I’m Convinced The Driving Range Is Bad For My Game…

When my partner took up golf during the pandemic, we began going to the driving range on an almost-weekly basis and continued for the next few years.

There was no pressure in a relaxed environment and ultimately it was just a fun place to hang out. We’d order food and drink to our bay and enjoyed playing nearest-the-pin challenges and other games with the Toptracer technology.

The driving range was the perfect place to teach her how to hit a golf ball as we worked on different parts of her swing, to the point where she eventually got good enough to hit the course.

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I’ve been playing the game for 20 years and began to notice the driving range wasn’t helping either of us – and it might even have been hurting.

I’m a 6-handicapper and it dawned on me I was hitting the ball like a scratch player at the range. I could hardly miss the middle of the face, but found myself hitting it absolutely nothing like that when out on the course.

I remember a random shot once at my course in winter from a muddy lie where I chunked a wedge from around 100 yards. I thought to myself at the time I would never strike a ball like that at the driving range, where the plush mat aids ball-striking and I have nothing to worry about.

I’m sure you can say pressure can be added to the driving range with today’s modern technology and I simply wasn’t doing the right things – so let me know your view in the comments section and why you do or don’t go to the range.

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I’m also sure you can improve your game by working with a PGA Pro on the range and going through specific swing changes and drills, but that isn’t quite what I’m talking about here.

Modern-day driving ranges are fun places to spend time, but I’m no sure they’re necessarily great at lowering your scores

(Image credit: Getty Images)

‘Masks Your Bad Strikes’

The difference between the range and course for my girlfriend, compared to me, was far more drastic as a beginner player.

She would hit the ball so well off the mat and then struggle massively with strike when out on the golf course. She had no problem launching her 8-iron up into the sky on a mat, but would then struggle to get it off the ground when we went to play on a real course.

You seemingly can’t hit a heavy shot on a mat so I believe it masks your bad strikes.

Bizarrely, she also struggled to take her driving from the range to the course. From a driving range tee, she can easily hit her drives high and straight around the 200-yard mark, but then with a wooden tee on a real golf course the difference is chalk and cheese.

I can’t quite get my head around that because either way the ball is nicely teed up, but it is a fact, I’ve seen it time and time again. Perhaps it is a mental block?

It’s good fun whacking balls away, but does it really prepare you for a dodgy lie with a ditch to carry and a 20mph side-wind? All while you’re trying to build a score. I think that is how you improve at golf, by actually learning how to play the game.

We’ve stopped going to the range entirely this year, and I encourage us to play nine holes or a local pitch and putt course instead of whacking ball after ball. The improvement in her golf is remarkable.

She has never driven the ball better and her striking off the fairway has been far better, too – and this is all without working on her swing and technique for hour upon hour at the range. If she only ever hits the ball from real grass on real golf courses, it can only benefit her game.

Not all venues are blessed with grass driving ranges

(Image credit: Tom Miles)

Only on grass

It’s the same for me too. I haven’t had a single driving range session all year but am striking the ball better than ever.

What good is it striking my irons beautifully shot after shot at the range if I can’t go and replicate it on the course?

The reason? I think it’s primarily the driving range mats.

The difference between real grass or bad lies with wind, bunkers, water and other factors cannot be compared to hitting off of a driving range mat into an open field with targets.

I also struggle to create any kind of pressure at the range compared with playing a round of golf and trying to keep a score, keep momentum going and ultimately not miss in the wrong places.

So that’s where I currently stand.

If I want to work on my golf, my new ethos is I’ll only practice if I can hit from real grass – which to me is exclusively playing on the course. I’d love to have a grass driving range facility, but that sadly isn’t realistic to me.

I’ve found avoiding the range has worked very well this year for both a single-figure golfer and a higher-handicap beginner.

Don’t get me wrong, I do love the driving range and think they’re fantastic places for beginner golfers to learn the game and keen golfers to hone in specific swing changes.

But in a beginner golfer’s case, especially, I’ve seen how tough it is to go from the range to the course.

Perhaps all beginners would benefit from exclusively learning on real golf courses, whether that be a practice hole or a short three to six-hole loop.

Let me know your view in the comments…