Preparing properly for a round of golf takes a lot more than a couple of swings on the first tee, so let’s look at how the professionals do it with tour caddy Chris Simmons
How many times have you rushed out the car, had a couple of swishes on the first tee, then tried to play your best golf?
While not everyone has the time to take their pre-round preparation as seriously as tour players do, there’s a lot amateurs can learn from their processes.
For my boss, Matt Jordan, the pre-round process is pretty standard. While some players head to the gym first – regardless of their tee time, which makes for an early start if you’re off at 6.30am – Matt is lucky and doesn’t need to. While a few guys might go on the bike to get their body moving, most will do 20 minutes of stretching and not much more – keeping it very light on a playing day.
For Matt, what’s important is a good breakfast and getting fuelled up. From there, he’ll begin his warm up one hour before his tee time.
All the pros take this work seriously. Matt is never late and sticks to the one-hour routine as this allows him to keep it stress-free. It’s also a lot easier to keep it simple when you know everything is in the right place and all you have to do is warm up.
Matt will always start on the putting green for about 15 minutes. Here he works on the basics, hitting putts through a gate, working on his aim, and then having a putt around the green to get a feel for the speed.
Then it’s off to the range. He’ll always setup his Trackman and start with his wedges – working on calibrating specific yardages and hitting roughly 30 shots. He then works through his even-numbered irons, hitting 10 balls with each. He’ll then hit 10 balls with his longest clubs – four two-irons, two three-woods, and four with driver.
After that he’ll go back to the putting green for the final 10-15 minutes. What’s quite unique for Matt is that he won’t go to the chipping green. He only ever goes there once a week and while it’s unique, his stats around the green are very solid and it clearly works for him.
While every player is different, I’d say Matt’s routine is quite standard. Very few guys spend longer than an hour on the range and while some go to the gym, it’s not for a big workout. Matt has worked out his programme over a long time and sticks to it every week – only adding something if it’s warranted based on recent performances.
The focus is always on rhythm and feel here – he’s certainly not working on technique at any stage. Very few pros will use the warm up as their last chance to get better, but you see so many amateurs doing it. While Matt might have a look at his numbers in the conditions, he’s not grinding on technique or taking swing videos – that’s something for after the round if necessary.
It’s important to remember that these guys hit balls every day, so you may need a bit more time or to think about a drill from your coach while warming up, but the focus should still always be on getting your body moving and preparing for the round. With an organised session, I’ve got no doubt you’ll be in a better place to play well.
