Practice Swings, necessary or no?

jbuck31

In search of a lost swing
Albatross 2024 Club
Joined
May 4, 2017
Messages
3,221
Reaction score
2,485
Location
Northfield Center, OH
Handicap
13
I use a single practice swing as part of my pre-shot routine to gauge tempo. The only time I use more than one would be on a chip, just to get a feel for the turf interaction with the club, typically 2 -3 swings. I know there are many that use multiple and some who don’t use any.
Interested to see THP’s opinion, are practice swings necessary or not?
 
Unnecessary, unless there is awkward footing.

But that is just me.
 
No go for me. My back only has so many swings, not gonna waste them on practice swings
 
I can't tell you how many times a practice swing by someone I am watching that looks ok, then they take 4 more and each gets worse followed by a god awful actual shot.
 
Davis Love III is known for his "half practice swing" style, which is helpful towards breeding good tempo/rhythm.
 
Depends on the situation. For full swings I’ll do it sometimes to get my tempo/rhythm down. Otherwise my first ball is my practice swing and my second ball is my shot attempt.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I do it to loosen up before the shot, and as kind of a depth finder for when the ball is above or below my feet. Just one, half to three quarters speed, then hit.
 
LLIB;n8886383 said:
No go for me. My back only has so many swings, not gonna waste them on practice swings

See, I can't do that. If I've been waiting to hit I have to take a light swing before actually letting it go or my back will punish me.
 
Not for me personally, but if it does help someone then sure, it could be necessary. If I do take anything, I take more of a “practice the take away” more than a full practice swing.
 
yes, but i can’t exactly explain why.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
I always take one or two on a chip, to get a feel for the turf. On a regular shot, I usually don't unless my previous shot was poor.
 
For me, yes. After getting my yardage and club, I’ll take a 3/4 swing to release (hopefully) any tension and settle in to the shot.

On chips and pitches, I’ll take one or two to get a feel for the shot.
 
On full swings I hardly ever use them unless my footing is weird or the lie is gross. On chips and putts I always do 2-3 just to get a feel of the turf or tempo.
 
I do one full practice swing (maybe another if I didn't get the swing I wanted) then a takeaway Practice as I tend to take away too far inside

When I forget the takeaway I get a nasty hook

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
 
DataDude;n8886665 said:
On full swings I hardly ever use them unless my footing is weird or the lie is gross. On chips and putts I always do 2-3 just to get a feel of the turf or tempo.

I'm the same except I usually gauge my chipping feel swings above the grass. About the only time I have to hit the turf with practice swings are severe downhill/uphill/sidehill lies and thick rough.
 
I normally do not take a practice swing but there are some occasions where I will. As others have mentioned, on an important chip or when I have a difficult lie I may take one or two, otherwise I just step up and swing.

Before the first tee shot I will take several just to loosen up since I rarely hit the range before a round, but other than that I feel like I'll get too many thoughts going if I take a practice swing. If it's bad I know my actual swing will be bad or I'll stand there and swing until I have a good one which just sets me up for disappointment when I hit the shot poorly anyway.
 
Only with an unusual lie, or a couple quickies before hitting a pitch. I'll just waggle once or twice to loose up my arms and get a feel.
 
I think it depends on the person for full swing. I don't take them. I just do a slow partial swing to make sure I get the feeling I want then step in and hit. 60% of the time, it works every time.

I do find them helpful for partial shots, chips, pitches, from awkward lies, etc. With these I think your giving your brain some data to work with before committing to a shot.
 
for me its just mostly about loosening the muscles and tempo and swing path is part of it.
 
I do not unless it is an odd lie or shot. I know my swing and will generally execute it as planned. A practice swing will not change that.

The player I love is 4 practice swings, hit a bad shot, two or three more after the shot. Ugh.
 
About the only time I take them is with chips and pitches. Full swings I rarely take one. I had tried for awhile earlier in the season but found myself getting frustrated having great practice swings and then a crap real swing.
 
I take practice swings, maybe, 2-3 times per round on full swings down to 3/4 swings. I'll take 2-3 practice swings for chips and pitches from maybe 1/2 swing on down. I don't know when the last time I took a practice swing before a putt.

For those who take a (or multiple) practice swing before every full shot, do you find you get tired well before the end of the round? I mean, if you're taking 30-50 full shots each around and you add in 2-3 practice swings each time, you're looking at 90-150 full swings. That's a bunch of swings.
 
I'm not set in stone. If I'm having an iffy moment I'll take a swing that over emphasizes whatever I feel I need to work on - but just one. Otherwise it's sometimes just a partial takeaway or some such. Normally tho I just settle in and hit the ball
 
I never take a practice swing. The only exception is if the ball is in the rough. Then maybe one to see how the club goes through.
 
I usually will take one practice swing before most of my shots, just something quick to keep my body loose.
 
Back
Top