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The Pre Shot Routine

I have never had anyone tell me that I play slow, but who knows....

I pick my target, address the ball, take one practice swing for tempo, quick look at the target, swing away. Go find the ball, wash, rinse, repeat. (Any cussing that needs to be done is usually accomplished while putting my club back in the bag :giggle:)
 
I'll assess the yardage and any potential trouble, grab my club, stand behind the ball picking my line and take a slight practice swing, get up to the ball, check alignment quickly, address the ball, commit, and go. Same thing for all shots, even putting. I like to keep moving.
 
After a pause I hesitantly fumble about for my range finder. I dilly dally whilst checking the yardage 7 times. I then return to the cart and hesitantly choose a club. I then return to the ball and loiter for a spell. I can now begin the painstakingly slow process of practice swings starting with a quarter swing and progressively work up to a full swing. I now back off and take ten methodic paces back and survey the land. After a short meditation I will choose a starting line and put the club behind the ball. I close my eyes and mentally rehearse the swing until it feels right. I am now ready to pull the trigger unless something feels off in which case I will start over in a lingering fashion.
 
I don’t have much of a pre-shot routine. It’s a semi-full practice swing behind the ball and then align and fire. On uneven or challenging lies I usually take a practice swing next to the ball. On the greens I like to get a read from behind the hold as well. So it’s pretty quick, but I could probably shorten it further if needed.
 
I don't think I have a preshot routine, but I do stand over the ball and waggle a little longer than some people.
Never been called slow but I'm sure I have my moments.
 
my pre-shot routine consists of me checking my grip and my target that's about two feet in front of me. I will take more time with my putts, but I would guess it's not a long time. I feel like I am a pretty quick player, but have found a balance to make sure I'm ready for each shot.
 
KEV said:
For probably the last year and a half I haven't had a pre shot routine at all. It's been wait for my turn to hit, address the ball and go. It's the same on the putting green. I'll read the putt while others are putting and get up and go.

This next season though I think I'm going to add one practice swing before I hit and when putting I'll stand behind the ball and take one or two practice strokes and then go.

I have zero desire to become "that guy" and drive people nuts with a routine. I have a buddy that is horrible with his putting routine and it drives me nuts.
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Are you able to get in any sort of rhythm just walking up and hitting a ball? The only time I do that is when I'm on tilt :ROFLMAO:
 
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Reactions: KEV
Yes I have a reshot routine, It is called walking to the next shot.

Seriously though, I walk, so i am assessing my lie, and approx yardage as i am walking up to my ball.

When i stop, I pull my bushnell laser that has GPS both. When i laser the flag, the front and back YDG is in the viewfinder so there for i have the front back and exact YDG with in seconds. I already know the wind because i was walking, pull club hit ball, rarely do i take a practice swing.

Done! this takes less than 30 seconds, yes i have playing partners that take WAYYYyyyyyyyyyyy longer
 
Pick a target line setup to ball and hit it. There is a practice swing included for a few holes if I did not get to warm up or if the lie or stance is weird to kind of get my bearings. I play at a medium pace. I finish rounds by myself walking in about 3 hours. With my buddy in a cart we finish in about 3:15
 
OhioGolfer said:
I don't anything about the golf swing, I see ball and then hit ball. No need for a routine or to think before I hit haha.
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From the Hogan event, you and I are both about 11 seconds from a teed ball to walking to the cart. @JB is about 6 seconds. JB is almost twice as fast. 😆
 
Off the tee, I do my thinking before hand, get to ball take one hard practice swing and stand up and hit it. After the 1st shot as I am approaching my ball I am figuring out the distance....Once I get to my ball, I do a quick calculation, step up and hit it. The quicker the better as if I think too much the mind goes toward the negative outcomes. I play very fast.
 
1. Determine yardage (allowing for wind, temp, slope, etc.)
2. Choose club
3. Stand behind the ball and choose target line
4. Take one practice swing
5. Address the ball and align the shot
6. Hit the shot

Alll of that takes about 30 seconds or less.
No it's not longer than it needs to be.....for me.
The pre shot routine starts at getting the yardage.
Whay is mine that long? Because it's what works for me.
 
1- Do you know someone who has a slow pre shot routine? Yes, and he is my regular foursome, and he is slow around the course as well. He moves like he is carrying a basket full of eggs in his shorts.
2 - Is it you? :ROFLMAO: No
 
Put tee in the ground, place ball. Stand behind ball, envision my shot and where my alignment needs to be, step up, one half swing to remind myself of my swing path and then ALL GAS NO BRAKES!
 
@Canadan
I still want to know what the pre shot routine is defined as.
The whole process, from cart to end of shot?
Standing over the ball?
 
TCB2010 said:
Are we talking routine as in over or behind the ball? Or are we timing the whole process?
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@Canadan even asked that in his OP, and I don't think anybody's answered that detail. Me included.

What I think of as "pre-shot routine" starts when I approach the ball, club in hand. It includes confirming in my mind the choice of club I made before the cart even came to a halt, eyeballing where the ball is and where I want it to go, thinking about how I'm going to hit it to achieve that, and doing either a Brian Sparks style "club dance," practice swings, or a combination of the two before beginning my setup.

Off the tee it would also include placing the tee and ball.
 
Duffer Seamus said:
@Canadan even asked that in his OP, and I don't think anybody's answered that detail. Me included.

What I think of as "pre-shot routine" starts when I approach the ball, club in hand. It includes confirming in my mind the choice of club I made before the cart even came to a halt, eyeballing where the ball is and where I want it to go, thinking about how I'm going to hit it to achieve that, and doing either a Brian Sparks style "club dance," practice swings, or a combination of the two before beginning my setup.

Off the tee it would also include placing the tee and ball.
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I can see where people say 15-20-30 seconds to stand behind ball and hit.
But I think the whole process from cart to end shot is where the issue may be. Get out of cart, talk to partner, select club, look over lie, wind, green, stand behind ball, waggle, hit. That process may take 5 minutes per shot. That's 3 hours a nine, 6 on 18, so that cant be to far off.
 
Canadan said:
Pulling from another thread (hat tip to @JB)..

Do you have specific things you do to prepare to hit a golf ball?
Is your pre shot routine longer than it needs to be?
What is the reason for every specific thing you do before you hit a ball?
When does your pre shot routine actually start?

and finally, even though no one is slow, why is your pre shot routine as long as it is?
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If I’m slow to the tee it’s because I’m trying to update THP and give up honors in doing so.

My pre-shot is simple and from start to impact may take 20 seconds. Tee up ball. Walk back 5 paces to pick a specific aim point. One half practice swing from 5 paces back thinking of the one thing I need to do to give me the flight I need. Step up. Launch. Or worm burn? But damnit I’m not slow about it.
 
TCB2010 said:
That process may take 5 minutes per shot. That's 3 hours a nine, 6 on 18, so that cant be to far off.
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Yikes! I'm pretty sure my buddies would stop playing with me if I regularly spent five minutes per shot from cart to swing. The only time I spend that kind of time is if there's a ball search--and I'm usually unwilling to spend a lot of time on that, either.

Seat-of-the-pants estimate? I'd say I probably usually spend no more than two minutes from exiting the cart until I swing.

Two of my friends and I timed ourselves on par 4's and 5's on one of our last games. 13-15 minutes/hole. Now, considering one of the other guys and I bogey a lot, that means we spend considerably less than five minutes per stroke.
 
Duffer Seamus said:
Yikes! I'm pretty sure my buddies would stop playing with me if I regularly spent five minutes per shot from cart to swing. The only time I spend that kind of time is if there's a ball search--and I'm usually unwilling to spend a lot of time on that, either.

Seat-of-the-pants estimate? I'd say I probably usually spend no more than two minutes from exiting the cart until I swing.

Two of my friends and I timed ourselves on par 4's and 5's on one of our last games. 13-15 minutes/hole. Now, considering one of the other guys and I bogey a lot, that means we spend considerably less than five minutes per stroke.
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Well I would hope so, being that if you added in getting to the ball and reading greens and going to the next hole it would be close to a 9 hour round.
2 full minutes between getting off your cart and hitting the ball has to be pretty long though right?

If one were to shoot 100, that would be 3.5 hours playing as a single and as a foursome would be astronomically long I would gather.
 
TCB2010 said:
@Canadan
I still want to know what the pre shot routine is defined as.
The whole process, from cart to end of shot?
Standing over the ball?
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Not Dan, but my interpretation is locate your ball get your distances/data, have selected your club and then prepare to hit the ball
 
Decently quick, I'd say. I've definitely had my slower moments, but those are way outside the norm. I'd say almost always less than 30 seconds.
- Yardage (rangefinder/watch)
- club selection
- stand behind ball and choose target while taking a breath
- twirl the club 1 time as i walk up to ball
- 1 practice swing
- swing
 
TCB2010 said:
I can see where people say 15-20-30 seconds to stand behind ball and hit.
But I think the whole process from cart to end shot is where the issue may be. Get out of cart, talk to partner, select club, look over lie, wind, green, stand behind ball, waggle, hit. That process may take 5 minutes per shot. That's 3 hours a nine, 6 on 18, so that cant be to far off.
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That's part of why I said I don't have a routine. I think of a pre-shot routine as only what I do right before I hit, because how can everything up until that be a routine? I get to the ball and figure out my yardage, club, and shot pretty quick. What if it's not my turn? I could watch other players, snack, THP, practice a swing impression, message my nephews, anything until I approach the ball to hit it.

I know I spend more time over the ball getting aligned than people who don't really give a **** how they score, less time reading the green than any competitive peer I've ever played with, may or may not take a practice swing/stroke or two on any given shot, and am known for jogging back to my ball on the rare occasions I do take some time to figure things out or change my mind on a club. There's just so little routine to any of it. No set number of anything or must do's before or during any of it. I just fill the available time, get ready/comfortable to hit, and then go.
 
JB said:
2 full minutes between getting off your cart and hitting the ball has to be pretty long though right?
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That's my gut feel, yeah. That's why I wrote "no more than." Doing a SWAG estimate, based on my imperfect recollection of the games I played? Probably average somewhere around a minute or so, from exiting the cart to getting back in.

JB said:
If one were to shoot 100, that would be 3.5 hours playing as a single and as a foursome would be astronomically long I would gather.
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The longest game we had, and that was a foursome on a long course, was I think five hours? That's with three high-handicappers, one of which (me) was a newbie. I think that was my fourth game?

@TCB2010 mentioned "talk to partner." I had that ironed out of me by game #3. The guy that got me started in golf bitched me out for doing that after the cart had stopped. "Play! No talk! Play!"
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I do not dwadle once the cart stops. I may well make a passing remark as I'm on my way to my ball, but that's it.
 
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