Range Chat

Most of us have rocked up to the first tee with barely enough time to stretch, let alone warm up. A couple of lazy practice swings, maybe a shoulder roll, and away we go. For years, golfers have told themselves: “The first few holes don’t count anyway.” But skipping a warm-up usually costs you shots — you just don’t notice until it’s already on the card. The warm-up myth: Many golfers think warming up doesn’t matter. That distance is distance whether you’re col

Every golfer has faced it. Ball sitting just off the green. Too much grass to putt. Too little green to fly a wedge comfortably. This is where nerves kick in — and wedges get bladed. There’s a simpler option that plenty of golfers overlook: The hybrid or fairway wood chip shot. It’s not fancy. It’s not new. But it’s incredibly effective when used properly. --- Why the Hybrid or Fairway Wood Works Hybrids and fairway woods have: A shallow face. Lots

Most golfers want to get better, but very few actually change what they do. Better golf doesn’t come from the occasional massive range session. It comes from small habits done consistently. Start smaller than you think: Roll a few putts at home. Make five slow swings. Spend two minutes on setup. Small habits are easy to repeat — and repetition is where improvement lives. Give your habit a trigger: Morning coffee. Before sitting on the couch. After work.

If you’ve ever been striping it one day and spraying it the next, you’ve probably tried everything. Stance. Tempo. Grip pressure. And at some point you’ve likely thought: “What if I just choke up a bit?” Choking up simply means gripping the club lower on the handle, shortening the effective length. It doesn’t look fancy — but it can change more than you’d expect. Why golfers choke up: Better contact. More control. Lower ball flight. Fewer big misses.

If you play golf long enough, chances are you’ll feel it at some point. A dull ache on the inside of the elbow. A sharp twinge when gripping the club. Pain that creeps down into the forearm. Most golfers brush it off — until it won’t go away. Golfer’s elbow isn’t really about the elbow joint. It’s an overload issue. Repetition, practice volume, range mats, grip tension, and swing changes all contribute. It builds quietly over time. Common early signs: Pain

If you’ve played golf for more than five minutes, you’ve seen it. Someone crouched behind their ball, lining up a thick black stripe like they’re preparing a NASA launch — all for a six-footer. So do lines on a golf ball actually help your putting? The idea is simple. Lines are meant to help you aim better, square the face, and roll the ball end over end. Sometimes they do. Sometimes they don’t. Putting isn’t just about aim. It’s about speed, feel, trust, an

If you’ve played golf in Australia for more than five minutes, you’ve been here. Miss the green by a metre or two. Putter in one hand. Wedge in the other. And that little voice asking what to do. This decision shows up every round — and it matters more than most golfers think. Putting feels safe: It keeps the ball on the ground. Limits disasters. Turns misses into manageable outcomes. But fringe, grain, and mixed grass can make putting tricky fast. Chippin

One of the biggest myths in golf is that you need perfect conditions to improve. Perfect weather. Perfect range. Perfect amount of time. If you wait for everything to line up, you’ll practise far less than you think. Golf doesn’t really have an off-season. You either stay connected to it — or you start again every year. The good news? You can practise golf almost anywhere, all year round. Full swing practice doesn’t require full swings. Half swings and slo

Ever walk off the range thinking you’ve had a great session… then shoot the same score on the weekend? That’s because practising without tracking is just guessing. Feel lies. Data doesn’t. Tracking your practice shows: What you actually hit. Where you miss. Which clubs you trust. Where strokes are leaking. Once patterns appear, improvement stops being a mystery. Tracking also forces purpose. Every shot matters. Autopilot disappears. It keeps you honest

Every golfer wants to play better. Longer drives. Fewer blow-up holes. And maybe finally beating that mate who never shuts up. But wanting it and actually improving are different things. If your plan is just hitting balls and hoping for the best, that’s not a plan. Goals give your practice direction. Without them, practice becomes random — and random practice leads to random results. The biggest mistake golfers make: Vague goals. “Get better at putting”

Every golfer hits that point. Scores won’t budge. Swings feel cooked. And the thought creeps in — maybe I just need a break from golf. Before you park the clubs, here’s the truth: You don’t need less golf. You need different golf. When scores stall, it’s usually not effort — it’s direction. Change how you practise: Add variety. Focus inside 100 metres. Use pressure games. Practise uneven lies and recovery shots. Get a fresh set of eyes: A lesson can ide

There’s a belief that’s floated around driving ranges forever: “If I just hit more balls, I’ll get better.” It sounds logical — but it’s mostly wrong. Hitting a mountain of balls might make you tired and sweaty, but it doesn’t guarantee improvement. In fact, once fatigue sets in, bad habits creep in fast. More balls does not equal better practice. Once you’re tired: Focus drops. Mechanics slip. Feedback gets ignored. That’s how mistakes get reinforced.

Let’s be honest. Most of us rock up to the range, dump a bucket of balls on the mat, start ripping drivers, and quietly hope something magical happens. Sometimes it does. Most times… not so much. Practice without a purpose is just exercise with golf clubs. Before you start swinging, you should know why you’re there. There are three real reasons golfers practise. Practice for long-term improvement: This is the work that actually moves your handicap. It foc

Most golfers don’t love practice. They hit a few balls, scroll their phone, and leave wondering why nothing’s changing. That’s not laziness — that’s boring practice. The best way to get better at golf is also the most enjoyable. If practice feels like a chore, it’s not working. Golfers improve faster when practice feels like play. Games, challenges, and competition keep your brain engaged. Practising with mates helps more than you think: You stay focused. Y

Golf is full of promises. One tip. One drill. One swing thought that’s meant to fix everything. Yet most golfers keep practising and don’t actually get much better. The problem isn’t effort. It’s focus. You only get better when you practise one thing at a time. Most golfers arrive at the range and try to fix everything in one session. Ball striking. Direction. Distance. Tempo. That’s not practice — that’s chaos. Before you can focus, you need to ch

Be honest for a second. When you head to the range or the practice green, are you genuinely keen — or does it feel like something you should do, not something you want to do? If practice feels slow, repetitive, or boring, you’re not alone. And you’re probably not getting much out of it. Good practice shouldn’t feel like punishment. When it’s done properly, focus sharpens and improvement actually sticks. Why practice feels like a drag: Mindless repetition. Same c

RANGE CHAT VERSION From time to time — and let’s be honest, it’s probably way more often than I should admit — I get absolutely sucked into the YouTube golf vortex. It usually starts innocently enough. One quick video. Five minutes. Just checking something. Next minute it’s an hour later, I’ve changed my grip twice, rebuilt my backswing in my head, and I’m standing in the lounge room doing slow-motion practice swings while my family wonders where it all went wrong. I’m a s

If you’ve ever stood in a golf shop staring at ball boxes wondering what compression actually means, you’re not alone. Compression refers to how much a golf ball deforms at impact. Low compression balls compress more easily. High compression balls require more force. A ball only performs as designed if you compress it enough. High compression balls suit faster swing speeds and consistent strike. When compressed properly, they offer efficient launch and spin contro

For years, I played far more golf than I practised. Like most golfers, I teed it up whenever I could and wondered why my handicap wouldn’t budge. So what actually helps more — practice or play? Practice should work. It allows you to focus on fundamentals without pressure. But most golfers don’t practise — they just hit balls. Bad practice grooves mistakes. Playing more doesn’t magically fix flaws either. The course simply exposes them. Lessons change the

Picking a golf ball isn’t just about price or brand. Spin can either help your game — or expose it. Too much spin and the ball curves wildly. Too little and it runs on longer than expected. Spin controls: Flight. Curvature. Stopping power. High spin golf balls: Reward clean strikes. Offer control for fast swings. Punish mishits. They suit players who control face and path. For many amateurs, they exaggerate slices and hooks. Low spin golf balls: Lau