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Add P.E.P. to your mental game

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GGGA pre shot routine, Dan Vosgerichian

When most golfers and athletes talk about adding PEP to their game, they think of energy, passion and motivation, all of which are critical factors to reaching their dreams and getting the most out of every performance. And while motivation and passion are important factors to your golf, I am talking about adding a different type of PEP to your game.

I’ve found that every golfer, junior or professional, can benefit from adding P.E.P. by developing three all important routines:

  • Pre-shot routine
  • Execution routine
  • Post-shot routine

We use these three routines with all our juniors and professionals at The Gary Gilchrist Golf Academy to help them play to their full golfing potential. Learning to master your Pre-Shot, Execution and Post-Shot routines are essential components to developing confidence, concentration and composure.

Part 1: Add P.E.P. to your routines – Pre-shot

The purpose of a pre-shot routine is to get your mind and body ready to hit the shot at hand. A solid pre-shot routine is meant to help you feel prepared. Every golfer has a different pre-shot routine that is their own personal routine, but there are similarities that all great routines have in common and all golfers should use to enhance their approach.

All pre-shot routines should be focused on making a great plan, rehearsing the plan and getting yourself set up for that plan to succeed. A great plan starts with taking into account all the important aspects of the shot: the target, yardage, lie, slope and wind. Once all these factors have been accounted for, it’s time to make a decision on the type of shot you want to hit: the club, trajectory and swing that will accomplish the shot you’ve chosen.

Different golfers will make different decisions. The most vital part of any good decision is that you own it and believe in it. That means it is a smart decision that you can commit to and your decision breeds confidence. Once the decision is made, it’s time to rehearse the swing you want to make with rehearsal swings that simulate the shot you decided to hit. The number of rehearsal swings are your choice: some people like to make the same amount of swings every time, while others will vary the number. The key is that your rehearsal swings help you feel confident about the shot and actually rehearse the decision you made. If you decide on a knock down 8 iron, the swing should be similar to the knock down 8 iron that you intend to hit during your execution routine. Your rehearsal swing(s) should have the same length, ball position, tempo and rhythm that you intend to use when you step up to the ball.

In order to maximize the effectiveness of each rehearsal swing, visualize the way you want the shot to turn out. The more senses you use — what you would see, what you hear would hear and what you would feel — the better. Rehearsal swings should be a way to build confidence and act as a final confirmation that the shot you have chosen is the right shot, which prepares you for your execution routine.

Part 2: Add P.E.P. to your routines – Execution

When we last left off, we discussed the pre-shot routine, which will prepare your mind and body to hit the shot at hand.

This is completely separate from your execution routine.

Your execution routine should be very simple, especially if you have successfully completed your pre-shot routine. You already have a decision that you are confident and committed to. Now, all you need to do is make a swing you can trust.

Generally, the quieter your mind is, the better. Some players like to have a swing thought or swing thoughts, while others will rely on just “letting it flow” naturally.

Ideally, science shows that zero swing thoughts work best, however, this is too big of a leap for some players, and there are a lot of exceptions to this, even with PGA Tour pros.  If you must have a swing thought, I want it to be something simple and consistent that helps you make a nice fluid swing. Thinking about small parts of your swing will break up the natural motion. If you find yourself over thinking over the ball, your thoughts changing, or you are becoming overly concerned with golf mechanics on the course, it’s time to reevaluate your thought process over the ball.

Execution is a time to play golf, not golf swing.

A solid execution routine can be as simple as looking at the target, looking at the ball and swinging. For some people, like Jason Dufner, a waggle might be the right trigger to start the swing. Whatever gets you loose, natural and ready over the ball is the right answer. There are many different techniques we use at The Gary Gilchrist Golf Academy, but what’s true for all of them is that they help golfers trust their swing before and after the shot, regardless of the result. Execution is about the long run as well as the short run.

Part 3: Add P.E.P. to your routines – Post shot

The last part in our three-part series on P.E.P is the post-shot routine.

When a golfer has their emotions in check, using P.E.P. to their advantage, some superb golf can be had.

The pre-shot routine prepares a golfer for the shot at hand. The execution routine helps a golfer pull the shot off with confidence and the post-shot routine completes the process of going hole-to-hole, shot-to-shot.

The post-shot routine allows a player to move forward with the right balance of emotions and helps them stay in the present.

Your routine will likely vary based on how you feel and the outcome. This is where it is so important to know yourself as a golfer. What you do following a shot needs to help build and/or preserve confidence, trust and motivation. For this reason, each person will have a little different post-shot routine. Aggressive and passionate players may need to show more emotions than stoic and passive players.

The best way to learn what works is by being honest with yourself about your reactions. Is what you’re doing helping you stay confident and building confidence? Or, is it diminishing your confidence? Is it helping you stay in the present on the following shot and trusting your execution? Or is it hurting your ability to stay in the present and eroding your trust?

We use a myriad of strategies to have an effective post-shot routine with our students at The Gary Gilchrist Golf Academy. The most crucial factor in the strategies we select is that it helps our students following the shot: build confidence, learn and adjust when necessary.

Follow these three routines and your game will develop some positive pep.

Dan Vosgerichian Ph.D. is owner of Elite Performance Solutions. Dr. Dan earned his doctorate in Sport Psychology from Florida State University and has more than 10 years of experience working with golfers to maximize their mental game. His clients have included golfers from The PGA Tour, LPGA Tour, Web.com Tour, PGA Latin America, as well as some of the top junior and collegiate players in the country. Dr. Dan has experience training elite golfers on every aspect of the game. He served as The Director of Mental Training at Gary Gilchrist Golf Academy, as well as a Mental Game Coach for Nike Golf Schools. He’s also worked as an instructor at The PGA Tour Golf Academy and assistant golf coach at Springfield College. Dan's worked as a professional caddie at TPC Sawgrass, Home of The Players Championship, as well as an assistant to Florida State University's PGA Professional Golf Management Program.

6 Comments

6 Comments

  1. Brian

    Jan 9, 2014 at 9:58 pm

    See but what I think u guys are missing is that a pre shot routine doesn’t have to be very long at all. My personal one is to walk up to the ball one waggle and pull the trigger. I think the common misconception is that a Pre shot routine has to be a big broadway show. It can be as simple as licking ur lips.

  2. Alex

    Jan 7, 2014 at 3:33 pm

    Good tips but beware, they may encourage slow play, especially if you don’t start the pre shot routine on your way to the ball. Unless your post-shot routine includes pulling yourself together quickly and walk fast.

    • David F

      Jan 7, 2014 at 4:20 pm

      This. Haven’t we all played with the ~16 hcp who before EVERY shot has to go through a lengthy routine of standing behind the ball, visualizing the shot, walk up next to the ball, take 3 practice swings, step back again, readjust the grip, step up to the ball, waggle 3 times, glance up again to check the aim, waggle 3 more times, and then (maybe) take a swing (too often duffing it 50 yards to the fairway where the same routine starts anew.

      It would be nice to see an article with some concrete suggestions of short and effective pre-shot routines that players who do not yet have one can adopt.

    • Double Mocha Man

      Jan 7, 2014 at 4:34 pm

      I play a few times every year with an old friend from L.A. He gets slower every year! His pre-shot routine doesn’t begin until the last player has hit his shot. Then Larry (are you reading this Larry?) will go through a lengthy routine of pacing off the shot, picking up imaginary objects around the ball, backing off his shot like Furyck backs off from a putt… then he’ll hit.

      His post shot routine involves sanding not only his divots but any and all divots within 20 feet of where he hit his shot. He likes to make the greenskeeper happy… even though he’s ticking off the groups behind us… to the tune of falling 3-4 holes behind.

      Thankfully he has about a 9 handicap so he only does this for maybe 80 to 85 shots.

      When I play with Larry my 3.5 handicap goes up to about 8 just from frustration.

      Last summer I secretly timed him with a stopwatch and his average time from beginning to end was slightly over 2 minutes!

      • Christopher Kee

        Jan 9, 2014 at 11:23 am

        Wow.. I thought my 30 seconds was long (I’m working on reducing this).

  3. Double Mocha Man

    Jan 7, 2014 at 12:38 pm

    I would add this to the post-shot routine: As painful as it may be, you want to watch the roll of your ball on the green after you miss the hole, whether that’s from a putt, chip or wedge shot. Of course you want to turn away and curse, but seeing the line you next have to execute is totally free of charge, that few golfers take advantage of. It’s a discipline thing but will generally save you 2 – 5 strokes per round.

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Instruction

The Wedge Guy: Beating the yips into submission

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There may be no more painful affliction in golf than the “yips” – those uncontrollable and maddening little nervous twitches that prevent you from making a decent stroke on short putts. If you’ve never had them, consider yourself very fortunate (or possibly just very young). But I can assure you that when your most treacherous and feared golf shot is not the 195 yard approach over water with a quartering headwind…not the extra tight fairway with water left and sand right…not the soft bunker shot to a downhill pin with water on the other side…No, when your most feared shot is the remaining 2- 4-foot putt after hitting a great approach, recovery or lag putt, it makes the game almost painful.

And I’ve been fighting the yips (again) for a while now. It’s a recurring nightmare that has haunted me most of my adult life. I even had the yips when I was in my 20s, but I’ve beat them into submission off and on most of my adult life. But just recently, that nasty virus came to life once again. My lag putting has been very good, but when I get over one of those “you should make this” length putts, the entire nervous system seems to go haywire. I make great practice strokes, and then the most pitiful short-stroke or jab at the ball you can imagine. Sheesh.

But I’m a traditionalist, and do not look toward the long putter, belly putter, cross-hand, claw or other variation as the solution. My approach is to beat those damn yips into submission some other way. Here’s what I’m doing that is working pretty well, and I offer it to all of you who might have a similar affliction on the greens.

When you are over a short putt, forget the practice strokes…you want your natural eye-hand coordination to be unhindered by mechanics. Address your putt and take a good look at the hole, and back to the putter to ensure good alignment. Lighten your right hand grip on the putter and make sure that only the fingertips are in contact with the grip, to prevent you from getting to tight.

Then, take a long, long look at the hole to fill your entire mind and senses with the target. When you bring your head/eyes back to the ball, try to make a smooth, immediate move right into your backstroke — not even a second pause — and then let your hands and putter track right back together right back to where you were looking — the HOLE! Seeing the putter make contact with the ball, preferably even the forward edge of the ball – the side near the hole.

For me, this is working, but I am asking all of you to chime in with your own “home remedies” for the most aggravating and senseless of all golf maladies. It never hurts to have more to fall back on!

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Looking for a good golf instructor? Use this checklist

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Over the last couple of decades, golf has become much more science-based. We measure swing speed, smash factor, angle of attack, strokes gained, and many other metrics that can really help golfers improve. But I often wonder if the advancement of golf’s “hard” sciences comes at the expense of the “soft” sciences.

Take, for example, golf instruction. Good golf instruction requires understanding swing mechanics and ball flight. But let’s take that as a given for PGA instructors. The other factors that make an instructor effective can be evaluated by social science, rather than launch monitors.

If you are a recreational golfer looking for a golf instructor, here are my top three points to consider.

1. Cultural mindset

What is “cultural mindset? To social scientists, it means whether a culture of genius or a culture of learning exists. In a golf instruction context, that may mean whether the teacher communicates a message that golf ability is something innate (you either have it or you don’t), or whether golf ability is something that can be learned. You want the latter!

It may sound obvious to suggest that you find a golf instructor who thinks you can improve, but my research suggests that it isn’t a given. In a large sample study of golf instructors, I found that when it came to recreational golfers, there was a wide range of belief systems. Some instructors strongly believed recreational golfers could improve through lessons. while others strongly believed they could not. And those beliefs manifested in the instructor’s feedback given to a student and the culture created for players.

2. Coping and self-modeling can beat role-modeling

Swing analysis technology is often preloaded with swings of PGA and LPGA Tour players. The swings of elite players are intended to be used for comparative purposes with golfers taking lessons. What social science tells us is that for novice and non-expert golfers, comparing swings to tour professionals can have the opposite effect of that intended. If you fit into the novice or non-expert category of golfer, you will learn more and be more motivated to change if you see yourself making a ‘better’ swing (self-modeling) or seeing your swing compared to a similar other (a coping model). Stay away from instructors who want to compare your swing with that of a tour player.

3. Learning theory basics

It is not a sexy selling point, but learning is a process, and that process is incremental – particularly for recreational adult players. Social science helps us understand this element of golf instruction. A good instructor will take learning slowly. He or she will give you just about enough information that challenges you, but is still manageable. The artful instructor will take time to decide what that one or two learning points are before jumping in to make full-scale swing changes. If the instructor moves too fast, you will probably leave the lesson with an arm’s length of swing thoughts and not really know which to focus on.

As an instructor, I develop a priority list of changes I want to make in a player’s technique. We then patiently and gradually work through that list. Beware of instructors who give you more than you can chew.

So if you are in the market for golf instruction, I encourage you to look beyond the X’s and O’s to find the right match!

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What Lottie Woad’s stunning debut win teaches every golfer

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Most pros take months, even years, to win their first tournament. Lottie Woad needed exactly four days.

The 21-year-old from Surrey shot 21-under 267 at Dundonald Links to win the ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open by three shots — in her very first event as a professional. She’s only the third player in LPGA history to accomplish this feat, joining Rose Zhang (2023) and Beverly Hanson (1951).

But here’s what caught my attention as a coach: Woad didn’t win through miraculous putting or bombing 300-yard drives. She won through relentless precision and unshakeable composure. After watching her performance unfold, I’m convinced every golfer — from weekend warriors to scratch players — can steal pages from her playbook.

Precision Beats Power (And It’s Not Even Close)

Forget the driving contests. Woad proved that finding greens matters more than finding distance.

What Woad did:

• Hit it straight, hit it solid, give yourself chances

• Aimed for the fat parts of greens instead of chasing pins

• Let her putting do the talking after hitting safe targets

• As she said, “Everyone was chasing me today, and managed to maintain the lead and played really nicely down the stretch and hit a lot of good shots”

Why most golfers mess this up:

• They see a pin tucked behind a bunker and grab one more club to “go right at it”

• Distance becomes more important than accuracy

• They try to be heroic instead of smart

ACTION ITEM: For your next 10 rounds, aim for the center of every green regardless of pin position. Track your greens in regulation and watch your scores drop before your swing changes.

The Putter That Stayed Cool Under Fire

Woad started the final round two shots clear and immediately applied pressure with birdies at the 2nd and 3rd holes. When South Korea’s Hyo Joo Kim mounted a charge and reached 20-under with a birdie at the 14th, Woad didn’t panic.

How she responded to pressure:

• Fired back with consecutive birdies at the 13th and 14th

• Watched Kim stumble with back-to-back bogeys

• Capped it with her fifth birdie of the day at the par-5 18th

• Stayed patient when others pressed, pressed when others cracked

What amateurs do wrong:

• Get conservative when they should be aggressive

• Try to force magic when steady play would win

• Panic when someone else makes a move

ACTION ITEM: Practice your 3-6 foot putts for 15 minutes after every range session. Woad’s putting wasn’t spectacular—it was reliable. Make the putts you should make.

Course Management 101: Play Your Game, Not the Course’s Game

Woad admitted she couldn’t see many scoreboards during the final round, but it didn’t matter. She stuck to her game plan regardless of what others were doing.

Her mental approach:

• Focused on her process, not the competition

• Drew on past pressure situations (Augusta National Women’s Amateur win)

• As she said, “That was the biggest tournament I played in at the time and was kind of my big win. So definitely felt the pressure of it more there, and I felt like all those experiences helped me with this”

Her physical execution:

• 270-yard drives (nothing flashy)

• Methodical iron play

• Steady putting

• Everything effective, nothing spectacular

ACTION ITEM: Create a yardage book for your home course. Know your distances to every pin, every hazard, every landing area. Stick to your plan no matter what your playing partners are doing.

Mental Toughness Isn’t Born, It’s Built

The most impressive part of Woad’s win? She genuinely didn’t expect it: “I definitely wasn’t expecting to win my first event as a pro, but I knew I was playing well, and I was hoping to contend.”

Her winning mindset:

• Didn’t put winning pressure on herself

• Focused on playing well and contending

• Made winning a byproduct of a good process

• Built confidence through recent experiences:

  • Won the Women’s Irish Open as an amateur
  • Missed a playoff by one shot at the Evian Championship
  • Each experience prepared her for the next

What this means for you:

• Stop trying to shoot career rounds every time you tee up

• Focus on executing your pre-shot routine

• Commit to every shot

• Stay present in the moment

ACTION ITEM: Before each round, set process goals instead of score goals. Example: “I will take three practice swings before every shot” or “I will pick a specific target for every shot.” Let your score be the result, not the focus.

The Real Lesson

Woad collected $300,000 for her first professional victory, but the real prize was proving that fundamentals still work at golf’s highest level. She didn’t reinvent the game — she simply executed the basics better than everyone else that week.

The fundamentals that won:

• Hit more fairways

• Find more greens

• Make the putts you should make

• Stay patient under pressure

That’s something every golfer can do, regardless of handicap. Lottie Woad just showed us it’s still the winning formula.

FINAL ACTION ITEM: Pick one of the four action items above and commit to it for the next month. Master one fundamental before moving to the next. That’s how champions are built.

 

PGA Professional Brendon Elliott is an award-winning coach and golf writer. You can check out his writing work and learn more about him by visiting BEAGOLFER.golf and OneMoreRollGolf.com. Also, check out “The Starter” on RG.org each Monday.

 

Editor’s note: Brendon shares his nearly 30 years of experience in the game with GolfWRX readers through his ongoing tip series. He looks forward to providing valuable insights and advice to help golfers improve their game. Stay tuned for more Tips!

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