Improve Your Golf Game: How to Hone the Pre-Shot Routine

Posted on February 03, 2015 by John Harris

Golf is one sport where practice is essential.

If you watch any professional golfer in action, you will have noticed that they all have their own pre-shot routine and if they get distracted for any reason, they step back and start all over again.

Developing your own pre-shot routine will really help you to improve your golf game, and if you really needed any proof of that, you only to have remind yourself why all the pro golfers do it.

If you check out a resource like BirdGolf, you can find some help with your game in the form of professional tuition, but in the meantime, there are some methods you can work on as well in order to improve your scorecard.

Developing good habits

Golf will never cease to be a challenging game, which is why we love it so much, but it is made harder by the fact that it many of us find it so tough to get a great swing and contact every time we play.

The secret to a successful game and what keeps the professionals in contention, is developing some good habits and sticking to them with a disciplined attitude and approach, so that you can respond well to changing conditions and become more consistent.

One of the best habits you can develop is a good pre-shot routine. If you go through this same routine every time you step up to take a shot, you will improve your confidence and have a much better chance of performing to the best of your ability every time you play.

Watching the pros

One of the fundamental differences between a professional golfer and an amateur is not actually the swing, it is the pre-shot routine.

If you watch a pro-golfer in action, you will almost certainly never see them walk in from the side and then make a practice swing right next to the ball. They are far more likely to face their intended target from behind the ball, as this helps to visualize the shot they are about to make.

Approaching your ball from the side will have the effect of distorting your view of the target and will also hinder your chances of lining up the shot correctly.

Stand behind the ball

Start your routine from behind, just like the majority of pros do. Look down the target line and select a spot that is a few feet ahead of the ball.

Keep your eyes focused on this spot and then approach the ball by setting your clubface so that it is pointing to the near target, whilst also ensuring that your club is on the leading edge.

Align your body

Having set your club to the intended target, you now need to align your body so it is parallel to the chosen target line, with the end of the club pointing to a spot that is probably a shade to the left of your belt loop.

Ready to play

Take a practice swing and try to hit the turf just in front of the ball and towards the target. Get a feel for the swing and then step back up to the ball, take a final look at the target and whilst focusing on the front of the ball, take your swing.

You can work on a variation of this pre-shot routine or get some professional advice, but the main thing to remember is that by developing a pre-shot routine you are almost certainly going to improve your golf game.

Jim Swift is a golfing fanatic of many years. He enjoys writing and talking about the game whenever he can. You can look for his interesting and informative articles on many of today’s top websites and blogs.