How to be a consistent ball striker (Video) - by Pete Styles
How to be a consistent ball striker (Video) - by Pete Styles

I think over the 13 years of teaching golf that I've had so far, the one word that has cropped up in nearly every single lesson that I've ever taught for over 30,000 golf lessons, the one word has been "consistent." Everybody sits down and says, "I just want to be more consistent." And what they really mean by that is I think most people hit a few balls in the driving range and played for a little while, they have hit that perfect shot, that one shot that comes out at the middle of the club, flies beautifully along straight drive or lands nicely on the green. And then they say, "I want to be consistent. I just want to do that shot more often." And my response is often that if you want to be more consistent with your results, you have to be more consistent with your actions so you have to so the same thing over and over again. Physically, you have to do the same thing over and over again but also mentally, you need to do the same thing again. So you have to think about the same things each time, and you have to action the same things each time.

So next time you're at the driving range, and you're pounding away on the golf balls, and you're searching for some consistency, let's make sure that you've approached it in the right fashion, and that mentally you're thinking the right thoughts, and physically, you're doing the same things. So every ball that you hit should have a mental pre-shot routine and a physical pre-shot routine. The mental routine might be thinking about the one action that you've worked. I mean your last lesson with your golf coach, or thinking about the one action that you worked on to hit the ball the straightest, and not letting your mindset stray away from that thought. Not thinking about what you watched on TV or what's for dinner but staying in the game and thinking all the time about the one move that’s working for you in the swing. So you mentally stay consistent. Then you need to physically stay consistent, which is going to be your pre-shot routine. So you take the ball out with the same hand, you drop the ball on the mat with the same hand, you stand in the same position, you take your practice ring from the same position, you have the same number of loops at the hole, you have the same stance to the ball, you wait for the same length of time before you start your swing back.

When you watch the best players in the world, be it in golf or tennis, or anything else, they're consistent. You see the guys when they're serving their tennis ball, they'll take the same number of balls off the ball boy, they bounce it in the same number of times, they put the other ball in the same pocket, they serve it in the same fashion, they get consistent results. So when you're mentally consistent, and you're thinking the right thoughts, you're physically consistent and you're pre-shot routine is really dialed in and grooved and consistent, then the physical swing will become more consistent, then the ball flight will become consistent. So we all want consistency but let's make sure you're doing the right thing to become consistent.

 2013-01-15

I think over the 13 years of teaching golf that I've had so far, the one word that has cropped up in nearly every single lesson that I've ever taught for over 30,000 golf lessons, the one word has been “consistent.” Everybody sits down and says, “I just want to be more consistent.” And what they really mean by that is I think most people hit a few balls in the driving range and played for a little while, they have hit that perfect shot, that one shot that comes out at the middle of the club, flies beautifully along straight drive or lands nicely on the green. And then they say, “I want to be consistent. I just want to do that shot more often.” And my response is often that if you want to be more consistent with your results, you have to be more consistent with your actions so you have to so the same thing over and over again. Physically, you have to do the same thing over and over again but also mentally, you need to do the same thing again. So you have to think about the same things each time, and you have to action the same things each time.

So next time you're at the driving range, and you're pounding away on the golf balls, and you're searching for some consistency, let's make sure that you've approached it in the right fashion, and that mentally you're thinking the right thoughts, and physically, you're doing the same things. So every ball that you hit should have a mental pre-shot routine and a physical pre-shot routine. The mental routine might be thinking about the one action that you've worked. I mean your last lesson with your golf coach, or thinking about the one action that you worked on to hit the ball the straightest, and not letting your mindset stray away from that thought. Not thinking about what you watched on TV or what's for dinner but staying in the game and thinking all the time about the one move that’s working for you in the swing. So you mentally stay consistent. Then you need to physically stay consistent, which is going to be your pre-shot routine. So you take the ball out with the same hand, you drop the ball on the mat with the same hand, you stand in the same position, you take your practice ring from the same position, you have the same number of loops at the hole, you have the same stance to the ball, you wait for the same length of time before you start your swing back.

When you watch the best players in the world, be it in golf or tennis, or anything else, they're consistent. You see the guys when they're serving their tennis ball, they'll take the same number of balls off the ball boy, they bounce it in the same number of times, they put the other ball in the same pocket, they serve it in the same fashion, they get consistent results. So when you're mentally consistent, and you're thinking the right thoughts, you're physically consistent and you're pre-shot routine is really dialed in and grooved and consistent, then the physical swing will become more consistent, then the ball flight will become consistent. So we all want consistency but let's make sure you're doing the right thing to become consistent.