Pre Shot Routine, more important than the swing?

Written by Bryan Spitzer

Thursday, 24 May 2007

The pre shot outing is an aspect of the game I am a very firm believer in, however there have been times in my own play where I will not go through mine.  Our group is being pushed by those behind us, I get the idea in my head that I can clear that corner and get home in two, im hungry/tired or “whatever.”   No matter the circumstance, this lapse in mental toughness has lead to many wayward shots, mishits and bad decisions I tend to view the importance of the pre shot routine as being three fold, One it allows you to get in the right frame of mental thought and think about executing this shot and this shot only. Two, if that pre shot routine includes practice swings or partial swings focusing on a particular aspect when those actions are performed correctly you are creating instant muscle memory that you can repeat mere seconds later over the golfball and three a pre shot routine creates a tempo to your game that can be controlled and harnessed. MENTAL REFERENCE: When you are able to reach a mental reference to the task at hand we as humans are able to visualize our successes and with that visualization comes the ability to execute because you’ve already played it out in your head. A good way to look at this is using a sprinter who mentally runs his 10 second race over and over in his head. Chemically the brain stimulates the same muscles during the mental race as it would in the actual event, so as far as the brain is concerned before you even begin to move the brain knows how to win the race. if you can visualize the shot with you in it you are able to execute easier as it is not a first try but the last of several. How to reach the visualization is the hardest part, I believe. MUSCLE MEMORY When the golfer takes a practice swing based on the visualization he just created he mimics those same stimulants. He has now created instant muscle memory that he can call upon and trust by simply going through the motions. Another aspect to pre shot swings is helping to pull off certain types of shots. Feeling the wrist cock angle or relative nature of the swing path versus plane will tell the golfer a lot about what type of shot he will need in order to reach his desired target. TEMPO: 1,2, and 3, that’s mine at address and it only consists of the swing to impact, but my tempo throughout a round of golf is also just as important as the cadence I use while hitting the golf ball. Some people say you cannot control the tempo of a round on a crowded course because you have to wait or get rushed, etc. In short, there are outside forces dictating the length of your round. That may be true but it also has very little to do with the tempo of your round. The key to establishing a tempo you can get into is to not think about your shots between shots if you have any kind of a wait. If the normal routine in which you feel most comfortable is hitting your shot, driving/walking to the next and hitting again right away, they try to do that. So from the time it takes you to hit the first shot , get to the second and hit that shot, (lets say that timeframe is two minutes) use the last two minutes ONLY to prepare. If you have a 10 minute wait only focus on golf for two of those 10 minutes, thus creating consistency within your game and a tempo you can control and feel comfortable with. (0)

Last Updated ( Monday, 06 August 2007 )

 

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