It’s that time of year when grabbing your clubs from the garage for the season’s first driving range session fills you with excitement. Hopefully, you have some notes on your phone (or in a notebook) from last summer to help you remember the key moves you used last season when you hit it well.
WHAT?? You say you never write anything down? Well, it’s not too late. START with today’s session! Use the NOTES section of your phone or get a notebook to make this your new habit for 2022. Take the time during and at the end of your practice sessions to write down key “commandments” that produced better ball strikes! Create your personal DISCOVERY CHANNEL where you can document and record what works for you!
When you make notes, identify the motions and key feelings that produce the ball flight you like. Remember, your notes are not limited to keys just for your full swing. Create a section for keys to your putting, chipping, pitching and bunker play, too. These will become your swing thoughts and reference points to help you practice better. But, what about playing better? You won’t be able to play well with all those swing thoughts in your head.
It’s good to have clues that give a framework and a way to evaluate your practice. You would think that all you need to do to improve is follow that framework. But there’s more! While you should be experiencing better ball flight, the purpose of your practice now is to find the Triggers that you can take to the golf course. This is where your Discovery Channel approach needs to kick in. You need to discover and choose the main TRIGGER that gets the motion to sequence correctly. You might use a 1 or 2 word trigger or a “feel” that can serve as your “go to” thought for your motion. That’s what you must search for in your practice sessions: one swing thought or feeling that gets the whole job done in each of the separate areas of your game. Don’t be surprised to find the same trigger pertains to a variety of shots, from big to small.
Keep it simple! THEN, practice using the trigger until it becomes natural and comfortable. Make sure that part of your practice includes aiming at a target, one ball at a time. In other words, develop a pre-shot routine and blend it with your trigger focus. Then, and ONLY THEN, can you really say you’re practicing something that can directly apply to when you’re on the course.
Practice with the goal of DISCOVERING your Triggers. Formulating those “Triggers” is key…not just an activity for people who feel home, home on the range…or are named Roy Rogers.
