Elite Golfers' Secret: Golf Pre-Shot Routine Tips

Did you see it on Social Media this week? It blew up. Let me paint the picture for you on what was posted and why it blew up.

A Lim Kim became a professional in 2013 as a teenager and won a bunch of tournaments. Then in 2020, she came on to the LPGA scene, made a debut at the US Women’s Open – and she won it – it was a major by the way. Since then, she’s won 2 more tournaments…all that to say, she’s awesome. She’s one of the top players on the LPGA and is now ranked 34th in the Women’s World Golf Rankings. And so what? Well, she uses an AimPoint method for her putting.

If you are not familiar with AimPoint, it’s a green-reading system that helps golfers accurately read slopes and breaks by using their feet. They use their feet to sense the incline. You have probably seen it before, they stand their with their feet wide open, straddling the line of putt between your ball and the hole… and kinda rock back and forth to feel the incline. For the record, I tried this, and I can’t quite feel it yet.

So, what’s the controversy? Well, there has been a lot of talk on the PGA and LPGA tour about slow play, and few players suggested that this AimPoint method is one of the causes of slow play and they need to take a closer look and possibly outlaw this method. In fact, Lucas Glover (a former US Open champion) said that “AimPoint” needs to be banned because it slows down play. He also said that AimPoint is rude and that it hasn’t helped any player make more putts. Him saying “rude” is referring to players stomping around with their feet.

Okay, let me put this all together. During the 3rd round of the Honda LPGA Thailand tournament, A Lim Kim had a birdie putt that was a little bit over a foot away from the hole. Instead of walking up and tapping the ball in, she went through her full routine, and they caught the picture of her standing between the hole and the ball doing the AimPoint. And the caption read “Golf has lost its way”, or from Dottie Pepper herself (a influential TV Golf Broadcaster) she posted the same image with the comment “we’ve lost the plot” And the social media, as you can imagine went nuts. People were commenting, “This is got to be a joke”, “how can this possibly help her 1 foot putt”, “this is a pace of play nightmare” “this needs to go” “this is absolutely ridiculous and not necessary,” etc.

But I am here to give you a whole different perspective. And for all those hating on AimPoint, maybe this, this is not about AimPoint at all. But it’s more about a golfer committed to her putting pre-shot routine to calm her nerves. Maybe it’s more about a golfer who has doubled down on creating a process and doing it before every shot no matter what, maybe it’s more about a golfer who understands what it takes to reduce tension by sticking to her routine, maybe it’s more about a golfer who honors discipline over looking ridiculous. Maybe, WE have it all wrong.

Episode Links: