How to Go from the Golf Lesson Tee to the Golf Course

People of all ages and abilities are learning the game of golf though an approach focused almost entirely on the golf swing. Despite an uptick in golf lessons, players still struggle to go from the range to the golf course. The two are obviously not the same. In one space, you’re training your swing--caring mostly about getting your club and body in the right positions. In the other, you’re playing golf and focused on more than just the golf swing.  You’re managing your mind and emotions under time constraints, picking the right targets, seeing shots, and connecting with an athletic response called the golf swing. 

Case in point:  I work with an 13-handicapper in his 60s who took up golf a few years ago. From the time he started playing golf, he’s taken a swing lesson, played, and practiced every week. Nevertheless, this player still struggles to lower his handicap.

As I do with most players, I sought to analyze his routines on the course.  Most all players have consistent things they do, even if it’s not consciously having a routine.

When I first watched him play on the golf course it was clear the majority of his attention was on swing thoughts, to the neglect of all else. His pre-shot routine began by rehearsing a swing thought with several practice swings. After a bad shot, he asked himself questions: What did I do wrong in my swing there? What should I work on the rest of the round? From there, he tried to correct what he perceived he was doing wrong. For more on post-shot routine, check out my article on how Brendon Todd improved his mental game. As I tell my players, planning and priming a shot always comes before playing a shot. With this in mind, we made several changes to the steps in his pre-shot routine. Now rather than beginning with thinking and rehearsing swing thoughts, he stands behind the ball and first visualizes a shot to hit. From here he can think a mechanical swing thought while taking a practice swing. Then he walks into the ball thinking mostly about rhythm and tempo, rather than mechanics.         

It’s important to do things in a certain order.  Plan before you play. We added a conscious planning phase (distinguished from a playing phase) to his routine. The planning phase includes target selection, calculating distance, club selection, and visualizing the shot. The playing moment is all about implementing the decisions of your plan. I view swing thoughts as part of the playing phase, so I want to see a player committed to planning a shot before they play it.  

I’m not one who says NO Mechanical swing thoughts. Mechanical swing thoughts have their time and place when you’re playing golf, but you should commit to do certain things before getting to them, like planning or seeing the shot first. In some cases, mechanical thoughts are even better than target thoughts once over the ball.

Another important change we’ve made is reducing the number of different mechanical swing thoughts during a round. By committing to a reduced number of swing thoughts, we can avoid paralysis by analysis. Focusing on just one thing allows us to learn the game better. It frees up time to do other things on the golf course, like learning how far you comfortably hit certain clubs. There is always more to golf than making good golf swings. Course management, strategy and visualization can be easily overlooked due to a hyper-focus on swing mechanics.

With a restructured routine, this player is increasing his enjoyment of the game, shooting lower scores and doing a better job taking his practice and learning to the course. You, too, can have the same experience if you remember to create consistency in your pre-shot routine by developing and committing to an order that creates, rather than hinders, momentum. Again, swing thoughts aren’t bad, they just need to be at the right time, in the right place of one’s routine. Following these simple strategies can create consistency in your game and help you apply what you’re learning on the practice tee to the golf course. Here’s to “playing golf” rather than “playing golf swing” and to a future of less frustration.