What you do immediately before making a shot is as important to making a successful stroke as the swing itself – so advises Martin Winters, PGA Director of Golf at The Boar’s Head’s magnificent Birdwood Golf Course.
“The set up and pre-shot routine is a critical part of the golf swing,” he said. “Golf is truly a mental game. It requires focus and control of your emotions. Having a consistent pre-shot routine increases your confidence through precise repetition and helps to keep your emotions under control during important shots.”
Tiger once said “The present moment is all there is…. it’s all there ever is.” This type of thinking helps you stay in the now and allows a player to just go through his/her routine.
Martin said that he recalled seeing videos of Jack Nicklaus as a young professional golfer. When Nicklaus later won the Masters in 1986, Martin noticed that his pre-shot routine was very similar. It hadn’t changed much in over 20 years. In fact, if you notice any of the pros today – Phil, Dustin, Jordan, and Vijay – all of them go through a systematic routine before each shot.
“Whatever you do as a pre-shot routine, do it consistently,” Martin teaches. “The routine must be comfortable and easy to repeat and help to keep you in the present moment. Some, for example, take practice swings, some don’t. But be consistent in what you do every time before playing a shot.”
The pre-shot routine should be designed to eliminate tension and increase confidence.
“Visualize your shot and be confident,’ Martin stressed. “During your pre-shot routine, you should be thinking ‘I can make this putt’ or ‘I’m going to hit this shot on the green’. Never allow negative thoughts to interfere with your swing. If something happens to disturb your routine or concentration, back off the shot and start all over again.”
When a golfer gets ready to strike the ball, Martin says there should only be two things on his mind: the ball and the target – nothing else. The pre-shot routine – with or without the practice swings – is the time to visualize how you will make the shot.
Martin also teaches golfers to accept the fact that not all shots will be good.
“When you hit the ball, one of three things will happen,” he says. “It will be a good shot, an average shot or a poor shot relative to your ability. Golf is a game of miss-hits. When you do miss-hit a shot, so what? It should have absolutely no bearing on your next shot.”
Martin notes that there are two components of the pre-shot routine: the mental part where you focus, eliminate tension and build confidence; and the physical part – the fundamentals including club selection, the grip, aim, and set-up.
“This is where repetition becomes so important,” Martin stresses. “To give yourself the best chance to make a successful swing, focus exclusively on the task at hand: hitting this ball and that target.”
Martin said that the routine should be so structured that if you take two gentle practice swings, you should take exactly that many every time you approach the ball. Even on the practice range. Martin also stated that when practicing on the range, don’t hit 20 drives in a row unless you are working strictly on swing mechanics.
“Practice as you play,” he teaches. “Hit a driver, then a long iron, then a short iron, then hit another driver. This is how we play on the course. Switch clubs and switch targets often and always go through your routine.”
To increase your confidence, eliminate tension and to become a better player, establish a pre-shot routine. It worked for Nicklaus, and it can work for you.