The pershot routing

FAST FACT!

Emotionally charged events or information (whether good or bad) burn a more significant imprint on the brain than nonemotional events. So every time you react with frustration to a mis-hit shot, you make it harder to concentrate in the moment.



Most golfers think a preshot routine involves only taking a practice swing, aiming at your target and then swinging, but it has a bigger purpose: to prepare a golfer to hit his shot successfully. This demands both a mental and physical routine.



During the mental routine, take in your environment: the lie, hazards, wind, yardage and target; then analyze what the shot requires. Say you’re 142 yards out, your ball is in the fairway, and the pin is tucked over a bunker. There’s a 10 mph wind into you. At this stage, you need to make a decision, based on your skills, about which club and shot is required.



Next, rehearse the swing you plan to make. If it requires a ¾ 7-iron, take a ¾ practice swing so that it simulates your actual shot. I call this the “feel stage” of the preshot routine. Its purpose is to help you commit to your shot.



Once you’ve rehearsed your swing, it’s time for the real thing. Set up to the ball and shift your focus to the target. This is the time to quiet your mind and react to the target. Finally, make a swing with your target in mind.

After most players hit a shot, they usually take a moment to react to it (often verbally and not always with words that I can repeat here) and either walk away pleased or frustrated. Riding an emotional roller coaster like this can do damage to your confidence. A proper postshot routine, however, will minimize your emotional reactions and help to prepare you for your next shot.



After you hit a poor shot, first figure out if it happened because of a mental or physical error. Mental errors include being distracted, lacking confidence and never committing to the shot. Physical errors are swing flaws such as bad alignment, an open or shut clubface, poor weight transfer and incorrect swing path.



If your shot happened because of a mental error, remind yourself that you, and only you, are in control of when you make a swing. Don’t swing until you’re ready. If it were a physical error, understand the cause and effect of the shot pattern. If the ball went right, then simply say to yourself, “I left the clubface open.” Then rehearse the swing you wanted to make. The goal is to walk away from your shot and understand what happened.



The problem many golfers suffer from is that they get mad after a poor shot and don’t learn from it. This makes it more likely that the poor shot will be repeated. By making a practice swing after a poor shot, you’ll forget about the shot and shift your focus to the next one