of balls was when I was swinging bad. Why practice something bad?

What I am sayin is if I had a problem I would specifically figure out what the hell I was doing before I practiced.

Good luck to you.
[/quote]

yeah, I always see guys on the range, swinging the same swing over and over, thinking that somehow something will change. if most people hit a club poorly at the range, they'll keep hitting it all day. if I'm not hitting a club well, I'll immediatly put it down and grab something I know I can hit well. and if I can't hit anything well, I go to 1/2 swings. if I can't do those, I go to the chipping green, all the time concentrating on solid contact.

all that happens when people hit a club poorly all day is they get tired, get frustrated, and ingrain bad habits.

justin- I don't find anything wrong with what your doing. . .I only wish [i]I[/i] could play 18 a day.

[JustinFL83]

[quote name='kenk7us2002' post='860007' date='Jan 11 2008, 11:14 PM'][quote name='JustinFL83' post='859971' date='Jan 11 2008, 10:47 PM']I have the Geoff Ogilvy theory of only practicing on the range if you need it, or to work out a kink you might have. I do play at least 18 a day though and spend an hour on the putting green. I spend another hour out on the short game area, again, working out shots that might be giving me issues.

I guess I'm an odd ball?[/quote]


Justin if your playing 18 holes a day at 24 your not the oddball your the lucky SOB most of us have jobs LOL

as far as how many balls you hit I will say two things. If your totally satisfied with your swing your GIR's are good why beat balls.

Just the same I always thought the worst time to hit a lot of balls was when I was swinging bad. Why practice something bad?

What I am sayin is if I had a problem I would specifically figure out what the hell I was doing before I practiced.

Good luck to you.
[/quote]

I do have a job to (I actually have 2), I just happen to work at night and no girlfriend so my days are free. My swing is alright, my GIR percentage needs to go up, but my percentage is good in tournaments. I will practice before a tournament though, like tee shots and whatnot.

[thenewbie]

I used to wait tables. . .annoying job, but tons of free daylight. great for golf.

[jedidan]

well after looking at this, i have come to the realization that i must have no life except for golf. i work 10-6 t,th,f,s,sn and have school mon and wed. basically every day after work i go to the range and hit balls until they close at ten. normally i go through 3 otr 4 large buckets (90-100balls) totally focused and taking my time on every shot, remembering my entire swing sequence. i start lw all the way up to driver. after im completely satisfied with my swing on all categories: 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 and full, then i putt for about an hour til ten. all the guys at my work gave me crap because im always down there but when they go with me they see how disciplined i am, they dont give me anymore grief for being there all the time. i pretty much live and eat and sleep golf. i plan on taking my p.a.t. this year so ill keep you guys posted.

[Samsquanch]

50 balls. Routine before EVERY shot. Start with a wedge, go to 8i, 4i, 5w, Driver. Then go down again.

When I'm pissed off about my round, I will hit 300 balls or so after... Still using a routine before every shot.

[adamwingnut]

between 10 and 30 balls per range session
every day

[steventoo]

My club charges $5 for a 50 ball bucket, the range is up hill and has a few big bumps on it, it's too short (I've bombed my driver on to the 7th tee over the trees at the end of the range before!) and the only targets are the meter markers. It's difficult to get a good idea of accuracy-at-target beyond about 120m

I get a couple of buckets two or three times a week and end up hitting about 150 or 200 each time (if there's nobody else hitting I wander down the range and pick up another couple of buckets), which is about all I can handle before I get tired and lose concentration and end up wasting my time. Depending on how the initial stages of the session go, I spend the rest of the session working on contact and mechanics or routine and accuracy.

To warm up, I normally hit 10 or 20 shots at the 150m marker with my 7 iron. Once I'm warmed up I normally aim at various targets with my 3 iron, 5 iron, 7 iron, 9 iron, pitching wedge, 3 wood, driver, then take about 50 shots at the 50m marker with my wedges.

Once I've done that I head to the chipping green and spend about half an hour there with non range balls, working on everything from sand shots to deep rough shots to 2m off the green chip in attempts.

If I'm playing later in the day I normally cut everything down by about half just so I don't tire myself too much.

[hattrick3518]

First Bucket (70 balls)
30 Dedicated to wedges (10 balls for each wedge)
40 Dedicated to irons (9i, 7i, 5i, 3i; 10 balls each)
with each iron i will hit 7-8 off turf and 2-3 off a tee

Second Bucket (70 balls)
20 Dedicated to the hybrid (12 off turf, 8 off tee)
20 Dedicated to the 3 wood (10 off turf, 10 off tee)
30 Dedicated to driver (all off the tee )

Then its off to the pitch/ chip area (15-25 shots)
and then go roll some putts (lots)
probably takes about 2 1/2 - 3 hours depending on how im feeling
pretty much the routine except i will do even # irons every other day, always hit the 3 iron too (8i, 6i, 4i, 3i)

[loulou]

I spend about 30 minutes at the range hitting shots I need to work on. Then I go and spend about 2 hours on the chipping and putting green.

[oregongolf]

Usually a large bucket for me. 110 balls.

I separate the 50 or so worn balls and save them to usually hood 3 irons at the range picker. It's the best when they have to pick with a truck. I own like 40 dents in that thing.

[Merlin_T]

In summer: 2 buckets

In winter (simulator environment): 2 hours, around 200 balls. I don't like to play game there: short game (pitch, puts) aren't precise and it makes me really angry

[larrybud]

[quote name='adamwingnut' post='860091' date='Jan 12 2008, 12:17 AM']between 10 and 30 balls per range session
every day[/quote]

10 balls? I'm not even warm after 10 balls.

[The Boom Bapp]

Arrive at Range

Buy:
1 - Jumbo Bucket of 110 Balls $9.00
1 - Large bucket of 80 balls $7.00

Routine starts with:

Short Game
Chip, and Pitch - 10 to 12 balls per LW, GW, SW from various lies. Retrieve and put back in bucket
Bunker, Lob, Bmp&Run - 10 to 12 balls per LW, GW, SW from various lies. Retrieve and put back in bucket

Move to Range:
3/4 and Half Wedge high to low flight - 5 balls per LW, GW, SW, PW.
Approach - 7 balls per LW, PW 9I, verying high to low ball height.
Mid - 7 balls per 8I, 7I, 6I, verying high to low ball height and LtoR - RtoL ball flight.
Long - 8 balls per 5I, 4I, 3I, (4 balls grass, 4 balls Tee) verying high to low ball height and LtoR - RtoL ball flight.
Tee Box - 10 balls per 3w, Driver, verying high to low ball height and LtoR - RtoL ball flight.

That leaves me approx 80 to 84 balls that I use to hit random clubs by visualizing a round of golf.

I then move to the putting green for approx 30 minutes and I finish there.

That takes me about 2 to 2 1/2 hours. During the week at home I am always chipping and putting around the house so I am always doing something if I am not lifting or playing with my kids. During the winter, I play twice a week through indoor golf leagues and I spend 2 hours every Saturday at Golf Galaxy on a launch Monitor used by their PGA Professional Leigh Taylor. He lets me use the cameras and stuff now and then.

[LucF]

Before a round, I never hit more than maybe 75 range balls. I hit a random combination of shots with a few clubs (a wedge, a mid iron, a long iron, fairway wood, driver). Then I'll practice my finesse swing and bunker/trouble shots if possible, then move to chipping/putting with my balls. All this takes anywhere from 30 minutes to 3 hours, depending on the time I have. I try to limit the number of full swings I make before a game, especially when it's hot, so I don't get tired.

My practice regimen depends on the season, but I try to hit some balls every day. I can hit anywhere from 10 balls in my basement during a winter day to 400 balls during a whole-day session in summer. I never could figure out how VJ can hit 1000 balls in one day. I always do my complete pre-shot routine for every shot, which limits my rate to about 1 ball/minute. At that rate, it would take me 17 hours to hit 1000 balls.

I split my summer practice time between full shots, trouble shots, bunkers, finesse shots, chipping and putting, not necessarily doing everything each session. I try to have a plan for each session. I'm always trying new things out and keep notes. I use self-made and purchased training aids and like to play games while training. To me, practice is as much fun as playing on the course.

[Swingtheclub]

Lucf You make a great point.

When I was young and hitting five six hundred balls in a session it would take four or five hours but we had never heard of working on a pre shot routine.

I was more like a machine gun


I think your way is way better

[hbear]

I grab a crate (those ones that hold the 4 litre milk jugs) and fill it up.

Alternate hitting full shots with full routine....or pitching around, etc.
I normally don't hit the entire thing, and will stop either when I have accomplished what I had setout to do, or if I start losing focus.

The crate is nice as I can go out of my "Serious practice mode" and just hit balls playing around with crazy ball positions, body postions, and what it's effect on my shape/flight, etc. without worrying about burning though my balls too quickly.

[Ace In The Hole]

Well the amount of balls/buckets is really a scewed number, if you are going out and wacking out hundreds of balls continueing to make the smae mistakes, well then it's all for not, if you are working on your swing on the range it should take you 30-45 min to hit a large bucket, for me if I am not playing I'd spend about an hour on the range (large bucket) working on my swing plane, and release points. Then to the short game area, and work my wedges for another 1-2 hours, and then about 2 hours on the putting green playing multiple different practise games. Lots of times I'll spend less time on the range and just work my short game and putting. When I am playing I'll start off with my 8 iron or PWedge hit 5-10 balls then work down from the 8 iron hitting 7-10 balls with each club. Then I will play the first two holes from the range, so I'll hit Driver, 9 iron, then Driver 3 wood or hybrid off the deck and P-wedge, as our starting two holes at my home course is a 390 park 4 and then a 610 par 5.

 

I play to about a 6-7 and short game is where I need the most work. This doesn't mean that this method works for everyone, I'm sure a higher handicap could use more time on the range working on there swing path, and consistant ball strikeing.

[TTT]

for a practise session, around 100 balls,(2 practise swings, stand behind the ball, pick a target, set up, swing, for each and every shot) mostly short irons. 50 more for wedge shots 50-90 yrds then hit the putting green b/c thats were you make your money

[BEND OF THE RIVER GC]

Usually just one jumbo bucket. Any more and I get bored on the range. I would rather putt and chip for hours.

[mat562]

I generally practice with about 130 balls in the bag.

 

A bag of balls is enough for me generally, and I always try to avoid becoming bored. I generally work on fundamentals and make my practice structured to avoid practicing aimlessly or ingraining faults. A full bag will typically last me the best part of a couple of hours, and I'll generally hit four or five irons from the bag rather than just beating one club.

 

If I'm working on driving, I hit maybe another 30 or 40 balls after I've been through the irons, or simply hit the driver from the start.

 

After that, I like to hit the practice green with a half a dozen balls and spend some time hitting all sorts of greenside shots.

 

I used to hit 500 balls a day in my youth, but I don't have much desire (or enough time) to do that nowadays.