Just the Tip – Pre Shot Routine

Baseball players have one before their at bats.  Golfers have one before every shot.  Quarterbacks have one before they step up and call for a snap.  Virtually all professional athletes have a pre shot routine.  You should too.

You might have heard this before, but the real question is why?  What is the benefit?  There are a myriad of reasons that it’s beneficial, if there weren’t, professional athletes wouldn’t use them.  The biggest one in my mind is that your pre shot routine serves as a mental trigger.

By doing the same things before every shot, you are training yourself to throw every shot the same way too.  It’s a mental trigger to just throw the disc without thinking too much.  The more you can go on autopilot when it comes to your throwing motion (some call this relying on muscle memory), the more you can eliminate mistakes.

If every shot starts a different way, you are introducing moving parts and variances that only detract from your throw.  Your mind isn’t sure what, exactly, is supposed to come next.  In disc golf, consistency is often what wins the day.  That consistency always starts with a solid pre shot routine.

What’s in a good pre shot routine?  Honestly, it doesn’t really matter.  You could spit twice and spin around in a circle for all it matters.  As long as you do it every time.  As long as you are cueing your brain that it’s time to throw and repeat the throwing motion it knows comes after your double spitting pirouette.

So what is your pre shot routine?  Do you have one?  If not, why not?  What’s holding you back?

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