First, decide what you're there to do.

Before you hit your first ball, give the session a purpose.

That purpose doesn't have to be complicated. You might be warming up before a round, learning how far your clubs actually go, working on your contact, practising a particular swing change, becoming more comfortable with your driver, learning to control different shots, preparing for a course you're about to play or simply having a hit.

These are all legitimate reasons to go to the range.

The important thing is that they aren't the same thing.

If you're working with a coach on a specific swing change, for example, you may deliberately hit the same club repeatedly so you can concentrate on that movement.

A useful range session can contain all three.

You don't have to choose one forever.

If you don't know what you're trying to accomplish, it's very easy for the session to become 60 or 100 unrelated swings.

Start simple. Then make the shots more like golf.

01 — Warm up

Your first golf swing of the day probably isn't going to be your best one.

There's no particular reason to expect it to be.

Start with a short iron or wedge and make some comfortable swings. You might begin with a few easy half-swings before gradually increasing the length and speed of the swing.

The objective isn't to hit the ball as hard as possible.

Get your body moving, find some rhythm and establish reasonable contact.

02 — Change clubs

There is a good reason golfers like hitting the same club repeatedly.

It feels productive.

You hit a 7-iron. Then another 7-iron. Then another.

Eventually you hit three or four good ones in a row and think, “I've got it.”

Maybe you have. But on the golf course, you don't normally hit 15 consecutive 7-irons.

You hit a driver. Then perhaps a 7-iron. Then a wedge. Then another 7-iron. Then a hybrid.

Every shot requires you to reset. The club changes. The distance changes. The target changes. Your visual picture changes.

You don't need to follow that exact sequence. The point is simply to introduce change.

If you're trying to learn a new movement, repetition can be useful. But once you're trying to make a skill usable on the course, changing the situation is valuable.

03 — Aim with purpose

A driving range is full of targets. Flags. Posts. Distance markers. Trees. Signs. The edges of the range.

Use them.

Instead of thinking, “I'm hitting a 7-iron,” start thinking, “I'm hitting a 7-iron to that target.”

That small change gives the shot a job.

Pick a target before you hit. Then make your normal setup and pre-shot routine.

You're beginning to practise aiming and executing, rather than simply making swings.

Don't just practise different clubs. Practise different decisions.

Learn your actual distances

The range is also a good place to learn something very practical: what your clubs actually do.

Not what the number on the club says. Not how far you hit one particularly good shot. And not how far your friend says you should hit a 7-iron.

How far does your normal shot go?

Your useful distance is the one you can reasonably expect.

Over time, start building a picture of your normal distances. Your numbers don't need to match anybody else's.

Once you know them, club selection on the course becomes much easier.

Explore different shots

Golf isn't simply a collection of clubs. It's a collection of shots.

Sometimes you need to hit a normal full shot. Sometimes you need to take something off. Sometimes you have more room and can be aggressive. Sometimes you need to keep the ball lower.

You don't need to become a shot-shaping expert to benefit from this.

Just experiment.

Take a 7-iron and try hitting one normal shot. Then try one with a slightly lower flight. Then perhaps one where you deliberately take some speed off.

The objective isn't to manufacture perfect golf shots.

Play golf

There is a point where you can stop working on your swing and start working on playing.

Imagine a par 4 you know.

You hit your imaginary tee shot. Where did it finish?

Now you're playing your second shot. What club would you choose? Where is your target? What kind of shot would you try to hit?

Hit it.

Then imagine where that finished and play the next shot.

You're no longer simply asking, “Can I hit this club?” You're asking, “What shot do I need here?”

That's much closer to the decisions you actually make on the course.

Make some of the range work like the course.

One of the biggest differences between range golf and course golf is what happens after a bad shot.

On the range, you can immediately hit another.

On the course, you can't.

Try a one-ball mindset

Pick a target. Choose your club. Go through your normal pre-shot routine. Hit one ball.

Then stop.

Don't immediately try to correct it. Instead, ask:

• Was that the shot I intended to hit?
• Was the contact what I expected?
• Did the ball start where I expected?
• What would I do differently if I had to hit it again?

Then move to a completely different shot.

Finish with a little pressure

The ABR 60-Ball Range Session

But don't treat 60 as a magic number.

If you have 30 balls, halve it. If you've got 90, spend the extra balls on whatever you're actually trying to improve.

The framework is more important than the number.

The objective isn't to finish a bucket. It's to finish a useful practice session.

You don't need an elaborate practice plan.

If you're brand new to golf, you don't need to jump straight into elaborate practice games.

Your early range sessions can be much simpler.

Then gradually introduce more targets, different clubs and simulated holes.

The range isn't an exam. It's a place where you can discover what your golf currently looks like.

You also don't need to be embarrassed about hitting poor shots.

You're learning.

There is nothing wrong with just hitting balls.

Structured practice can become its own kind of golf-industry nonsense.

Sometimes you just want to hit balls. That's fine.

You don't need a spreadsheet for every bucket. You don't need a practice objective for every Tuesday afternoon.

Golf is supposed to be enjoyable.

If you want to stand on the range and hit your driver because you enjoy watching it fly, go for it.

The more deliberate you are about what you're trying to learn, the more useful the range becomes.