Love this post.
Some takeaways:
- Good routines start the night before. Setting up the bag with the “walking essentials” the night before is a great way to start. (6balls, 2gloves, rangefinder, water bottle, 10-20 tees, market, ball market, divot tool, etc)
- Good Routines are consistent. For me, tees left pocket, ball / ball marker right pocket, glove and yardage book(and scorecard) back right. Magnetic strip for rangefinder and towel on carry handle of bag. (Bought magnetic strip online)
- Break into pieces: Think preshot and pressing routine. Preshot (yardage, wind, lie, target, club, etc)…Preswing (standing over the ball cues).
- Dont forget post-shot routine. I personally use “TRAIN” for post shot.. (T)en seconds to (R)ecognize and responsibility (A)ccept (I)nvestigate and (N)eural cue. *this is in my yardage book*
Ten Seconds: Self Explanatory
Recognize and responsibility: Recognize emotions and take responsibility for shot. Gaining awareness of this will help our mental game.
Accept: Accept outcome, knowing that you have the skills to recover or continue momentum of good shots
Investigate: determine if it was a mental error or technical error. If mental, ensure you are going through your full routine.
Neutral: bring yourself back to the present moment by feeling the ground underneath your feet, the breeze on your face, etc.
Hope this help. In the end you have to practice the routine. For competition, and for my players, we get deeper into routines such as snacks, water, filling out the scorecard, etc.