Welcome back to Fore Fairway Ladies! In this episode, we're diving into essential driving range tips tailored specifically for women beginner golfers.
If you're just starting out or looking to refine your skills, these six secrets will elevate your game.
We'll cover everything from having a strategy for your practice sessions to perfecting your short game.
Learn why it's crucial to stretch before you start, how dressing the part can boost your confidence, and the importance of using your own balls for putting.
Plus, discover the benefits of recording your practice sessions to track your progress. Tune in and take your golf game to the next level!
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I started going to the driving range by myself, January 2024. I would sit in the car for about 30 minutes because I was so intimidated by all of the men on the range, hitting balls. I didn't know what to do. I would just sit in the car for like 30 minutes, looking around, trying to pick up clues as to what to do. If you're a beginning offer and you want to improve your game and you're new to the driving range, I'm gonna give you six tips to help you. Not only improve your game as a beginner, but give you the confidence to go out there on the driving range and practice more. Welcome to another episode of Four Fairway Ladies. I am your host, Dr. T. Mack. I am an avid beginner golfer, and I'm all things golf. I am all in. So today we're gonna talk about how to improve your game on the golf course, but starting at the range first. Because we all know, let me grab my little handy notes here. We all know that how you do anything is how you do everything right. Practice makes perfect, but in golf, practice just helps you become better. It doesn't make perfect. There's nothing perfect in golf. So here's six things that you must know. Like these are like non-negotiables when you're going to the driving range ladies. The first thing is have a strategy for the day, for your session. Don't just go out on the range and say, I don't know what I'm gonna do and just start hitting balls or just picking up clubs out of your bag, no. The night before or that morning, say, hey, listen, I'm going to work on my driver today, or I'm going to work on putting today. I'm gonna work on my short game. I'm gonna work on my irons, like whatever it is, have a strategy. And with that strategy, it's going to really, really help you focus on your game, focus on the things that you need to work on. And I promise you, just by having a strategy and a plan before you go out, it's going to help calm your nerves, ease your mind. If you're anything like I was, when I first started, I was a nervous wreck going to the driving range. I don't know why. I don't know if it was because there were 10 men to one woman. I don't know. Or sometimes no women out there, but I was just a nervous wreck and I didn't wanna look crazy, but I was a beginner. I'm still a beginner, so have a plan. Number two, you need to stretch at least five minutes before you start practicing stretch, stretch, stretch. I cannot stress that enough. Stretching is so important. You don't want to injure yourself playing golf. Listen, we're doing this for fun. We're doing this for leisure. We're doing this to network. We are not getting paid. We don't need to be injuring ourselves, okay? I'll put some stretching exercises below that will really loosen up your back and your hips because you know you're gonna need your hips, you're gonna need your back, you're gonna need your arms. So yeah, stretch before you go, but before you start. And then number three, this is one of my favorites. Dress how you play. That means don't wear regular sneakers. Don't wear slides. Don't wear flip flops. Don't wear sandals. I've seen so many women out there on the driving range with flip flops sandals, blah, blah, blah. No, dress how you play. Bring your golf shoes and also wear your outfit. Like if you have a cute tennis golf, well, you can have tennis where your tennis outfit looks the same. Cute golf, sports or shorts or pants and with your collar shirt. Wear that at the driving range because you want to play how you practice and you wanna practice how you play. And you also want to dress how you want to be addressed. And that's a big one. I know that probably went over your head. Let me say it one more time. You want to dress how you want to be addressed. So let's not go out there looking frumpy. Have your visor on. Have your hair pulled back in a ponytail or however you want to wear it. But look the part and look good while you're practicing, okay? All right, the next one, which is number four, spend more time on your short game than your long game. What do you mean, daughter, team match? Spend a lot more time. I'm gonna say 80 to 90% more time working on your short game, which is your chipping and putting. Every practice you should be putting, okay? At every single session. That should be either your beginning or the end. But you should be putting. Make sure you're working on your short game. I remember I was paired up with a man who's been playing golf for probably 50 years. And my short game sucked. I could drive the ball. And that second, the second shot was pretty good. But when I would get within 125 yards to the pin, oh my God, my chipping was not good. I didn't know how to bump and run. My putting sucked. And he told me, he said, you have to work on your short game more than your long game. And he said, because that's what's gonna shave the points off of your score, right? Anybody can drive a ball, hit a ball far, but not anybody. Most people can hit the ball far, but the objective is to get the ball in the hole. So work on your chipping. I've been recently working on, I've been working on my chipping at every practice session. The bunker, that's another one. I think that's number five. Always practice trying to get your ball out of the bunker. Because your ball's gonna go in the sand. And you don't want to, oh my God, the last time I played, I lost three strokes in the bunker. So always, always practice in the bunker. If you guys, well, you should, your driving range should have a bunker, go in that bunker and practice. Put your ball in front of the bunker, practice that, practice right on the edge, and then practice with your ball inside the bunker. It will tremendously improve your game, or improve your game tremendously. Number six is always, always, always, always, use your own ball when you're practicing putting. Use your own ball. Do not use the range balls when you're putting. Because putting is all about the feel. You want to simulate you using your ball and putting it in that hole. You want to simulate that as much as you can. So always use your own ball, or balls when you're practicing putting. And then I guess I have a bonus here. Record your sessions. Take your tripod, take your phone, and record your sessions. You don't have to record the whole entire session, but record the majority of your session because you want to see what you're doing wrong. You want to see how you're standing. You want to see how you're approaching a ball. You want to see how your alignment is. You want to see what you're doing in your backswing. I know I sway a lot, and I'm working on that. I have a coach and she's helping me with staying with your feet a little bit, I guess like a duck a little bit, that'll keep you from rocking. I've taken out most of the swing, but I still notice that I sway a lot. So when I take my camera so I can see exactly when I'm swinging, where my weight is and all of that. So take your camera. And you want to do before and afters, you want to see the progress of going to the driving range. The more you practice, the better you will become. I know it's boring a lot of times to practice by yourself, but just focus, like take notes if you want to. But this is your game. You want to be good enough to play with anybody that they may pair you up with because a lot of times they will pair you up, especially if it's your by yourself or it's a two sum, and then they have another two sum. They'll pair you up, it depends on the course, but they will pair you up. You will be paired up with some strangers. So you want to be able to hold your own. Yesterday I played with two guys who are really good. And I scored, we played the back nine. I scored a 50, I've been under 100 lately, but I scored a 50 on the back nine. And I was like, first of all, I was so nervous. I was so nervous when I played with them because they're really good. So I broke the ice and this is a bonus tip. You can always break the ice by saying, "Hey, listen, I'm a beginner, I just started." Which they knew that anyway, but I kept the beginning like, "Y'all know I'm a newbie, I'm a beginner. Maybe I can take some corners from you." And they did, they didn't want to end the game. They were, 'cause I was holding my own pretty well. And then later in the game, I started falling apart and so they were helping me. They gave me some tips and some pointers. So you want to be able to know what you're doing on the golf course so you can hold your own. But you cannot do that if you're not practicing. Go to the range, have fun, look cute, practice putting. Work on your short game, more than you work on your long game. Have a plan, practice your bunker shots. Go stretch and stretch and always use your own balls when putting. I hope this helps, you'll always be a student of golf. My husband has been golfing for 20 something years and he's still a student of golf. But it's so much fun. Don't get overwhelmed, just calm down. Have fun with it. I'm very happy that you're here. Thank you for joining me. And remember to keep swinging for your goals. See you next time.
