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Routines - Do you have one and how important is it to your game?

jdtox

jdtox

Lord Tox
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We all know routines are big part of a golfers game, we watch it on tv every week and we do it ourselves. Some are more detailed and slow, some barely use one.

So what is your routine and how did you get there? Do you find that having a routine helps you hit better shots? Do you always stick to your routine no matter the situation or do you find yourself forgetting to do it from time to time? Do you ever change you routine?
 
nope, no routine for me. i know the pros have one so that they can stay in the moment, treat each shot equally, focus on the process, etc. no way i would ever add anything to make me slower than i already am.
 
Don't really have a specific routine, although I guess more often than not I do the same thing. Generally take a practice swing and hit the ball. When putting, I often look at the line from in front of the hole, and then behind once, take a practice stroke and hit it. In the last few years I have incorporated looking at putts from behind the hole as I found I was misreading putts when I just looked at it from the front. I seem to get a better read from behind the hole and it has helped.

Some of the "routines" of guys on tour and in regular play are excruciating.
 
I do and try to stick to it on every shot. I find my target, take a practice swing behind the ball. Look at my target again as I walk into the ball then focus on my intermediate target to help get me aligned then address the ball and swing away
 
Pre round is more important to me than pre shot I need to get on t,he range and get loose and test the green speed before teeing off. If I am rushed to the first tee the first few holes generally don't go very well. As far as pre shot as long as I get a good line up the routine isn't that deal breaking.
 
Absolutely, it helps keep me in the moment instead of worrying about the results too much.
 
I am a "feel" player for the most part. Off the tee it's a quick routine. Basically check the line from behind, practice swing, address the ball, check the line again, relax breath and swing. Iron or fairway routine can be any different number of things depending on wind, lie, distance, etc... Fairly quick about it, though. I've always done it that way. No point in thinking too much about anything, that's the stuff you do at the range. But on the green, it's the same routine each and every time. And its the same routine I've had since I was 15 or 16. No chance of developing a new "routine", but I HAVE changed my stroke a few times over the years.
 
I do have a pre-shot and pre-putt routine. Both consist of alignment thoughts and a swing emulating the shot I need to make. I couldn't imagine not going through my routines before every shot...
 
Have a routine and do it each time religiously. Have been doing it for about 20 years now. It never changes. Line up shot to target ron about 10 ft behind ball. Find spot between target and ball about 5 ft from ball. Step in look at spot. One look at target and go.

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I have the same routine. Dunno if it's really that important to me, but nonetheless, I follow it each shot.
 
I don't have a routine I go through. I just generally step up to the ball with no practice swing and hit it. I ran into traffic yesterday on the way to the course and was 2 wheeling it into the parking lot and tieing my shoe as I met my group on the 1st tee. No warmups, no loosening, no stretching. Just put my ball on the tee, hit it and away we went. Ended up with par on the 1st hole!
 
The only one I can think of is a large exhale when I'm getting ready to hit my driver. Just a way to slow myself down and focus my attention on the ball.
 
The only routine I stick to is not having a routine. Actually, I'm not sure that's true. I stand behind the ball for about a second and visualize the shot I want to hit. Then I step into the ball and just hit it. No practice swing, no trigger thoughts, just trying to remain as loose as possible. I play very fast, and just recently I've learned that this can bother people just as slow players can bother some, but the more deliberate I try to be, the more I mess myself up…
 
look at the target from behind the ball, step up and swing away. I really on take practice swings on chips and putts. On full shots it's very rare I do.
 
greggdrews said:
look at the target from behind the ball, step up and swing away. I really on take practice swings on chips and putts. On full shots it's very rare I do.
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This is what I do as well. Rare practice swings.
 
I have what I consider to be a fairly quick routine. I'm not lightningbolt fast, but I try to move it along. No practice swings, just tee it up, stand behind the ball and find my line, then address the ball and swing away. I do think it helps with nerves to get into a routine and kind of put it on cruise control.
 
I once spoke to a master pro who asked me about my pre-shot routine. I said "Usually..." and he said "So you do not have a routine".

Now I take my grip behind the ball, sight my target with the shaft and pick a spot on the ground, take four steps into the ball, place the club behind the ball aiming at my spot, take a waggle,look at the target, another waggle and go.
 
Behind ball I'll get a plan, pick my target. Step up to ball get a feel for stance with a practice draw back. Look at target 1 last time and exhale all air then swing away.
 
I have a pre-round routine I am pretty strict on, but not a pre-shot routine at all.

Should probably be the opposite way around, but I really want that pre-round routine on golf days, like to the point that I really look forward to it.
 
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