Arizona Women's Golf Association

Just playing:

The Golfer’s Pre-Shot Routine

By Chris Dorris, Performance Psychologist

Many times my students have asked me, “What’s all this talk about pre-shot routines?” Why is it so important to go through all these steps before I hit my ball, anyway? Can’t I just go ahead and hit it without having to worry about doing all this stuff?

These are good questions. Recently, I was doing some mental game work with a gentleman who is a scratch golfer. He came to me because his performance in tournaments had gradually worsened. He noticed his practice rounds were great, but when it came to competition, he was falling apart. Something he said to me really stood out: “When I was a youngster playing golf, and when I was playing in college, I never had any routine. I just played. And I played great.”

That’s a powerful statement, and I’ll tell you why. When he was younger, he was not very concerned with what his score was going to be during his rounds. At that time in his life, each round – whether it was alone, with friends, or a big tournament – was no different from any other. Each was an opportunity to play golf and have fun. It was an opportunity to use his creativity at times to invent new shots, to set new personal records, and most importantly, enjoy himself doing what he truly loved…playing golf.

“What changed?” I asked him. As it turned out, what was different was that he had changed his approach to the game. No longer was he “just playing.” See, he changed his thinking. He went from looking forward to tournaments as opportunities to succeed, to dreading them because they were opportunities for failure. Over time, he paid less and less attention to how well he was doing, and more and more attention to his mistakes or shortcomings. This change happened very gradually over a long period of time. We quickly decided it would be a good idea to get back to his first approach.

The method I recommended to get back to the “just playing” approach involved a few things. Among them were: playing several consecutive rounds without keeping score, choosing to recall only his great shots while completely ignoring the others, and creating and using a good, solid pre-shot routine.

Let’s talk about the routine. The reason I recommended developing a solid, repeatable routine is that in doing the same set of confidence-building steps before each and every shot, he will soon be feeling the same kind of confidence he had before each shot when he was younger. You see, a good routine is made up of a series of repeatable steps, each of which raises confidence one more notch. After he practices his new routine for a while, it will become ”routine”, or second nature, and he will get back to believing that each shot he is about to take is going to be a good one. When he believes, then his chances of creating a great shot have tremendously increased.

Routines eliminate doubt. They also let you “go unconscious”. Think about your morning routine. Every morning you get up and go through a series of things to get ready for your day. You repeat this routine almost exactly the same way every day. Why do you think that it? It’s because it’s easier that way. You don’t have to THINK about what you’re doing. You just do it. You’re doing all these things unconsciously – without thinking.
Now ask yourself, when is the last time you worried about whether or not you were going to mess up brushing your teeth? Not for a long time, I’m sure. How about this: when was the last time you went to tie your shoes and thought to yourself, “Gosh, I sure hope I don’t blow this!” Unless you’re just learning how to tie a shoe, then I doubt that thought has entered your mind at any time recently.

Routines eliminate doubt by letting us go unconscious. And when we’re doing things unconsciously is when we do things best. Think about how well you do all the things in your morning routine. You don’t make any mistakes. You’ve mastered getting ready in the morning. And some of those things in your routine are pretty complicated. The act of brushing your teeth involves dozens of muscles, hundreds of thousands of nerve endings, and millions of cells! And you do it perfectly! That’s just amazing.

So, here’s the big point: pre-shot routines help golfers eliminate doubt, build confidence and get back to “just playing”. So if you’re playing great now, don’t change a thing. You probably have a routine of your own already, but may not even know it. And that’s fine, because you don’t need to know it. Just keep on doing whatever you’re doing that is working.

If, on the other hand, you’re noticing you have negative thoughts going through your head before shots, and you feel doubtful, then ask yourself what you do before shots when you’re playing great. Build a routine around that. Know that your routine is like your thumbprint, there’s no other routine in the world like it. Let it be unique to you. Don’t worry if some of the steps in it seem weird. If it builds your confidence, DO IT!

My friend who works with the Chicago Cubs told me that one of the players always walks in between the catcher and the umpire and pulls out his back pocket before he bats. Always. For some reason, that makes him believe he is going to bat better. That works for him.

Here are some suggested steps to consider including in your personal routine:

Consider the shot (check the wind, the lie of the ball, elevation, yardage, etc.)
DECISIVELY pick the club for the shot
Pick out the smallest possible target
Visualize the shot (see perfection!)
Breathe abdominally
Say your cue word or remember making great similar shots
Take as many practice swings as you need
Look at the target, get “target focused”, keep your awareness “out there” on the target and/or the shot (the outcome) you intend to create, and then let your body react to that!
Remember these are only suggestions. Make your routine unique. Use it for every single shot. Soon you will be going “unconscious”, you will be full of confidence, and you will be playing the kind of golf you know you can and having a lot of fun doing it.

Chris Dorris
Dorris Performance Psychology
80 East Rio Salado Parkway, Suite 310
Tempe, AZ 85281
(480) 449-4728
www.christopherdorris.com