Pre-Round Preparation

[invee123]

I enjoy getting to the course about an hour early and hitting about 30 balls at the range, some wedges around the greens, and rolling some putts. The issue is when I'm carpooling with the slowest foursome on the planet (both on and off the course) and I can barely get a bucket after checking in let alone hit a ball... 

Things like diet, sleep, and what I bring with me aren't a huge focus but I do want to get an orange ball stick to warm up with - seems pretty nice to have.

[inner_game_coach]

On 3/6/2023 at 10:23 AM, richk9holes said:

I was curious of other people's routines when it comes to preparing mentally and physically for a round. This can include diet, stretching routines, utilization of practice facilities, swing warm ups, practice swings on the first tee, or anything else you think goes into starting your round in the right place.

I personally have little in the way of habits pre-round. It's usually catered to my playing partners. If my dad wants to hit a driving range first I will swing 50 times before a round. If a buddy has 3 hours to play I'll jog to the first tee and grip n rip.

I'd like to develop more of a routine, I think it would help my consistency in my goal of putting a clean 9 holes together one day. So any thoughts are appreciated. 

If I want to score well I do some course management pre-round work. It can be fun if you like strategy. I'll honestly try to find photos or videos of the course online and plan out the round. I look first for trouble areas (like sand, ob, water, etc.) and circle them. Then i'll go through and starting from the green, plot out spots I'd ideally be in. For example - straight forward 400 yd par 4 - water down the right side. I'll put a point about 100yds from the green. Then going back a little more I'll plot a point 150yds behind that (comfy 8i) That means I have 150 yds left to the tee.

So, when it comes time to play, even if I take a hybrid off the tee (cause I know my tendency is to fade it right with Driver) it'll go 210-220, so I'll still have about 180 left to the green. So I know I can hit a 100yd shot and get it within that 100 yd plot point I made. Now I have less than 100 yds for an up and down par (or two putt bogey at worse) and I avoided the trouble on the right

Edited April 11, 2023 by inner_game_coach

[richk9holes]

3 minutes ago, inner_game_coach said:

If I want to score well I do some course management pre-round work. It can be fun if you like strategy. I'll honestly try to find photos or videos of the course online and plan out the round. I look first for trouble areas (like sand, ob, water, etc.) and circle them. Then i'll go through and starting from the green, plot out spots I'd ideally be in. For example - straight forward 400 yd par 4 - water down the right side. I'll put a point about 100yds from the green. Then going back a little more I'll plot a point 150yds behind that (comfy 8i) That means I have 150 yds left to the tee.

So, when it comes time to play, even if I take a hybrid off the tee (cause I know my tendency is to fade it right with Driver) it'll go 210-220, so I'll still have about 180 left to the green. So I know I can hit a 100yd shot and get it within that 100 yd plot point I made. Now I have less than 100 yds for an up and down par (or two putt bogey at worse) and I avoided the trouble on the right

My hunch is this is a major factor that separates weekend warriors from serious scratch golfers when it comes to scoring. Many of my lost strokes, like almost all of them, are avoidable with better course management. It would be helpful to take those shots away from myself before the round even starts.

"Hitting 5i from tee #2 with danger that starts around 190y out"

"Don't go left on #3 or #9" 

"Take extra club on #5 approach to clear sand"

Are just a few thoughts I should go into my next round at my favorite 9 hole course written down on the card.

[Shankster]

I usually use two different apps, Arccos and FunGolf (now Tag Heur) to “plan” out my round.  In fact I am doing that right now.  I always come up short on this particular par 3 I’ll be playing, and I just now figured out why… it’s 20 yards longer than I thought it was.  I may have to reunite with the 2 hybrid for this hole. It’s 232 to the center, with out much room for run up.  My other option is to smash the heck out of the 2 iron and try to get a fade to get up there… being that there will be almost zero roll with all the rain and the aeration… that is my only option.

[fixyurdivot]

I do a little stretching; torso rotations and toe touch mostly, then grab a mid iron and do a series of swings abbreviated to full.  About half the time I'll hit balls on the range and that most often is 6i, PW, then driver.  I'll soon add an Orange Whip to the routine and that will likely take over for the mid iron.  Lastly, I try and get a little short chipping and putting in before heading to the tee. 

I've contemplated adding the Jimenez dance but honestly don't think I could pull it off with any level of decorum or injuring myself. 

[Vegan_Golfer_PNW]

If it’s a course I haven’t played I hop on Google earth and plot my drives around the course. I right this on a sheet of paper and leave it in my score book. Takes some thinking off my mind. 
 

pre round, I do the fit for golf warm up. Then I get there about 30 mins early. If a long drive, a few swings with my orange whip. Warm up on the range. Then spend most the time on putting green chipping and lag putting.

[inner_game_coach]

17 hours ago, richk9holes said:

My hunch is this is a major factor that separates weekend warriors from serious scratch golfers when it comes to scoring. Many of my lost strokes, like almost all of them, are avoidable with better course management. It would be helpful to take those shots away from myself before the round even starts.

"Hitting 5i from tee #2 with danger that starts around 190y out"

"Don't go left on #3 or #9" 

"Take extra club on #5 approach to clear sand"

Are just a few thoughts I should go into my next round at my favorite 9 hole course written down on the card.

YES! Exactly this. See you know what to do. It just takes a touch more effort and you can start to see your scores drop on your next round. What part of NJ are you in?

[richk9holes]

14 minutes ago, inner_game_coach said:

YES! Exactly this. See you know what to do. It just takes a touch more effort and you can start to see your scores drop on your next round. What part of NJ are you in?

Central, about 30 minutes from the beach. Ocean/Monmouth county border.

[inner_game_coach]

1 hour ago, richk9holes said:

Central, about 30 minutes from the beach. Ocean/Monmouth county border.

 

1 hour ago, richk9holes said:

Central, about 30 minutes from the beach. Ocean/Monmouth county border.

Oh cool! We're probably about 2 hours from each other. I live off of 78 in PA , like just over the NJ border. 

[richk9holes]

@inner_game_coach I've yet to cross the state border for golf, but have been as far as Pennsauken CC that was a nice course but pace was slow for twilight. It's pretty far south from you I think. 

[inner_game_coach]

6 minutes ago, richk9holes said:

@inner_game_coach I've yet to cross the state border for golf, but have been as far as Pennsauken CC that was a nice course but pace was slow for twilight. It's pretty far south from you I think. 

Yeah, I'll have to check it out at some point

[PoBear8412]

I am usually rushing to get to the course.  I stretch and hope for the best.  If I have time I look to do some chipping and putting.

[richk9holes]

@inner_game_coach got up an hour early and did this while I'm drinking coffee, playing a course today I can never seem to break 90. 93 is my best from the past couple years. I have shot mid to low 80s at courses that should be harder based on rating/slope.

Some courses I find are penalizing to my playing style and this is one. I have to enter the round with a fresh mindset and new strategy than "bomb and gouge" if I want better scores here.

Update: In spite of aerated greens I was happy to break 90. Shot basic boring bogey golf, but the minute I saw the sign about aeration this became the goal anyway. "Avoid scores of 7+, follow your course management strategy" were my two thoughts going in. 

[inner_game_coach]

On 4/13/2023 at 11:36 AM, richk9holes said:

@inner_game_coach got up an hour early and did this while I'm drinking coffee, playing a course today I can never seem to break 90. 93 is my best from the past couple years. I have shot mid to low 80s at courses that should be harder based on rating/slope.

Some courses I find are penalizing to my playing style and this is one. I have to enter the round with a fresh mindset and new strategy than "bomb and gouge" if I want better scores here.

Update: In spite of aerated greens I was happy to break 90. Shot basic boring bogey golf, but the minute I saw the sign about aeration this became the goal anyway. "Avoid scores of 7+, follow your course management strategy" were my two thoughts going in. 

My man! The fact that this one change helped you break 90 and shave a few strokes off your regular round is incredible. I bet you'd be mid-low 80s with no aerated greens. This brings me so much joy

[NickBostromWasRight]

Pre-golf preparation: 10 minutes of dynamic stretching; hit a large bucket of balls; finish my first beer.