How To Prepare For A Round Of Golf
Kit Alexander highlights the things you need to do before stepping on the first tee to help you play your best
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00:00I'm here on the first tee at the beautiful Burley Park Golf Club and I want to talk to
00:10you about arriving right here, ready to go, fully prepared to play your absolute best
00:17golf.
00:18And that starts with all the preparation you do beforehand.
00:22There's loads of things you can do and ways you can prepare to make sure when you arrive
00:27on the first tee, you are ready to play your absolute best golf.
00:36Dirty clubs can have a really negative impact on your performance, especially when you're
00:41looking to generate spin on approach shots into greens and those finesse shots around
00:46the putting surfaces.
00:48You want to make sure your clubs are always as clean as they possibly can be, but especially
00:53if you've got a big round coming up.
00:55What you want to do is leave them to soak for a little while in some warm, soapy water.
01:01Don't leave them for too long, but just long enough to really soften up any dirt and grime
01:05and get it out.
01:06Whip them out, give them a quick wipe off and you'll see there's still probably a fair
01:12bit of dirt in the grooves.
01:14So a toothbrush is a really good thing to use, also an old wire brush.
01:17You can get specific tools for it as well and give it a little scrape right into the
01:22grooves.
01:23That should remove any debris, any mud that's compacted in there.
01:27Give them another little dunk and a wipe off and they are absolutely ready to go.
01:32You have got shiny clubs ready to hit the first tee.
01:38A good night's sleep is an essential but underrated ingredient when it comes to playing good golf
01:44and you don't want to be hung over either.
01:46So try and keep the drinking to a minimum the night before, maybe just one or two beers
01:51if you're treating yourself.
01:52But with that in mind, I'm heading off.
01:55So I'll see you in the morning.
01:56So after a good night's sleep, I am as fresh as a daisy.
02:21I'm super chilled because I know all my gear is packed up in the car ready to go.
02:26And I've planned my day.
02:28I've left myself plenty of time to get there and go through all of my routines before I
02:33tee off.
02:34And I know even if there's a little bit of traffic, I've got enough leeway.
02:38I'm calm, I'm chilled and I'm ready to go.
02:45Something that's really going to help you play your best golf and score better and can
02:49be done really at any time before you play is to build a strategy for the golf course
02:56you're going to be going up against.
02:58Now if it's your home club, you probably know it like the back of your hand.
03:03You know where to go, where not to go, what clubs to hit in certain places.
03:08Rather than just think that in your mind and maybe recall it or not, write it down.
03:13Get it down on paper how you're going to attack each hole, what clubs and what strategy are
03:19going to give you the best opportunity to shoot the lowest scores.
03:23And the important thing is, once you've got a strategy, stick to it.
03:28No matter how things are going, if you have a brilliant start or a horrible start, we
03:32see it so often from the pros, they say, I just stuck to my strategy, I did what I set
03:38out to do.
03:39Have a look through, get a course planner, decide exactly how you're going to play every
03:45hole and try and do just that when you get out on the course.
03:53What you eat and drink has a huge impact on how your mind and body feels in general,
03:59as well as when we're playing golf.
04:01So it's really important that you eat right and get hydrated before you play golf.
04:08Exactly what that means for you is going to depend on your tee time.
04:13If you're going out bright and early, maybe a bowl of porridge, something with slow release
04:17energy is great.
04:19If you're teeing off at a bit of a funny time, maybe midday, you might normally actually
04:23be eating when you're teeing off or not long after.
04:27Try and build your meals that day around your golf so you're fully fueled for the full three
04:33and a half, four, four and a half hours that you're out on the golf course.
04:37And we often overlook staying hydrated.
04:41You always need to drink way more than you think, and it can really affect you mentally
04:46as well as physically if you are dehydrated.
04:50Always have at least one of these bottles with you.
04:53Keep sipping on it as you go through your warmup, and when you're out on the course,
04:57don't forget, reach for this and have a swig.
05:10So we're in the range.
05:12But before you go reaching for those clubs, it's really important to have a bit of a stretch.
05:18Warm up your muscles.
05:20Get them nice and loose and get the blood flowing.
05:23The golf swing itself is a really athletic motion.
05:27There's lots of twisting and there's lots of speed in it.
05:29So if your muscles aren't ready for that, they're A, not going to perform at their best,
05:35and B, you leave yourself open to picking up injuries, and that's awful because we don't
05:40want anything that's going to stop us playing golf.
05:43So what stretches should we be doing?
05:46There are loads and loads out there.
05:48I'm just going to show you a couple of my favorites.
05:52And because golf is a full body action, it's important to try and get a little bit of movement
05:57and stretching right the way up your body.
05:59So a really dead simple one to start.
06:02Gets the back of your legs and your lower back.
06:05Cross your legs over and just bend straight over as far as you can.
06:10I can only just get to the floor.
06:12If you can't, that's not a problem.
06:14Just take it until you feel the stretch and hold it there for about 20 seconds.
06:19Repeat on the other side and then that should loosen up right up the back of your legs.
06:27Another really good one is because we've got this turning and twisting motion, a lot of
06:31that comes from around the hip area and the upper body, is just sort of start rotating
06:36your hips.
06:37Place them as far forward as you can feel and as far to each side.
06:42When you get to the sort of points on the clock, just hold it and feel that stretch
06:47in each area.
06:48That will really get your hips used to this sort of motion.
06:53And then we move in to the upper part of the body, the arms, the shoulders.
06:57For this you can actually grab a club.
07:00So take a club, stick it behind your back like this and just turn as much as you can.
07:07Have a little bit of flex in your knees as well, similar to the golf swing, and just
07:12hold it.
07:13That's going to increase the amount you can actually turn in your golf swing, which is
07:18also going to bring greater speed and hopefully more distance as long as you can control it.
07:25There are loads of stretches you can do.
07:27Those three are a great place to start, but please do make sure you stretch before you
07:32hit any golf balls.
07:37Once you're stretched, it's time to get the clubs out and hit some balls.
07:42Now do not reach straight for the driver.
07:45Go in low, go with a wedge, one that you're going to hit a lot during the round as well.
07:51It's a shorter club, it's an easier swing, a bit more finesse, and it allows you to really
07:57ease yourself into your practice session.
08:00From there, what I'd recommend doing is working your way up through the bag.
08:04You don't have to hit every single club, but maybe jump every two or three.
08:09Make sure there's a wedge in there, make sure there's a short iron, a mid iron, a long iron
08:14or hybrid, and then your three-wood and your driver.
08:18Now what you're looking to achieve here is familiarity.
08:20Remember, this is a warm-up, it's not a practice session.
08:24You're not going to drastically change what you're doing in these 15 or 20 minutes on
08:30the range before your tee time.
08:32This is about grooving a little bit of what you've got, but most importantly, finding
08:36out what your swing is doing that day.
08:39Where is the ball going and what are you going to be able to do on the golf course to use
08:43that ball flight and the shots that you're hitting on the range to get round in the lowest
08:48score possible.
08:50Just finally, a really great little tip, before you head to that first tee, your last few
08:55shots in the range can be playing the first few holes in your head.
09:00If it's a driver that you need to hit a little bit of fade off the first tee, hit that.
09:05If that's going to leave you a nine iron, then hit the nine iron.
09:09If you've got a par three coming up that you know requires a specific club, practice hitting
09:14that as well.
09:15The familiarity of hitting those shots just before you go out onto the course will fill
09:20you with confidence when you face them under pressure.
09:27It's so important that you go to the chipping and putting green as well.
09:31I know it can be tempting to spend all your time hitting balls in the range or even just
09:36wander on, chuck a ball down, two or three putts, and then off you go, but I promise
09:42any time spent chipping and putting before your round is time well spent, and that's
09:48for a few reasons.
09:49First of all, when you're chipping, not only are you practicing those shots, working on
09:53your action just a little bit before you go out, but it gives you a real sense of the
09:58firmness and the speed of the greens.
10:01If you see how it reacts on the chipping green with any luck, the greens out on the course
10:05will be very similar.
10:06It enables you to not only judge what you're doing with your short game, but also on your
10:11approach shots.
10:12How is that ball going to react to the green soft, can I fly it all the way, or are they
10:17firm?
10:18That's going to make a huge difference to how you play a lot of shots out on the golf
10:22course.
10:23When you are practicing your chipping, don't just give yourself a perfect lie all the time
10:27either.
10:28Try a few little funky lies.
10:29If you know the course, you'll know the type of shots you're most likely to face.
10:34Those are the ones you want to be hitting and getting confident with on the chipping
10:37green before you head out.
10:40Once you've finished up chipping, make sure you head into the bunkers as well to hit a
10:45few bunker shots.
10:46Of course, the sand will be different from course to course, and depending on the weather
10:50you've been having.
10:51You really need to familiarize yourself with the bunkers on that day.
10:56Then, time for the flat stick.
10:58There's a few things you're looking to do on the putting green before you head out onto
11:03the course.
11:04First, you're getting the pace.
11:07Head to a spot about 40 feet from the fringe of the green, a relatively flat putt.
11:12Just putt to the apron.
11:14You're not worried about a specific target like a hole.
11:17You just want to gauge that pace and calibrate your stroke to the speed of the greens on
11:22that day.
11:23Then, you can get into some more hole specific stuff.
11:26A drill I really like to do is the round the world.
11:29Chuck three or four balls around the hole.
11:32Any sort of distance you like, really, from two to 10 feet.
11:36You can vary it up as well, depending on how much time you've got.
11:39That will enable you to see how the ball is breaking from different slopes on different
11:44sides of the same hole, and also see the ball going in as well.
11:49Finally, before you leave the putting green, you want to be heading to that first tee brimming
11:56with confidence.
11:57You want to see a putt going into the hole.
12:00Chuck a ball down no more than a foot from the hole, a putt you cannot possibly miss.
12:06Line it up, ram it in with confidence, and head to that first tee.
12:14I hope you found all of those tips really helpful, and they will get you well and truly
12:21prepared the next time you tee it up.
12:25If you've liked the video, please give it a thumbs up.
12:27If we've missed anything, any little hints and tips you've got, add them in the comments
12:32below.
12:33Remember to subscribe to this Golf Monthly YouTube channel.
12:37There's so much great content coming your way.
12:40As we're all done here, and I'm fully prepared, I'm heading out onto the course.