Some practice questions

Static M.e.

Hi Guys,

Some beginner questions on practicing. I was wondering whats the best way to practice to gain consistency. I'm quite new to Golf and I've been saving up my questions. Any help would be much appreciated.

1. *Should you practice with your golf shoes on or off, does it make any difference?
   
2. *Does it make sense to hit 5 balls off the tee, then 5 off the ground and repeat for each club?
   
3. *Should you practice with all clubs from SW to Driver or just concentrate on two or three?
   
4. *Whats the deal with the range distance markers are they the same as on a golf course?
   
5. *Is the driver any different than irons to swing or should it be the same process for both?
   
6. *What's a recovery club for? as in when do you use it rather than another club?
   
7. *Any other tips on the best way to learn or practice?

Thank you

the lawman

There's 5 attempted answers form my own experience for you hope it helps and good luck with it.


1.*Should you practice with your golf shoes on or off, does it make any difference? Shoes on.

2.*Does it make sense to hit 5 balls off the tee, then 5 off the ground and repeat for each club? Each to their own on this one. I tend to hit ~ 10 balls with a driver from the tee, then some from the floor with hybrids / woods and work down through the irons from the mat. I finish off with some long irons from a low tee for Par 3’s. Other people like to practice like its a round ie Driver with one ball then a 5 iron from the mat second ball a wedge third shot etc etc.

3.*Should you practice with all clubs from SW to Driver or just concentrate on two or three? Depends. If you’re looking to work on one area then ONLY bring that club or clubs, if you’re spending some more time then bring the bag and go through them. For example I recently spent an hour on the range with just a 5 iron coz I was having some issues with it. Best to plan your practise before you go.

4.*Whats the deal with the range distance markers are they the same as on a golf course? I can only guess that they are. I also believe the balls you hit will be shorter then the balls you use on the course.

5.*Is the driver any different than irons to swing or should it be the same process for both? For me I try to keep them the same as in stance, grip, back-swing etc.

PhilipMarlowe

Static M.e. wrote: »

Hi Guys,

Some beginner questions on practicing. I was wondering whats the best way to practice to gain consistency. I'm quite new to Golf and I've been saving up my questions. Any help would be much appreciated.

1. *Should you practice with your golf shoes on or off, does it make any difference?
   
2. *Does it make sense to hit 5 balls off the tee, then 5 off the ground and repeat for each club?
   
3. *Should you practice with all clubs from SW to Driver or just concentrate on two or three?
   
4. *Whats the deal with the range distance markers are they the same as on a golf course?
   
5. *Is the driver any different than irons to swing or should it be the same process for both?
   
6. *What's a recovery club for? as in when do you use it rather than another club?
   
7. *Any other tips on the best way to learn or practice?

Thank you

Hi and welcome!

Firs of all, I don't practice much (because of time constraints and I find it a bit boring) but I'll try to kick off the help.

1. If you're talking about the driving range where you're playing off a mat then no real need for golf shoes. Runners should be fine - anything that will stop you losing balance. If you're on grass then the golf shoes with their softspikes will be best.

2. I would probably shake it up a little, mainly to avoid boredom setting in. If you wanted to work on a particular club then you may hit 20 drivers in a row for example but it's better to have a purpose in mind to help your concentration/focus. If you're just hitting ball after ball aimlessly then you're not learning as much as you could. However, if you're a real beginner then I wouldn't be as concerned...

3. There's no need to practice every club. If you ever get to go to a tournament like the Irish Open, it's a good idea to look at the guys warming up on the range an hour or 2 before they begin their round. They will often start with a few half shots with a wedge - just waking up the muscles and they will build it up...
If you can hit an 8 iron you can hit a 9 iron and a 7 iron too The longer irons are harder alright and if you struggle with the 3, 4 & 5 then I wouldn't bother with them much *see recovery club.

4. Range distance markers are usually just a guide. Driving ranges use special (crap) balls that are super durable and they often don't go as far as 'real' golf balls on the course. Ranges are sometimes constricted with space too. So the distance markers are often shorter than the actual distance so they approximate the real-world.
The only way to figure out how far you actually hit your shots is to hit a bunch of 7 irons for example on a flat grass area, take a sensible "average" and measure that actual distance. I know it's not the actual average because you don't want to include the outliers.
On the course, there will usually be a couple of distance markers on most holes. Par 3's are measured from the tee to the middle of the green so you're sorted there. Par 4s and 5s will have a couple of markers (coloured stakes at the side/discs in the fairway), usually 150 and 100 metres/yards to the front/middle of the green. There is no standards yet for these markers so just check on the card of the course you are playing. Par 5s will often have a 200 metre/yard marker too. Top courses will often have an irrigation system for the fairways and the sprinkler heads are usually printed with individual distance measurements too.

5. The swing is largely the same for every club but there are some differences in setup like ball position etc. I'm not that technical minded (at golf) so I prefer to avoid questions like this or they'll wreck my head A routine for every shot helps to promote consistency.

6. Recovery club or Rescue or Hybrids are a cross between a (long) iron and a (small) 'wood'. They are great because they are easier to hit than a long iron. MUCH easier to hit out of the rough also. The ball flies higher than an iron. If you watched Yang in the US Open, the longest iron he carries is a 6 and then has a bunch of rescues. That's unusual in the pro ranks but sensible enough at our level. Have at least 1 in the bag anyway...

7. Get a lesson or a series of lessons is probably my advice. If you want to try go it alone then there's a lot of good stuff online. Shawn Clement has lots of tuition videos on YouTube and he's popular with a lot of us on here. He is great for visualisation - makes understanding what is going on easier I find. He also has a group of DVDs which probably cover everything from the fundamentals to the advanced but his youtube stuff is free for all

When practising/beginning, it is MUCH better (though probably less fun) to start at the green and work your way back. By that I mean putting, chipping, pitching etc. This is where the scoring is done. If you can get the ball in the vicinity of the green and can get it up and down then that's a par and a great feeling. If it takes you 2 chips and 3 putts then that's a triple bogey and a bunch of expletives.
It's not as sexy as smashing drivers at the range but you will often take half your shots or more from around the green.

stockdam

1. Should you practice with your golf shoes on or off, does it make any difference?

As long as you aren't sliding around then it doesn't matter. I practice in my golf shoes.


2. Does it make sense to hit 5 balls off the tee, then 5 off the ground and repeat for each club?

Apart from the driver, I hit all my shots off the ground when practicing. If you can hit the ball off the ground then the tee is icing on the cake.



3. Should you practice with all clubs from SW to Driver or just concentrate on two or three?

I only use about 5 clubs during practice. Wedge, 7 iron, 5 iron, 5 wood, driver.
There's no point using every club in the bag.


4. Whats the deal with the range distance markers are they the same as on a golf course?

I never worry about the distance markers. I am more interested in a repeating shot that goes straight and travels the same distance.


5. Is the driver any different than irons to swing or should it be the same process for both?

The swing is the same for all clubs. However the setup varies. You want to hit the driver on the upswing (just after the bottom of the arc of your swing) and so you play the ball well forwards and you tee it high. You hit the irons before the bottom of the arc so you strike the ball then the ground. So you don't really change anything except the setup.



6. What's a recovery club for? as in when do you use it rather than another club?

I assume you mean a rescue wood. It's simply a shorter wood with more loft that is used instead of a long iron. Some people don't carry anything other than 6 iron and up to wedge. A rescue wood is easier to hit than a long iron for most people.


7. Any other tips on the best way to learn or practice?

Concentrate most on your short irons, putter and your driver. I nearly left the driver out but in my opinion it is an important club. If you can hit a long straight driver then you will be in great position to score. You want to be great from 100 yards in and around the green; if you have a hot putter then you will be hard to beat. Get some lessons.

k.p.h

I think Licksy really hit the nail on the head their. I also think it's worth noting that when starting out the two most important thing's to concentrate on IMO are your grip and posture. If in the beginning you grip the club correctly and address the ball with a good posture it will save you a enormous amount of time later. I might make it difficult in the beginning to even hit the ball but you would be surprised how quick you will get used to it.

And also like Licksy said the Shawn Clement videos on youtube are a great resource. here is a good one to get started with.:D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7c5ieJAfDx4

Static M.e.

Thank you all, thats very helpful information.

I've ordered up the Phil Mickelson's DVD and booked marked the Shawn Clement videos which looked good. I have watched the putting video so far which was very good, I have to try and practice it now.

The recovery club seems like a good buy, I don't have one or a driver at the moment. I've been using my friends Driver & Woods who moved to Switzerland for a couple of months but he is coming back next month.

Its good to know about the Swings being the same too (apart from the setup), my driver shots were pretty wild so I was thinking that maybe I was swinging it wrong. I've had three lessons so far which I were very helpful although we never covered Drivers\Woods. I'm kind of trying to practice a bit before I go back to the trainer so I can be more consistent and have to concentrate on fewer things, if that makes sense.

Thank you again for the all the tips, honestly they are very helpful for a newbie like me. Hopefully see some of you on the course some day!