Practice swing vs actual swing

[Bamberdele2.0]

Just came off the course and my friend decided to film one of my shots. Second shot on a par 5 - 210 out over water.

I can confirm I actually looked like a golfer during my practice swing but my actual swing looked extremely dissapointing.

I feel as though my practice swing (that looks good) would go 50 yards less.

I’m thinking I should just club up and slow everything down?

I would love to play golf with a swing I can look back on and be proud of. Today has made me realise I have a lot of work to do.

Any tips appreciated




.

 

[Pin-seeker]

Just came off the course and my friend decided to film one of my shots. Second shot on a par 5 - 210 out over water.

I can confirm I actually looked like a golfer during my practice swing but my actual swing looked extremely dissapointing.

I feel as though my practice swing (that looks good) would go 50 yards less.

I’m thinking I should just club up and slow everything down?

I would love to play golf with a swing I can look back on and be proud of. Today has made me realise I have a lot of work to do.

Any tips appreciated




.

I’m guilty of this.
But the practice swing might not go shorter as you’re more likely to find the middle of the club face & get a better strike.

 

[clubchamp98]

Imho practice swing looks good because you finish your swing with nice tempo and a full through swing.

Put a ball there and we want to knock the cover off it.
Tempo goes out the window.
Glancing blow and it could go anywhere with the wild slash at the ball.

Lots of us guilty of this!

 

[IanM]

Oh yes...

 

[Lord Tyrion]

100% with @clubchamp98 on this. I wish I could use my practice swing tempo every time .

My FiL was the most extreme example of this, that I've seen. In car terms, his practice swing was 55mph. His actual swing was 90mph and he lost all timing, control, the lot. He was convinced that the two swings were the same though

 

[Imurg]

With a few exceptions I've not seen many practice swings that resemble the real one.
In my opinion they are a comp,ete waste of energy, both mental and physical
Which is why, apart from (maybe) a tricky chip, I haven't made one in almost 25 years
QED.......

 

[BrianM]

Had a guy come up to me on our 7th hole once and said your practice swing looks superb but your actual swing is nothing like it.
Cheers pal, just what I was wanting to hear

 

[RichA]

I haven't bothered with a practice swing for years. It's that stupid psychological thing where a switch flicks in your brain and you go from a nice smooth swing to thinking, "Right, now I need to really hit this ball." For me they're a waste of mental energy.
Us amateurs mostly make practice swings utterly focused on a patch of grass 6 inches short of the ball, before shuffling forward and taking the shot.
Pros seem to just rehearse the sequence of movements without actually addressing and taking a full swing at an imaginary ball.
I can understand doing it with chips and putts, where we're kind of measuring the depth and tempo of our swing to hit the ball a variable distance. It makes less sense when we're picking a club that should go a consistent distance with a full swing.

 

[Neilds]

To the OP, did you actual shot go 210 yards over the water and land where you wanted it to? If so, who cares what the swing looks like, was still a great shot

 

[harpo_72]

I suppose the practice swing is dependent on how you see it. What most of you are saying is you lose sequence because you swing harder … why not swing harder with your practice swing.
My practice swing is the same as my shot swing and I am trying to get the feeling I want. Sometimes I feel too out to in or to up and I will swing till I get what I want to feel. Other times the swing is about the power to apply on 3/4 shots and what that should be.
The back garden is definitely the place to experiment with this. When I was travelling I used to swing a fitting bar .. discreetly as the technical manager and fitting manager used to get grumpy.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Some of the stuff I have been getting from Adam Young and the Sweetspot podcast is the practice swing needs to replicate what you are trying to achieve in the real thing and you should have the feeling of playing the actual shot and seeing/feeling it. Ideally if you can then get into the real shot and execute within something like 20 seconds tests have proven that the body and mind retain some of the feeling from the practice swing and the imagery used and so in theory the swing should bear more resemblance to the practice swing and the results should be more consistent and in association with what you felt/imagined. I've tried it and up to a very large degree it has more than a degree of truth in practice and so something worth pursuing

 

[bobmac]

I don't think of it as a practice swing, I practice on the range.
That is where I work out my Pre Shot Routine.
A PSR is a way of ensuring you don't forget something because you do it every time.

Everyone is different but mine is
1. Don't set the wrists, in real terms I do but, it stops me over swinging and getting across the line at the top
2. Pause at the top, it's only for a fraction but it keeps my upper body and lower body working together.
3. Push off the back foot to a balanced finish.

So I do those on my rehearsal swing to remind me what to do on the actual shot.

Some say that's a lot to think about but I've been doing it so long I find it's easy and it works for me.

One tip I got years ago was....
If you are waiting for the group in front, don't pull out your club straight away and have 300 rehearsal swings. By all means, decide what club you're going to hit but then wait till it's your turn. Then start your PSR. One rehearsal swing then without hesitation, hit it

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I don't think of it as a practice swing, I practice on the range.
That is where I work out my Pre Shot Routine.
A PSR is a way of ensuring you don't forget something because you do it every time.

Everyone is different but mine is
1. Don't set the wrists, in real terms I do but, it stops me over swinging and getting across the line at the top
2. Pause at the top, it's only for a fraction but it keeps my upper body and lower body working together.
3. Push off the back foot to a balanced finish.

So I do those on my rehearsal swing to remind me what to do on the actual shot.

Some say that's a lot to think about but I've been doing it so long I find it's easy and it works for me.

One tip I got years ago was....
If you are waiting for the group in front, don't pull out your club straight away and have 300 rehearsal swings. By all means, decide what club you're going to hit but then wait till it's your turn. Then start your PSR. One rehearsal swing then without hesitation, hit it

Sound advice as always. I agree with Bob about a PSR. It has to be repeatable and you have to have the discipline to do it EVERY time. I have mine which includes the practice swing and the feelings I described

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Full practice address abnd swing. Waste of time and effort…I just picture the shot from behind and with that in mind get a feel of my strike position. My head will sort out what my swing does to achieve the outcome I want following the strike. Well thats always my intention.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Full practice address abnd swing. Waste of time and effort…I just picture the shot from behind and with that in mind get a feel of my strike position. My head will sort out what my swing does to achieve the outcome I want following the strike. Well thats always my intention.

Disagree and the research I've seen/heard back that up

 

[Neilds]

Disagree and the research I've seen/heard back that up

If it works for SILH then it works, we are all different. You can disagree with what he says but you can't say what he does is wrong - just that it doesn't suit you.

 

[Pin-seeker]

With a few exceptions I've not seen many practice swings that resemble the real one.
In my opinion they are a comp,ete waste of energy, both mental and physical
Which is why, apart from (maybe) a tricky chip, I haven't made one in almost 25 years
QED.......

Not even if the ball is above or below your feet?

 

[HomerJSimpson]

If it works for SILH then it works, we are all different. You can disagree with what he says but you can't say what he does is wrong - just that it doesn't suit you.

Disagreeing about it being a waste of time

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Disagree and the research I've seen/heard back that up

My experience is that I don’t see many better golfers take a practice stance to the ball, address it, and take a full swing. They tend to visualise the shot and get a feel for one or two key ‘trigger’ aspects of their swing..then take their stance and address…maybe do another ‘feel’ move (maybe just a waggle) - then hit it.

 

[clubchamp98]

Paudrig Harrington reckons you should have four Practice swings.

Your muscles should be warmed up on the fourth one so you can hit a good shot.
So horses for courses do what suits you.