Include A Simple Swing Thought Into Your Golf Pre-Shot Routine (Video) - by Peter Finch
Include A Simple Swing Thought Into Your Golf Pre-Shot Routine (Video) - by Peter Finch

Everyone knows that having a solid preshot routine in golf is important. But realistically not many people have a consistent one that they can call upon time and time again. However if you start to include a swing thought within that preshot routine then it is something that people can attach a lot more value to. A lot of people standing behind the ball, just thinking about visualization or any of that think it’s a little bit not for them. It’s something that the tall players do and it works for them but it’s not for me. However if you start to include swing thoughts with the preshot routine, people can then say, “It’s okay, well I’m still working on the things.”

Again, the idea of this is to make it associated to target. So within a preshot routine, you have got your ball on the fairway hopefully or in the rough or whatever lie it will be in. You’ll be looking down at your target and you’ll be sensing what you need to hit. You may be using a range finder. You may be using the yardage chart, whatever it may be. So I say I have a 160 yards in here with my 7 iron. What I will be doing is I will be stepping behind the ball; I will be picking out my target line and trying to envisage the type of shot that I want to hit. So for example if I wanted to hit a little bit of a draw shape into this pin. So I stood behind the ball, I’m envisaging that draw shape down towards the target. Now this is the power of the technique and this is the power of the preshot routine where you can now add in a little bit of a swing thought or what I would more likely say is a swing feeling rather than a thought. When you start thinking, the conscious mind is switched on. When you’re having feelings that’s the body just trying to react to a target. So if I’m looking down on my target, I’ve got my target line and I want to feel that draw. So I’m down at there, I’m just trying to feel what my body needs to do to hit that draw shape. So I’m not thinking about club face. I’m not thinking about path. My body which has practiced this draw shape many times on the driving range is just getting into that position. Now once I focused on that and I’ve got that feeling on that then I start to visualize that ball flight again. I know the feeling that I have, I’m getting set up and all I’m trying to do is replicate that feeling. I’m not focused on any particular type of swing thought. All I want to do is hit that draw down towards the target. And I hope that camera can zoom in. Give that a go. 2016-10-07

Everyone knows that having a solid preshot routine in golf is important. But realistically not many people have a consistent one that they can call upon time and time again. However if you start to include a swing thought within that preshot routine then it is something that people can attach a lot more value to. A lot of people standing behind the ball, just thinking about visualization or any of that think it’s a little bit not for them. It’s something that the tall players do and it works for them but it’s not for me. However if you start to include swing thoughts with the preshot routine, people can then say, “It’s okay, well I’m still working on the things.”

Again, the idea of this is to make it associated to target. So within a preshot routine, you have got your ball on the fairway hopefully or in the rough or whatever lie it will be in. You’ll be looking down at your target and you’ll be sensing what you need to hit. You may be using a range finder. You may be using the yardage chart, whatever it may be. So I say I have a 160 yards in here with my 7 iron. What I will be doing is I will be stepping behind the ball; I will be picking out my target line and trying to envisage the type of shot that I want to hit.

So for example if I wanted to hit a little bit of a draw shape into this pin. So I stood behind the ball, I’m envisaging that draw shape down towards the target. Now this is the power of the technique and this is the power of the preshot routine where you can now add in a little bit of a swing thought or what I would more likely say is a swing feeling rather than a thought. When you start thinking, the conscious mind is switched on. When you’re having feelings that’s the body just trying to react to a target. So if I’m looking down on my target, I’ve got my target line and I want to feel that draw. So I’m down at there, I’m just trying to feel what my body needs to do to hit that draw shape.

So I’m not thinking about club face. I’m not thinking about path. My body which has practiced this draw shape many times on the driving range is just getting into that position. Now once I focused on that and I’ve got that feeling on that then I start to visualize that ball flight again. I know the feeling that I have, I’m getting set up and all I’m trying to do is replicate that feeling. I’m not focused on any particular type of swing thought. All I want to do is hit that draw down towards the target. And I hope that camera can zoom in. Give that a go.