The “D” Line

Growing up I had more golf instructors than I can remember.  They all had their own versions of what a pre-shot routine should consist of, but only one technique sticks out into my head to this day.  The”D” line as he called it is an imaginary line that is drawn about 5-10 feet behind the ball.  The purpose of the line is to stand behind it and evaluate your lie, make your shot selection and then choose your club.  Once all the variable decisions have been made you are now ready to make a stroke.  Before you cross the “D” line to take your stance the last thing that passes through your mind is the visualization of the flight of the ball.  Once you cross the “D” line you are focused on making that shot and only that shot.  The crowd, the people you play golf with, the elements all seems to disappear.  You have nothing but focus and the only task at hand is hitting the shot that you visualized.  This is a technique that most be learned in order to to deal with high pressure situations out on the golf course. 

Course Management

Golf course architects design golf courses to  be played a certain way.  All golf holes have strengths and weaknesses.  It is important to identify these before you tee off on each individual golf hole.  Survey the hole and look for where the landing areas are, scan ahead and look to see how the green is protected.  Maybe its better to be on the left side of the fairway because it gives you a clearer view to the green.  Capitalizing on a game plan before you tee off gives you the advantage of knowing what shot will come next and then mentally preparing yourself to hit that shot.  The better golfer you become the more you will notice the execution of your game plans.

Visualize Every Shot

Any great pro will tell you that before every shot they visualize the flight that the ball will take.  When you see pros standing behind the ball before they take their stance they are first determining the shot that the lie of the ball will allow and then after the shot is selected they will visualize the flight of the ball from start to finish.  Visualization is an extremely difficult skill to acquire, even though it seems like an easy task it can become mentally exhausting especially towards the last few holes.  Many players on tour have Sport Psychologists that help them with this very thing.

Practice Time Management For Lower Scores

Many amateur players focus to much on one aspect of their game instead of addressing all the necessary skills that are required to actually score when playing a round of golf.  It’s important to avoid hitting balls at the range all the time without practicing your shots on and around the green.  Hitting driver after driver at the range trying to obtain those 300 yard drives in no way prepares you to do what people forget is the most important part of golf…..Put the golf ball in the hole.  Getting off the tee is only one part of it, wedges, chipping, putting all play a vital role in posting a score that you can actually be proud of.  Try going to the range and chipping for 15min than putt for 15min and then finish up your practice by hitting that never ending bucket of balls that seems to be at the top of every amateurs to do list.  You will never improve your game without practicing your weaknesses, and if you’re an amateur golfer your weaknesses are chipping and putting so stop kidding yourself and practice your short game.