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Taking Too Much Time at Address
I often see players taking too much time before starting their golf swing. But I don't see good shots when I see them taking too much time at address.
I used to do the same thing even after I started to shoot in the 70's. But I wasn't proud about that because taking too much time at address often made me think too much about the outcome of the shot.
I thought if I stop my bad habit, I would be able to score better without trying as hard as I used to.
The Good Way to Change Your Bad Habit
The good way to change your bad habit of taking too much time at address is to come up with your preshot routine. A preshot routine is a consistent procedure that is done by a golfer every time before taking the club back.
The key is to do the same thing every time. Ideally, you don't want to take 10 seconds on the first shot and then take 15 seconds on the next shot.
When you take your address and hit the shot, focus only on the preshot routine. Try to follow the same procedure every time. And this should be your most important goal before taking your club back.
Don't worry about the outcome of the shot because you won't be able to control it anyways.
Golf Swing Trigger
Most tour pros have a golf swing trigger. They do something to start their golf swing. Not too much pros start their swing from a dead still position.
As I described on the Golf Swing Trigger, there are many types of swing trigger such as
- Tap your grip with a finger
- Flex your knees
- Move your feet up and down
- Push your hand forward
- Waggle
- Hover your club
You can use any of them, but the important thing is to do it every time and use it only once every time.
After taking your swing trigger, just start your swing. If you felt uncomfortable at address, don't pull the trigger. In this case, you should stand back and start your preshot routine from the beginning.
Hitting the Fairway should not be Your Goal
This may sound crazy, but hitting the ball on the fairway should not be your main goal as you step on the tee.
I'm not saying you should aim for OB. I'm saying you can't control the outcome of the shot.
You get tense or take too much time at address because you are worried about the outcome.
If you give up trying to control your outcome, you don't need to get tense so much or don't need to take too much time at address.
Instead of trying to control something you really can't, focus on what you can control such as your preshot routine.
If you need the goal, your goal should be something you can control. So your goal should be something like "take the club back slow" or "focus on the ball at impact."