Thinking about your pre-shot routine versus completing it subconsciously

[kiawah]

Looking for some input from tournament guys in particular, but happy to field replies from anyone with thoughts.

 

I would say my pre-shot routine is pretty consistent, and my primary goal is to have my target already picked out so I can focus on one thought over the ball. But I'm definitely not 100% consistent on how I get there with my full swings. My goal is to really minimize the amount of time I spend over the ball to avoid freezing up or getting tense. 

 

My question is, do you guys go through a mental checklist on every shot (i.e., find the number, adjust for wind/lie/slope, pick a spot, visualize the shot, practice swing, grip the club, align yourself, waggle, let it rip), or just go through the motions subconsciously? How did you guys go about getting your routine more consistent without consciously thinking about it too much? Just reps over time? Reps on the range?

 

My problem is that when I actively try to be 100% consistent and miss a step on my routine or don't complete it perfectly, I shift into judgmental mode and it becomes more of a distraction on the shot I'm trying to hit than an asset. Would love to hear about how you were able to refine your own processes. 

[kool-aid]

for me assessing the shot is conscious, but once I'm set up over it it's all automatic

[kiawah]

2 minutes ago, kool-aid said:

for me assessing the shot is conscious, but once I'm set up over it it's all automatic

Think I need to be more definitive with the idea of the "think box" behind the ball and the "play box" at the ball/addressing the ball. I'm pretty good about being automatic or subconscious when I'm at the ball, but occasionally my brain will get a little bit cluttered up somewhere in between. I think I need to worry less about the number of practice swings and that kind of thing and more about formulating a concrete plan behind the ball so I can just react/be "athletic" once I am over it

[getitdaily]

I don't recall how it evolved but this is mine...

 

1. Get yardage to pin and location of pin (front/back/middle) - put glove on during this step 

2. Assess yardage adjustments; wind, uphill/downhill

3. Determine where the miss needs to be and what shot shape to hit (90% should be stock ahot)

4. Pull club and immediately start tour tempo tones in my head

5. Take 2 small practice swings. These are half swings that help me feel a specific move I intend to replicate 

6. Pick a target and walk up to the ball IN THE RHYTHM/TEMPO of the tour tempo tones I'm still repeating in my head

7. Still in tour tempo rhythm, address the ball, waggle, go.

 

Once I start to address the ball, I'll go through 2 tour tempo tone cycles before I hit. Each cycle is the 3 "beeps". Cycle 1 is set the club behind the ball and set my feet. Cycle 2 is waggle and look at my target, then waggle again, then go.

 

Makes my course swing almost all tempo and barely any technique. 

[naval2006]

I try to keep everything as simple as possible, especially in competition. Very simple and very repetitive. Same with swing thoughts. I try not to give room to thoughts or any internal talks.  If it feels like a radio on I know I’m in trouble. I play by feel so I don’t assess my shots so thoroughly, I focus more on feeling my body for the shot I need. I know this is personal and more analytical people function differently. 
 

One of my buddies has a famous checklist. I sometimes repeat it for him while we walk to the ball. 

[CoachRich]

So much to go through here. But only you can decide the amount of info you feel is sufficient.  I'd say it comes across as if you are possibly missing or mixing up the point of the whole "routine" thing.  It is not a task in and of itself, but rather a mode or so that is how I see it and coach it.

Best thing I can say is straight from the ladies in Arizona. Whatever you do, perfect or not 

 

DECIDE .  COMMIT  .  SWING  !!!

Edited April 8, 2024 by CoachRich

[me05501]

I've been reading "The Practice Manual" by Adam Young. It's got a lot of interesting ideas in it. It's a little hard to separate which if his ideas are science-based and which are from his personal experience coaching and playing but the ideas are interesting nonetheless. 

 

In Adam's opinion there are several different areas where a player can focus his attention at any given time. Some work better than others depending on the player and the situation. Are you practicing or playing? Playing casually or in a comp? Trying to learn something new or grooving something old? Each of these situations can call for a specific type of focus. 

 

"Internal focus" is thinking about your body. Where your foot pressure is or the position of your trail elbow would be examples of internal focus. 

 

"External focus" is closely related but different in a critical way. It is the opposite side of your internal focus. For example if your internal focus is "apply pressure through my lead heel" the external focus would be "pressure the ground under my lead heel." Different people will respond better or worse to one or the other. 

 

There are three other types of focus including something akin to "the zone" where you are in state of unconscious competence. 

 

The more I read the more aligned these ideas seem to be with modern sports psychology as proffered by Rotella et al. 

 

[skim4]

I feel like the entirety of the pre shot routine should be consistent and sub conscious. 
 

this doesn’t mean that you can’t think while going through the motions. But those motions should be automatic. 
 

having a conscious check list as a pre shot routine is not good for stressful pressure Golf. 
 

example : 

getting the yardage should be automatic even if thinking about the yardage is conscious thought. 

telling yourself that you need to check the yardage from a check list is not subconscious. 
 

A checklist done the same way over and over should become subconscious. So you don’t need to think about it anymore. 
 

that’s my two cents. Worth even less. 
 

 

 

[kiawah]

55 minutes ago, me05501 said:

I've been reading "The Practice Manual" by Adam Young. It's got a lot of interesting ideas in it. It's a little hard to separate which if his ideas are science-based and which are from his personal experience coaching and playing but the ideas are interesting nonetheless. 

 

In Adam's opinion there are several different areas where a player can focus his attention at any given time. Some work better than others depending on the player and the situation. Are you practicing or playing? Playing casually or in a comp? Trying to learn something new or grooving something old? Each of these situations can call for a specific type of focus. 

 

"Internal focus" is thinking about your body. Where your foot pressure is or the position of your trail elbow would be examples of internal focus. 

 

"External focus" is closely related but different in a critical way. It is the opposite side of your internal focus. For example if your internal focus is "apply pressure through my lead heel" the external focus would be "pressure the ground under my lead heel." Different people will respond better or worse to one or the other. 

 

There are three other types of focus including something akin to "the zone" where you are in state of unconscious competence. 

 

The more I read the more aligned these ideas seem to be with modern sports psychology as proffered by Rotella et al. 

 

Thanks for this. I am a pretty competitive amateur that played in college so I'm pretty familiar with these concepts.

I try to spend very little energy on the golf course thinking about "internal focus." I'm a horrible golf swing player but I like to think I am a decent golfer. There is a big difference. I'm not sure where I read it but I recall advice about spending at least 60% of your practice time in competition mode where you're just doing things as you would on the course and not working on/thinking about mechanics. That has helped me a lot. I give myself one swing thought, and that's it. Almost always, it's just "shift your weight (in the backswing)" or "let the ball get in the way." I've gotten pretty good at being unconsciously competent on my driver swings, short game and putting, and the main key for me there is just not caring where the ball ends up. I think I am often really tempted to try too hard to hit a good one from 100-200 yards to try to set myself up for a good shot or hit it in a certain place. 

[kiawah]

1 hour ago, CoachRich said:

So much to go through here. But only you can decide the amount of info you feel is sufficient.  I'd say it comes across as if you are possibly missing or mixing up the point of the whole "routine" thing.  It is not a task in and of itself, but rather a mode or so that is how I see it and coach it.

Best thing I can say is straight from the ladies in Arizona. Whatever you do, perfect or not 

 

DECIDE .  COMMIT  .  SWING  !!!

I think you're dead on with this assessment. I don't think I've been going about it correctly in the sense that I am trying too hard to "perform" with my routine rather than prepare myself for the shot at hand. On my best days I am very present on the shot I am trying to hit, but on my worst days I am too worried about "checking the boxes" or doing the same thing I did last time rather than thinking about what I need to do on the one in front of me. Kind of a paralysis by analysis kind of thing. Recently, with my putting, I have committed to the idea of going with my first read no matter what I see afterwards. I find that it really helps me to avoid any second-guessing, and even if I miss, I don't care as long as I stick to my read and execute to that read. I think I will probably try to do the same thing on every shot, go with my first instinct of the club I think suits the shot, stick with it no matter what, and just go hit the next one after I'm done, regardless of the result. 

 

I love the "decide commit swing" idea. Might have to steal that. 

[naval2006]

1 hour ago, CoachRich said:

So much to go through here. But only you can decide the amount of info you feel is sufficient.  I'd say it comes across as if you are possibly missing or mixing up the point of the whole "routine" thing.  It is not a task in and of itself, but rather a mode or so that is how I see it and coach it.

Best thing I can say is straight from the ladies in Arizona. Whatever you do, perfect or not 

 

DECIDE .  COMMIT  .  SWING  !!!

This is sheer gold.
 

Commitment is like magic: you make your best effort to hit it pure or swing it through to the end or putt to the spot and there are a lot of good shots. You just hit it to avoid the burden or you’re not fully convinced and your shots are ALWAYS bad. This is particularly so on tournament day. 

[vman]

PSR needs to be practised to become subconscious. I trained it years ago with a station using alignment aids including one for ball position. I had a mark behind the ball approx 2 club lengths and would just rehearse always starting from this mark. Right foot perpendicular and align club face (left foot back) then left foot in for ball position and right foot for width of stance; 2 waggles press and go. It looks natural but it was drilled to be so and takes almost exactly the same time for all full shots.

Pre shot judgement is conscious, starts with lie, then assessing conditions, slope, elevation, wind, firmness of greens, landing yardage, etc.

[kiawah]

19 minutes ago, naval2006 said:

This is sheer gold.
 

Commitment is like magic: you make your best effort to hit it pure or swing it through to the end or putt to the spot and there are a lot of good shots. You just hit it to avoid the burden or you’re not fully convinced and your shots are ALWAYS bad. This is particularly so on tournament day. 

100%. It's funny because you can live with yourself so much easier if you commit and screw up as opposed to the alternative. But it's so hard to resist the urge to just try to get a shot over with/easy to lose focus on one and not want to step off and suddenly you're dropping for 4 or putting for 6. It's not so much the committing itself that I find hard, it's going through the steps to put yourself in the right headspace to commit, AND being willing to step off if anything doesn't feel quite right.