Pre Shot Routines -Whats Yours?

chpar4

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Albatross 2023 Club
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Curious if everyone has one? Do you do the same thing evert time?
Mine- One swing behind ball
Find spot 5-6 ft in front of ball
On target line
One practice swing at address
Go
I do this on every shot including chips and pitches. Same with putter except
spot is 12-18” in front of ball.
Time is roughly 30 seconds full shots, about 45 for puts.


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1. walk behind ball and scan course. pick target.
2. take two practice swings near address to feel the club head and tempo.
3. address ball. check target and alignment
4. waggle & rip it.
 
I try to have some semblance of a preshot routine, but I’m not consistent enough with it.
 
Let me start by saying when I'm struggling with my swing, as I am big-time at the moment, I get fidgety and out of sync and start running through all sorts of mental "checklists" before hitting. But that sort of thing is a LACK of a routine, not my normal routine I do when playing well. But my actual routine is very simple and direct. No practice swings, no waggles and I try my best not to stop moving at any point during the 15-20 seconds it takes to line up, address the ball and swing.

1) Pull the club from the bag while standing behind the ball.

2) With the club in my right hand, step around to take my stance beside the ball.

3) Place my left hand on the club and hover it behind the ball.

4) One look at the target once I'm in position.

5) Start my takeaway the instant my eyes return to the ball.

P.S.I swing lefty so my "left hand" and "right hand" descriptions are reversed from most people's.
 
I have to remember the practice swing, it is very important but I forget it a lot.
 
Mine is fairly consistent.

Stand behind the ball, sight line target with club shaft, pick spot 3-4’ in front of the ball.

Take position, aligning feet parallel to target line

One full practice swing

Address ball, check target spot, immediately pull trigger.

Once I align my feet, I never look down range, only target spot.


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MonroeBob1955;n8886652 said:
Mine is fairly consistent.

Stand behind the ball, sight line target with club shaft, pick spot 3-4’ in front of the ball.

Take position, aligning feet parallel to target line

One full practice swing

Address ball, check target spot, immediately pull trigger.

Once I align my feet, I never look down range, only target spot.


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Back when I used to take lessons years ago, my teaching pro suggested that "target spot" method. Could never make it work.

Then a couple years back, a plus-handicap player whose opinion I really respect was very insistent that I try it. So I did it religiously on every full shot for about 40-50 rounds (basically one whole summer). Also would go out in my backyard to practice it on days I didn't play golf.

Complete disaster. Couldn't aim correctly, it made me tense and uncertain and my handicap literally went up about three strokes during that time. It also caused me to delay a little trying to find a clearly visible spot and keep it in sight while I stepped up to the ball and hit.

Don't know if it's because I'm a right-hander playing lefty or because I wear progressive bifocals or maybe it's just mental. But I'll never try it again. Just can't do it at all.
 
I stand behind the ball and figure out what line I want to hit and find an intermediate target on the ground in front of the ball for alignment. Then I grip the club and step up to the ball get setup for address and waggle a few times to make sure I am ready, then I do the dang thing.
 
I’m not a practice swing guy. I always just find a target line and swing!
 
2 warmup swings behind ball, look down fairway and draw line from target back to ball, address and swing like hell
 
Stand behind ball to see the shot, take 1 deep breath, take 1 practice swing, set up to ball and hit the shot. My pre shot routine is pretty quick and simple and for a good reason: too much thinking and overanalyzation just causes trouble.
 
Et Tu Brute?;n8886678 said:
Back when I used to take lessons years ago, my teaching pro suggested that "target spot" method. Could never make it work.

Don't know if it's because I'm a right-hander playing lefty or because I wear progressive bifocals or maybe it's just mental. But I'll never try it again. Just can't do it at all.

If I don’t target spot in front of the ball I tend to align where the tee box is pointing which is frequently not down the fairway.

BTW, I am a lefty playing right-handed. Also, can’t wear my progressives and play golf, head too tilted over and hit everything fat. Mental, Ive been called that before. ;-)


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MonroeBob1955;n8886697 said:
If I don’t target spot in front of the ball I tend to align where the tee box is pointing which is frequently not down the fairway.

BTW, I am a lefty playing right-handed. Also, can’t wear my progressives and play golf, head too tilted over and hit everything fat. Mental, Ive been called that before. ;-)


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I dread the next time I have a change of prescription or if my frames break. My current glasses are about 5-6 years old and there's one specific way I can hold my head and keep the ball in focus and steady.

The previous glasses (first progressives) I simply had to not wear when I played. Never could find a way to make them work for golf. And I have a pair of sunglasses in my prescription, same thing. Just can't keep the ball steady. But the ones I'm wearing now do work.

You know the old advice about "keep your head still"? If I sway off the ball during my backswing (like I used to do) it's instantly obvious because it moves the ball out of the sweet spot of my glasses. Sort of a built-in training aid!
 
Grip it and rip it.
 
I don't have much of one. I'll stand behind the ball to pick out a target, step up and go.
 
I have single vision pair of glasses and sunglasses strictly for golf in my golf bag.


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laser the pin.
check the gps on the cart or arccos for distance to back of green.
pull and toss some grass in the air for wind direction.
pick the club.
stand behind the ball for a quick pick of the target line.
take a practice swing somewhere to the left of the ball.
step in, look down the target line, shuffle the feet a couple times, then pull the trigger.

hopefully this all happens in a quick amount of time. i'm a little more deliberate with my alignment right now, but should speed up once i get more comfortable/natural with it.
 
I jump out of the cart while its moving, pick a target, address the ball and swing. I'm going to move to the Harrington step through swing so I can just keep walking and get a head start catching back up to the cart that hadn't stopped rolling.
 
MonroeBob1955;n8886697 said:
If I donÂ’t target spot in front of the ball I tend to align where the tee box is pointing which is frequently not down the fairway.

BTW, I am a lefty playing right-handed. Also, canÂ’t wear my progressives and play golf, head too tilted over and hit everything fat. Mental, Ive been called that before. ;-)


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CanÂ’t wear my glasses either (bifocals) head moves too much. Also mental, 2 of us in that club!
Also forgot to mention right before pulling trigger I exhale slowly at end of exhale go. This relaxes everything.


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Find ball, get yardage, try not to chunk the shot. All done as fast as I can do them
 
Like many, it’s a go find the ball. I’ll look at my shot from behind the ball, step up, settle, then swing.

Maybe 20 ish seconds?


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PapaJohick;n8888132 said:
Like many, it’s a go find the ball. I’ll look at my shot from behind the ball, step up, settle, then swing.

Maybe 20 ish seconds?


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When I was a beginner taking lessons back in the 90's I tended (like a lot of beginners) to freeze over the ball forever before swings.

My teaching pro would get a stopwatch out during my lessons, stand behind me on the driving range and have me start from the club in my bag. From the time I pulled the club and started walking up behind the ball he'd start the stopwatch.

When it got to 16 seconds, if the ball wasn't in the air he'd say "START OVER" and I'd have to put the club back and do it all again. The goal was club-in-hand to impact being around 12-13 seconds for a routine shot from a tee or a normal fairway lie.

I think I still probably take longer than 16 seconds at least some of the time. But I almost never do that freeze over the ball thing any more. I think that's something every golf coach ought to teach every beginner.
 
Et Tu Brute?;n8888145 said:
When I was a beginner taking lessons back in the 90's I tended (like a lot of beginners) to freeze over the ball forever before swings.

My teaching pro would get a stopwatch out during my lessons, stand behind me on the driving range and have me start from the club in my bag. From the time I pulled the club and started walking up behind the ball he'd start the stopwatch.

When it got to 16 seconds, if the ball wasn't in the air he'd say "START OVER" and I'd have to put the club back and do it all again. The goal was club-in-hand to impact being around 12-13 seconds for a routine shot from a tee or a normal fairway lie.

I think I still probably take longer than 16 seconds at least some of the time. But I almost never do that freeze over the ball thing any more. I think that's something every golf coach ought to teach every beginner.

I agree. I dealt with a freeze a good bit up until last year. Now it’s more of a settle into my stance and I feel like I pull the trigger somewhat quickly but I’m sure there are times where I freeze up again haha
 
I've tried to cut down on the amount of time it takes me to make a shot, just so I don't start over thinking things.

Typically, as I'm walking up behind the ball, I'll look at the target, step up and make a practice swing, then address it, short pause, then hit it.
 
On approach shots, I laser my distance to the flag which I am usually able to do while others are hitting, grab my club, stand astride the ball and take one practice swing, step in and hit it. On lay ups, chips and pitched and putts, one practice swing along side the ball.
 
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