Hitting balls at the driving range can be a great way to get some exercise and improve your golf game. But just how effective is it as a workout? How many calories can you expect to burn during a typical driving range session?
In this article, we’ll break down the calories burned while practicing golf at the driving range. We’ll look at estimates for a 2 hour session, as well as other factors that can impact the calories burned like your weight, intensity level, and the type of clubs used.
Quick Answer
For most golfers, a 2 hour session at the driving range will burn around 400-700 calories. The exact amount will vary based on the your weight, intensity, and other factors. Hitting balls vigorously with a driver can burn over 10 calories per minute, while using irons or wedges at a moderate pace may only burn 5-6 calories per minute.
Calorie Burn Rate Per Minute
To estimate the total calories burned during range time, you first need to know approximately how many calories you can expect to burn per minute. Here are some averages:
– Hitting balls leisurely with a 7-9 iron: 5 calories per minute
– Moderate pace with a 5-7 iron: 6 calories per minute
– Striking balls vigorously with woods: 8-10+ calories per minute
The harder you swing and the longer the club, the more energy is required and the higher the calorie burn rate. Using longer woods like a driver requires power to launch the ball farther. Short irons don’t burn as many calories with their shorter, smoother swings.
Intensity is key – the more effort you put in, the more calories you’ll burn!
Calories Burned Hitting Golf Balls for 2 Hours
Most driving range sessions last around 1-2 hours. Here’s an estimate of the calories burned from hitting balls for 2 hours based on different intensities:
– 2 hours leisurely with irons: 600 calories
– 2 hours moderate effort with various clubs: 720 calories
– 2 hours vigorous driver swings: 1000+ calories
As you can see, the intensity makes a big impact. Standing and swinging a club burns calories, but taking full force swings with long clubs and minimal breaks in between will mean a much better workout.
More Accurate Calorie Burn Calculator
For a more accurate estimate, you can use an online calorie burn calculator tailored to golf.
This calculator from MySwingCalories.com accounts for your weight, intensity level, clubs used, time spent hitting balls, and time spent walking between shots.
Based on the custom inputs, it will provide a very precise estimate of calories burned during your specific driving range session.
Factors That Impact Calories Burned
Now that we’ve looked at some averages, let’s discuss the major factors that influence calories burned while practicing golf.
Intensity & Swing Speed
Intensity and swing speed have the biggest effect on energy expenditure. The faster you can swing and the more power you generate, the more calories you’ll burn.
Longer clubs like woods require faster swing speeds to hit the ball farther. Short irons rely more on technique than strength.
Vigorously swinging a driver uses significantly more energy than easy 7-iron swings.
Weight
Your body weight directly impacts the calories burned golfing. Heavier golfers will burn more calories for the same activity compared to lighter golfers.
It takes more energy to move a 250 lb body than a 150 lb body. So at the same intensity, heavier golfers burn more calories.
Type of Clubs
As discussed earlier, the type of club makes a difference. Woods require faster swing speeds and more power. Irons use shorter, smoother swings.
Hitting balls with a driver burns about 30% more calories per minute than hitting with a 7-iron. Using a mix of woods, hybrids, irons, and wedges will burn calories at a moderate rate.
Breaks Between Shots
Taking short breaks between shots to re-load balls, rest, or chat will decrease the calorie burn rate. The longer the breaks, the fewer calories burned overall.
Minimizing downtime and maximizing swing time results in more energy expenditure.
Walking Between Shots
For most golfers, there’s a decent amount of walking involved during a range session to get to each ball after it’s struck.
This extra physical activity increases the calories burned in addition to the swinging. Walking at a moderate pace for 2 hours can burn around 200-300 calories depending on your weight.
Tips to Maximize Calories Burned
Here are some tips to get the most effective cardio workout and burn the maximum number of calories during your next driving range visit:
– Use woods and drivers for most shots – increased swing speed means more calories burned per minute. Mix in some irons to simulate different approach shots.
– Take shorter breaks between balls. Keep your heart rate up by minimizing downtime.
– Don’t just stand in one spot – walk briskly to each ball after you hit it to get extra movement in.
– Swing aggresively on each shot. The faster you swing and harder you hit, the more energy used.
– Hydrate well and wear breathable clothes – this will keep your energy and intensity up throughout the session.
– Go for a full 2 hours – the longer you hit balls, the greater the total calorie expenditure.
Is Hitting Golf Balls Good Exercise?
While hitting balls at the range isn’t as intense as playing 18 holes of golf carrying your clubs, it can still be an excellent cardio and strength workout.
The vigorous full-body swinging motion works the core, arms, shoulders and leg muscles. The heart rate elevates to the fat burning zone. Fast swings with a long club require power and coordination.
Golf can provide both aerobic and anaerobic benefits when you put full effort into the swings. It trains the fast-twitch muscle fibers used for strength and speed.
Range time is also great for improving your golf skills, so it provides both physical and mental benefits!
Driving Range vs Walking 18 Holes
How does hitting balls at the range compare to walking 18 holes on the course in terms of calories burned?
Here’s an estimate of the calories burned from each activity:
– Hitting Range Balls for 2 Hours: 400-700 calories
– Walking 18 Holes While Carrying Clubs (4 hours): 700-1000+ calories
As you can see, playing a full round of golf while walking and carrying your clubs burns significantly more calories in most cases.
However, range sessions can achieve similar calorie burns to pushing a cart on the course. And dedicating 2 hours to vigorously hit balls provides great exercise.
The driving range is more convenient for frequent workouts, but playing on the course burns more calories if you walk instead of ride.
Best Golf Range Exercises
To maximize your workout at the driving range, incorporate some golf-specific exercises between balls:
– Swing opposite handed to work your non-dominant side
– Do 10-15 practice swings with different clubs to build endurance
– Perform squats and lunges to strengthen the legs and core
– Hold a yoga pose like tree pose or warrior pose to improve balance
– Try crossover arm swings with a club to work the back and shoulders
– Walk sideways or backwards between shots to vary the muscles worked
Mixing up traditional shot practice with fitness exercises will take your range session to the next level.
Endurance and Interval Training
You can also tailor your time at the range to achieve different fitness goals:
For endurance – Take fewer breaks between balls and sustain a moderage pace for the full 2 hours
For intervals – Go hard for 30 seconds, then rest for 1 minute. Repeat this pattern for 30 minutes.
The great thing about range time is you can customize it to target different aspects of your fitness and golf game.
Warm Up and Cool Down
It’s important to properly warm up before launching into full power drives at the range.
Spend 10 minutes slowly swinging a mid iron to get muscles loose and heart rate up. Then graduate to harder swings.
Allow 10 minutes at the end to cool down with lighter effort. This will reduce next day soreness.
Proper warm up and cool down helps prevent injury and maximize benefits.
Hydration
Vigorously swinging golf clubs for 2 hours leads to plenty of sweating and fluid loss.
Making sure to properly hydrate before, during, and after your range session is vital.
Focus on drinking water but an electrolyte sports drink can also help replenish nutrients.
Dehydration can severely hinder performance and workout quality.
Golf Range vs Other Cardio Exercise
How does hitting golf balls stack up against other forms of exercise for calories burned?
Here’s a breakdown of the approximate calories burned per hour from various cardio activities:
– Leisurely golf range session: 300 calories
– Moderate effort golf range session: 400 calories
– Vigorous golf range session: 600+ calories
– Low impact aerobics class: 300 calories
– High impact aerobics class: 600 calories
– Jogging at 5mph: 400 calories
– Jogging at 8mph: 700+ calories
– Elliptical machine, moderate effort: 400 calories
– Elliptical machine, vigorous effort: 600+ calories
– Cycling leisurely: 300 calories
– Cycling vigorously: 600+ calories
As you can see, when you put in maximum effort, hitting golf balls can burn just as many calories as high impact aerobics or vigorous jogging.
Weights vs Golf Range
Another comparison is the driving range versus lifting weights:
– Moderate effort range session: 300-400 calories per hour
– Vigorous range session with drivers: 500-600+ calories per hour
– Light weight training: 200-300 calories per hour
– Vigorous weight training: 400-500 calories per hour
The full-body nature of swinging a golf club generally burns more calories per hour than lifting weights. But weight training builds more muscle.
For maximum benefit, aim to incorporate both golf practice and resistance training.
Conclusion
Hitting golf balls at the driving range can be an extremely effective workout when done correctly. In a typical 2 hour session, a golfer can expect to burn around 400-700 calories depending on their intensity.
Burning 10 calories per minute or more is achievable when you aggressively swing a driver and minimize breaks. Monitoring factors like weight, club choice, pace, and hydration enables maximum calorie expenditure.
Diligent practice with different clubs trains the entire body while improving your golf skills. Range sessions can torch just as many calories as other vigorous cardio workouts.
So next time you visit the range, put some real force into those swings to get your heart pumping and calories burning!
