Driving Range Tips: Practice vs. Pre-Round Warm Up
Golfers sometimes mistake how to practice their swing vs. the type of warm-up required before playing a round.
In today’s video PGA Professional Mike Richards explains the key differences to help you maximize both with some great driving range tips. .
The game of golf is one of the most mental games in the world. It is one of the few sports where you control when you make a play. The ball just sits there on the fairway or green and it is up to you to take as much or little time as you want to hit it. Most other sports you are forced to make a play due to pressure from the competition. Learning how to master the mental game is perhaps the key to unlocking your unlimited potential as a golfer.
The best players in the world have learned to master the mental game of golf and that is what makes them great. Positive thinking and confidence are critical in becoming a great player. Of course, you will need to still practice regularly on the mechanics in order to maintain your skills. However just working on mechanics alone will only get you so far at the game of golf and you will reach a plateau.
In order to break through that plateau you must develop the ability to maintain and build confidence regardless of what happened on the last shot good or bad. Maintaining confidence is a great challenge however there are many things you can do to become a more confident player.
The first step is to see yourself as a great player. You need to remind yourself regularly of all the great shots you have ever hit and all the great putts you have ever made. Take a few minutes out of each day to think about your top five greatest shots ever and also see yourself playing well in the next round you will be playing. Be realistic, so every now and then you may picture yourself missing a green or fairway but then also picture yourself recovering and making those shots back in the next few holes.
The way you think as you are about hit the ball is very important. You must learn to trust your mechanics and in your ability to execute mechanics without consciously thinking about it. Instead you need to stay focused on the targets you select and block out other thoughts. A good exercise to help you to develop this focus is by concentrating on the tip of a pen. Try only to think about the tip of the pen and nothing else. If other thoughts enter your mind then return your focus back on the pen.
Learning about proper course management is also essential in order to play better golf. Many times you will be tempted to hit shots that are too difficult based on your current skill level. You must resist this temptation and hit the shot you know you can hit and that you have hit before several times in practice.
Sometimes laying up on a par 4 can often be the best option in order to shoot low scores. Rely more on your short game to help you make pars and as your long game gets better you will inevitably make more birdies. When picking clubs make sure that you select a club that you can comfortably swing to get the ball to the hole, if you have to take an extra club if it means being able to make an easier swing.
Do not get caught up in what your playing partners are doing and try to match their distance. Also remember that golf really is an individual sport so do not try to beat your playing partners but rather focus on playing the course and shooting the lowest score possible on that day. Use some of the mental strategies to help you lower your golf handicap.
As of 2019, new golf rules apply worldwide. It is the most major revision of the rules for more than 30 years.
HERE IS A Summary of the 10 most important rules changes for 2019.
This easy-to-understand video gives you a clear overview of the changes so that you can benefit from all the simplifications and new relief procedures.
GOLF PSYCHOLOGY is not just about managing your mind it is also about having a common sense approach to the game. That is why golf psychology is becoming a very important topic these days. This is what the mental game is all about.
Golf
Golf happens in the mind, and it’s not just a matter of good or bad thoughts, because there is a crucial time period in every shot when ANY thought will ruin your game. Golf is about managing your mind and your expectations. When a professional golfer is under pressure, the last thing he can afford is a shred of doubt in his mind. Doubt ruins the golf shot because doubt is a conscious thought and ANY conscious thought good or bad is your enemy when it comes to movement, or the swing portion of the golf shot.
Tiger Woods is a perfect example of the importance of the mind in golf. He has the ability to not think of anything during the swing. Unconscious sabotage (in golf psychology), is caused by the mind sending negative ‘signals’ for the body to follow during the swing on particular shots. Your own unique brand of golf psychology will permit you to gain a clear path between your unconscious mind and your physical game.
Training
Listening to “Motivational and training material” EVERYDAY is one of the ways to improve your golf psychology. The reason you don’t hear many successful golfers talk about their mental training is because they know how powerful it is. The main thing to know is that mental training and golf psychology is a secret weapon which can transform your results very quickly, and overcome problems which you may have been experiencing for years.
Online
Online golf instruction is becoming a popular search for the new golf enthusiasts who may not be interested in much more than improving their game. Of course, with the plethora of e books and online texts out there that claim to teach you the various methods involved, no doubt you’re a little overwhelmed. There are a wide variety of golf guides online and there should be no difficulty finding one, however, you need one to include the finer points of golf psychology.
Conclusion
Golf psychology is the mental aspect to golf which most players overlook in their quest to improve. For me, golf is about being prepared and ready on the course and automatically doing the right things using the power of your unconscious.
Here are a few recommendations to get your brain in the game!
Ask almost any golfer what they would like to improve on and they will say they would like to have a more consistent golf swing. That’s a great goal. What they don’t realize is that they already have a consistent swing. It’s just one that delivers inconsistent results.
You get inconsistent results because you are not able to put your best swing on the ball time after time. You don’t have to be off by much for a good swing to turn into a bad one. Most of the time it’s not a technical flaw. It’s because you’re not paying attention to the fundamentals of the golf swing, which are: a calm mind, setup, tempo and rhythm, and impact. Let’s go over each one.
The mind leads the body. The state of your mind is reflected in the condition of your body. When the mind is calm, the golf skills that you have practiced will come out. When there is worry or doubt or distraction in your mind, your body will not perform the way you trained it to. You take a calm mind to the course if you have one in your daily life. Practice not getting easily upset, distracted, or stymied by obstacles. Getting good at this takes as much practice as any golf skill does.
Any pro will tell you that the setup is the entree to a good golf swing. They work on their set up constantly and the setup is the first thing they check when their shots start going awry. Good shots flow out of a good setup. The only thing that comes out of a bad setup is luck. See a pro learn the principles of a good setup and practice it continually.
I watched a professional clinic on TV once, that featured major championship winners, and every one that talked about the swing said what they were working on at the moment was their tempo. Not their backswing, not some esoteric swing detail. It was tempo, and every pro said that. Tempo, and the rhythm that emerges from it, is the glue that holds the swing together. Most recreational golfers swing too fast, and speed up especially on the downswing. If you think to swing at the ball rather than to hit the ball, you’ll likely be alright.
Square, in-line impact is what the swing is all about. Every good golfer gets there in his or her own way, but they all get to the same place. And impact isn’t an effect. It’s a cause, and you can practice it as well as any other part of your swing. Take short, three-foot swings through the impact zone, memorize what your body feels like when everything is just right, then build that feeling into your full swing.
To get consistent results, be consistent in how you apply the fundamentals. They’re easy to learn, easy to maintain. When you hit a shot that’s not to your liking, go through the list and see which one you didn’t apply, because odds are that’s what caused it.
Bob Jones is dedicated to showing recreational golfers the little things, that anyone can install in their swing and game, that make a big difference in how they play.
In order to consistently score low, it is highly recommended to form a regular pre golf practice routine before teeing off. A pre golf practice routine will warm your muscles up, and give you the chance to start out on the right foot.
I would recommend stretching for at least five minutes before starting; especially the back and the arms. It is best to take a few minutes to swing a club and warm up your muscles before stretching.
After stretching, spend some time and the putting green and driving range. In the putting part of the pre golf practice routine, bring three balls to the putting green. Start putting from a close distance to the hole, and slowly work your way back. I usually start about two feet from the hole, sink three putts, and then move back a foot. Make sure that you are making your close putts before moving back. It is important to concentrate on the close putts, because if you are not sinking those, you probably will not sink the longer ones.
After putting, move to the chipping portion of the pre golf practice routine. I usually chip about ten shots before moving onto the driving range, but however many you decide to do is up to you. Just remember to take your time, and concentrate on every shot. Do not just go up and hit 20 chips and hope that one gets close.
When hitting balls at the range, it is not the quantity of balls hit, but the quality of your shots that matter. It is much better to hit three or four good shots than to hit 100 bad shots, and reinforce bad habits. Therefore, I suggest hitting three or four good shots with each club. Be sure to take your time on each shot. Start with the higher degree irons, and work your way down to the driver.
Remember, this is just a guideline. Depending on the amount of time you have, and what you feel comfortable with. What works best for one person may not work best for everyone. Use these guidelines to develop a pre golf practice routine that works best for you.
How Golf Began
The history of golf dates back to the early days in the Ice Age when the cavemen were bored of chasing after mammoths and so crossed the ice floes to reach the part of the world where all the tasty (and easy to catch) cows and goats lived. Supposedly they were whacking at the head of a small prairie dog with their clubs in order to pass the time as they went, but this is myth only.
There have been earlier versions of the modern game of golf, such as a Dutch game that is depicted being played in 1297. The Chinese also had a game similar to golf, using clubs that looked suspiciously like the love child resulting from the mating of golf clubs and field hockey sticks. Some people believe that golf was brought to Europe by Mongolians.
However, the origins of the modern game of golf are in Scotland, which is first mentioned in 1457 when it was prohibited by the King of England (thus making it much more popular amongst the rebellious Scots). Mary Queen of Scots was accused by her enemies of playing the game (“Thou wast playing golf, you ninny!”), which was considered a bad idea for women (and still is).
Golf was repeatedly banned in the next century, but instructions for the game were written up by Thomas Kincaid. He was the first person to describe the golf handicap rule, and gives detailed descriptions of his stroke (“I took the stick and hit the ball!”)
Rules of golf were written up in 1744, and this rule book is still preserved in the National Library of Scotland. The first golf trophy ever won was given to a surgeon, John Rattray, and it had a silver, engraved ball attached to it. This started the tradition of giving trophies to the winners of golf tournaments. The winner was nearly hanged the following year for being part of the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745, but was saved by a fellow golfer and went on to win three more trophies.
Golf soon spread to England, where it was played by the Royal Family. By the time the 19th century rolled around, the Scottish and British were interacting much more and golf soon spread. It got as far as Singapore by 1891, and to the United States by 1894. The first golf club was opened in Japan in 1903, and it has continued to spread around the world since that day.
The evolution of the gear has also changed greatly since the sport began in Scotland, from the materials used for the clubs changing from hickory to steel to graphite. The club and ball size also changed, as well as the rules.
