I don't have a pre-shot routine. Most times, I just look where I want to hit it, set up, and fire. Sometimes I take a practice swing, sometimes I don't. I'd like to develop a routine that I can use on the range and take to the course. Maybe kill some of the tension and help me block out all the swing thoughts and practice tips and doubts.

Any advice on developing one? What do you do, and more importantly, how did you decide on your routine?

I just look where I want to hit it, set up, and fire.

This is me. I take a single practice swing on pitches/chips.

I stand about 8' behind the ball and picture my shot. I watch it in my mind, how I want to hit it, the ball flight, how the wind will affect it and where I want it to land. Then I walk up to my ball getting my grip right as I approach it, then get my feet set to the target line, my hips set, then my shoulders. Then I fire away.

No practice swing, and the whole routine is quick (maybe 10-15 seconds).

I gave up on the practice swing years ago, as I felt like it really didn't help me. I have thought about re-introducing a quick practice swing to keep things loose, but I haven't played around with that yet.

After years of not having a routine and doing something different on every shot, I decided to find something consistent. So that's what I came up with.

My chipping routine is the same, but sometimes I'll use a couple of swings to get the feel right.

Whatever it is, make it quick. Mine is similar to above, approach from behind the ball to help with my alignment, do one shoulder tilt partial takeaway (just a foot or two, mostly to fight flipping the club inside too quickly) , and then pull the trigger. No practice swings.

Not much... probably should be something but really isnt. With a driver I usually take one practice swing to loosen and take a deep breath and let er rip.

Irons I probably take 2 practice swings on average to find the length of the club, feel the ground and the bottom of the swing.

Did some work on my driver pre-shot routine to help me fade it. This is what I came up with. It's pretty fast and I liked it. Can probably adapt it to irons pretty easily.

1. Aiming point is left side of fairway. When practicing use a tee. Otherwise imagine a tee or alignment stick on this line.
2. Align body and club to aiming point. Set up with left middle toe on the ball.
3. Keep club aligned to aiming point and grab the club with right hand. Take left hand grip then right hand grip. Palms opposed.
4. Wiggle, turn, and adjust feet, hips and shoulders until the ball is on the inside of the left big toe.
5. Calm wrists. Swing to hit it left of the imaginary alignment stick.

I like to think of every possible bad outcome. And to prove the power of the mind over matter, I'm usually able to execute one of them.

I've tried various things over the years (maybe that's the problem?), to no real effect. Honestly, I do best when simply standing over the ball for a few seconds and conjuring strong visuals of what a good shot would look like.

If interested, the impetus to this thread was thinking about basketball free throw routines, as well as pitching/hitting in baseball. There was always something I did to help me get out of my head in those sports. I never threw a curveball in a game where I spent any time on the mound thinking about which finger i needed to release the ball off of or where my arm angle should be. I worked on that in practice, but in the game, I just "threw a curve."

I've never treated a round of golf like it was a sport where I just go out there, empty my head, and swing. Instead, I am over the ball going through "swing thoughts" that have me worrying about angles and all kinds of mess. I want to hone those on the range, but then go out to the course, decide what to hit, and "clear the mechanism."

Seems like a good, short pre-shot routine could help me find that bubble to play in.

My singular goal is zero swing thoughts. Not sure if it helps, but I think it is more fun

I take 2 continuous swings back and forth tension free while looking at the target from behind the ball. Focus is on the tempo of the transition from backswing to downswing. Set up, 2 waggles and swing.

15 to 20 seconds

Oh... I think Tiger copied me... From the old Hartwell Golf course in Long Beach days.. When he was little

AggieDruggist89 said:

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I take 2 continuous swings back and forth tension free while looking at the target from behind the ball. Focus is on the tempo of the transition from backswing to downswing. Set up, 2 waggles and swing.

15 to 20 seconds

Oh... I think Tiger copied me... From the old Hartwell Golf course in Long Beach days.. When he was little

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I like this but I add a quick half backswing to parallel, shaft in line with my feet. Like JT or Nelly. I, like many, tend to wrap around the body a little too fast creating an over the top move.

MW03 said:

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If interested, the impetus to this thread was thinking about basketball free throw routines, as well as pitching/hitting in baseball. There was always something I did to help me get out of my head in those sports. I never threw a curveball in a game where I spent any time on the mound thinking about which finger i needed to release the ball off of or where my arm angle should be. I worked on that in practice, but in the game, I just "threw a curve."

I've never treated a round of golf like it was a sport where I just go out there, empty my head, and swing. Instead, I am over the ball going through "swing thoughts" that have me worrying about angles and all kinds of mess. I want to hone those on the range, but then go out to the course, decide what to hit, and "clear the mechanism."

Seems like a good, short pre-shot routine could help me find that bubble to play in.

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I have an old Scottish playing partner who told me about a system to get out of your head.

Stand behind ball. Decide on the shot. Decide setup. Decide everything. Setup everything you can in this box, with grip and anything else.

This is called the thinking box. There are no swings in the thinking box.

Stand up to the ball. Hit the ball.

This is called the hitting box. There is no thinking in the hitting box.

After I know the shot I want to do i get 8-10' behind the ball and unvelcro/revelcro my glove. That sound triggers go time. From that point on I am in my shot. Find a point a few feet in front of the ball and walk in at an angle still watching that spot. Rehearse the back swing 1 or two times and hit.

PharmD4 said:

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My go-to as follows: (doesn't work for everyone)
1. Decide on shot shape standing behind ball after getting a distance and checking wind
2. Envision shot behind ball while swinging club loosely
3. Approach the ball and establish alignment
4. Waggle
5. One last look at the target
6. Waggle
7. One more last look at the target
8. Pause (allows you to remember all the hazards and places that are dead)
9. One final last look at the target
10. Mis-hit
11. Repeat

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At about your step 8, one of our group behind you has yelled out, politely of course. "Let's go Sergio!"

Seriously. It would get a "Waiting on the 4 horse!!!" from my group

For me - alignment is key as misalignment with a good swing produces offline result or misalignment with an unconscious effort to compensate produces a bad swing that usually produces offline result. Watch some of the people you play golf with and you'll see many that are lined up 20-30 yards offline. For right hander who lines up right of target they have to come over the top to pull it back left. No way to play consistent like that.

Edit to say that a good golfer who knows they can rely on fade/draw can line up to play that...but most of us aren't in that category and would do better to align where we hope to direct the ball.

How you add alignment to your preshot is up to you.

Tension is my current enemy. I have had the tendency to somewhat freeze for maybe 5 seconds before pulling the trigger. I'm eliminating that with waggling and small shuffles of my feet (without changing position) and then just letting it rip without any pause that could reintroduce tension.

For me - part of my preshot sometimes changes based on the problem area of my swing I'm working on at the time. But how I align never changes.

khaos288 said:

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MW03 said:

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If interested, the impetus to this thread was thinking about basketball free throw routines, as well as pitching/hitting in baseball. There was always something I did to help me get out of my head in those sports. I never threw a curveball in a game where I spent any time on the mound thinking about which finger i needed to release the ball off of or where my arm angle should be. I worked on that in practice, but in the game, I just "threw a curve."

I've never treated a round of golf like it was a sport where I just go out there, empty my head, and swing. Instead, I am over the ball going through "swing thoughts" that have me worrying about angles and all kinds of mess. I want to hone those on the range, but then go out to the course, decide what to hit, and "clear the mechanism."

Seems like a good, short pre-shot routine could help me find that bubble to play in.

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I have an old Scottish playing partner who told me about a system to get out of your head.

Stand behind ball. Decide on the shot. Decide setup. Decide everything. Setup everything you can in this box, with grip and anything else.

This is called the thinking box. There are no swings in the thinking box.

Stand up to the ball. Hit the ball.

This is called the hitting box. There is no thinking in the hitting box.

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Thinking box & Playing box

Used by Annika Sorenstam and taught by her coach Pia Nielsen

https://www.vision54.com/

That was a good read.
I look at
Lie (flier, bare, buried, etc)
Obstacles to avoid
Wind
Target based on those
I used to just jump into the shot and forget about the flier lie or hidden headwind.
I grade myself on whether I evaluated all 4

Then stop thinking and swing. I will sometimes have one swing key, but never more than that.