Take what you learn on the driving onto the golf course

PGA Professional Ian Clark explains how you can take your best golf from the range to the course

With my more competitive players we will always play half a dozen holes on a simulator at the end of a session to make them more target aware. Simulators at ranges have really helped club golfers' play as they are more switched on to the flag and its surrounds.

Previously, as long you as didn’t hit the net on the left or right, that was a good shot. Now, even on a practice mode of a simulator, you have to set it to a target and everything revolves around that flag in the middle as it does on the course.

The technology is so good these days at ranges and you're missing out if you don't make use of it. Even if the technology isn't available there is always something to pick out and have as your target. Mats are square and bays are square so it can be a bit disconcerting to aim to one side or the other but that’s how golf is and it will help your game to hit lots of shots from different angles.

Look at Tiger Woods and how he would finish a practice session. His last four balls would be his first four tee shots out on the course that he was about to play so it might be driver-3-wood-6-iron-driver. It's crucial that you keep yourself stimulated on the range, everyone knows what that first hole looks like so pick your target and get into a good visual space.

Another good one is to play a course that you're familiar with at the range. So play out the round which adds both an element and fun to your practice time. You have to be quite strict, if you’re likely to be chipping out then you have to chip out and be disciplined with it.

It's down to the coach to tell people how to practise. Golfers can be poor at practising as nobody has told them how to practise. We get told how to swing and what to do on the course but we also need to know how to practise. Coaches must educate people and we mustn’t presume that everyone knows what they should be doing. Any football team training has their manager standing there with them and we need to give our players the right foundations to improve away from the course.

The range is a great place to try something else so, if you have a particular bogey hole, get used to hitting a long iron or hybrid. If you've played a hole badly three times then change your club. Even if you make a bogey then that will be progress and help you to get some confidence back in your game.

And use the range to work on your yardages. We like to base this on our best shot ever hit but we really need to look at this as an average. So hit 10 shots with the same club, take out any shockers, and it will tell you what your average carry distance is. So IGNORE the total distance, look at your carry.

I get my players to have stickers on the back of their wedges with three different yardages based on three different positions in their swings. So, if you have four wedges, then you will have 12 distances that you know that you can hit. We might think that we know how far a club and length of swing travels but it's easy to forget so why not have the numbers right there for you and at least have a plan. In truth we should probably have them on all your clubs as it's such a great reminder of what we really do with each club.

Hear more from Ian on making the most of your time on the driving range.

Ian Clark

I am the owner of the Ian Clark Golf Academy based at the World of Golf driving range in Surrey. I coach all levels of players and use some of the latest game improvement technology like Trackman, BodiTrak, Hackmotion, K-Vest and Hi Speed cameras to help us rectify any problem you may be having with your golf swing.

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Take what you learn on the driving range onto the golf course

Ian Clark

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