Swing Thoughts

[Newbie Collection Agency]

A pretty simple question. When you stand over the ball whether it be you drive or a chip shot or a putt.
What are you thinking? 1-2-3 hit? I am going to kill this little white ball? I have a problem with this part of my game. I have a couple self help golf books and they say you should have a pre shot routine. Still I try to tug my ear hit my self in the foot with my club before every shot and I still cant find any type of rhythm? Wondering if any one has a simple plan for this.

Randy

[hig4s]

A pretty simple question. When you stand over the ball whether it be you drive or a chip shot or a putt.

Don't think, just swing. sort of a smart-alec answer, but truthfully, the less I think, the better I hit.

[Guest]

I repeat a specific tune in my head that matches the rhythym of my swing...Sounds weird but it works...It keeps my tempo consistent...

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[ipseity]

What i do is i keep a rythem going.. i rock my club back and forward, try to keep my head clear, line it up, and hit the ball.. If i do this, then i dont think to much about hitting it.

[Rafcin]

A lot of pro's (if you watch "Lessons from a Pro" on TGC) are talking about "key thoughts". I adopted this approach. Preshot routine happens first of course, including 2 practice swings (more if doesn't feel right). Once ready to fire I go through my "key" list (which might change as the day progesses, depending on what's my swing issue that day). Usually I start with (assuming driver tee shot):
1. start low to the ground
2. turn around my spine w/o angle change
3. keep the head "behind" the ball on the follow-through

( Most of the time my next swing thought is : Oh boy, I think I nailed that house, FOOOOORE!!!!!! )

[King Cobra]

A pretty simple question. When you stand over the ball whether it be you drive or a chip shot or a putt.

When I'm putting I say 'one thousand and one' to get my putting tempo no matter how long or short the putt is. I hardly ever 3 putt.

Before hitting my irons and driver I always envision where on the fairway I am going to put it. Whenever I have a fear of OOO's or swimming, that is exactly where I put. So pre-shot thoughts are important and can affect your result.

[NCGolfer]

2. turn around my spine w/o angle change

I have to echo this in a big way. Just over the past year or so, I've learned that this is a big part of what can break down during the course of a swing. A lot of my focus has come back to simply turning around the spine and not letting it come up during the backswing or down during the downswing. Part of my pre-shot routine is a long waggle similar to what Mike Weir has. The sole purpose of it is to remind myself to turn around the spine during the first few moments of the takeaway. If I do this, usually I make a good swing. Failure to do this is usually the cause of hitting shots fat or thin. "Keep your head down" should be revised to "Don't move your spine angle".

So to get back to topic...usually I try and clear my head and only think of the target I want to hit and the flight of the ball I want. If I think of anything mechanical, it is Rafcin's #2.

[Peter_in_Atl]

Relax

Loose grip

Flex the right knee

Take it back easy

[gripitandripit]

I have a tendency to hit pulls with my irons, so my one thought is to keep my right shoulder down through the ball. If I ever have more than one swing thought, I usually hit it bad. I agree with the other posts that say the less thinking the better.

[Rafcin]

...less thinking the better.

what a surprising statement from somebody who picked the nickname "gripitandripit" !

[realed]

Funny. After going through multiple swing thoughts about my mechanics then hitting a bad shot, my next swing thought becomes "grip it and rip it"...95% I end up fine.

[muskegman]

Funny. After going through multiple swing thoughts about my mechanics then hitting a bad shot, my next swing thought becomes "grip it and rip it"...95% I end up fine.

It is so easy to get caught in the "peralysis of analysis" and have your mind filled with too many thoughts. I find if I just tell myself "relax and hit the thing" I usually do a lot better.