Establishing a Pre-Shot Routine

A majority of the time, golfers grab a club out of their bag, walk up to their ball and swing away, usually not hitting a shot to its fullest potential.  To get in the habit of approaching each shot consistently, I recommend incorporating the following steps in your game.

First, stand directly behind your golf ball facing the target.  Determine the correct club to hit by taking into account wind direction, and the slope and lie of your golf ball.  The wind, slope and lie determine what kind of shot you can hit.  (If your golf ball lies in a sand-filled divot you definitely can’t approach the shot the same way as a golf ball lying in the middle of the fairway nicely placed on a fluffy piece of grass.) 

Next, draw an imaginary line from your golf ball to your target.  At this point, pick something out that lies directly in your imaginary line within 5 feet of your ball; this will be your intermediate target.  You’ll want to line yourself up with this target to make sure your aim is correct.  The point of this is simple, it is much easier to line yourself up to a target 5 feet away than it is to line up to one that is 200 yards away. 

Take one or two practice swings, slowly feeling the club swinging around your body.  With this process, you are making clear decisions and setting yourself up to perform to your potential.  Approach the golf ball and take your address position by placing your hands on the grip, correctly placing the grip in the fingers and allowing the index fingers and thumbs to form the letter “V” (is it pointing to the right ear?).  The leading edge of the clubface should be vertical or perpendicular to your target line, which lets you know the clubface is square. 

Now, simply line the clubface with the back of the ball and take your stance (which should be shoulder width apart), allowing a slight flex in the knees. Connect and focus on nothing but your intermediate target, get locked in on that point 5 feet away from you and give it your best effort!

Going through this simple routine may seem ridiculous, however once you hit balls repetitively using this approach, you will soon develop a consistent Pre Shot Routine that you can depend on for each and every shot.  If you catch yourself standing up to a shot and not going through the entire routine, have the discipline to start again from the very beginning.  

Practice this routine before every shot, make clear decisions, trust your decisions, execute and have fun playing this great game!  Work on building your own Pre Shot Routine – the Golf Academy and driving range are open daily and our staff of PGA professionals is available to help improve your game and build better fundamentals for Putting, Chipping, Bunker Play and the Full Swing.

 Words of wisdom:  understand that Golf is just a game, enjoy your time on the golf course and give every shot your best effort!  We look forward to seeing you on the range!