People usually don’t realize how many things in their day-to-day lives have become routine. If you think about it there are several routines you perform every day. Getting out of bed in the morning, followed by your morning “routine”, the routine you go through when you first get to work, your night-time routine when you get ready for bed are just a few examples of some of the routines that we all experience on a daily basis.

A routine can be defined as a series of motions or actions that you do so often and on such a regular basis that they become second nature. You don’t even realize that you do the same things the same way every time.

Your Golf Routine

As with so many other things in life, there is a need for you to develop a routine for your golf game. Some golfers will begin their routine by standing behind the ball, aligning it with the hole and then choosing your plan of flight for the shot. After settling in over the ball you may wiggle a few times to get comfortable and to stabilize your stance. Then you may take a deep breath and swing.

This may be your routine. The important thing to keep in mind is, that regardless of what your routine is, you should follow it each time you prepare to take a shot.

You may find that you don’t always follow it exactly (although after you go through it enough times, you probably will). But it will be close enough that both you and your golf buddies will recognize it as your pre-shot routine.

Why Should You Do It?

Why bother with this “routine” business? What a routine does is to get you mentally and physically prepared to take a shot, to make your best possible swing on the ball. It prepares your mind to get ready to swing. As your pre-shot routine plays out, it shuts down all other distractions. You focus on the conditions and the shot using all the motions you’ve spent hours developing on the driving range.

Keep in mind that there is no particular pre-shot routine that works for all golfers. You will find your own that will allow you to get ready to take your shot.

It should probably involve a couple of glances at the hole. And then there should be some kind of trigger that allows your mind to go into auto-pilot before taking your swing. This trigger could involve any number of things, such as a slight forward movement of your hands, a swing of the hips to settle in more comfortably or perhaps a final glance at the hole.

When you find your trigger, you will become oblivious to other distractions and your mind will become focused on making the shot. Once you find it, then always use the same pre-shot routine so you can get to that same “pre-shot place”.

This is another of many tips for the new golfer that can be found on the golf blog for beginner golfers, Sensible Golf Tips.

Popularity: 5% [?]

What do you think? 3 Comments »