Am I the only one who doesn't take practice swings? I take a half swing behind the ball as I look for my target, but then I set my feet, line it up and swing.
I also don't ground my clubs- I was a Nicklaus fan and he never did. I was disappointed when I finally found out why, (It was so he would never ground a club in a hazard by mistake.) but by then it was too late to change the habit.
I usually only take a practice swing if my swing is off or if I'm on a severly sloped lie and I want to make sure I don't hit the ball fat or thin it. I'm trying not to ground the club off tee shots as I feel it slows my takeaways.
I find that I don't like to take practice swings yet. I'm working on it.
But I'm more comfortable setting up and letting it go.
If I take a practice swing, I end up analyzing it and trying to correct the real one.
I will take one or two if i'm on the fairway. But I may take as many as I feel I need if I am chipping.( I kinda try to vizualize my shot based on the swing speed.) Until I have what I feel I need. I don't stand there and swing all day long. But I will try to get my swing together while the others are shooting their shots.
It depends. Driver I take a half swing behind the ball & then hit it. In the fairway , I take one to adjust to the club length like dank... maybe more if the lie is funky and on short chips I may take for 4 or 5 quickly to get into the rythym of what I want to do.
Am I the only one who doesn't take practice swings?
Nope. I very seldom take a practice swing. It's a habit I got into when I started playing. Just go up to the ball, check the lie. pick a club and hit it.
After the 3rd or 4th hole I quit taking them. I should be in rhythm by then. Maybe when I am in deeper rough, just to get a feel for it, but that is about it.
For tee shots and fairways, I take one practice swing behind the ball while checking my line. Then I step up to the ball and take another before addressing the ball. After addressing, I just bring the club head back about a foot and back to the ball. Then I swing. I do this quick and it usually takes about 10 - 20 secs so I don't hold up play. I do ground the club... gives me more balance as well as more feel for where the clubhead is before the takeaway.
Chips, lobs, rough and uneven/troubled lies - as many as I need in order to get the right feel for distance, lie and other factors such as trajectory and hazards.
Putts - about 2-4 practice swings right behind the ball to get the feel for length and to vizualize the travel path of the ball...
I always make practice swings. I don't usually hit the turf unless I have a severe uphill or downhill lie. I have played without it before & found I would always resort back to the same ball flight. I usually mimic my swing smoothly & slowly right before I hit. Doing this instills exactly what I want to do with the shot shape. There is nothing worse then setting up to play a fade, hit, then watch your ball start up the left & DRAW! I always do the practice swing well behind the ball though.
Not only do I always take a practice swing, I always ground the club(unless in hazard), to give me an image of what my actual shot should be. I find that by doing this, I eliminate many more mishits while playing.
April 29th, 2005, 04:24 PM
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