DP World Tour
Professional golfers are creatures of habit. Once they find a routine that works for them, they stick to it. Golf is a game of variables, so being able to control the smallest things is very helpful in its process.
How a golfer prepares for the round is something that is easy to control. From what time they wake up to what they eat for breakfast to what time they get to the course, golfers obsessed with a consistent setting.
Count Billy Horschel as one of the pros who has a strict regimen to prepare. In a recent video from the DP World Tour, Horschel is seen with a curious arrangement of balls in the range prior to his tour. But as he explains, there is a method to the madness.
With pyramids of pentagons stacked in neat rows next to his hitting station, Horschel seems to have a bit of OCD. However, these range ball pyramids aren’t just for looks—they also help Horschel create consistency in his warm-up routine.
“Scotty Phil, he’s been catching my putts, and he’s holding the Keegan Bradley bag now. He said, ‘What if we start having a certain amount of golf balls to hit each time?’” Horschel says. “There’s a 44 here, he pitched me about five or six drivers So I’m hitting about 50 balls.”
With a fixed number of balls on the ground, Horschel will always have the exact same warm-up routine. There is no guessing.
“I know with this setup it will take about 25 to 30 minutes to hit my balls,” says Horschel. “So I am always on the right track with my time. I never get lost in time.”
For each pile of five balls, Horschel uses a different paddle. Five-ball with a lob wedge, sand wedge, gap wedge, 9-iron, 6-iron and 3-iron, then he hits three balls with a 5-wood and a 3-wood. He finished his routine by hitting five or six drivers and then two 7-irons and two wedges.
He says “the same way every time”.
Consistency in golf – this also applies to how you warm up.