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Working Up Your Yardage at the Driving Range

Driving ranges are a terrific way to practice your skills, work up your yardage, and sharpen your golf game. At Tappan Golf Center in Tappan, New York, our driving range is open all year, seven days a week, so you can improve your swing during any season. Here, our team discusses how to work up your golf club yardage during your practice sessions.

What It Means to Work Up Your Golf Club Yardage

Working up your yardage means gradually hitting golf balls to increasing distances. To do this, you usually start with shorter clubs and move to longer clubs. Building up your golf club yardage allows you to assess how far you can accurately hit a shot with each club.

You can use various methods to measure the yardage of a golf club, including:

• A GPS
• A golf watch
• A club-tracking app
• An indoor range monitor
• Sensors on your clubs

Tracking your accuracy shows your improvement with different types of clubs. Increasing your yardage can give you a significant advantage on the course, allowing you to reach more greens and leading to lower scores.

Tips to Increase Golf Ball Distance

When you go to the driving range, you’re probably thinking about working with one type of club, such as a driver, woods, irons, or hybrids. However, success requires working with every club. You also need to break down your session into segments. We recommend practicing the following to increase your yardage:

Stretching and Swinging

Start with stretching the muscles in your legs, back, shoulders, and arms. After you loosen your muscles, swing a lightweight club to find your rhythm. After you establish a rhythm, swing holding the clubhead, creating resistance.

Wedge Warm Up

During this time, use every wedge, including your pitching, gap, sand, and lob wedges. Gradually increase your shot distance, focusing on contacting the ball with the same force and in the same place.

Straight Shots

Use mid-irons to hit the ball off the tee. Aim at a specific yardage marker straight ahead, and then try to get as many balls on target as you can.

Shooting Fades and Draws

During this segment, alternate between hitting fades and draws. This helps you determine ball flight, which allows you to control your shot. Change the flexion and extension in your wrist to understand how your wrist affects your swing.

Distance Control

With a 7 iron, cycle through shots at different yardages. Start at 50 yards, move to 100, and then on to 150. Once you complete the cycle, do it again. Cycling through distances helps you develop your feel and distance control.

First Three Holes

One of the best ways to improve your yardage is by pretending you’re playing on the first three holes of a course. Practice your drive, approach shot, chip, and putt. Nailing these shots means you’ve mastered their techniques, so you can hit each shot from further distances.

Improve Weaknesses

Spend time with clubs you’re not as comfortable with while focusing on improving your technique. Use longer clubs like hybrids and fairway woods to help increase your distance and accuracy.

Confidence Booster

You need to end every session on a positive note. Use your favorite driver or club to get in good shots that boost your confidence. High confidence translates to increased success on the green.

Hone Your Skills at Tappan Golf Center

Improving your golf club yardage takes dedication and hard work. At Tappan Golf Center in Tappan, NY, we have a year-round driving range to help you step up your game. If you want extra support, we also have a team of professional golf instructors, who can help you improve your skills and reach your goals.

We also have a Toptracer Range that provides you with real-time shot data, including ball speed, ball flight, and distance. This data enables you to experience the game in new and informative ways. In addition, our on-site Novogolf fitter helps ensure your equipment matches your measurements and skill level. To learn more about our driving range or to schedule a lesson, contact us today.