When watching golf on television or even playing with a golfer who is at an elite level, you will find that they always have the same routine for every shot that they play.
You will notice that when they play a poor shot, usually their routine has changed in one form or another. This could simply be that they either take a longer or shorter period of time to play their shot, compared to how long they normally take.
This is normally due to indecisiveness. They are not confident with the shot they are about to play. This could be due to the lack of confidence in their club selection, distance measurement, line of putt, or simply their golf swing.
When you watch the elite golfers play, their routine is sharp and it takes them the same amount of time to play each shot, give or take one second either side. When this time frame changes, you will usually find that the quality of the shot will not be up to their standard, this includes putting.
You need to find a routine that suits your style of game. It is important that you keep the routine simple and positive.
I find when giving playing lessons, simplifying a person’s routine and course management, it adds a great deal of improvement to a person’s scoring, regardless of the quality of golf swing. A person normally has a rough idea how to hit the ball, and is generally happy with the level of which they play at, but building a positive and simple routine along with adding a better strategy around the course will help any level of golfer improve their handicap and scoring skills.
The question that most people ask within this topic is, how do you make a good routine and how do you practice it?
My simple answer is, your routine should consist with, aiming at your target, lining yourself to the target correctly, choosing the correct club for the calculated distance, and then using a trigger word to begin your swing. Walking into the setup position is also critical. If you normally take 3 steps to walk into your shot, make sure you maintain this. If you pattern changes and you only take one or four, your routine has changed. It is like having a fast bowler running in to bowl. He knows how many steps he takes and the length of each stride. If this changes, he will either over step the bowling crease and under step it, causing a poor delivery.
When practicing, always practice your routine. It does not matter is you are practicing your putting or driving, your routine has to be applied on the practice area so your body and mind can adapt, so it becomes second nature. I prefer someone to hit one shot, implementing their routine rather than a large bucket of balls hit without the routine being applied at all.
Quality practice is attained when applying your routine to each shot.