Apply your pre-shot ritual/routine!

I was training today with a Senior Tour Player whom I know very well and he was helpiing me with my game. When you talk to older guys who didn't focus on mechanics as much as we do today, you get feedback on how to make things happen when you play. there isn't as much focus on the shape of your swing...and this helped a lot.

He simply told me to make sure I keep my practice like I play. Make sure I create a routine that works for me, gets me loose and focused on the shot i want to hit and to make sure I execute the routine when I am hitting balls. It isn't worth anything if you can just beat balls on the range, you have to practice to prepare yourselves....this is why people have "range games" and cant' 'take it to the course'. You only get one shot...you better be prepared!

What do you guys think? ANy good tips for how to practice to prepare you to perform under pressure?

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Great post.

How true this is. The secret is applying your practice routine to the course. At times I go to my club of an evening and play a few holes on my own. I try to apply the same routine on the course as I do on the range. When you get it working it really brings home to you the importance of executing the routine as you do in practice. Forget swing thoughts and mechanics on the course. This is a sure way to destroy your game.

Full shot from tee:

I'll tee it up to my desired height. stand behind the ball and pick my target and shot shape. stay behind the ball and rehearse my release with a few practice swings. set the club behind the ball, adjust my body, and fire away. ( same thing minus the tee it up part for shots from the fairway or rough).

Putts:

mark the ball, pick it up and clean it. read the putt from about 15 feet behind the ball. see which way the grain is going. pick a spot to aim at and aim the line on my ball toward that spot. stand behind it and double check my line and take a few practice swings. place the clubhead behind the ball making the line on my putter and the line on my ball match up. place my feet and hit the putt.

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"Golf is a gentlemans sport. Now, where the hell is my ball!?!?"

Golf is 10% mental, and 20% Physical. You have to save the other 70% for new clubs...

Supergolfman, here are a couple of practice routines that I have just got onto. I got one from another site and the other from a mate who read about it.

The first one is the 32 ball practice drill.

Hit four balls thinking of the mechanics of your swing. Hit the next four using a clear key. Do this process four times. Now, it is important to incorporate your pre shot routine on every shot and secondly, once you have addressed the ball do not look at the target. The latter reduces anxiety. The target is not going to move.

The second drill is called 18 par. This is to help your short game, ie, those shots that have just missed the green.

Place 9 balls around the green. Chip and putt out each and every one. Record your score. Before this drill though you must set a goal, eg, 21 shots.

I'm working on these at the moment. I've found them quite refreshing and rewarding. Be interested to see how my game improves in the next month or so.

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VP

hi nicole
will be trying the par18 tonight at the range
got to capitalise on my current solid driving

When I practice, I send ball after ball to the same target. I stop after about 500 balls. With that much practice, I got rid of a whole bunch of useless motions. All I'm left with is the essential, what's required to send the ball to the target. That's what I take to the course. Since I practice that much, I don't have time to waste on a pre-shot routine so I don't have one or at least I don't have an engineered routine. It all depends on the shot I'm about to play, if there's little to think about then my routine takes very little time. If the shot requires preparation, then I prepare as much as it takes. When it's my time to tee off, I'm quick.

So, instead of applying my pre-shot routine to my practice, I eliminated it altogether because of the amount of practice I do. In other words, when I play, I do exactly like I practiced.

Where pressure is concerned, the only thing I know of to take care of that is practice some more. The logic is simple, if I don't have the shot when I begin the round, I'm not going to find it in the few hours during the round either. I intend to play with the baggage of skills I have now, I don't expect to acquire the skills as I play. When I'm faced with a shot that I have not practiced, I think of alternative shots I know how to make. Anyway, I don't see a reason to worry about it so I don't worry about it.

Perhaps you are afraid to miss the shot, afraid to lose? I look at it this way, if I lose, it's because I made mistakes and/or I was insufficiently skilled to best my opponent. In either case, I must improve my skill further. The only way I know how to do that is more practice.

Practice the same way you play - and play the same way you practice. This makes sense, but I think this is game practice. To practice and learn new skills you can do technical drills that do not have to be lika an actual round.

New skills can be a swing or a shot or skills like a better touch or a feel to your swing.

Game like practice would be implimentation of learned technique. (And learning self confidence - something we all need.)

I do think about my swing when I'm on the course. I have to, because if I don't my "natural" faults will come rushing back. Maybe if I practiced more they wouldn't, but I practice as much as I can afford to, in terms of time and money. But when I'm playing I'm certainly not trying new things; just keeping things I've learned in practice in my focus. They are mostly matters of setup, rhythm and tempo.

And when I practice I try to recreate playing conditions as much as possible (unless I'm doing drills). I always practice from turf, and if I'm practing tee shots I use an actual tee. I don't play off mats or use those rubber tees. I walk away and back between each practice shot. I've found that to be important. If the range isn't crowded I change locations a few times, so I get a fresh look at the field and hit at the targets from different angles.

Nothing very revolutionary but I feel that I get the most out of each practice session.

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Todd
Philadelphia, PA
USA

The reason the pro tells you to keep your head down is so you can't see him laughing. ~Phyllis Diller

I tested an exercise on a range. I imagined that I was playing the actual course and played it - every hole. Imagined how the fairway would go. First opening from the tee. After evaluating the shot I continued with an Iron to approach. (Did not chip or put.) Continued to next "hole".

This helped me to play better on the first two holes. Where I seem to have some problems.

Full shot - from tee or fairway
Stand 4-5 meters behind the ball looking at the fairway.
Make 2 or 3 "groove swings" standing straight up and swinging the club around your body more than on the tradition upright swingplane. Focus on rhythm and release. It is important that you have taken your correct grip.
Use your club as a vertical line and match to your target.
Take your stance (right foot first for Right handed players). Position your clubface behind the ball according to your intended target line BEFORE placing your left foot in your stance (this will help your body square up correctly).

Fire away.

Watch ball make nice draw action, land right on the line and roll gently towards target (on approach shots preferably backwards for added bragging rights).

*yeah*



Putts

Mark, lift and clean your ball.
"Clean" line between ball and hole.
Read green from behind hole.
Read green from behind ball.
Line up ball using printed or marking as putting aid.
Take your stance right foot first (square club face to target line BEFORE placing left foot).

Fire away.

Watch ball make nice draw action - miss hole by a mile - probably below the hole - yell [insert favourite expletive] - throw fit!

Repeat until done (dawn).

*sigh*

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//Mox
2009 bag:
Mizuno MX-700 460cc 10.5* Aldila VS Proto 65 stiff. (I need a 9,5* though) :-(
Mizuno MX-700 3w 15* Aldila VS Proto stiff.
Mizuno MX-700 5w 18* Aldila VS Proto stiff.
Mizuno MX-700 3i Hybrid 20* Aldila NV stiff.
Mizuno MP-60e forged 5i-PW True Temper Dynamic gold R300 steel
Mizuno MP Black OX raw haze 50/6 GW, 54/9 SW, 58/10 LW
Heavy Putter B3-M
Titleist NXT Extreme

Well I had a great day at the range on Wednesday and sucked when I played Friday. My main purpose for practice was to develop a routine to set up the same way and swing the same way. I tried to bring that to the course on Friday and failed miserably. Instead of the solid contact I had at the range I get weak fades and pushes all day. I simply could not figure out which aspect I lost from range to course.

You and me both mate. I have never really excelled at the range and hit it better on the course, but just lately I have been hitting it great on the range (applying a pre-shot routine and playing an imaginary 18 holes using flags/markers etc).

Just lately I can't seem to take it to the course.

Can't put my finger on it. I push-slice and hit fat on the course lately, both will add a lot of strokes to your score.