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Practice made cheap

deuce

deuce

Grenade!
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So part of my own #JourneyToBetter is to work on my ball striking, to groove my swing and get it consistent. The "problem" is that it takes practice and practice takes time and money. I can make the time, but I need to keep the costs down. Was talking to a friend of mine and he made a couple of suggestions to at least work on the ball striking. The first was to find an open field and use practice balls (of the wiffle ball variety) which he said would give me an idea of how well I am hitting them (without having me have to chase golf balls a hundred plus yards down wind. The other option was to put up a carpet remnant and just whack balls into it. Now, I am getting the carpets redone in my house this week so that's an easy thing to accomplish. I tried to see if the local courses had range memberships, but none of them do. Unlimited range balls is a perk of membership *groan*.

At any rate, those are the two options I am aware of, but I may be missing something. I don't mind going to the range when I am working on my woods, but when I'm trying to groove my swing with my irons, there has to be a cheaper way to do it. Am I missing a viable option? Thanks.
 
For me I go to the course and use the pitching green and just pick up my own balls. You can get a good 70 yard shot to that green, which for me is enough for close to a full lob wedge. Obviously you can't hit full iron shots this way, but working on your half and full wedges is a great way to really feel your ballstriking. And obviously, short game and putting practice is usually free as well.
 
Birdie Ball
 
I hit balls in my backyard and it is working out great. Granted I do have a big field next to my house, that does help. I can pickup the balls in a few minutes with a shag bag.

More pics here: http://www.thehackersparadise.com/forum/showthread.php?57833-Backyard-Range

photo7small.jpg
 
huhhh said:
How far do those go? I heard it was like 75yds, that's still a lot of space needed.
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Yeah, I'd have to have access to a open field. I do, but I have to travel to it. I live in a development, so space is at a premium.
 
huhhh said:
How far do those go? I heard it was like 75yds, that's still a lot of space needed.
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Their web site says up to 40 yards. I agree there is still some room needed, but you see the flight pattern really well with them. Now if I could just remember where I put mine!
 
deuce said:
Yeah, I'd have to have access to a open field. I do, but I have to travel to it. I live in a development, so space is at a premium.
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I picked up one of these recently.http://www.amazon.com/The-RUKK-Pop-Up-Golf-Practice/dp/B0087AM3EQ

Got a great deal in the MP here but regardless of it being a little pricey, it literally takes 2 minutes to setup and break down and works GREAT. If I cant get to the range, I go hit balls in my backyard.
 
Smash bag.
Maybe one of those "swing groover" type deals that look like the pic above?
a4ehyqep.jpg


I have never used one so I couldn't comment on its effectiveness. I have a membership to a private golf club here, unlimited everything, makes life easier but on the flip side it deters me from playing other courses since I'm already dropping a monthly fee plus purchases at the home course.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk
 
Go out and buy a golf net and mat .. Keeps you in good rhythm and form . Or a local softball field and hit some sand wedges or lob wedges . Heck , most public golf courses I have been too have a open area where people bring their own shag bags and hit away . Call some of your local pubic courses , I'm sure they have open areas for you as well . Be creative , pick up the phone and make some calls. I'm sure their are hundreds of places you can go , no matter where you live
 
Mystery Meat said:
Or a local softball field and hit some sand wedges or lob wedges. Heck , most public golf courses I have been too have a open area where people bring their own shag bags and hit away . Call some of your local pubic courses , I'm sure they have open areas for you as well . Be creative , pick up the phone and make some calls. I'm sure their are hundreds of places you can go , no matter where you live
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The courses around me don't have open areas, except for their ranges, that will allow me to practice my irons for free. Not even sure why they would offer such a thing as that would cut into much needed income for them. They do have short game areas that can be used for free, and I do use them ... but I'm looking to groove the swing on my irons, not work solely on my short game. Like I said I have an area I can hit at for my irons, I just have to travel to it. I can't bring myself to practice on the local softball fields, even though there are a few within a mile of my house ... the county works too hard to keep them in shape, I'm not going to cut divots into the sod.

I worked with some foam balls last night and they don't travel very far. I can work with them on my lawn (hope the wife doesn't mind the divot rows I've now dug in the weeds - can't call it grass). That will have to suffice for now while I look for a good deal on a net.
 
Mat and a net is the way to go. I set it up right in my backyard. Makes it so easy to get up and hit some balls.
 
Agree with the mat/net. For the amount of practice I do I've easily saved 100's of dollars with that setup. Have to be careful to make sure you're keeping an eye on ballflight at some point though. I use it a lot to work on drills from my lessons.
 
I live decently close to a PGA Tour SS and they have an unlimited use of their practice facility for $99 for the year

This includes unlimited use of their video tools which are really handy when making swing changes. Other than that you should be able to practice short game just about anywhere that has a decent short game area for free
 
Hawk said:
Agree with the mat/net. For the amount of practice I do I've easily saved 100's of dollars with that setup. Have to be careful to make sure you're keeping an eye on ballflight at some point though. I use it a lot to work on drills from my lessons.
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Yes, definitely need to keep an eye on ball flight. I could easily see me getting lazy and ingraining a sloppy element into my swing. Will need to sprinkle in real range sessions once or twice a week, maybe on the off days when I'm not practicing my short game.

flog2424 said:
I live decently close to a PGA Tour SS and they have an unlimited use of their practice facility for $99 for the year

This includes unlimited use of their video tools which are really handy when making swing changes. Other than that you should be able to practice short game just about anywhere that has a decent short game area for free
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That's a sweet deal. Can't beat that!
 
deuce said:
Yes, definitely need to keep an eye on ball flight. I could easily see me getting lazy and ingraining a sloppy element into my swing. Will need to sprinkle in real range sessions once or twice a week, maybe on the off days when I'm not practicing my short game.
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Like I said too - drills are your friend with nets. It's boring, but it's a great setup. You get on the range and start to feel like you're wasting money hitting 1/2 shots with balls you paid for.
 
While we're on this...can you tell anything from the ball fight of your avg. plastic wiffile ball?
 
huhhh said:
While we're on this...can you tell anything from the ball fight of your avg. plastic wiffile ball?
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I have never been a fan of them. The newer foam balls are much better imo, and if you have the room, the Almost Golf Balls are really nice.
 
Update: The foam balls are working out well ... for now. The only problem I am having is that, now that I am actually getting decent height on my shots, they get stuck in the tree's sometimes. I've lost 2 of the 20 to the tree's, and an additional one to the neighbors cat who ran off with one.
 
deuce said:
Update: The foam balls are working out well ... for now. The only problem I am having is that, now that I am actually getting decent height on my shots, they get stuck in the tree's sometimes. I've lost 2 of the 20 to the tree's, and an additional one to the neighbors cat who ran off with one.
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That is funny. A sure cure from cat theft is cover the ball in Louisiana Hot Sauce. That should deter all thievery!
 
I have found the foam and whiffle balls do not give the same flight as a real ball, in terms of how high I could hit them with a lofted club ... Now I have had some success with a 7iron'ish hitting into the side my house form about 10-15 yards out ... A good hit easy to tell ... Mis-hits are harder to tell because the balls themselves are forgiving.

I would say say good luck finding a system that works for you.
 
birdie balls give great feedback as well
 
SkiBumGolfer said:
For me I go to the course and use the pitching green and just pick up my own balls. You can get a good 70 yard shot to that green, which for me is enough for close to a full lob wedge. Obviously you can't hit full iron shots this way, but working on your half and full wedges is a great way to really feel your ballstriking. And obviously, short game and putting practice is usually free as well.
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This... look for a course with a pitching green. Some may even have a 'practice hole'. At my course there is a 160 yard practice hole that his great to work on all sorts of approach shots. Grab a shag bag and away you go! Remember to repair divots and ball marks, as others may get annoyed if there are dozens of pitch marks all over the green.
 
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