How to Play Golf - The Importance of the Pre-Shot Routineg Sports Articles | November 3 Alexander Steen Sweden Jersey , 2010 The pre-shot routine is one of the most important tools to the good golfer.? All good golfers use a rock solid pre-shot routine.? The pre-shot routine helps the golfer deal with distractions, prepares the golfer for the shot at hand, and helps the golfer stay in the moment.? This article discusses the need for a good pre-shot routine.
The Importance of the Pre-Shot Routine
This article discusses the importance of the pre-shot routine. Data recorded and analyzed from the 2009 Tour Championship featuring the pre-shot statistics of Tiger Woods, Kenny Perry Henrik Zetterberg Sweden Jersey , and Phil Mickelson were used to demonstrate the impact on lower scoring from a solid pre-shot routine.
Before the data is presented I would like to congratulate Phil Mickelson, the 2009 Tour Champion winner for his outstanding play during the tournament. His final round, five under par 65, is one of the best rounds played on tour this year. Whether you like Phil or not you have to be impressed with his exceptional play during the tournament Rickard Rakell Sweden Jersey , especially during the final round.
Thanks to FedEx we have a playoff system where the players are competing for a tremendous amount of money and prestige. The Tour Championship was played at East Lake Golf Course in Atlanta, Georgia, and featured the top thirty money leaders on PGA Tour this year. Congratulations Phil!
The Pre-Shot Routine Is Your 15th and Most Important Club In The Bag
All great players have rock solid pre-shot routines. The pre-shot routine is the only aspect of golf where the player is in total control. The routine is comprised of two parts; analysis and the triggering mechanism.
During the analysis part of the pre-shot routine the player has a number of things to consider before attempting the shot. The player should assess the lie of the ball, identify playing conditions that could effect the ball in flight Carl Soderberg Sweden Jersey , yardage to the target, hazards, obstacles, riskreturn Jakob Silfverberg Sweden Jersey , and the players physical and emotional state at the present moment. Based upon these factors the player visualizes the intended shot, selects the club to perform the task, and picks a target. These activities are approached as a process and should be repeatable, consistent Henrik Sedin Sweden Jersey , and meaningful. The number of steps in the analysis part of the routine should be kept to a minimum ensuring the players ability to complete the routine in about 30 seconds.
The second part of the pre-shot routine is the triggering mechanism. This is the final moment in time before the player initiates the golf swing. Once the player has formulated the strategy for the shot, picked a club and identified the target, a count down sequence is started. The more precise the count down sequence the better the results will be.
Imagine standing behind the ball while looking down the golf hole at your target. Many great golfers treat the area around the ball like a bubble that only they have access to. Inside the bubble, there are no distractions or mechanical swing thoughts. Once the player enters the bubble the only thoughts are about the desired feeling of the shot and the target. Many good players have a routine specific to entering the bubble and triggering the shot. Once you step into the bubble you want to limit the time before shot execution to about 10 - 15 seconds for full shots Daniel Sedin Sweden Jersey , and 6 - 10 seconds for putts and short game shots. The more consistent you make the time element the lower your scores will be.
Data From The 2009 Tour Championship
I wanted to measure the amount of time players spent during the triggering mechanism; defined as stepping into the bubble until the back swing was initiated.
I picked three players from this years Tour Championship; Tiger Woods, Kenny Perry, and Phil Mickelson, believing they would get the maximum amount of television coverage. Because of the way television coverage jumps from player to player it was impossible to record all of their swings. I was able to record at least 30 swings per player.
I used a stop watch and started timing when they moved toward the ball and stopped timing upon initiation of the back swing for full swing shots and putts. After the round I calculated the average time spent for each player for full swings and putts. I then compared individual times against their averages.
Full Swing Routines
The results showed that Tiger Woods average routine on full swing shots was 11.47 seconds. 61 percent (61%) of his shots were within .5 seconds of his average. More importantly Gabriel Landeskog Sweden Jersey , coming down the stretch he hit two poor shots; the tee shots on 16 and 18. The time for his routine on 16 was 2.5 seconds longer than his average and the time for his tee shot on 18 was 2 seconds longer than his average. That might seem insignificant to you however, we think it is very significant. Something caused a delay in his back swing trigger and the results speak for themselves.
Kenny Perry had an average routine of 13.19 seconds. Only forty four percent (44%) of his routines were within .5 seconds of his average. The numbers indicated a lot of variation; some slower, and some faster. The bottom line; this amount of variation has a significant impact upon the players ability to deliver a machine like performance. We are equating machine like to consistent and predictable...not mechanical.
Phil Mickelson had an average routine of 11.25 seconds. Ninety three percent (93%) of his routines were within .5 seconds of his average. He did not have any routines that were more than 1 second from his average. It was noticeable how in control and machine like Phil played on Sunday and we believe
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17.01.2020 04:13
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