Have you ever wondered why you hit the ball better on the range vs the course? This could be because you don’t practice your routine on the range as much as you should. Another reason could be, you may not be doing the exact same thing every time and you subconsciously are like ‘ah, what am I doing‘ because your body isn’t used to it, it was something different.
Yeah, pro golfers work on their routine. A lot.
I was at my lesson with my swing coach and he caught me off guard asking me about my routine. My routine is consistent, I do the same thing every time but I was unaware of the specifics. For example, I didn’t know how many steps I took while walking into the ball, which foot I started with, how many times I looked at my target, etc. A specific routine is extremely important because if you do not practice it your body is not going to subconsciously know what to do.
My Pre Shot Routine
- Pick my club
- Take 1-2 practice swings
- Pick my target
- Walk into the ball starting with my right foot, taking 5 steps
- Set my club
- Look at my target
- Set my feet
- Look at my target again
- Get my body comfortable
- Take a deep breath
- Look at my target again
- Say my mental thought of the day, lately has been “arm and up” (use what works for you, I am working on keeping my left arm straighter and getting steeper)
- Swing away!
But don’t forget that pace of play is very important. Whatever your routine is, be ready to play your shot.
Working with a Swing Coach
I have been working with a swing coach since I was a sophomore in high school. Finding a good swing coach can be difficult and expensive but is totally worth it; especially if you are serious about playing.
In my personal experience, I went through a slew of coaches, always trying to change my swing completely. That was until I met my now Coach Mike Wilson. He is the first coach who is just fine-tuning my mechanics instead of trying to change everything. Now don’t get me wrong, change is good and a necessity but if you have a good foundation, work with what you have.
I am extremely lucky to have found Mike. It’s even better that he works with my mental coach. I am able to incorporate what I do with Jeff (my mental coach) into my swing lessons and vice vera. Having a swing coach can teach you a lot, they will teach you everything you need to know about your swing. It’s the best feeling when you know exactly what’s going on, especially if something may be going wrong.
If you learn your tendencies you won’t go into panic mode when things aren’t working. You will be able to have a couple things to fall back on that could be causing the errors. You’ll be able to go to the range and work on drills your coach has left you with. Now it’s even better because all of my lessons are on an app so I can access all my lessons on my phone!
My lessons are like a sequence. We discuss what needs to be tuned up and we break it down. Coach Wilson works with me on one thing at a time. For example, my takeaway. We worked on certain aspects of my takeaway and got that down so it felt automatic before we started working on my downswing. When my swing was looking great and feeling great we shifted the focus on to my routine and learning to practice it on the range. We also like to incorporate the mental aspect of the game and do playing lessons working on connecting everything.
Golf is not a game of perfect, it’s a game of patience. You also need to keep in mind that changes are not made overnight. They take time and dedication. You need to have 100% trust in you’re working with a swing coach and truly trust the process!
Hope this helps. Not every golfer can get their own swing coach but everyone can discover and groove their own pre-shot routine. Figure out specifically what yours is and then practice it! Pro golfers work hard to create their own and repeatable routine, you should too!
GOOD LUCK!
Anna
