Take a lesson!!!

I went to a pro to help me with my irons (mainly fat shots) he asked me to go ahead and take a swing. He then proceeded to pick apart my swing and told me everything i was doing WRONG.
For a half hour he went through all the elements of a sound golf swing and then had me take about 25-50 practice swings.

I ended the lesson with one ball on a tee, lets just say when i connected with the ball I heard the longest sweetest ringing sound ever from the club head i completed my swing with a graceful followthrough and fixed my eyes on the ball. I thought it was never coming down.

Anyway i really want to get this swing down so i can do it without even thinking about it, can i just do this in my backyard, or do i need the feedback of a golf ball which means going to the range every day?

As long as you have a mirror or a reflection in the patio doors you dont need a ball! So you can check all your positions in the reflection!

I saw some balls advertised called "almost golf" which I believe you can use in your back yd. I have not used them but they are supposed to simulate real ball compression.

Buy a net. There are good folding ones that you set up and take down very quickly. Although you'll chew up the grass unless you get a matt. Just be careful you don't sky the ball over to the fence to through the neighbours window like did!

You can use a net, you can also use these plastic airflow balls. There is nothing as good as seeing a real golf ball flight though, you will not see if you are slicing, hooking etc in a net.