• Welcome To ShotTalk.com!

    We are one of the oldest and largest Golf forums on the internet with golfers from around the world sharing tips, photos and planning golf outings.

    Registering is free and easy! Hope to see you on the forums soon!

Start to finish....Your pre-shot routine.

rolltherock

New Member
Dec 9, 2008
251
0
Since going to this routine and sticking to it my overall accuracy and greens in regulation has improved dramatically to the point that I expect to be close to scratch real soon.


I will be interested to see how you progress with this in your goal of scratch. I have been anywhere from a 2 to a 5 since my playing days in college, but to be scratch you can have zero weaknesses. I honestly don't think I can get below my 2.3 b/c my short game is as tight as I can imagine it getting and my ball striking is as good as I'm willing to work at it. Any more would require too much time....and quite honestly I don't think I have what it takes to get better even if I had the time. My newly found accuracy off the tee has helped me a bit, but going from a 3 to a 2 is like going from a 25 to a 10. Once you get around a 5 it's massive just to shave a single shot off your handi.

Keep up posted on your scratch endeavour......
 

JEFF4i

She lives!
Supporting Member
Jul 3, 2006
13,545
95
I will be interested to see how you progress with this in your goal of scratch. I have been anywhere from a 2 to a 5 since my playing days in college, but to be scratch you can have zero weaknesses. I honestly don't think I can get below my 2.3 b/c my short game is as tight as I can imagine it getting and my ball striking is as good as I'm willing to work at it. Any more would require too much time....and quite honestly I don't think I have what it takes to get better even if I had the time. My newly found accuracy off the tee has helped me a bit, but going from a 3 to a 2 is like going from a 25 to a 10. Once you get around a 5 it's massive just to shave a single shot off your handi.

Keep up posted on your scratch endeavour......

Zero weakness? Yes.

Zero mistakes? No.

And yes, routine can help immensily with getting your handicap down. I mean that is what its all about, right? Consistancy.
 

rolltherock

New Member
Dec 9, 2008
251
0
Zero weakness? Yes.

Zero mistakes? No.

And yes, routine can help immensily with getting your handicap down. I mean that is what its all about, right? Consistancy.

No doubt that a solid routine is something you find in all top amateurs. I play with a guy periodically when he invites me who has played in a few U.S. Amateur qualifying events. He plays off a zero and when I look at the difference between his game and mine of a current 2.3......it's really staggering how much better he is. We are dead even on and around the greens, but his ball striking is just on a completely different level. It's astounding what he does.

I just think "fisher" is going to be awfully shocked how NOT easy it is going to be to 'be around scratch' b/c he has a new routine. I don't know him nor do I know his index, but perhaps he is just that good where the only thing holding him back is a solid routine....I dunno.

As a point of reference: I have three 67's to my career credit and shot a 70 the week before Christmas......and I'm nowhere in the lithosphere of being near scratch. Some days like 6 weeks ago yes, I play to it. But you can't have even an off day with a 77 and keep a scratch.....you have to be breaking par most every round.

Even the best of players gets a case of massive sphincter-itis the first time they get a shot to shoot below par.....even for 9 holes. Heck I took 2 and 3 under to the 9th hole about 4 times before I did it. For a sub par round it was easier b/c I had done it for 9, but it's just an unreal stretch to live in the sub-par world routinely. Most Division I scholarship players are not scratch.....their stroke averages are well above par and let me tell you these kids can flat PLAY. We have a few kids here at my club who play collegiate golf and they freaking destroy me most days, unless the weather is bad and I can get in their 'kitchen'.

Anyway, best of luck to ya fisher. Keep us up to date on your progress....nothing is impossible....I hope you do it.
 

JEFF4i

She lives!
Supporting Member
Jul 3, 2006
13,545
95
I agree completely, I don't consider myself scratch and I can shoot in the 60s, but I also have shot in the 90s last year. Its a tricky thing, its not just being able to shoot it, but making 90% of your rounds (or better) shooting it.
 
OP
F

fisher

Well-Known Member
Nov 16, 2008
1,263
0
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #65
Last season I had it down to 7.3

With adding the new routine my accuracy with approach shots improved dramatically. I think it improved enough to take a significant amount of preasure off my short game. I implemented the change just after Thanksgiving and my GIR went up by about 3 more per round. Additionally I am finding that I am getting it much closer to the pin and I am able to get the ball on the proper quadrant of the green to make pars and birdies.

Previously I had no real method of aiming and alignment other than looking at where I wanted the ball to land. Now I am aiming off of a target 1 to 3 feet in front of the ball. The pro I work with has been trying to beat this aiming method into my head for months and I finally figured it out and got my mind wrapped around the concept.

The biggest things this aiming method has done is improved my consistancy from one day to the next. I think this will also help me tremendously when I am playing under pressure. Under pressure my mind starts to race and I would lose focus on that distant target. I think I will have a much easier time with aim and alignment under pressure now that I am aiming at a target right in front of the ball rather than 150 yards away. In the past I was a fire and ice type of player because my aim and alignment were all by feel. If I wasn't on I would be scrambling all day then all of a sudden something might click and next thing you know I'm hitting just about every green. Sometimes I could have it going for 2 days before it would vanish other times it would last 2 weeks. I'm hoping now I will play on a much more even keel.

Perhaps scratch is a dream but with the changes I am making and with some improvements with my chipping and putting cutting 5 strokes a round off my scores is definately reasonable and seven might not be out of the question.

PS. The way this economy is going I'm hoping I can continue to be living the carefree golf lifestyle I had the last few years. If business doesn't improve soon this summer I will be busting my ass rather than practicing my ass off like last year.
 

rolltherock

New Member
Dec 9, 2008
251
0
Fisher I know the 'buzz' you feel about your new routine. Don't lose it, keep the fires burning. This is a little reward for unlocking another piece of the puzzle to golf's master vault. Congrats. However, when the reality sets in on the gap between 7.3 and just shaving it down to 5.....don't lose focus. The journey from 20 to 7.3 was far and away easier than it will be to shave single shots off now. You are approaching the area of index where progression slows rapidly in terms of numbers dropping, but the difficulty and focus go up disproportionately. Golf is a game of opposites: hit down to go up.....and the closer you get to the hole the harder it gets. Short game will always separate the players from the ball strikers only. If my short game suddenly left me I would go to an 9 overnight.....easily.

Keep your enthusiasm and don't get discouraged. The fact you think you can do it is all that matters......b/c if you don't think you can you never will.
 

JEFF4i

She lives!
Supporting Member
Jul 3, 2006
13,545
95
Ahhh, sorry Fisher, I know I'm kind of pissing in your cheerios. Keep on trucking man!
 

Golfgal

Well-Known Member
Jul 23, 2008
20
0
Love this topic!

I wrote a post about this as I really believe the mental side of the pre-shot routine is the most important.

But here's a subset of that post if you don't want to read about pink elephants...

1) I start my pre-shot routine at the bag - not after I choose the club to hit, but before. In the past, I just grabbed a club that I liked because I didn't trust the clubs that caused me trouble in the past. So, I'd often overclub and try to hit half a swing. Guess what happened... :-( Now I tell myself to pick the "right" club and trust it - really trust it. It's the right club - it's the right thing to do - so...do the right thing! You can do this - just do it!

2) Then I focus on where I want to hit a shot and I even say it out loud in my pre-shot routine standing behind the ball. I visualize even the draw/fade of the shot and the arc/height the ball will take.

3) I slow everything down - my walking, my breathing and my swing. I make sure my practice swing feels really really good and only then do I let myself hit the ball. It doesn't really take any longer from a time perspective, but it really helps me relax. (I am a stickler for fast pace of play!)

4) Then, if I hit a bad shot (which are fewer because of 1, 2 and 3 above), I try to laugh and say to who ever is listening "Now here's an opportunity to prove what a great scrambler I am." Always try and find a funny or positive thing to say OR say nothing. But even if you say nothing, you're talking in your head, so try and say anything positive. Laughter is the best - just LOL!

5) In putting, I really focus on what is happening on the green as I walk up to the putting surface - I look at slope, grain, etc. I watch as others chip up on the green to see how their ball behaves once it has landed. So when I go to line up my putt, I have a good feel for speed and line already. I make one practice swing, look at the hole just once (like Aaron Baddeley does) and say to myself, "This is going in."

It's almost like Vijay - I just try to keep telling myself I'm the greatest putter in the world! LOL!

Does it work? Who knows? But it doesn't hurt and I walk off the course smiling and that's a good thing!

Golfgal
 

stllefty

Well-Known Member
Dec 30, 2008
100
17
St. Louis Missouri
Country
United States United States
Pre shot,--Salt the nap of the left hand and lick , keeping the elbow at a 45 degree angle
set the weight back, tilt the head to the rear , apply the left hand
and contenst of glass to the lips ,gulp,,, with the right hand apply lemon slice
to mouth and bite. Works every time:hunter:Thats my pre shot,and shot:bang:
 

🔥 Latest posts

Top