Hitting the Ball Better – Switching to Express Mode

Do you consider yourself mentally strong? Do you scoff at those of us who worry about the little things in life? Do you pity those of us who can’t clear their head enough to concentrate on the task at hand? If so, then you can just skip this article and move on to the latest thesis about the ribonucleic acids found in the tiny little paws of the North American Red Squirrel.

If you’re like the other 99.9% of golfers that have 145 thoughts going through their mind in the 1.2 seconds of the backswing – then please stay right here and maybe, just maybe, you’ll read something that strikes a nerve. In my last article about the concentration techniques of Jason Day, I stated, “Walk up to the ball with that ball flight in mind, set up, waggle once or twice and smack the crap out of it.”

Many times I’ll go out to play a round as a solo and wind up getting placed with 2-3 other random people. I can’t tell you how many times I see them doing something in their play that I feel that I can help with – and never once have I said anything. Why not? Because I’m no expert and if they want my help they’ll ask for it. However, one of the things I see most in my random rounds is that people take WAY too long pondering over a shot. I’m not talking about the time between arrival at the ball, selecting a club, etc… I’m ONLY talking about the time between addressing the ball and hitting the ball. I literally have waited 30 seconds for people after they have addressed the ball to actually hit the dumb thing.

Here’s the simple fact. The longer you are in a certain position the more tense you will get. Try this simple exercise to see what I mean. Take 5 seconds on each step:

1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and knees slightly bent.
2. Wait.
3. Wait more.
4. Whimper a little in pain
5. Wipe the bead of sweat off of your forehead

That’s 25 seconds from the start of Step 1 to the end of Step 5. For those of us who aren’t out training 3 hours a day or have bad knees, by the end of the 25 seconds your knees are screaming, you’ve straightened up a little, you’re shoulders have tensed and you are just counting the seconds on the clock until you can stop the stupid exercise.

Now let’s translate the above 5 steps into golf lingo:

1. Address the ball
2. Check the setup again, running all the appropriate positions over again in your head
3. Think about what moves first – the shoulders? The hands? The wrists?
4. Where again am I hitting the ball? What’s my aiming point? The tree or the 150 pin?
5. Ok, now I’m ready

I guarantee you at the end of these translated 5 steps you, without even really knowing it, will have straightened up a little, moved your shoulders a little, and flooded your mind with so many unneeded thoughts you’ll be lucky to even know your name.

So next time on the driving range, do me a favor. Take your time setting up in your correct address position. This obviously varies per person and can be adjusted as you need it. However, once you address the ball and set up properly – you are now in Express Mode. Here are the new steps:

1. Waggle your club once or twice – this actually releases the tension in your body and also gives you something easy and pointless to think about besides steps 2-4 above.
2. Start your backswing correctly and concentrate ONLY on making solid contact with the ball.

Things NOT to worry about during your backswing:

• How far back do I take the club?
• What’s for dinner?
• Should I rotate my wrists?
• How many sides in a tetrahedron?
• Are my shoulders relaxed?
• Is my left arm straight?
• Are my wrists hinged?
• Why is the sky blue?

Since I have switched to Express Mode, I have gone from an average drive of (on a scale from 1-10) 5.2 to an average drive of 7.5. Yes – these are completely made-up and arbitrary numbers. But the point is that is that I have gone from thinking my drive is a 50/50 proposition to being disappointed when it is NOT a perfect drive.

That’s a huge part of the mental game and sets up everything else following. Next time you’re on the range, switch to Express Mode and see if it helps clean up your game.

Cover Photo via Flickr