1. Watching the Pros About Tempo for the Golf Swing
There is a lot that can be learned by watching the best golfers in the world do what they do best. In addition to providing entertainment, spending some time watching golf is a great way to improve your own game. Even if you aren't specifically thinking about how to play better, your game is bound to improve through watching pro golf thanks to the subtle tips and cues you will pick up along the way. Watching and learning from experienced professionals is a common method for improving in any field, and it is no different in golf.
When you tune in to a pro golf event, you will find there is no lack of things to watch for in the games of the top players. You can watch the mechanics of their swings, you can watch their short game magic, and you can even watch how they make good decisions by observing the clubs they select and the targets they pick. Even if you can't make the great swings that most pros are able to execute, you can still take something away from watching golf that will help you shave strokes from your score.
2. Better Course Management By Watching the Pros
Nothing adds shots to your scorecard faster than hitting the ball into a hazard, the woods or out of bounds. Sometimes these mistakes are a matter of execution; perfect strategy is often undermined by a bad swing. Other times, steering clear of disaster is as simple as picking the right club.
Practicing sound course management can greatly lower your stress level, too. Most golfers tense up over risky shots, decreasing their chance of success. By limiting the degree of difficulty, you’ll relax and swing more freely.
For the average golfer, there is much that can be gained from watching the best players in the world do what they do best. If you can find time in your schedule to watch professional golf on television from time to time, your own game will benefit as a result. The players who reach the top of the game have highly refined skills, both from a physical and mental perspective. Even if you only pick up one or two tips from watching a pro tournament, it will have been worth your time. Besides, in addition to helping your game, watching pro golf events such as the four major championships is simply great entertainment.
Each time you watch a golf tournament on TV, try to pick out one element of the game to watch for specifically. That way, instead of just seeing the players hit great shots over and over again, you will begin to notice the subtleties in how they are managing to get the ball so close to the hole. One element of the game in particular that you can watch for is how the pros shape shots. Most amateur players simply aim at the hole and hope for the best, but the top pros are very specific about the way they curve the ball in order to reach the target. Playing both right to left and left to right shots during the same round enables professional golfers to get close to the hole more frequently – which means more birdies in the end.
4. Learn From The Pros Pre-Shot Routine
Unlike a sound takeaway, swing plane or shoulder turn, it’s tough to quantify the benefits of a good pre-shot routine. But this much is certain: Without one, you’ll never achieve true consistency.
The pre-shot routine lays the groundwork for a well-executed shot: body and clubface alignment, grip, stance, ball position, posture and tempo. Ingrain a consistent routine and you’ll nail these pieces every time.
Perhaps most importantly, the pre-shot routine keeps you focused on the task at hand – the shot you’re facing – and prevents the mind from wandering toward unproductive thoughts. If you’re busy lining up to the target and assuming your address position, you won’t be thinking about the short putt you missed on the last hole or the career round you can shoot with a few more pars.
5. Learn From The Pros Bunker Play
The biggest difference between pros and amateurs when it comes to bunker play? Pros accelerate through the shot, while ams decelerate. An accelerating swing not only powers the ball out, it creates the spin needed to make it stop on the green.
England’s Luke Donald is brilliant from the sand, getting up-and-down about 65 percent of the time. K.J. Choi and Brian Gay are remarkably efficient as well.
When pros assess a bunker shot, they pick a landing a spot on the green.
6. Keeping Your Cool Buy Learning From The Pros
Whereas heightened emotion can boost performance in some sports, golf is best played with an even temperament. Anger can prove highly detrimental, especially when it’s allowed to linger. When negative feelings send the mind and body into overdrive, it becomes that much harder to execute a golf shot.
Some golfers go the opposite direction, hanging their head in defeat after a setback. This deflated state can wreak havoc on one’s game and set off a downward, bogey-filled spiral.
Positive emotions are generally less harmful, but can have unwanted side effects too. Excitement can cause you to think ahead – to the possibility of a career-low round, for instance – and lose focus on the task at hand.
