Things Golfers Forget To Do Before A Competition

Golf Monthly

In this video, we're joined by Golf Monthly Top 50 Coach Alex Elliott to talk you through some vital things to remember before playing a competition round of golf. From your practice routine to your nutrition, these tips should allow you to play your best golf next time you've got a card in your pocket.

Transcript

00:00Are you someone who gets nervous before a big golf competition? Or do you suddenly become a

00:15professional with your warm-up and pre-game routine and then flunk it on the golf course?

00:19If you do then this video could be for you. I'm going to be joined by Alex Elliott,

00:24the Golf Monthly Top 50 Coach, where we're going to be breaking down the mistakes amateurs make

00:29before going out into a big golf competition. Some of these mistakes may sound familiar and if they do

00:35hopefully you can pick up some tips and tricks on how to perform better on the golf course.

00:40With that in mind, let's get to it. I'm a little hungry.

00:50Right, I'm stuffed now. It's important as golfers that we don't make the mistake of going out into a

00:55big competition on an empty stomach and it's also important to be properly hydrated. 18 holes is a

01:01long time and it's a big competition. You want to make sure you're properly fuelled before you go out.

01:05Yes, you can carry bottles of water out on the golf course but let's start as we mean to go on.

01:09Properly fuelled, high energy and ready to score low. So Alex, a lot of mistakes golfers might be

01:15making prior to competition rounds is changing up their swing routine. That might be because of nerves.

01:20Do you have any advice for those golfers? I think you've got two kinds of golf there. So what are

01:25you working on in your golf game right now? Probably moving my left hip back, getting it out

01:29of the way. Perfect. I would suggest to you Monty is do your first practice swing, a little mini one,

01:34feeling the left hip excessively out of the way. So that feeling's fresh. Okay. The next one you're

01:40going to do a full-blooded practice swing where it's almost like you're picturing that shot. You're then

01:45going to walk into the shot and hit it. So you've got a little bit of structure of technique, a little

01:50bit of a flow of the shot. You've got a concise routine that keeps you flowed rather than I think

01:55in a big situation, golfers can just take one more, one more, one more, one more, and it gets longer

02:00and longer, right? That's it. So keeping it short and simple is key for those golfers. Now there are

02:04some golfers out there who don't take practice swings at all. What would you suggest for those golfers?

02:09Stick with normal. Just keep to your DNA but have make it like a concise informative routine where you're

02:14really bothered about your aim or you're bothered about the technicality if you're that kind of

02:18golfer. So just keeping it short and simple before your competition round, don't change anything too

02:24excessively. A common mistake often made by your amateur golfer might be introducing too many swing

02:31thoughts prior to your round of golf. How many swing thoughts would you suggest is an adequate amount

02:37to take out with you onto the golf course? Usually around five or six. I would always say one backswing

02:44and one downswing would be a good rule of thumb to use. Can you explain to us the backswing and downswing?

02:50For example, right, I think focusing on a backswing which is slower and smoother is a good generic

02:56swing thought for most people. We tend to rush it. So my swing thought would be, okay, slow smooth

03:01takeaway and then my downswing, which I sort of call my trigger thought, is I like to feel I get my belt

03:07buckle to target. Just helps me turn, not slide. So they'll be my two. And I'm guessing that's personal to you.

03:13Other golfers may have different cues for them. For sure. I mean, I'd say the first one would

03:18probably work for most people, but yeah, downswing ones or just in general, they are quite personal.

03:22Work them out with your PJ Pro, work them out on the range yourself and maybe even log them down

03:26on your phone. I really suggest putting two little clear notes as a good way to build good habits

03:31because when we play well, we tend to forget why we played well, but having that little log is what

03:36I'd recommend. So there we go. Just a couple of swing thoughts is all you need. And that could be the

03:40difference for your competition round. Ooh. Whoa, what are we doing here? It's club champs, mate.

03:48Alex, I was just about to implement a new wedge into my set, take out these old things and put in this new one.

03:54Why? Well, it's supposed to make me play better, no? Yeah, I get it, right? Your grooves might be a

03:58little bit shot on these, but it's new. New season, new looking wedge. It might look a bit different,

04:04a little bit shinier. Your eyes aren't going to be used to it. Even though I know you might feel a bit better

04:08with spinning it, I wouldn't put it in. Not for a big competition like today? No. I want, like,

04:12especially wedges or even drive, you've got to get used to that visual, have a few practice sessions,

04:17play on the course and some social golf, then bring it in. Okay, that's handy advice. I'll stick to what

04:22I know for now. Yeah, and I'll keep your percentage of your club champs win. Don't worry. Thanks, Alex.

04:30A mistake often made by golfers is coming out onto the golf course for a competition, not having clean

04:35their clubs. I'm guilty of this. I come out with very dirty clubs. How important is it to make sure

04:41those grooves are clean, and particularly with the wedges? Probably more important than people give it

04:45credit for. Simply, you might hear on TV some golfers say, oh, I've got a flyer, and simply what that is,

04:51it's grass or dirt caught between the club face and the ball, reduces the spin, and just causes the

04:56ball to go a little bit further. Equally, if you've got a lot of dirt on there, the ball might not fly

05:02anywhere near as much. So, what I'd really recommend, and I say this for every single golfer, is just

05:08wet the corner of your towel. You might have a groove cleaner as well in your pocket with a little

05:13teeth in, but I just wet my towel, and that wet corner just removes all that dirt. I do it after

05:18every shot. So, cleaning the club face helps generate more spin, more control, especially with

05:23these shorter shots. Exactly. Are you able to demonstrate that for us? We will go. It's bob on

05:28100 yards here to the flag. I've got my 50 degree. Okay, here we go.

05:38So, finally, warming up. Alex, how important is it to have a warm-up routine prior to a competition

05:44around a golf? Very. Like, we've got to think golf is quite a dynamic sport. So, if you're not ready

05:51to go, I mean, you hear the old analogy of you start playing golf on the fourth hole when you've not

05:56warmed up. This is a warm-up, not a practice session. So, don't hit the panic button if they

06:01aren't great, but what you want to be doing is taking note on ball flight. Is it a little bit

06:05fadey? Is it a little bit hooky? What are my patterns? Because that's the knowledge,

06:10whilst you're warming up and the body's ready, that's the knowledge you can take to the course.

06:14Now, a lot of golfers might be watching and see Tiger Woods coming out onto the driving range

06:18and hitting wedge all the way through to driver. Is that something you would recommend?

06:21No, I would just pick evens or odds. Like, most of us don't have time, right? We probably have our

06:26four and a half hours, we want to have a pint afterwards. We want to spend 10 minutes max here.

06:30And for golfers who don't have access to a driving range like this, you mentioned there are some

06:34movements that we can do to get warmed up, to get loose, ready for that round of golf. Are you able

06:38to take us through those? Yeah, it's going to look like a bit of an 80s dance routine, but what I'd

06:44really recommend, Demonti, is just actually making a few dynamic moves. So, the first one, I mean, if you're

06:48going to do this one with me, is just get in golf posture and then you're going to sort of angle

06:53your club away from you. I'm just going to make some chops out and away and maybe just do eight

06:58in this direction. And once you feel like you're starting to loosen off, you're then going to

07:02change the angle and just chop in the other direction. You loosen up the back, you're in

07:06golf posture. A lot of people don't do many exercises in this space. A lot of people do a lot of

07:10stuff here, so it just gets our body ready. Other things you can do, I'd really suggest a bit of a lunge

07:16up and then maybe you can add a twist in as well and just do that with alternating legs.

07:21Alternating legs. I think one side is good enough for me. The thing I would say is there's not anything

07:27specific I would say you should do as those stretches, just something to get your body ready,

07:31so it's not getting the first tee and going, oh, I feel a little bit shocked here.

07:39So, there we have it. Common mistakes made by your everyday golfer for a competition round of golf,

07:45broken down for you by Alex Elliott. Now, if any of these scenarios sounded familiar,

07:50or if there's anything we didn't mention, please do let us know in the comments.

07:54From Kettleston Park Golf Club, thank you for watching. Bye bye.

07:58So, there you have it. Sorry. Are you ready, Alex? I'm ready. Are you ready?

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