Practice swings.

[passintime]

When I first started I took a lot of practice swings. Now that I have a swing that is fairly consistent, I don't. I find it wears me out, especially in the hot summer.

[WUTiger]

OP: Your poll would have been better with more categories, such as partial shots only.

For full shots, I'll generally do a waggle or two just to relieve tension and help set my hands.

For partial shots, especially from the rough, I'll take a couple of practice swings to get the feel of the turf, and to make sure I can keep my balance. Lots of time, practice swing tells me the turf is either denser or drier than it looks by eye.

[Zeph]

I do for every shot, except when putting. Could probably play without too, but it has become a habit. For me, I want to get the feeling of the club I'm hitting, and giving the one swing thought for my round a test. I don't stand up to the ball and swing like a full shot. It's more a swing in the air just to loosen up and get the feeling of the club. Kinda like you see on TV, just a smooth swing.

[Vintage]

Depends.

If I am hitting a wood off a tee, I'll take a practice swing. If its an iron, I don't (I have more confidence in my irons). When I am putting, chipping, or pitching, I'll take a couple of quick practice strokes and then hit.

[Leftygolfer]

I am not very consistant if I do or don't. Around the green pitching or chiping, always. I try to assess the lie and figure out what kind of swing I need to make to have the results I want. I do this right beside the ball. It might just be one or three. If the first one seems perfect then I step in and it is gone. On the tee, usually. It is around half speed behind the ball. Irons, depends.

It seems to help me to take practice swings. One thing that I notice with good players (played with two yesterday) they seem to take a practice swing before every shot.

[msd3075]

I take practice swings, but it changes depending on what shot it is I'm taking:

Driving - I'll take 3-4 swings at about 50% just to make sure I have the correct feeling on my transition into my downswing. I have a bad habit of coming over the top, and doing this helps me get the proper feel I need to make a good swing.

Irons - I'll take maybe one or two 50% swings just to loosen up, but that's abotu it.

Pitch/Chip - I'll sometime take a dozen practice swings just to make sure I get the proper feel and tempo I need. All these shots for me are all based on touch to get the right distance, and I mentally can't hit the ball until I feel like I've got the shot figured out.

Putting - I never make a practice stroke. Ever.

[CarlSpackler]

I take one or two on short game shots for feel and 1 on putt, otherwise no.

[zeg]

I always take at least 15 full practice swings WITH divots, to make sure I hit the ball cleanly when the real shot comes up. I think the grounds crew should EARN their money, so I don't fill 'em in either.

Just kidding. I voted 'yes,' but really it's 'sometimes.' I usually take soft, partial practice swings while standing behind my ball, really just back to arms no more than hip high, then through impact trying to remember the feel I want on the real stroke while looking at my target. If I've been hitting badly, or if it's the first wood or driver shot in a while, I'll sometimes do a full practice swing just to loosen up, but that's rare. When I'm playing well, like others above, I find that there's no need for a practice swing. When something is wrong, though, I might try to fix it on the practice swing so I can clear my head on the real thing.

[PitaRamos]

On the tee, never. I set my ball, back off 2 steps, look at the ball, and then step up and hit. If I practice swing, then I start thinking and that is not good for me. For anything else, I will take practice swings until I have what I want, sometimes takes 1, sometimes 4.

[markpf189]

I usually just do a light swinging motion to loosen up, I don't like making divots when it's not needed.

[golfro]

always do 1/2 or 3/4 practice swings. mostly out of habit but it also helps me gather my thoughts on my swing.

[misty_mountainhop]

I do, although as others have said, it's not really often a 'proper' practice swing. I tend to make a 1/2 or 3/4 practice swing while picking my target from behind the ball just to get a feel for the rhythm/tempo I want. I'll also usually do a couple of quick practice swings for chips to get a feel for the shot.

[atrapasuenos]

I answered yes, I don't make a full swing, just trying to feel comfortable with my grip and turn. I don't want to think when I'm ready to hit the ball. When I have a half wedge distance, a chip or a pitch shot, I make practice swings that I feel will be a nice shot, then hit.

Cheers!

[Kamas]

I do. Usually it is a 3/4 of the swing I will be doing.. For me, it is to loosen up and a confidience thing.

[Steelers2056]

I usually do, But it's mostly just a mini swing to make sure I'm hitting the ground properly on the bottom of my swing since I have trouble with topping it. I can usually do that without taking any unnecessary divots.

[Radford Wooly]

To loosen up and play the shot out in my head.

[6iron]

Driver - One practice swing
Fairway woods and irons - Two or three practice swings.

[Where's the Cart Girl?]

I have never found it helpful to take a practice swing on a full shot, so I don't. I do take a couple of practice swings on pitches/chips/sand shots to get the feel of the shortened swing, swing speed and path.

Yes. This. I followed up enough good practice swings with terrible shots early on to phase that out of my routine. Now I only rehearse feel shots or punches. I practice swing with the putter though.