Watch your favorite PGA Tour player prepare for hitting any shot, and you will observe a systematic approach to hitting each and everything.

Now the next time you play a casual round with your favorite foursome notice which, if any, of your fellow golfers have any sort of pre-shot routine.

You may not have thought about it before, but your routine can have a very positive affect on the numbers on your scorecard, so let’s look at why.

We can all agree that golf requires intense focus and concentration to perform at a high level. Watch the facial expressions of great players like Woods, Nicklaus or Floyd in the heat of competition, and you can’t help but see the “look,” which is also called being “in the zone.”

We can also agree that maintaining 100 percent concentration for a four hour round of golf is unrealistic as it would be mentally draining. If we could develop a routine that allowed us to tap into this focus state, hit the shot and then resume a normal state of mind we would have the best of both worlds.

By creating an effective routine, not only can you access concentration but also the ability to relax, breathe, visualize and then distract the conscious mind to allow the subconscious mind to actually execute the shot required.

The most effective routine begins with a question

The most effective routine does not begin with selecting a club, checking the wind or the yardage, but it begins with a question. Ask yourself, “What does a good shot look like here?” This allows you to change focus from negative thoughts such as “don’t hit it into that bunker” and replaces that focus onto positive thoughts.

Questions create images in the mind, and you want to see a clear image of what a good shot looks like. Positive images stimulate feelings that trigger emotions, and you want those emotions to feel good about executing that shot!

Your practice swing

The next step in your routine will be your practice swing. The type of practice swing you take will depend on the question you asked in step one. Does this shot need to curve right to left or left to right? Do you need to hit it high or take it in low? Will this shot need extra spin because the greens are firm? If this is a putt, what is the speed that I want the ball to enter the hole?

All of these questions will have images associated with them, and the practice swing should mimic those images. If this shot requires a high draw then your practice swing may feel a bit flatter than normal, you may feel your hands get closer to your body on the downswing and the club path a bit more in-to-out, with the hands finishing high. You just made the practice swing that will produce a high draw. Be careful that you do not break the swing down into pieces; under pressure, the brain prefers a complete motion rather than a segmented one.

Access your performance state via deep breathing

Now that you are two steps into your routine, it will be necessary to make sure that you are calm and your nerves are settled. In the third step, you want to focus on your breathing (more specifically, deep breathing). Deep breathing is one of the most powerful tools that will allow you to access your performance state. What we want to do is make sure the mind does not jump forward and think, “Well what if I don’t hit this one good, and it goes in the water?” Future tense thinking creates anxiety and tension.

Not only does deep breathing help relax you, it helps ground you in the present moment — the state controlled by images. This form of breathing is not your normal breathe in, breathe out exercise but, rather, a specific type called the Reflex Breath, and it’s the opposite of what you would expect.

Begin by completely exhaling all of the air in your lungs, imagine that you are squeezing a sponge filled with air. As you expel all of this air, you will instinctively breathe in a full supply of fresh oxygen. Perform 2-3 relaxing breaths and literally feel like you are blowing out all of the tension.

Clear your mind, then go on automatic

You are getting close now, having picked the club, imagined the shot, made the practice swing and done your breathing, but what if one of those “what if” questions creeps in? Let’s imagine a simple exercise that can temporarily shut down the conscious mind and allow of all that good programming to execute the shot for you. This exercise is called a Clear Key and is simply a phrase that contains no action words that keeps your mind occupied while you perform.

It could be something simple like, “I like my swing, it’s the thing!” or lyrics from your favorite song, etc. Use any phrase that makes you feel good, just be sure it does not contain actions words such as hit, kill, slide, turn or any words that cause you to think about doing something. Once you have your Clear Key, it’s time to “go on automatic.” Imagine a line between you and the ball, and tell yourself that once you cross that line you are only in Clear Key mode. Repeat your Clear Key just like a broken record until the ball is gone!

Remember your Clear Key does not have to make sense, its purpose is to distract you from thinking “what if” and let your subconscious mind do its job.

Now you have established a simple but powerful pre-shot routine. It is up to you to practice your routine and make it a part of every shot from drive to putt. Not only will your routine give you a sense of familiarity and calm, it will become part of you, the golfer. Remember that your routine is not just another “thing that I do here” but a very powerful tool!

With this tool you will know that despite the outcome you have done everything that you can do to execute the shot required. You will build consistency into your game and allow yourself the opportunity to perform at levels you’ve always imagined.

Students ask all the time if they should take a practice swing or not. In response, I ask if they do in fact partake in this all important facet of the game. The answer usually comes back “sometimes.”

That’s like admitting we would “sometimes” like to hit a good shot.

I also hear from many that their practice swing is very good, but the swing they put on the ball is poor. Maybe. Let me explain.

Golf is a motor skill, which means that the way that we swing a golf club is basically formed by an image that we have in our brains. If the imagery we have is poor, than the resulting swing will typically be poor. Many argue that there is no such thing as muscle memory in golf, just motor memory. I agree.

Example: One of the biggest skills missing from golfers is the ability to hit the ball first and then take a divot. Most exclaim that this motion is just for the pros, or must take some great strength. Neither is true. We are all born with an instinct to scoop the ball into the air by releasing the club head too early in the downswing in an attempt to get the club “under” the ball.

Once the student is taught that that, in fact, is not how the ball goes up, but instead the proper motion of taking a divot in front of the ball, all the brain cares about from that point forward is to take the proper divot. The student can draw a line on the ground between their legs perpendicular to the target line and practice taking a divot at or in front of the line.

But what they really are doing is building motor memory. The brain will tell the body how to do this action over time. When the divot is behind the ball, typically subconsciously, the brain has resorted to its old reasoning; not because the golfer has physically performed poorly. As far as I know the arms and the hands that are doing the scooping do not have a brain, so something had to tell them to do it!

Back to practice swings: Take them very seriously; your brain is paying attention. The ball does not really care too much about anything else but what the golf club is doing at the moment of impact. So if taking a good divot in front of the ball is something that happens on chips, pitches, irons, hybrids and fairway woods when hit properly, then when you set up for a practice swing, set up equal to the ball (a few inches away), make a swing not thinking of how to take the divot, just on making the divot in the correct location. This may make a try or two. As soon as you see the proper divot, get right up to the ball and hit it without delay.

Basically what has just happened was your brain gave you the correct information, the body responded with how it is going to do it and you just tried to replicate that motion. That is how you play a motor skill.

Remember, you can drill on the range working on hitting in front of the line, but when it is time to play, your brain does not care about the way it happens, it just wants you to show it the correct motion and then wants to fire.

Those who have trouble taking the “perfect” practice swing and have trouble hitting the ball, upon further review, actually do not have a correct practice swing, they are actually putting the same incorrect motion on the shot and are disappointed.

So, yes, take a practice swing. Know what requirement that practice swing must have (divot in front of ball), set up to your shot, and hit the ball.

Stick with this routine and enjoy the great shots that are coming your way.

Try these quick tips, and see your distance off the tee increase:

• At address, keep 60 to 70 percent of your weight on the right foot. Take a slightly wider stance (a little wider than your shoulders), with toes pointed slightly outward.

• Tee the ball high, and move it forward up by your front toe so you can catch it on the upswing. Use a stronger grip than normal – hands turned back toward your back shoulder and light grip pressure.

• Make a wide arc, and strive for maximum extension. (Stretch your arms outward during the swing.) Maximize coil, and get your left shoulder behind the ball on backswing.

• To maximize coil, don’t lift your left foot on the backswing. (Very important, the lower body has to stay solid during the backswing.)

• Be sure to complete the backswing and the follow through, making a completely full swing. It’s OK to bend your left arm to make a complete backswing.

• Start your downswing by pulling the hands down toward the ball and letting your right knee slide toward the target. Keep your right heel on the ground longer on the downswing, and follow through to help keep your body back. (Watch Ernie Els and Tiger Woods during their practice swings.)

• Try and stay loose during the swing, keeping your head and upper body behind the ball upon impact. Rotate the shaft through impact.

• Generate maximum club-head speed by rotating the shaft through impact. (Let the hands turn over and release.)

• Throughout the swing, try and keep a light grip pressure. (Vijay Singh actually lets go of the grip with his right hand during the impact zone.)

• Remember: Swing the club fast, not hard!

The ultimate goal for most golfers is to drive the ball longer and straighter.

Although it’s the short game that will allow them to improve their scores, most golfers are driven by hitting drives longer than their playing partners. That’s what keeps golf manufactures in business, selling golfers the hope of longer, straighter drives.

Well, here are a few tips that will help in your quest to drive the ball with added power off the tee:

It starts with the proper setup

Because today’s modern drivers have larger heads and are weighted to help get the ball up in the air quickly, you need to catch the ball on the upswing.

Position the ball opposite your left toe; (right-handed golfers) take a slightly wider stance and drop your right shoulder slightly more than normal. Tee the ball high, and swing up to a full follow through position.

A little tip: pick out a target in the distance that helps you swing up, something like clouds, mountains tops or trees that allows you to visualize your ball flying high into the distance.

A full, complete backswing

It starts by turning your left shoulder away from the target and allowing your weight to shift back onto your right foot (right-handed golfers).

At the top of the backswing, your back should be facing the target with your weight behind the ball (make sure your hands are high above your right shoulder, not too far inside your swing path). Your weight should be on the inside of your right foot.

Starting the downswing

This is where most golfers loose their power. Your weight should shift left by your lower body leading the way.

Start the downswing by sliding your right knee toward the target, this will allow your right elbow to drop into your right side. From this position, just let your weight shift to your left foot and allow your arms and hands to swing the club into a follow through position. This part of your golf swing is where the shifting of the weight unleashes the power and speed of the swing.

Most average golfers start the downswing with the upper body not the lower body (the dreaded over-the-top-move). This is where they loose all their power. The lower body “must” start the downswing!

The release: Just let it happen

Most golf instructors will give you many varying ideas on how to release the club head through the impact zone.

Over the years I have noticed that if golfers have the proper weight shift from the top of their backswing, it allows them to drop the right elbow down, properly having the hands and arms naturally release through the hitting area.

I simply say a full release is when nothing is being held back; just allow the speed and force of your downswing to pull you into the follow-through position. (Don’t slow down to hit the ball; just let the club head go).

Try these tips and see your power and direction improve off the tee!

Driving the ball longer is the ultimate goal for most golfers, and there’s no doubt we all can improve our distance off the tee by making a few simple adjustments.

The following golf tips will absolutely improve your driving distance potential …

1. Turn on the power:

During the backswing turn your right shoulder away from the ball while shifting your weight and the club head back (right handed golfers). This puts you into a powerful position at the top of the backswing.

2. Generate power to the ball:

Much of the power in your golf swing comes from a solid base. As you swing the club down from the top of your back swing feel as though your front leg is as solid as it can be. At impact your front hip should be turning out of the way so you can straighten the front leg upon impact. Allow the force of your swing to let the hands release the club head into the follow-through position.

3. Loosen up:

Before your round, hit as many driver shots as possible (15 to 20), making a full backswing and full follow-through. These full swings will get your body loose faster than any other exercise. Also, end on a good shot, as it will be the last thing you remember before you hit that opening tee shot.

4. Chin at the ball during impact:

Keep your chin over the ball while swinging though the impact zone. Allow the force of your swing to pull your head up after you hit the ball, as this will keep you “behind the ball” upon impact. All good players do this to generate power.

5. Maintain your spine angle:

Power comes from releasing your coil at impact. When you hunch over the ball you lose your coil and decrease swing speed. The proper address position is to stick out your butt, straighten your back and bend from the hips. (Feel like you are about to sit in a chair.) Try to maintain this position through the entire swing. Begin by taking easy half swings to get the feel. As it becomes more comfortable lengthen your swing and increase the speed.

Experiment with these tips and find the one or two that help the most. Practice those and see your distance increase.