If you are just starting to learn to play golf then one place which you are going to become very familiar with is your local golf driving range. Indeed, even if you have been playing the game for some time you will still return to the driving range from time to time to practice new techniques and to sharpen up your skills.

Driving ranges tend to be very similar in design with a typical range accommodating anywhere from 30 to 50 golfers each with their own individual driving 'stall' separated off with wooden or metal barriers.

Inside each stall you will find a bucket containing 50 to 100 practice golf balls, depending on the range, and an artificial grass mat which is generally about 6 feet square and includes an integral rubber tee.

As you stand on your 'teeing ground' and look down the range you will find that it is marked with a series of distance poles which normally start at 75 yards and extend out to 250 yards or more at 25 yard intervals. In some cases you will also find a simulated green area at the far end of the range with flagpoles to provide you with a target to aim at.

In most cases, as the name suggests, you will be using you larger clubs on the range, including naturally your driver, but there is no reason at all why you should not practice with any of your irons and can play the ball from both the tee and the mat itself because the artificial turf used provides a good approximation of hitting your ball from the real grass of the fairway.

The most important thing to remember when using the range is that your practice session must have a clear purpose and you will be wasting your time if you simply hit balls as quickly and as hard as you can down the range.

Decide before you start just what you wish to practice in a particular session and remember that the object should be to learn how to use each of your clubs and to perfect your technique so that you can get your ball to fly the distance you want it to go and land on a predetermined target. At the end of the day it really doesn't matter how much power you can get into your swing or how far you can get your ball to go. What really matters is being able to control your ball so that it goes the distance you want it to and lands on a specific target.