ST/TGC what is your routine?

[Nasdaqsam]

So for the last few months I have been opening up ST practice range and going through my clubs to get my distances and shots tuned in before hitting TGC and playing a course which has improved my scores tremendously. Knowing on any particular day you're hitting your irons a little better or your fade is going a little farther right than you usually do makes a big difference when getting on a course and teeing off.

However, with that said, that is NOT how I get to play golf IRL. I rarely if ever get to hit the range before playing and will mostly not have a chance to get on the range even on the ST before playing when season hits. What brought this thought on was I was getting much better scores on all the courses than I think I can IRL even with the added practice on the Sim. Looking at some old IRL score cards I was seeing a trend of the first few holes being quite a bit higher than I am getting on TGC. Since I am working pretty hard to improve my over all game it only makes sense to play now like I will IRL.

So I am changing my routine to more replicate what I do in IRL. And will now just do my typical stretch's and then Tee off in TGC. After which time I will hit the range if time allows. I can do this IRL also after playing I can just be home working on shots on the Sim. I think this will give me a more realistic experience when transitioning from Sim golf to IRL.

The first time playing a round with out hitting the range I stretched and teed off and scored a triple bogey on the first hole. Yikes I'm back to RL! But was able to recover by the second hole. By changing this I now know I need to work on just being able to play with out hitting the range. I think had I kept doing it the old way come season I would have been pretty disappointed looking at my great scores on TGC just to triple bogey the first hole and start the round in a bad mood.

Anyone else doing it either way? Opinions?

[golfinaddicts]

I’m 45 and won’t play if I can’t hit some shots to warm up first. My body won’t allow it anymore. Just stretching first cut it. I would likely injure my back and be out for a month. To be fair I have a bad back.

[JackedUpSwing]

Or... change your RL routine to including hitting the range first. Hitting a few balls makes me feel so much more confident and loose(I'll hit it farther) on the first tee.

If I don't have warm up swings I lose like 20% distance

[Nasdaqsam]

Unfortunately it is just not a possibility for me. Most of the time I am running right from work right to the course if I want to play at all.

[allen2be]

I just start up TGC, turn on auto-rewind (mulligan) and hit some shots... then go play. Just make sure you don't do it on a tournament round!

I wouldn't think too hard about it. There's some times I get to hit a few range balls before playing IRL, but usually not. Regardless, if you're anything like me, you will see drastic improvements in your consistency and ball striking when you get on real grass. I'm in Michigan, so getting to play during the winter and hit real balls has paid huge dividends for ball striking.

I do like to do a good dynamic warmup before playing though... I see so many guys that just pull a club out, swing it a couple times and give it a rip. Golf is a pretty ballistic movement and uses some big muscles of the body... warm it up

[Wizard of Coz]

I hit until I get 2 shots on the smallest green on the skytrak range.
40yds,50yds,60,70,80,90,100
Then I hit 5 balls on the smallest medium size green from 155yds out.
After that that I hit 3-5 3 woods into a medium size fairway followed by the same number of drives.
Them im off to the first tee on tgc or off to the local golf course!

[Cozman]

I’m 45 and won’t play if I can’t hit some shots to warm up first. My body won’t allow it anymore. Just stretching first cut it. I would likely injure my back and be out for a month. To be fair I have a bad back.

Absolutely, I'm 66 and have had my share of injuries in professional sports. I'm lucky to be able to even play golf now. I have to warm up by hitting balls on the golf course before play. Stretching just isn't enough. What I've learned if I don't warm up, my first 4-5 holes end up being a mess trying to get loose, and if I don't hurt myself in the process, I spend the rest of the round playing catch up. Does not make for an enjoyable day. Now having the ST allows me to warm up before heading out to the course, big help.

[Fhacker]

I like to hit a few on skytrak range before golfing IRL. Loosens me up. Sometimes seems to help others not, but that's golf. On the other hand not warming up gives u an excuse for playing bad Ha. But I have tons of those excuses

[frodaddy00]

I always hit ST range first. I'm such a hack that some days my range session is so bad that I don't even bother to play a TGC round. o.O

Oh and thanks to the new TGC lidar wonder tool I haven't played a round in 1.5 months..too busy working on courses!

[Morini]

Thanks for letting me know about the lidar import. I tried to replicate my home course some years ago, but gave up.Time to give it another shot.

[blitz12]

First thing I usually do at home is to loosen up with an orange whip. I usually set up one of the TGC ranges and hit a few shots from GW to driver. Only about 2-3 swings per club just enough to warm up and get good contact. Then I'm off to a course to play a round. If I want a more thorough practice session, I will use the skytrak range.

[Jtangm04]

My routine is checking the fridge and debating if I get a beer. Open up TCG and either snap hook my drive or push my drive into the trees. Look back at the fridge. Take out an iron and hit it fat. Think to myself that I should have started with the sky trak driving range. Hit my wedge and argue with myself that it must have been a misread. Get an up and down with the 6 foot gimme rule. Open the fridge and get the beer.

[Nasdaqsam]

That's funny right there.....

[Trickle007]

I always open up skytrak range and properly align the skytrak. Then hit 20 7 irons on the range to loosen up the back. Close the range and start TGC.

[cr8vnrg]

By accident I found that if I leave my Skytrak connected to the computer via USB .. I can turn the unit off but leave The Skytrak range open . When I come back hours or days later .. all I need to do is turn the unit on and it’s good to go! All my shot tracers (last 50) are still there and I can start hitting immediately and continue my quest for 50 perfect shots in a row

[Lgnir]

Like everyone else here has said, warming up before a round is very important!! Do you ever see a pro just show up to the course, walk to the first tee, and tee off? (Well, Rory did once...) Stretching out and maybe swing a weighted club or a couple clubs together before teeing off can help, but nothing beats hitting some balls to actually see how you are hitting them! That's why your first few holes are always so high, you are "just getting warmed up".

I do it a little differently on the SkyTrak. Since I use a laser level to show my target line, I will start the SkyTrak to set the alignment, but then I will close out and open TGC. There are a lot of good driving ranges out there, so I will warm up on one of those before I start my TGC round.

[Wizard of Coz]

What driving range do you use?