We have set Golf shoes On the bag is ready and our pockets are full golf balls And tees And we pass to the first starting point. The ball goes down, we take one look and smash it miles away in the right lane. Sorry, I have to stop there!
This is what happens in my head and it gives the impression that things happen in golf as if by magic. For anyone new(ish) to golf, here’s a quick word of warning, they absolutely don’t. Watch Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy or any of the greatest golfers of all time make the game look simple. Why? Through years of practice and repetition.
Golf is a game of repetition and habit. We want to repeat the same (good) shots over and over if we can. But the way we can achieve this is by developing good habits and one of those habits is the pre-shoot routine. Here at AMERICAN GOLF, we have a few ideas we can all try to implement to get us “in the zone” to hit a great golf swing.
Why exercise routine?
Every professional golfer has his own unique pre-shoot routine. It’s not just for hell. They do this because it helps create the environment they need to get the right shot. There’s confidence because that’s what they’ve done thousands of times before, and it reduces any stress about the shot ahead of them. While the surroundings may be different in terms of golf courses, when standing over the ball, the pre-putt routine brings an air of familiarity and comfort that we can hit the right shot regardless.
One shot at a time
We always catch our eye when we hear professional golfers talk about “taking things in one go” before the final round of a big tournament like The Open or The Masters. boring! But he stresses the importance of process in golf.
A lot of times for handicapped players like ourselves, if we hit a great shot, we get a little excited and our minds start to race. We’ve had a booming campaign and are in a great position to make a par or a bird. And how often do we let ourselves down in the next shot! why is that? Because we let our minds race forward about what might happen and we get ahead of ourselves. Forget the pre-shoot routine because we’re so eager to play the hole. However, having a pre-routine keeps us in the moment and reminds us that golf is a process-driven sport.
Thinking not chatting!
When we’re on the golf course, we all want to be social with our playing partners. This is one of the basics of the game, especially considering we could be on the course for more than four hours. But what were our most memorable days on the golf course? The ones we play best of course! If we are going to take up a large part of our free time by playing golf, let’s try to play as best as we can. This means focus! So save any deep and meaningful discussions for 19y slot!
Some pros can spend entire rounds barely uttering a word to their playing partners. This is because they are at work and focused on the task at hand. Once they hit one shot, they begin the thought process for the next shot. They walk towards the ball and calculate how far they want, and need, to hit it. They are checking the wind direction. They evaluate the lie of the ball and decide which type to hit. This is a solid thought process.
There’s no reason we can’t process these same four bits of information for use on every shot – distance, windage, lie, and club.
See photo
Visualization is a very important tool in the pre-shoot routine. Whether we’re standing on the tee, in the middle of the fairway, with our ankles in the rough rough or stuck in a bunker, we should all be thinking and imagining the shot we want to play. Are we reaching a tie or fading away? Do we want to put the ball in a certain place? Of course, this doesn’t guarantee that it will happen, but it does give us a better chance if we don’t. Visualization generates positive thoughts and puts us in the desired frame of mind when we are standing on top of the ball.
Prepare for your strengths
We have decided on the club and the distance we want to go. We’ve checked the wind and assessed the lie. We figured out how we wanted to get to the next shot. (We put the tee into the ground if we were on a tee.) The pre-shoot routine is almost done, except for one thing. practice swings.
Some players feel the need to do them. Others are not inclined. Everyone should do what is right for them. The important thing is to keep practicing the twists smoothly and not to stick too hard. Have positive thoughts and think in a good rhythm.
And don’t wait too long. The more time you spend on top of the ball or swinging, the harder the shot will be. Nerves can build up and negativity can creep into our heads – golfers’ worst nightmare!
Practice how we play
We all know what can often happen when we hit the driving range or head to the training ground. We hit shot after shot, oftentimes with the same club. This is not a golf course!
If we pay for 50 balls in range, let’s try to take our time. Remember, we don’t have to beat them all in ten minutes! This gives us a chance to work on a pre-shoot routine, especially in terms of visualization and practicing the swings. It can be a case of trial and error. We can work out how many warm-ups we need before we go over the ball. Moreover, it makes our training time more useful. The key then is to identify what works and stick to it, time after time.
in and around the green area
We often think of the pre-shot routine in relation to our tee shots or our approach to the green, but it applies to every shot we play.
The way we go about how we hit to drive and how we hit to hit the ball is very different. So it’s only natural to make some changes in your pre-shoot routine. We may want to look at the slam dunk from different angles to try and assess the right line. We may want to practice one or two strokes with the racquet to create the feel and rhythm we want. The key is settling on a method that can be easily replicated. There is no point in having a six practice and hitting the ball from all sides on a certain green and then walking around and hitting the ball without a second thought on the next green.
It is about creating habits that can become second nature. We want to feel like a good shot is a reward for a good process that we can repeat over and over, rather than just a wonderful coincidence we struggle to explain.
About the author
Adam Lanegan – Golf Writer
Adam is a freelance news and sports journalist who has written for the BBC, The Sunday Post, The Eye, The Times, The Telegraph and more. He has been writing about golf for nearly two decades and has covered 13 Open Championships and two Ryder Cups. Not only does Adam cover golf, he has been playing golf for as long as he can. He was a member of Northenden Golf Club for about 25 years until his children arrived and his last official handicap was 11, although on any given day his form fluctuated between eight and 18.