Building a Routine Pt. 2 (Game-Day)

While having a dependable practice routine is important, having a tournament or even just a round-day routine is nearly as essential. I call it a tournament day routine but for me, this starts well before the tournament when I come up with a plan to attack the course. Ideally, I have played the course before and have a good sense of all the holes, but oftentimes I don’t have this luxury. If I haven’t played the course, I go on YouTube and watch as many videos as I can find showcasing all the holes. This way I at least have a visual of the course and am not going in blind. From there, I come up with a plan for every hole, deciding what club I will take off the tee and where I ideally want to leave my tee shot. Then, the night before a tournament I lie in bed and visualize every shot in detail. I think about what club I will hit off the tee, how the ball will look in the air, and even the sound of the ball dropping in the hole when I make a putt. This solidifies your plan in your mind and gives you something to fall back on in your round. Even if things aren’t going as planned, you can always count on your preparation and plan to pick you up. I also can’t stress enough the importance of sleep the night before a tournament. It’s helpful to plan backward from your tee time to figure out the right time to ensure you get over eight hours. For example, if I have an 8:30 tee time an hour away, I know I have to leave at about 6:30 and wake up at 5:45 to have ample warm-up time. By this logic, I know I have to be in bed by 9:45 at the absolute latest the night before. I’m not usually a big breakfast person but when I’m playing a tournament in the morning, I make sure to have at least a little bit of fruit or a protein shake to give energy. After that, I go through my normal morning routine which includes taking a cold shower to shock my body into waking up (I highly recommend trying this). Once I get to the course I have a pretty simple warm-up routine. Importantly, I try only to hit around 30 balls, the sole purpose being to warm up my body. Even if I were to shank all 30 balls I would move on to the chipping green and then finish with the putting green. Dwelling on a bad pre-round range session is the worst thing you can do because it puts bad thoughts into your mind right before you play. Instead, try to remember that you’ve practiced countless hours to prepare yourself and think positive thoughts as you head up to the first tee.