What is your pre-shot routine?

Saw this and thought I'd share it.

Sandra Gal diary: Perfecting a Pre-shot routine

check lie,wind and gps

Choose club

address ball

gripfidget and regrip once or twice

2 waggles

forward press

Rip it

Seriously, though, mine is very similar to this.

I think pre-shot routine on pitching and putting are equally as important, too.

My putting routine (until I get around to Aimpoint):

Try to beat the other guys to the green to mark ball and get a read from front and back without causing slow play.

Final read from behind before picking a target a few feet in front of ball mark - line up ball at the target with the black sharpie line on my ball.

A few practice strokes from behind to get a subconscious feel for the speed.

Line putter up with black line on ball with right hand.

Step into stance with left foot.

Look at hole one more time, look back at ball, press putter forward slightly, make stroke.

Takes me between 10 and 15 seconds for all steps except the first.

Stand there and think about which way I am going to screw this shot up

I have a pretty short pre-shot routine, usually lasting under 25 seconds when I'm playing well.

- Set bag down about a foot to the right of my ball

- Grab laser and measure distance

- Select club, wipe and clean it with towel (and brush if needed)

- One practice swing just to the left of the ball to get a feel for the swing I need

- Step back, take a look at the target and visualize my shot

- Address the ball, pull the glove tight to my left thumb (it's always long in the thumb)

- Swing

Before it is my turn to hit, I check various things like conditions, lie, yardage, club, and an area I want to land the ball in. I suppose that is part of my pre shot routine.

When it's my turn to hit. I find that landing area again, take my stance, check my club face with my intermediate target, and then start my backswing. That's it. No waggles, no swing thoughts, or anything else. Just "dollar bills" is all that is in my brain during my swing. .

Great share I had days when pre shot routine works wonders on day and not so good another day unless I tweak it a bit One of the things I got from the article is that one purpose of PSR is to get one to feel positive about the shot at hand and to stop thinking If I'm thinking gotta slide my hip when I'm swinging it's not a positive thought If I'm thinking the apex of my shot. The landing shot. The pressure point in my fingers. The speed of my putt. The whoosh of my swing. Etc while I'm in motion then there is a better chance I will pull of the shot I want.

You guys are including a lot of things that aren't part of a traditional pre shot routine.  They may be part of getting ready to hit, but for me the pre shot routine doesn't start until I stand behind the ball, club in hand and pick my aiming line.  I pick a spot on that line about 3 feet in front of the ball, step up to the ball keeping my eye on that spot.  Once I'm set up parallel to that line, then I place the club, set my feet, finish my stance, turn my head back toward my right shoulder, then swing.

All of that other stuff, checking wind, GPS, cleaning club, etc. - none of that is pre shot routine because I don't need to do it every shot.  My pre shot routine is the stuff I do for every shot (that's why it's call a "routine") - tee shot, second and or approach shot, chip, putt.  I clean my club after I hit, not before, while the gunk is still soft and easy to wipe off.  I feel the wind and check distance, lie etc. - whatever is necessary for the shot - as I approach the ball.  Since I don't always have to do all of those things, I don't count them as part of the routine.  I grab the club and get ready to hit, but I don't start my actual routine until it's my turn to play - I just make sure that I'm as ready as I can be, depending on the relative positions of the balls in the group.

I  clean the club post shot.

I have to shoot the distance with my rangefinder on an approach shot.

1. Look at what is on the course - trouble spots & where I want to hit the ball. My stock shot is a draw, so I have to account for that ball path.

2. Feel the wind and look at what's happening down the course with it.

3. Check my lie. Select my club.

4. Take two practice swings

5. Pick my line - end point, then the line where I'm starting the ball. Pick an intermediate target.

6. Approach the ball and step into the shot. (tough one here - trust my decision)

7. Take a breath and let it out.

8. Swing & watch the shot.

9. Clean the club & put it back in the bag.

I actually laughed at this. Well done.

what is amusing* is that when i "learned" this routine almost 45 years ago is that i never thought of it as a "routine"... it just seemed like a natural way to do things... look where you want to go, "feel" the club, line it up, step in, sanity check, and whack it... there were about a dozen of us who were just a bunch of basically self taught kids who learned how to play golf by playing a ton of it... once a week the head pro would give us a freebie group lesson, usually short game related... * and a bit scary to think it was almost 45 years ago... :-O

It's funny, even though I've been religiously considering the swing paths thread and the fact that direction is determined by club face, I've never considered that I should aim my club face at my target. I always just think about my body and swing path. So happy I read this!

Part of my putting pre-shot routine used to be that the last thing I did was to look at the hole and draw my eyes back to the ball along the intended line imagining the speed and then take the putter back as part of a continuation of that line.

But I stopped doing that for some reason in the last month - I think I wasn't doing it when I was practicing. Now that I'm back to doing that I think my putting is better.

I've adopted the think box/play box strategy to my pre-shot routine.

Once I have the yardage, club, and landing spot picked I start my pre-shot routine.

I stand behind the ball in line with my expected landing area.  Here's where I visualize hitting the shot I want to hit and I pick a spot 1-2 feet in front of the ball that i'm going to aim my club face at.  This is usually really quick 5-10 seconds.

Once i'm confident in my shot selection and target I address the ball.  I aim my club face at my target I selected that is 1-2 feet away from my ball.  I then align my body to the target line. Then I make sure I'm in a reverse K.  Then I complete my stroke.

I want to do the same exact thing at the same exact pace every time.  It seems to be helping my game.