What Golf Club to Use for the Driving Range?

Walking onto a driving range with a full bucket of golf balls can feel a bit overwhelming, especially when you stare at the 14 clubs in your bag, each one promising a different result. Instead of wondering which club to grab first, this guide will give you a clear, simple plan for getting the most out of every range session. We'll show you exactly which clubs to use and, more importantly, how to use them to genuinely improve your game.

The Most Common Driving Range Mistake

Let's address the elephant on the range mat: the driver. Most golfers, especially those newer to the game, make a beeline for the headcover, pull out the big stick, and try to launch every single ball into orbit. It’s fun for a few swings, but smashing driver after driver is one of the least effective ways to practice. Think about it: during an 18-hole round, you might only hit your driver 12-14 times. Yet, many players spend 80% of their practice time with it.

Working on your game this way is a bit like a basketball player only practicing half-court shots. It might look impressive when one goes in, but it doesn't build the fundamental skills needed for the rest of the game. A great range session isn’t about just blasting balls, it's about practicing with a purpose, building a repeatable swing, and developing skills you can take straight to the course.

Practice with a Purpose: Your Essential Range Trio

To simplify things and make your practice time count, forget trying to hit every club in your bag. Instead, focus on an "Essential Trio": a wedge, a mid-iron, and your driver. Hitting these three clubs will cover the vast majority of shots you’ll face on the course and help you build a well-rounded, consistent golf swing.

Let's break down which golf clubs to use at the driving range and what to work on with each one.

1. Start with Your Wedge (Pitching Wedge or 9-Iron)

Why this club? Your short irons and wedges are your scoring clubs. They demand precision and feel, not brute force. Starting your session with a wedge is the perfect warm-up because it forces you to focus on tempo and smooth rhythm from the very beginning. The swing is shorter and more controlled, allowing you to find the center of the clubface early and build confidence before moving on to longer clubs.

Mastering your wedge does two things: it dials in your scoring shots for the course and teaches you the fundamentals of a good, connected swing. Remember, your 9-iron swing is just a miniature version of your driver swing.

Simple Wedge Drill: The Ladder Drill

This drill is fantastic for developing distance control and feel.

• Pick the shortest target on the range (e.g., the 50-yard or 75-yard sign).
• Hit 5 balls trying to land them as close to that target as possible. Don't worry about the total distance, just the landing spot. This requires a small, controlled swing - maybe hip-to-hip.
• Next, pick a target slightly farther away (e.g., the 100-yard sign).
• Hit another 5 balls trying to land them at this new target. You'll have to lengthen your swing a bit, perhaps to shoulder-height, but焦点is still on smooth tempo, not extra effort.
• Continue "climbing the ladder," moving to farther targets in 25-yard increments. The goal is to learn what different swing lengths feel like and what distances they produce.

2. Move to Your Mid-Iron (7-Iron or 8-Iron)

Why this club? The 7-iron is arguably the most important club in your practice routine. It's the TRUE center of your bag - a bridge between your short, precise irons and your long, powerful woods. Its length and loft are forgiving enough to be hit consistently but demanding enough to highlight any flaws in your swing.

When you have a solid, repeatable swing with a 7-iron, you can adapt that same core motion to every other club in the bag. This is where you work on the engine of your golf swing: body rotation, proper setup, and creating a pure strike on the ball.

Simple Mid-Iron Drill: Pick a Specific Target

Many range targets are huge - like a 30-yard-wide sign. That’s not good enough. On the course, you’re aiming at small greens. This drill trains your focus and accuracy.

• Find a specific, small object to aim at. Instead of the giant 150-yard sign, aim for the left leg of the sign. Don't have many targets? Aim for a light pole, a specific yardage marker on the ground, or even a different-colored patch of grass.
• Place an alignment stick (or another club) on the ground, pointing directly at your small target. This removes any doubt about where you're aiming.
• Take your time with each shot. Go through your full pre-shot routine as if you were on the course. The goal here isn't to rapid-fire balls, but to make a committed, balanced swing toward a precise target on every single shot.
• Try to hit 10-15 balls with this intense focus before taking a short break. You're building both a consistent swing and a stronger mental game.

3. Finish with Your Driver

Why this club? Now that you’ve warmed up and grooved a smooth, balanced motion with your irons, it’s time to hit the driver. Coming to it last is important. By now, your body is fully engaged, and your brain is programmed for tempo, not just speed. Your goal with the driver is NOT to hit it as hard as you can. Your goal is to find the fairway.

Practicing your driver with fatigue and an established swing tempo is much more realistic to how you'll perform on the course, especially on the back nine.

Simple Driver Drill: The Fairway Finder

At most driving ranges, there's a huge, open field. This drill creates boundaries and makes your practice more like playing on the actual course.

• Look out at the range and pick two distant objects to serve as the "edges" of your imaginary fairway. This could be two yardage poles, two trees, or the edges of the mowed grass. Make your fairway about 30-40 yards wide.
• Your one and only goal is to land your ball within that fairway. Distance is secondary. A 220-yard drive in the fairway is infinitely better than a 250-yard drive in the woods.
• For every shot you hit, honestly assess whether it would have been in play. Count how many you hit in your "fairway" out of 10 swings. This simple feedback loop is powerful. It stops you from celebrating wild bombs and rewards smooth swings that produce straight, playable shots.

Putting It All Together: A Sample Practice Session (Large Bucket ~100 Balls)

So, what does a structured session look like? Stop the random club-grabbing and follow a plan like this:

1. Warm-up (10 balls): Hit 5 balls with your pitching wedge making half-swings, then 5 balls making full, smooth swings. Easy tempo.
2. Wedge Practice (20 balls): Use your 9-iron or Pitching Wedge for the "Ladder Drill." Focus completely on feel and distance control.
3. Mid-Iron Practice (25 balls): Pull out your 7-iron. Use an alignment stick and work on the "Pick a Specific Target" drill. Go through your pre-shot routine every time.
4. Driver Practice (20 balls): Now it’s time for the big stick. Use the "Fairway Finder" drill. Reward controlado over pure power.
5. Simulated Play (15 balls): This is the best part! Play a few imaginary holes. Hit a driver (visualizing Hole #1), then a 7-iron (for your approach), then a wedge. Mix up the clubs just like you would on the course. This gets you out of the repetitive-swing mindset and into playing-golf mode.
6. Cool-down (10 balls): Finish with a few easy swings with the club you started with, your wedge. End your session on a smooth, positive note.

Final Thoughts

A driving range session is a chance to build quality skills, not just to watch golf balls fly. By focusing your time on the essential trio - a wedge for feel, a mid-iron for consistency, and a driver for control - you create a structured practice that translates directly to lower scores on the course.

As you get more comfortable, having a plan becomes even more important. Personally, my favorite way to keep my practice sharp is with on-demand tools like Caddie AI. It acts like a 24/7 coach that can give me a specific drill if I'm struggling with a certain shot at the range or help me understand why my miss is consistently to the right. Having that expert feedback right in my pocket means I'm never guessing about what to work on next, and my sessions always have clear, actionable purpose.