How long do you take addressing the ball?

[Herbie]

Today I went out for a round, managed 18 today, felt quite good in myself, knackered now though, typical round 7 over after 9 holes of military golf, sorted out by the back nine and finished 9 over.

On the front nine I was behind a chap for the first 4 holes and noticed everything about his behavior was pretty normal apart from the point where he addressed the ball. I timed him on every shot till I passed him and the shortest time he addressed the ball was 31 seconds. Each time he looked as though hed just seen medusa, he didnt move at all for 30 secs or more before hitting the ball. We are talking 35 to 45 minutes per round (even playing well) just standing still prior to striking the ball. I wonder if he has the record? Hit the bl***y thing!

 

[Del]

I take about 10 seconds addressing the ball, then a further 5 minutes tiring to find the dam thing in the rough!!

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I know quite a few guys that get over the ball and then shuffle around over it trying to find some sort of magic position or a trigger but not seen anyone stand that long over the ball

 

[Smiffy]

A mate of mine takes bloody ages before he hits it.
One day he asked me to move because my shadow was over his ball, I replied "It wasn't when you first addressed it"...
He didn't take the hint

 

[CliveW]

Is this the result of televised golf? If you watch some of the pros they take ages too. No wonder some rounds can take up to 5 hours!

 

[DelB]

I probably just take between 5 and 10 seconds over the ball, but occasionally play with one guy who takes between 30 and 45 seconds every strike. Given that he usually struggles to break 100, that round takes a looooooooooong time!

 

[vig]

Not long enough, apparently.

I generally visualise the shot, take the club, address and hit.

A few of the older members at the club have told me that it all seems a bit rushed.
Thing is by the time they have taken their tee shots, i'm putting out

 

[TonyN]

Take mt grip, align, stance and then about 5 seconds max.

I do a quick look behind the ball and have a practice swing or 2 first. But this is generally done whilst others are playing(without disturbing them)

 

[kingshankly]

i remember garcia a few years back used to take very long he must have looked up around 10 times prior to hitting a shot,jb holmes does my head in extremely slow.i think the less time you think about it the better you are

 

[HTL]

Grip it and rip (slice) it for me.

 

[theeaglehunter]

I probably take 5 seconds max when over the ball.

I quite often see poorer players getting a mental block though and standing over the ball for long periods like you say and then trying to think about what to do before proceeding to swing very jerkily and mess it up.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I have a definite pre-shot routine that I use on every shot even on the range. Having decided on my club I'll take my grip, put the club behind the ball, take my stance, one look at the hole and a slight waggle and put the club down and pull the trigger. I think it really helps especially in a pressure situation or on a tight hole.

I've said before, on the range I'll step off the mat after the shot. Stepping back acts as a swing trigger and I'll start again by taking my grip etc. I find by moving away I don't rush to hit another ball especially after a bad shot and I can focus and visualise what went wrong so I can remedy it for the next shot.

 

[Parmo]

I used to use the velcro on my Mizuno stand bag glove holder thingy, the sound made me focus on the shot, once made bad or good the glove came off and back on the velcro.

 

[Basher]

Check out Trevor Immelman. He takes an absolute age to sort himself out before he hits the ball.

Me between 5 and 7 seconds (absolute max)

 

[SammmeBee]

3.276 seconds roughly....

 

[big_russ]

Line up, address the ball,look at the flag and fire away.
Like Herb says "Just hit the bloody thing"
If it's going to go wrong it will no matter how long you stand and think about it.

 

[RGuk]

I don't waste my time addressing the ball.

I put my initials on, if it gets lost, I don't want it sent back to my house.....bad ball, bad ball.....

dunno.....once settled 5 seconds??

 

[kingshankly]

I have a definite pre-shot routine that I use on every shot even on the range. Having decided on my club I'll take my grip, put the club behind the ball, take my stance, one look at the hole and a slight waggle and put the club down and pull the trigger. I think it really helps especially in a pressure situation or on a tight hole.

I've said before, on the range I'll step off the mat after the shot. Stepping back acts as a swing trigger and I'll start again by taking my grip etc. I find by moving away I don't rush to hit another ball especially after a bad shot and I can focus and visualise what went wrong so I can remedy it for the next shot.

Sounds like a bob rotella student

 

[madandra]

I play with a guy who is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO slow at address. We played last week and I counted 27 seconds from address posture to drawing the club back. I am sorry but this is ruining the game.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

kingshankly,

I wish I was. I've started reading some of his books and I love his stuff but I'm not smart enough to be able to take it with me. I'm too busy trying to cope with the scaffolding pole masquerading as my driver to start visualising as he suggests.

I do find a little step off the range mat just gives me time to stop and slow down. I use to machine gun my way through a bucket with no real work going into learning my swing and what can and does go wrong and what works for me.