Routines

Consistent golfers have good routines in many areas of their golf games.  You have probably heard of a pre-shot routine so that one is easy to grasp. However their are other routines good golfers have.

These would include:

• Night before routine
• Morning routine (before arriving to course)
• Warm-up routine before your round
• Pre-shot routine before every shot
• Post round routine of warm down
• Evening routine and review of the days golf

The above examples are basic good routines that consistent dedicated golfers take on and do each day they play.  In today's world of busy, busy, busy life, work, family, shopping, etc it may be hard to do all the above possible routines.  But it is good to see that they are there, and perhaps you could implement some if not all of them.  Let's take a look at them.

Night Before Routine
As a kid I remember going to my basement to our wash basin where laundry was done so I could scrub my clubs and clean them for my next days round.  I can remember the excitement of doing it since playing golf was a big deal.  My home town did not have a public course so for me to play my Mother had to drive me 20 miles to the nearest course.  

Your night before routine could include that but another good routine is to sit quietly and review in your mind what your practice session before your round will consist of?  It can also be a mapping of the course in your mind with strategy of how you will approach each hole.  With students I coach the Mental Game specifically I really encourage them to visualize the shots they will see.  Adding emotion to those good shots will also help to stimulate your subconscious mind and lead you away from too many technical swing thoughts.

Morning Routine
A good morning routine is starting right off from where you night routine ended. Waking up in bed I would encourage any player to avoid their phone for 30 min and visualize the course you will play.  Again you are getting your subconscious mind involved and this is the key to all good golf.

A good morning routine would include proper breakfast  with protein and not be rushed.  Also in the morning make your food for the course and get your hydration bottles ready.  You will need energy during your round and if you do not prepare this part in the morning then you really are just giving lip service to the idea that you want to play more consistent golf.

Warm-Up Routine Before the Round
This is an obvious one but I can honestly say of the 75-95 players I coach consistently very few of them ( maybe 25%) actually have a good warm up routine.  In any event, what might that good warm up look like?

At the US Open completed yesterday at LACC the last 6 players hit balls on the range for an average of 29 min.  On average they hit 45-54 shots from wedges thru driver.  Some of these players started on the putting green before the range and some went to putt after.  All of them also included pitch shots  and bunker shots.  Generally these players were out before the round 55-60 min.  All of these players arrived well before those times.  They generally will go to the tour trailer for stretching etc and some have their personal trainers with them and they may have done that at their house they rent for the week or hotel suites.

Another major item each player does in the pre-round warm up is to simulate shots they will have on the course that they know will be a challenge.  Some players on Thursday and Friday of the tournament will play each shot they will face on the range for the first 1-5 holes.  Of course this is all individual but you can see, there is a good deal of preparation here before any round of golf.

Pre-shot Routine
I dedicate mental coaching to a select group of players where all we work on is the mental side of golf.  Here in the pre-shot routine is where you are preparing yourself for each shot.  I have a free PDF you can download on Pre-shot routine
from my media page.  The pre-shot routine is paramount to playing good golf.  

I could write for hours about this but there are resources on my website here where you can learn more about the pre-shot routine.  The basic concept is to come up with a plan of action for every shot, commit to it and then engage your subconscious mind to create each shot.  If you do not have a good pre-shot routine or do not use it efficiently then again you are giving lip-service to your statements of "I want to be a consistent golfer'.

Post Round Warm Down
After a round of 18 holes in general most golfers want to go to the grill to get food and a beverage of their choice.  I understand that.  However if you found short comings in your game on the course such as the driver was off, or putting or you did not get up and down from 20 yards off the green at least 75% of the time then after the round you should go work on that.

These short comings (especially the short game) are fresh in your mind, so go put yourself in the situations where you failed on the course and practice them.
You do not have to do it for a long period, but you should train your mind to make this a routine after golf.  Routines are habits and if you create the habit is will become the norm.  If it becomes the norm you increase your chances of being more consistent!

Evening Routine and Review of the Day of Golf
In the hectic world we live in this is hard to do at times and finding the time to do it is touchy.  But in a perfect situation you would review the days golf when you are in a quiet space, no TV, no cell phone.  

Some players will journal their experiences here and I think that is great idea.  A golf journal near your bed or in your place of study is really good to have.  As your write out your experiences you also help yourself create a plan of action for your next practice, or the next days round or you are gathering information that you can then bring to your instructor for your next lesson.

If you make the post round evening routine part of your golf game it certainly help you review what occurred on the course or range and it is giving your mind information so you can make informed good decisions on what to work on.

Routines in your golf game are part of the road to you becoming a consistent golfer.  As I have stated hundreds of not thousands of times, players come to me for lessons and assistance and well over 90% state they want to be more consistent.

If that is you, then they above areas are something to start to do.  Habits are hard to create and break so by creating these new ones you are breaking old habits of ignoring golf when you thought it was only about the course.  Ok then take these ideas one step at a time.

But if you really want to be a more consistent golfer......start creating consistent routines!