Billy Horschel’s unusual pre-shot routine works – even though it annoys him

Unless your name is Adam Scott or Nelly Korda, there’s a good chance that you want to change something that you do during your golf swing. For Billy Horschel, a move that comes before he pulls the trigger is the source of some frustration.

The PGA Tour winner undoubtedly swings the club very nicely, but just like the rest of us, there is always room for improvement.

As he explains to the DP World Tour in an interesting clip, the American has inadvertently added a full backswing rehearsal to his pre-shot routine.

“My normal pre-shot routine over the ball for many years has been a little halfway, I go halfway back, to make sure the clubs outside my hands the way I want,” he said on the range at Le Golf National.

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“It may have started in 2023, I started making a full backswing. You know, going to halfway then making a full backswing afterwards. You know, where I wanted the club and to feel where I loaded in the hip.”

Clearly, this new feeling is working for Horschel. The 37-year-old clinched the BMW PGA Championship title earlier this year, while he’s made a steady climb up the OWGR, making it back into the top 20.

"I just kept doing it, but I don't like it!" @BillyHo_Golf talsk through his pre-shot routine 🧐#FedExOpenDeFrance pic.twitter.com/hcn2MOfWMo

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) October 8, 2024

But, he’s still not completely satisfied with what goes on before he pulls the trigger.

“I just kept doing it, I don’t like it!” he explained.

“I want to only do the half one, but for right now, the way I have to feel it, I have to feel like I make a fuller backswing, to feel the club stays outside my hands, the club stays in front of my chest on the way back and I feel like I unload with my right leg.

“It annoys me at times, but it’s been working, so I haven’t been in too much of a hurry to try and change it.”

Billy Horschel’s pre-shot routine – what you can learn

Horschel is the first to admit that his action over the ball might not be the cleanest. But, as he says, it’s been working.

It helps him to promote a feeling in his swing, the club staying outside his hands, which is going to make it easier to execute that when he makes the backswing for real a moment later.

While he doesn’t say this in the video, this has probably started out as a drill that Horschel was working on the driving range. If it helps him to hit better shots there, then it can help on the course.

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Horschel’s move make a wider point on how important getting a strong feeling of what you want to do in your swing is, particularly before you hit the ball. This doesn’t need to be while you’re standing over it, but if you’ve got a swing thought you want to promote, exaggerating that in your pre-shot routine can be a big help.

It might not always look, or feel, pretty, but if it helps you hit better shots, then it’s worth doing it.

Lewis Fraser As bunkered’s Performance Editor, Lewis oversees the content that’s designed to make you a better player. From the latest gear to tuition, nutrition, strategy and more, he’s the man. A graduate of the University of Stirling, Lewis joined bunkered in 2021. Formerly a caddie at Castle Stuart Golf Links, he is a member of Bathgate Golf Club where he plays off four.

Performance Editor