Strange at the Range

[harbacostal]

I was at the target driving range last week hitting golf balls. I was experimenting with the idea of setting up with the clubface slightly open. The purpose of this is to allow me to swing through the ball will wild abandon with no fear of hitting a hook. It works for me but that's another story.
One of the greens that I was hitting balls at was 169 yards from where I was standing. I was hitting 7 irons just short of it, or onto the front of it. Which is for me a very long way for a 7 iron to go. Anyhow I kept trying to hit that 7 iron harder, smoother, whatever to get it to go the extra 5 yards to the middle of the green....after about 20 swings I realized that there is absolutely no need for me to hit a 7 iron more than 165 yards...
I guess my point is this...does anyone else go to the range and lose thier mind (and their swing) in a quest for more distance? If so what is the cure?

[BC MIST]

I was at the target driving range last week hitting golf balls. I was experimenting with the idea of setting up with the clubface slightly open. The purpose of this is to allow me to swing through the ball will wild abandon with no fear of hitting a hook. It works for me but that's another story.
One of the greens that I was hitting balls at was 169 yards from where I was standing. I was hitting 7 irons just short of it, or onto the front of it. Which is for me a very long way for a 7 iron to go. Anyhow I kept trying to hit that 7 iron harder, smoother, whatever to get it to go the extra 5 yards to the middle of the green....after about 20 swings I realized that there is absolutely no need for me to hit a 7 iron more than 165 yards...
I guess my point is this...does anyone else go to the range and lose thier mind (and their swing) in a quest for more distance? If so what is the cure?

Never!! My quest is always to swing better. In so doing one may get more distance but it will be incidental, however, accuracy and consistency will always make one a better player.

[jeffc]

agreed. I hit the ball far enough. what i need as everyone else does is more consistency. If you want to hit the ball further, don't swing harder, hit the sweet spot on the club.

[Chieflongtee]

agreed. If you want to hit the ball further, don't swing harder, hit the sweet spot on the club.

Or take a 5 iron and swing smoother. That shot will feel like butter

[jvincent]

I was at the target driving range last week hitting golf balls.

...

I guess my point is this...does anyone else go to the range and lose thier mind (and their swing) in a quest for more distance? If so what is the cure?

Look at your first sentence for the answer.

You went the DRIVING range, not the PRACTICE range. If you go with the intent to just pound balls as hard as you can then you won't get a lot out of the trip. If you go with the intent to work on something (grip, stance, tempo, etc) then you will have much better results.

[byerxa]

Learn to stop and take a break if you start pounding balls. I do one of 2 things during a range session:
1. Practice a particular drill. I am very deliberate and methodical in what I do and make sure I go through the same routine.
2. Imagine a round of golf. I pick targets to outline a fairway, etc., and imagine playing a particular course, complete with dealing with mis-hits.
Another tip is to not get the mega bucket. Get a small and make it last an hour.

[harbacostal]

Make no mistake about it I go to the "Practice Range." I take one thing out of my swing and try to adjust it to make it work better.

I hit half wedges to start and spend almost half of my time there with some kind of wedge in my hand hitting quarter, half , three quarter, and full shots with one of the four of them...that's the key to scoring.

I often work on hitting a ball with fade, a straight ball, and a draw with the same club.

Occaisionally however I find something new (usually courtesy of a tip from BC Mist) that I like to try out....Last week it was the slightly open face to prevent the hook. I had been hooking my 3 and 5 woods...I stopped hooking them and they were going much much much farther...In fact every club in the bag was going farther...which of course I had to test...If you want to score you have to have some idea of where your ball is going to finish when it comes down....that process was what I was going through when I caught myself trying to hit a 7 iron 170 yards...

Out comes the wedge and back comes the swing...

[jvincent]

Occaisionally however I find something new (usually courtesy of a tip from BC Mist) that I like to try out....Last week it was the slightly open face to prevent the hook. I had been hooking my 3 and 5 woods...I stopped hooking them and they were going much much much farther...In fact every club in the bag was going farther...which of course I had to test...If you want to score you have to have some idea of where your ball is going to finish when it comes down....that process was what I was going through when I caught myself trying to hit a 7 iron 170 yards...

Out comes the wedge and back comes the swing...

Fair enough. Your original post had more of a "try to bang shots as hard as I can" vibe to it, which in truth is what most people do.

Your explanation above makes more sense. Figuring out how far you're going to hit the ball using a new setup makes perfect sense.

Swinging hard at the range occasionally makes sense too. There's a target green that I usually try to hit with three clubs. One where I have to swing hard to get there, one that I hit with my smooth swing, and one that I have to take something off.

[Wknd_Warrior]

Some ranges have unresponsive balls that can get you swinging too hard pretty easy. SOmething to watch out for.

[hkypuk]

Some ranges should be arrested for charging for the balls they make us use.
Pretty hard to work on important elements of your game(ie distance control) if the ball just doesn't react right.

[Golftime]

Some ranges should be arrested for charging for the balls they make us use.
Pretty hard to work on important elements of your game(ie distance control) if the ball just doesn't react right.

Good point. I use a simulator in the winter and you use your own balls so quality is up to you. As an aside the owner who is there 7 days a week wore out a few balls to the point where they actually split in two. They still look okay because they never get dirty but the internal structure did fail. Balls at the range get hit so many times that they do get very mushy.

[mberube]

I’m always amazed when I go to the range. I purchase a small bucket and most hackers get the jumbo. First thing they pull out of the bag is the driver. No warm-up, just pound away. By the time I’m halfway through my bucket they are all done. What is the point!!!!!

Mike