The pre-shot routine is of course very important. It is also easy to get lazy in it as all golfers know. So how do we 'sharpen the routine up'? How can you really create a stronger intention for the shot at hand while at the same time not overwhelm your mind?
A small review is needed about the pre-shot routine. As you know it is designed to create intention, and takes assessment of the shot at hand and then the decision of how to proceed? So I thought I would take this situation that Alvin (one of the players in our PDP) and the shot he faced while we were in Palm Springs in January. He is on the 17th hole a short par three at Indian Wells Resort but one that has bunkers around it, a lake to the left and OB on the right. The hole is about 135 yards that day and very little wind. A decision has to be made from you the golfer as you would face this shot. How far is it over the bunkers? What is the distance to the front of the green, the pin and then the back of the green where that back bunker is? With that data in hand from your app or range finder you must decide the club selection and type of shot you want to hit (hi, low, draw, fade). However here I wanted to introduce to you an additional idea for the shot facing you and I label it Parameter of the shot. In the above picture you can see I have placed the words Left (left parameter) and Right (right parameter) . As you can see in assessing the shot you do not want to go so far left as to bring the water into play and to the right you do not want to hit it further right of the right bunker since the ball could bounce right and go OB. So far your mind would easily accept these parameters that are suggested. In playing rounds of golf with players they generally look at an entire green or fairway and some of course see the pond left and go into fear. But you are not like a typical player, you know the ins and outs of pre shot routine , confidence, intention, etc. Also in the picture you see two yellow lines in the middle of the green. Notice this parameter ( as I term it ) is much smaller than the first one I suggested. Thus I label this parameter The Primary Parameter. Obviously this new parameter is much narrower than the first and it brings your eyes to a sharper focus on the shot that you would face. In this particular picture the flagstick is stuck way right as a sucker pin. You have to look hard to see the flagstick but is behind the word Right in that picture. So although I have targeted a smaller parameter I did not place it near the pin, just the middle of the green. Now we have 2 overall parameters to play a shot with. Why is that important? The reason is because mentally golfers tend to beat themselves up and can bring in some very negative emotions and thoughts and feelings if they do not hit a really good shot. A statistic one of the players in our PDP group sent me last week stated a scratch golfers it involved how close to scratch golfers hit the ball to the hole? From 75-125 yards they hit it to 39 feet. From 125-175yds they hit the ball to 45 feet. From 175-225 yds they hit it to 82 feet (all of these are averages). If you look over those three simple statistics you would be shocked to see how far they hit it from the pin. Everyone thinks shots should be much closer. And in general if a golfers thinks that and emotionally has that belief and they do not hit it close enough then mentally they become very negative at times and that can tail spin in to more negative thoughts, emotions, etc. So my above Parameter of the shot is pretty wide and even if I go for the Primary Parameter but miss it somewhere in the original parameter my mind will just say; "ok that was pretty good since I am inside the original parameter. I have started to use this in Parameter of the shot concept in several lessons lately and it is bringing dramatic results to players who are not even in the PDP program. When I play with them I show them the wide parameter of the shot I face and then the primary one. Many times I hit the primary parameter but even if I do not it will generally be in the larger parameter. Then I tell them, look I am still in my original parameter area. They have this aha moment and want to try it themselves. Of course this can be used for tee shots, 2nd shots on par 5s and approach shots to any green. If you take it further you will see it can be used in pitch shots when you miss the green. Saving par or bogey usually always requires you to get up and down from inside 20 yards and your goal for this should be 75% (which is not easy). When a normal student try this exercise they begin to see a tighter target but more importantly they see the entire parameter that they chose. As you know most would not even have one....of course you here in the PDP program have something like what I showed in the picture in regards to left and right. So although it is a holiday weekend you may be getting out to play tomorrow Monday and this could be a good opportunity to take on this idea? This month lets set a playing time to go play 9 or 18 holes and take on this concept. I know you will find tremendous improvement with this technique!! Looking forward to seeing you on the course in September.
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October 2023
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