Are You Practicing—or Just Hitting Golf Balls?
Why 30 purposeful shots can do more for your golf game than 75 aimless swings.
We've all seen it. A golfer arrives at the driving range, purchases a large bucket of balls, pulls out the driver and proceeds to hit shot after shot into the distance.
Some fly beautifully. Others disappear into the rough. A few might even threaten the range picker.
Forty-five minutes later, the bucket is empty, the golfer has worked up a decent sweat, and there's a satisfying feeling of having put in some serious practice.
But here's the question I often ask my students:
"What, exactly, did you get better at today?"
It's a deceptively simple question, and one that gets to the heart of one of the biggest misunderstandings in amateur golf.
There's an enormous difference between hitting golf balls and practicing golf.
And understanding that difference could be one of the most important steps you take towards improving your game.
The 75-Ball Trap
Let's imagine two golfers arriving at the driving range.
Our first golfer, whom we'll call Dave, buys a bucket of 75 balls.
Dave starts with his pitching wedge, hits a few 7-irons, moves on to his hybrid, and eventually spends the final 30 balls trying to absolutely launch his driver.
He hits some cracking shots. A few dreadful ones, naturally. When something goes wrong, he makes a quick adjustment, hits another ball, and hopes for the best.
By the end of the session, Dave has hit 75 balls.
But has he actually practiced?
Not necessarily.
The problem isn't Dave's enthusiasm or even the amount of effort he's putting in. It's that he's swinging without a clear objective.
There's no specific target, no consistent pre-shot routine, no measurement of success, and very little understanding of why one shot worked and another didn't.
He's essentially rehearsing a mixture of good habits and bad ones, hoping the good ones eventually win.
Unfortunately, golf rarely works that way.
Repetition alone doesn't guarantee improvement. It simply makes whatever you're repeating more familiar.
Now Meet the 30-Ball Golfer
Our second golfer, Sarah, arrives with a very different approach.
She buys just 30 balls.
Before hitting a single shot, she decides what she's going to work on.
Perhaps her recent rounds have revealed that she's struggling with approach shots from 100–130 yards. Or maybe she's consistently missing greens to the right.
Whatever the problem, Sarah has a purpose.
She picks a specific target, establishes a routine, and measures the result of each shot.
She might even use her phone to record a couple of swings or make notes about what she's feeling.
After every few shots, she pauses, evaluates, and makes a considered adjustment.
Thirty balls later, Sarah has a much clearer understanding of her golf swing, her tendencies, and what she needs to improve.
She might have hit fewer than half the number of balls Dave hit.
But I'd argue she's had the more productive practice session.
Why?
Because every ball had a job to do.
Stop Aiming at the Driving Range
This is one of my favourite pieces of advice.
When you're on the golf course, you don't simply aim towards the general direction of the fairway and hope for the best.
You select a target.
Perhaps it's the left edge of a bunker, a tree in the distance, or a particular section of the green.
Yet watch most driving ranges and you'll see golfers hitting towards an enormous open field with no real intention beyond making decent contact.
That's not how we play golf.
So why practice that way?
Next time you're on the range, pick a specific target for every shot.
Not simply "somewhere out there."
Choose a flag, a marker, or a narrow imaginary fairway.
Decide what shot you want to produce, then evaluate how close you came to achieving it.
You'll quickly discover that hitting a lovely-looking 7-iron isn't necessarily the same as hitting a successful 7-iron.
If your target was 15 yards to the left, that beautifully struck shot may still have missed the green.
Golf rewards accuracy and decision-making, not just attractive ball flights.
Practice Like You Play
Here's another common mistake I see.
A golfer hits ten consecutive 7-irons, followed by ten consecutive 5-irons, followed by ten drivers.
And after three or four attempts with each club, they begin striking the ball reasonably well.
Wonderful.
But consider something for a moment.
When was the last time you hit ten consecutive 7-irons during a round of golf?
Exactly.
On the course, every shot presents a different challenge.
You hit a driver, walk to your ball, assess the lie, select another club, and face an entirely new target.
That's why I encourage golfers to incorporate what we call random practice into their range sessions.
Rather than repeatedly hitting the same club towards the same target, change things up.
Hit a driver towards an imaginary fairway.
Then pick a target 140 yards away and play a 7-iron.
Next, imagine you've missed the green and need to hit a controlled wedge.
Go through your normal pre-shot routine every time.
Make each ball feel like a shot that matters.
There's absolutely a place for hitting several balls with the same club when you're working on a technical change. But if your goal is to take your range game onto the golf course, you must eventually practice the way the game is actually played.
My 30-Ball Practice Challenge
If you've only got half an hour to spare, try this simple session the next time you visit the range.
Balls 1–5: Warm Up With Purpose
Begin with a short iron or wedge.
Focus on balance, rhythm, and making comfortable contact.
Don't worry too much about distance. Simply get your body moving and establish a smooth tempo.
Balls 6–15: Work on One Specific Skill
Choose one thing you've been struggling with.
It might be your alignment, your contact, your ball position, or controlling your shot direction.
Select a clear target and concentrate on that single objective.
Avoid the temptation to make five different swing changes.
One problem. One focus. Ten balls.
And if you're working on a technical change, make sure it's one you actually understand rather than something you've picked up from a random video online.
Balls 16–25: Play an Imaginary Golf Course
Now let's make things interesting.
Imagine you're playing five holes at your favourite course.
For each hole, hit a tee shot towards a defined fairway, followed by an approach shot towards a specific green target.
Change clubs as necessary.
Go through your full routine.
And remember, you only get one attempt at each shot.
No immediate reloads because you didn't like the first one!
Balls 26–30: Finish With a Challenge
Pick a club and a realistic target area.
Your goal is to land at least three of your final five shots within that area.
If you succeed, brilliant.
If you don't, you've identified something useful to work on next time.
Either way, you've finished your session with a measurable result rather than simply an empty bucket.
Feedback Is Where Improvement Begins
One of the biggest advantages of a properly structured practice session is that it gives you information.
And information is incredibly valuable in golf.
Let's say you hit ten 8-irons towards a flag.
Seven finish to the right.
That's useful feedback.
It suggests there's a consistent pattern worth investigating.
Perhaps it's your alignment. Perhaps it's your clubface position at impact. Perhaps something else entirely.
The important thing is that you've identified a tendency rather than simply shrugging your shoulders and hitting another ball.
This is also where professional instruction makes such a difference.
A golfer might spend weeks trying to fix what they believe is a swing-path problem when the actual cause lies elsewhere.
Without understanding the cause, it's very easy to spend hours practicing the wrong solution.
Practice makes changes more permanent. Good instruction helps ensure you're making the right changes in the first place.
Don't Confuse Being Busy With Getting Better
I genuinely love seeing golfers put time into their games.
There's something rather wonderful about an early morning on the practice ground, a coffee in hand, and the prospect of finding a little more consistency in your swing.
But I also want that time to be worthwhile.
For many of us, opportunities to practice are limited. Work, family, and everyday commitments mean we don't always have two hours to dedicate to the game.
The good news is that you don't necessarily need two hours.
You need a plan.
A focused 25- or 30-minute session can be tremendously productive when you know what you're trying to achieve.
Conversely, hitting 100 balls without any clear purpose can leave you exactly where you started.
Possibly with a sore back thrown in for good measure.
A Little Guidance Goes a Long Way
One of the most valuable things I can do as a golf instructor isn't simply help you hit better shots during a lesson.
It's help you understand what to practice when I'm not standing beside you.
We can identify the areas of your game that genuinely need attention, establish realistic goals, and develop a straightforward practice routine that fits your schedule and ability.
That way, your time at the driving range becomes an extension of your improvement rather than a separate activity with no particular direction.
And often, that's when golfers begin to see real progress.
You don't need to rebuild your entire golf swing.
You don't need the latest equipment.
And you certainly don't need to hit 200 balls every time you visit the range.
Sometimes, you simply need to make better use of the 30 balls in front of you.
One Final Thought
The next time you're standing on the driving range, before you reach for another ball, ask yourself three questions:
What am I trying to improve?
What is my target for this shot?
How will I know whether I've succeeded?
If you can answer those three questions, you're practicing.
If you can't, there's a fair chance you're just hitting golf balls.
And while there's nothing wrong with enjoying a bucket of balls for the sheer pleasure of it, don't mistake that for a structured improvement programme.
After all, the goal isn't to become a better driving-range golfer.
It's to play better golf where it really matters.
The right practice plan is often more valuable than another bucket of balls.
Ready to Make Your Practice Time Count?
If you feel as though you're putting in the hours but not seeing the improvement you'd like, perhaps it's time for a more focused approach.
During a lesson, we'll identify the areas that will make the biggest difference to your game and put together a practical, achievable plan you can take straight to the driving range.
Better practice. Better habits. Better golf.
Get in touch to arrange your next lesson, and let's make every ball count.
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