Pre-Shot Routines

[Spyder]

Hopefully, more of the guys who participated in the Poll post a response to this thread with details of their routine so that we can make sense of the results. 10 seconds is definitely a short period of time compared to what I see 90% of the time on the course. If I timed myself though, I would  probably come out to around <=15 seconds on average I believe.

[Golfingdad]

All of the prep stuff is done ahead of time, fruquently before it's my turn.  So, I'm standing there with my club in hand, waiting for somebody else to hit.  The routine starts once that guy's ball has landed, and I'd say I'm probably right around 10 seconds.  All I do is take a deep breath and find my target from behind the ball, walk up to it, sometimes take practice swing (tension breaker kind of thing - not focusing on anything), then line up to the ball (this is where I unsuccessfully try to clear my head of all extraneous thoughts), and take a Mike Weir style half swing, then fire.

[MS256]

Pretty sure I take at least 15 to 20 seconds to stand behind the ball, make a practice swing trying to simulate the shot I intend to hit, find an intermediate target a foot or two in front of my ball, walk in and align my toe line parallel to the line formed by the ball and the intermediate target with the club face aiming at that target, and make the swing.

On certain short game shots, especially out of the rough, I take a little longer because I normally make a few extra practice swings in some similar grass to where my ball is to get a feel for the grass and the ground.

On the greens I probably also take 15 to 20 seconds after I have made my read and am standing behind the ball (also looking for an intermediate target if something is obvious). If the greens are too perfect and I don't see something to use for an intermediate target I have to go with visualizing a line from the ball to where I would have liked to see an intermediate target for alignment.

I don't spend much time at all reading putts and most of the time my first instinct is the best anyway. Spending too much time reading it usually lets me talk myself out of what I should have done.

BTW I am a very fast player so evidentally the 15 to 20 seconds doesn't make very much difference in a round of golf.

[bplewis24]

Hypothetical scenario:

I outdrive my opponent by 15 yards.  My ball is left-center of the fairway, his ball is dead center.  While waiting for him to hit, I walk ahead to my ball to get my distance while standing in the left rough so as to not bother him.  I am about 12 yards away from my ball.  I have my club selected and am ready to hit by the time he is at address.  He takes his shot.

When does my "pre-shot routine" timing begin?

[Golfingdad]

Originally Posted by bplewis24

Hypothetical scenario:

I outdrive my opponent by 15 yards.  My ball is left-center of the fairway, his ball is dead center.  While waiting for him to hit, I walk ahead to my ball to get my distance while standing in the left rough so as to not bother him.  I am about 12 yards away from my ball.  I have my club selected and am ready to hit by the time he is at address.  He takes his shot.

When does my "pre-shot routine" timing begin?

Depends on who you are talking about.  Is Beachcomber your opponent?  If so, this hypothetical doesn't make any sense as you would be outdriving him by a minimum of 30 yards all day long.

My answer hinged on my pre-shot routine beginning once I got behind the ball and told myself "alright, time to do this."  Usually at the same time ... a deep breath.

[BostonBrew]

I understood pre-shot routine to mean the repetitive process you perform before every shot. I didn't include selecting my club, walking off the yardage, etc. My pre-shot routine starts when I'm standing behind the ball and I'm clear to take my shot. The word routine should eliminate a lot of these questions.

[tmac20]

2 light practice swings beside the ball, step back a few yards, come in from behind the ball, 2 half-waggles, swing.

[Fourputt]

Originally Posted by tmac20

2 light practice swings beside the ball, step back a few yards, come in from behind the ball, 2 half-waggles, swing.

In other words, at least 30 seconds.

[Valleygolfer]

I tee up the ball. Then I go hide in the bushes and scope out the ball with my periscope until I think it is not looking, this might take 2-10 minutes. Then I jump up  and yell attack!!! Smack it on the run.

Okay I stand behind the ball and pick an aimpoint. Address the ball and set up, slight waggle insinuating the backswing. Then take my swing. Prob 10-15 secs

[rehmwa]

Originally Posted by Valleygolfer

I tee up the ball. Then I go hide in the bushes and scope out the ball with my periscope until I think it is not looking, this might take 2-10 minutes. Then I jump up  and yell attack!!! Smack it on the run.

So a combo of Duffner's and Bradley's routine then?

[Valleygolfer]

[QUOTE name="Valleygolfer" url="/t/67115/pre-shot-routines/18#post_846158"] I tee up the ball. Then I go hide in the bushes and scope out the ball with my periscope until I think it is not looking, this might take 2-10 minutes. Then I jump up  and yell attack!!! Smack it on the run. [/QUOTE] So a combo of Duffner's and Bradley's routine then?

Yep. Fake it until you make it is my motto. ;)

[meenman]

I line up, step back a foot, take a practice swing and step up and hit.

We had to bite our tongues last weekend during a tourney as one of our friends would step up, take 2-3 practice swings, stand there for what felt like forever and then back off and repeat.

It seems like guys that are in the middle of lessons are the slowest guys out there. That kind of pre-shot routine may be fine if you are a single digit handicap, but when you are barely playing double bogey golf, it can get kind of annoying. (and that could have been his strategy to throw us off)

[Second Chance]

See the shot, find my intermediate target. Pause, breath...see the shot landing close to the pin. Sometimes I take a practice swing...but it's only to get the muscles ready to hit. I line up, look at my target, return my eyes to the ball...see the target in my mind. I look back at the ball...find a dimple, look at the target...back to the dimple, feel a solid impact in my hands, back to the target waggle, back to the dimple, SWING!!!

[bplewis24]

While some pre-shot routines do annoy me, I probably get more annoyed with people who take 2-3 minutes to putt.  During this past weekend's 6-hour round I spoke of in another thread, there was a lady in the group ahead of me that I could see plum-bobbing every mid-ranged putt, even the come-backers at times.  Eventually I noticed a gap between their group and the group in front of them, and part of it was because how long they were taking on the green.  A lot of time seems wasted on greens.

[Spyder]

Originally Posted by bplewis24

While some pre-shot routines do annoy me, I probably get more annoyed with people who take 2-3 minutes to putt.  During this past weekend's 6-hour round I spoke of in another thread, there was a lady in the group ahead of me that I could see plum-bobbing every mid-ranged putt, even the come-backers at times.  Eventually I noticed a gap between their group and the group in front of them, and part of it was because how long they were taking on the green.  A lot of time seems wasted on greens.

I see this a lot with people I play with. They typically look away from their putt in disgust when they know it's going to miss and they pay no mind to how it is breaking once it passes the hole. Or, they were just oblivious to it in general and didn't pay attention.

I once had to ask a playing partner if I could mention something, which he then said "Sure..". I asked him if he paid attention to the ball beyond the hole and he said "No, why?". I told him to simply consider the line that the ball took, with the speed as well, and simply reverse it to have a better idea of where to putt the ball. He actually stopped and said "I never thought of it that way... I took every putt as a new putt". This was part of his putting routine. He stooped down to every single putt, every single time, and approached it on a clean slate.

[Golfingdad]

Originally Posted by Spyder

I see this a lot with people I play with. They typically look away from their putt in disgust when they know it's going to miss and they pay no mind to how it is breaking once it passes the hole. Or, they were just oblivious to it in general and didn't pay attention.

I once had to ask a playing partner if I could mention something, which he then said "Sure..". I asked him if he paid attention to the ball beyond the hole and he said "No, why?". I told him to simply consider the line that the ball took, with the speed as well, and simply reverse it to have a better idea of where to putt the ball. He actually stopped and said "I never thought of it that way... I took every putt as a new putt". This was part of his putting routine. He stooped down to every single putt, every single time, and approached it on a clean slate.

I'm still not sure if this is a really good idea or not.  I guess if it's a relatively straight putt and I'm not sure if it's going to go left or right, it would help to keep an eye on it.  But as far as the subtlties are concerned, it seems like a bad idea, simply because the ball is breaking more and more as it slows down.  So let's say you hit one 4 feet past and it was pretty straight, then during the last 12" it broke 6" to the left.  If you aim 6" to the left on your way back, chances are that you aren't going to be remotely close to the hole.

So I am very cautious with this information.  That said, my lag putting sucks and I'm usually miles short so it is irrelevant for me ;)

[Meltdwhiskey]

Originally Posted by bplewis24

While some pre-shot routines do annoy me, I probably get more annoyed with people who take 2-3 minutes to putt.  During this past weekend's 6-hour round I spoke of in another thread, there was a lady in the group ahead of me that I could see plum-bobbing every mid-ranged putt, even the come-backers at times.  Eventually I noticed a gap between their group and the group in front of them, and part of it was because how long they were taking on the green.  A lot of time seems wasted on greens.

Agreed!  I think this is where people get slow.  Lining up putts, from every angle, fixing marks, clearing the line (in the fall especially), squatting down, plumb bobbing (which I don’t think actually even works with offset shafted putters), marking the ball every time even when it isn’t remotely in anyone’s way, cleaning the ball – even if there doesn’t seem to be dirty/wet, lining up the little line on the ball perfectly.  It really seems excessive.

I guess some of that is not pre-shot routine, but it is overboard.  I know a few guys who consider themselves decently fast players – and they are plenty fast, until they get to the green that is.  I’m not sure it even helps their game.

Difference in philosophy I guess – and I’m not trying to tell someone to be like me, but it seems to go best when you just think of it as a crooked stick and a ball.  Let your instinct take over a little.  I think it would make golf faster if there was a playclock on the greens.  I don’t think the 30-sec routines on the fairway shots are as bad of time killers.

[Ernest Jones]

Originally Posted by Spyder

I see this a lot with people I play with. They typically look away from their putt in disgust when they know it's going to miss and they pay no mind to how it is breaking once it passes the hole. Or, they were just oblivious to it in general and didn't pay attention.

I once had to ask a playing partner if I could mention something, which he then said "Sure..". I asked him if he paid attention to the ball beyond the hole and he said "No, why?". I told him to simply consider the line that the ball took, with the speed as well, and simply reverse it to have a better idea of where to putt the ball. He actually stopped and said "I never thought of it that way... I took every putt as a new putt". This was part of his putting routine. He stooped down to every single putt, every single time, and approached it on a clean slate.

Haha. Could you actually see the light bulb above his head flicker to life as he grokked it?

Putting is literally the ONE thing I do very well in this game (avg. 29.6 putts per round this year, 14 putts my last two 9 hole rounds) and if there is one thing I would tell everyone about putting it is to BE AWARE of everything when you're preparing for and executing a putt. Don't stop drinking in the information until the ball is in the hole. Every stroke you take is giving you more info on speed and break, let your brain drink it in and process it subconsciously and then visualize, visualize, stroke.

It least, that's the way I do it. YMMV.