04/16/2014
Article 2: Efficient warm ups and sufficient tournament preparation
Warming up can be a hassle. It’s easy to tire yourself out. Resulting in bad shots, and even worse inconsistent rhythm. On the other side of the spectrum warming up could be a sanctuary. Headphones on listening to your favorite tunes. While subconsciously hitting golf balls. Working on your short game, putting. Or even just killing the driver. Either way, we of course encourage practice. This helps build confidence most importantly. It’s also going to sharpen your hand eye coordination. Building sound contact. Perfecting your rhythm and balance over time. We’ve come up with some tips and drills that we find useful on the range for practice. Or getting ready for a tournament. Sufficient and also efficient.
Your mind is a strong resource on the golf course. Waking up with a boat of confidence, ready to play is essential. Stretch. It will wake your muscles up and expand your reach. Your body will thank you by the end of the day, and your swing will benefit from a limber state. Really strive to wake up early and eat a good breakfast. Coffee and an egg white bagel from Dunks isn’t going to cut it. What it will do is make you want to just play nine. Hydrate yourself with 32 oz. of water to start and eat something fresh like eggs, oatmeal, and whole grain cereal. We encourage fruits and protein. The protein will put an abundance of energy in your system minus the jitters from coffee. If you are a coffee drinker we would never discourage it. We simply just recommend waking up getting a full breakfast in (with protein & fruit) and at that point if you get a coffee with plenty of the time to get to the course and warm up. All the power to you. No pun intended.
Always, always start putting. It’s hard and it might not come the first few rounds. But, try and convince yourself and discipline yourself to putting for 5-10 minutes before anything else. Us, like any other golfers want to just pull out the driver and see that we’ve still got it. Putting to start is so beneficial. When you get to the course, we’ve set up plenty of time to practice before the round. After getting your clubs, shoes and scorecard situated double check everything. Always make sure you have plenty of balls, tees and also a few ball markers, with a divot tool. Towel if preferred, glove, water, and you’ve checked in with the PGA professional letting the staff know you’ve arrived. You’re ready to putt. Starting off on the practice green allows your body to come back to a calmer state. The shuffle of getting to the course, the clubs and accessories ready and checking in can sometimes be a chore. Take a few deep breaths and work on simple drills. At On in 2 we’ve always found this drill useful. Take three balls and place them a good 10 feet from the hole. Work on rolling them close. If they go in outstanding. If not don’t worry pull the three back and keep getting them close. Once the three have been putt, don’t knock them in. Keep pulling them back and rolling them close. If you make some putts, great job. Do this for a few runs and then switch to closer putts. Start about 2-4 feet out, and focus on making these. Pick a side of the hole and roll the first one. If you make it putt the second. Missing it, pull it back and start over. When you make three in a row, move to another side of the hole. 2-4 feet away. Feel free to rotate between these drills. We try and refrain from the 30-40 foot putts we see people doing on the greens. Rarely does that putt occur, the 10-20 footer seems more common. Putting shouldn’t be difficult. The ball never leaves the ground. You simply roll it.
When you eventually do make your way to the range warm up with a pitching wedge or wedges. Narrow your stance and make half swings. This doesn’t require your body to move or shift as much as it would when in full motion. Also it will help you focus on contact. Coming from hand eye coordination. Instead of zoning in at 110 yard with your pitching wedge try multiple targets. Stagger your distances. Start by hitting your PW 75 yards for a good 8-15 balls then switch to 100yds. You’ll notice your hand speed requires adjusting but just stick with it. Move to the 50 yard mark then full swing to 110 yds. This rotation in distances will build accurate hand eye coordination, and also keep each club versatile. Instead of being dependent with a specific distance. Repeat that process with all your clubs. Be aware that your hand and arm speed will vary changing distances. Most importantly accelerate through the ball every time.
Tournament preparation will require a routine. Whether you dedicate your time to even clubs on Monday and odds on Tuesday. Or low irons Monday, mid irons Tuesday, high irons Wednesday. Any variation stay on track. Have a plan on the range. Don’t just carelessly and subconsciously hit balls. This is how we get into bad habits. Know your flaw(s) and work on them repeatedly. Ask one of our Professionals for drills or contact your local PGA professional for a lesson and advice. With a plan and drills to work on this will enhance your focus excel your game and prepare you for the tournament. We always recommend a practice round and noting a yardage book during it. The practice round should be an opportunity to get to know the course. Learn it. How the architect protects the greens to the small opening shoot called a landing area. Bunkers meticulously placed, hazards lacing the fairway. These are all things we want to prepare ourselves for previous to the start of a tournament. Give the architecture credit and learn their playing field. There’s a grand scheme to its design. Learning it bring you one step closer to par. Taking notes like half a club or aiming at a specific spot learned from the practice round can save you strokes and agony in tournament play. We at On in 2 like to play the hole backwards during the practice round. Not physically but mentally. You hear people say they have that favorite club. Typically it’s the mid irons to low. Subtracting yardages from your favorite club can also save strokes. If you hit an 8 iron 140 and you know you can knock it close with the 8 then play from the tee box in strategically, to get to the 140 yard marker. Always have a plan like we discussed earlier. The practice round and yardage book will allow you to collect, organize, and print your plan.
The shortest and sweetest part to finish this thing off. The driver. Don’t waste too much time on this club seeing as the percentage of use is low. Even if you use your driver on ever hole. Which is unlikely due to par threes. You shoot a 77. You’re still only using the driver 6-7 times. 70 swings were without the driver in your hands. So why exhaust yourself? The driver is a much longer club. This requires you to move your hand and arms around your body at a quicker speed than you would with a pitching wedge. Fact. When you are practicing your driver. Ensure you always have a stable base. From your hips down to your feet. You should be rock solid. Like a linebacker ready to play defense. Upper body, hand, and arms are limber. Make 80% swings with an imaginary fairway of 50 yards. Work on your hand eye coordination and swing. Focus on hitting a draw or a fade. No good golfer inconsistently does both. So pick one. Straight works as well. Right before its time to tee up play the first hole on the range. Hit your tee ball. Estimated distance, hit the next club to bring you closer to the green if you don’t think you’ve made it grab a wedge and make that pitch shot that you think will drop it close.