MOVE THAT LEAF!

MENTAL AND PHYSICAL PRESHOT ROUTINE

This tip was inspired by one of my playing partners this past weekend. Many thanks to him. Here is what happened:

One of my partners had a putt of about 2 feet in length. He had gone through his entire routine and just seconds before he hit the putt, a leaf blew right into his line. Rather than taking the time to move the leaf and regroup, he chose to hit the putt, which he missed. When we were walking off the green, I asked him if he saw the leaf. He replied, "yes."

When something like a leaf enters your preshot routine, it is very disruptive to your concentration and can ultimately cause you to lose your focus altogether. Situations like this happen all the time. When golfers encounter disruptions like this, they usually will just go ahead and hit the shot. This is because they are concerned about taking too much time if they back of shot and go through their routine again. What they don't realize is that hitting the shot once, and in this case a putt, will take less time than having to hit the shot twice because of a miss.

So remember, when that leaf or distraction enters your thought process, take the time to fix the situation so you can be completely focused on your target. Just a little discipline can go a long way to shooting lower scores. Good Luck, you can do it!

Jay Kragh, PGA Professional, Mike Calbot International Golf Studio & Triad Golf Schools