Six prescriptive templates for a standard range bucket. Pick the one that matches your goal today. Every ball accounted for. No more showing up and hitting drivers until you run out.
Every range session should start with a clear answer to: what is this session for? The six templates below match specific goals. Choose before you collect your bucket.
Template 1
📊 SG Priority Session
Template 2
⛳ Pre-Round Warm-Up
Template 3
🔧 Technique Work
Template 4
🏆 Competition Simulation
Template 5
⚡ Speed Training
Template 6
🎯 Scoring Zone Focus
⚠️ The Golden Rule
Before You Pick Up a Club
One Session, One Purpose
A 100-ball session that tries to improve six things simultaneously improves none of them. Every template below has one primary purpose. The other clubs and categories in the session support that purpose or maintain baseline — they do not compete with it.
If you arrive at the range and do not know what today's session is for — check Guide 26 (Stats Interpretation) or the Dashboard for your current SG priority. That is always the answer to "what should I work on today?"
📋 Frequency Guide
Which Template to Use When
Session Frequency by Type
Template
Best Used
Frequency
SG Priority
Weekday practice sessions
2–3x per week
Pre-Round Warm-Up
30–60 min before a round
Every round
Technique Work
Post-lesson or technical change weeks
1–2x per week max
Competition Simulation
Day before a competition round
Weekly in-season
Speed Training
Dedicated speed session
2x per week (programme)
Scoring Zone Focus
Highest SG impact weeks
1x per week
Template 1 — SG Priority
The default session for any week when you have a clear SG priority from your data. The largest block goes to your single weakest SG category. Everything else maintains. This is the template you will use most often.
100-Ball SG Priority Session
~60–75 min
20
Warm-up — 5 short irons interleaved, no targets, pure feel
35
SG Priority — your current weakest category, specific drill or target
25
Integration — interleaved 4-club random, different target every shot
15
On-course sim — 9 imaginary holes, tee shot + approach only
5
Pressure finish — 5 shots to a specific target, must hit all 5 on green
Wedges 50–100 yards — distance control to 3 targets
% within 20ft of target
SG: Putting
Move to practice green — use Protocol from Guide 59
Gate score + lag proximity
Template 2 — Pre-Round Warm-Up
This is not a practice session. The purpose of a pre-round warm-up is to get your body moving, calibrate your feel to the conditions, and arrive on the first tee ready — not to improve anything. Every ball hit in this session is about feel, not technique.
💡
Critical mindset shift: Do not use a pre-round warm-up to work on a technical change. You are confirming what you already have, not adding anything new. Technical thoughts destroy scoring rounds. Leave them for practice sessions.
Pre-Round Warm-Up — 45–60 minutes before tee
30–40 min total
15
Short irons (PW down to 9i) — feel only, loosen up, no targets
20
Mid to long irons — work up through the bag, one shot each club
15
Driver — 10 shots, then 5 shots with first-hole club
10
Wedge feel — 3/4 swings, calibrate carry distances for today
After the range: 10 min on practice green (daily 10 protocol from Guide 59 — lag + short gate + make one). Then 5 minutes of chip/pitch shots at the short game area if available. Go to the first tee with a positive, recent made shot in your recent memory.
What to Do if the Warm-Up Goes Badly
Bad Range Session, Good Round
Some of the best rounds in any golfer's life follow poor warm-ups. The correlation between warm-up quality and round quality is weaker than most golfers believe. If the warm-up feels poor, accept it and move on — do not try to fix anything on the range. Arrive at the first tee with a simple thought and a commitment to your process, not to your ball flight.
Template 3 — Technique Work
Use this template in the first 1–2 weeks after a coaching session when you have a specific technical change to groove. High-volume blocked practice is appropriate here — it is the one phase where repetition on the same movement is the correct approach.
Technique Acquisition Session
~75–90 min
10
Warm-up — same as usual, no technical cues yet
20
Drill work — prescribed drill at slow speed, pause positions, feedback
35
Blocked repetition — same club, same target, technical cue on every shot
25
Transfer block — interleaved, no cue, trust the new movement
10
Observation — 10 shots no cue, note what changed vs. before
Critical Rules for Technique Sessions
Three Rules That Protect the Change
1
One technical cue maximum per session. Two cues compete and cancel each other out. Agree with your coach what the single cue is before you arrive at the range.
2
Do not judge ball flight. During blocked technical work, the ball is irrelevant. A good-feeling movement that produces a bad shot is more valuable than a poor-feeling movement that accidentally produces a good shot.
3
Film at least 10 shots. Muscle memory of the new movement and the actual movement are often wildly different in the early stages. Video is the only reliable feedback during technique acquisition.
Template 4 — Competition Simulation
The single most effective session for translating range quality into course performance. You are playing golf on the range — not practising swings. Every ball has a specific target, a lie called in advance, and a consequence if you miss.
On-Course Simulation Session
~60–75 min
10
Cold retrieval — first 2 shots with each of 5 clubs, no warm-up repetitions
Weakness repair — the 2 clubs that felt worst in the cold retrieval
10
Pressure finish — 3 driver shots to a fairway zone; must hit all 3
How to Run the 18-Hole Simulation
The Rules That Make It Work
1
Use your actual home course or a course you know well. Play each hole mentally. Call the exact shot required: "First shot, hole 4 — draw with the 3-wood to the left side of the fairway."
2
Alternate tee shots and approaches. Hit the tee shot for hole 1, then the approach for hole 1, then the tee shot for hole 2, and so on. This creates full interleaving — never the same club twice in a row.
3
No practice swings with a purpose. One rehearsal swing maximum, then walk in and hit. The same pre-shot routine as on the course.
4
Track the score. After each shot, assess: would that have resulted in a birdie opportunity / par / bogey outcome? Give yourself a score for each hole. This is the only number that matters in this session.
Template 5 — Speed Training
For use during an active Rypstick or overspeed protocol. These sessions separate speed training (supramaximal swings for adaptation) from skill training (controlled shots to targets). Mixing them in the wrong ratio limits both outcomes.
Driver transfer — max controllable speed, Mevo tracking, fairway zone targets
40
Full-swing irons — interleaved, normal speed, skill consolidation
20
Course sim — 9-hole version with driver + long iron only
⚡
Mevo tracking during speed sessions: Record carry distance, ball speed, and spin rate on every driver transfer shot. Speed training produces results over weeks — Mevo data is the only objective confirmation that adaptation is occurring. Without data, you cannot confirm the programme is working.
Template 6 — Scoring Zone Focus
The scoring zone is 50–150 yards — the distance bracket where the biggest SG gains are available for most amateur players. This session dedicates the majority of balls to approach and wedge play, with the full-swing component serving purely as context and activation.
Scoring Zone Session
~60 min
15
Warm-up — mid-irons only, loose and easy
20
Approach zone 130–160 yards — 5 shots each to 4 targets, Mevo proximity tracking
30
Wedge system — 50/75/100 yards, 10 balls each distance, random order
20
Gap zone mastery — the distance you never have a comfortable club for
15
Pressure — 5 shots each to 3 flag positions, score proximity on each
Why Scoring Zone Sessions Return the Most SG
The Mathematics of Improvement
SG data consistently shows that approach play (50–200 yards) accounts for approximately 40% of total scoring variance between handicap levels. Within that range, the 80–150 yard bracket has the highest shot frequency and the highest variance. An amateur who improves average proximity from 38 feet to 28 feet in this bracket gains approximately 0.3–0.5 SG per round — equivalent to dropping 1–2 shots off handicap from a single skill.
The Range Rules
Rules that apply to every session, regardless of which template you use. These constraints are what separate range time that produces course improvement from range time that produces only range performance.
📜 The Six Rules
1
Decide the session before collecting the bucket. Walk to the range knowing exactly which template and which SG priority you are working on. No improvisation after the session starts.
2
Full pre-shot routine on every single shot. Stand behind the ball. Pick a target. Pick an intermediate target. Step in. One look, one swing. No range-mode where you hit 8 balls in 90 seconds from the same stance.
3
No more than 2 shots with the same club in a row in integration and simulation blocks. Interleaving is the mechanism that creates course transfer — block repetition in non-technique blocks is wasted time.
4
Change targets between every shot in integration and simulation blocks. Use range flags, trees, or distance markers. The same target twice in a row is blocked practice.
5
Put the phone away except for Mevo or video. The moment you start checking messages between shots, you have ended the session's effectiveness. The focus requirement is what makes the session work.
6
End every session with a made shot. The final ball of any session should be one that felt good and went where you intended. Walk away with a positive motor memory, not a correction.