Get the Most Out of Your Practice Time

So you don't have time to play golf tonight and you only have an hour before you need to pick up the kids, dinner, dry-cleaning. Whatever the case, you want to hit some golf balls and don't have a time to do it!

Hit the range! Here are my tips for a good 1/2 hour to 1 hour session to get you ready for your next round.

1. Warm Up: A quick stretching session is something I always have my students do while I am teaching. I will have them stretch out, then make a few small swings with their wedge before I even put a ball in front of them. You do not want to hurt yourself because you pull a muscle swinging a hard driver right out of the game!

2. Wedge It: Hit a dozen wedges or 9-irons to get started, just focus on hitting the ball solid and keeping a nice smooth tempo. This will further loosen you up, and will get you off to a good practice session by hitting the easy clubs well.

3. Work Up: Work your way up to your driver. Hit about 5 of each club then move to the next. This gets you a chance to work through all of the clubs in your bag and will provide some discipline not to go out there and bang 100 drivers in a row! When you get to your fairway woods, hit a couple off the tee and the other 3 off the turf, you never know if the course you are playing will require the 3 wood so its good to get a little practice in both situations.

4. The Driver: Hit 5 drivers and thats it! Don't wear yourself down hitting the driver. Make some nice solid swings with it and focus on putting the ball in play.

5. Game Plan: Since you are short on time, play the first few holes of the course out there on the practice tee. Pick a spot to aim at for your "tee shot" and hit it. You will have a good idea how far the ball was hit and what you would have left to the hole. Playing a par 5? Play it twice, hit one set of practice balls as though you were going for the green and the next as you were laying up. I would suggest playing the first hole, a par 3 and par 5 in your head on the range.

6. Cool Down: Finish with some gap/sand wedges. This is a good cool down and will help with your feel. I would hit about 10 shots with your wedges trying to knock the flag down with them.

7. Hit The Green: Hit a few putts, chips and bunker shots. Get some feel in before you head home. Don't worry about making anything outside of 5 feet, this practice session is simply an efficient way to get some swings in you in a short period of time so that your Muscle-Memory stays sharp and you are not lost when you finally do get to hit the course again!