Alright, let’s talk about something I spent some time on recently: watching Keegan Bradley and Miguel Angel Jimenez play golf. Not together, obviously, but just studying their styles, you know? It started pretty casually, just watching highlights online.
First, I got kinda fascinated by Keegan Bradley. His whole pre-shot routine is… well, it’s a lot. All that fidgeting, the steps, the looking back and forth. I thought, okay, maybe there’s something to that intensity. So, I went down to the local driving range. Decided I’d try and replicate it, just to see how it felt.
Man, it felt weird.
Seriously, I spent maybe twenty minutes just trying to get the sequence right before even hitting the ball. Looking at the target, stepping back, practice swing, address the ball, look again… I felt kinda self-conscious, like everyone was watching me do this weird dance. Didn’t help my striking much either, maybe made it worse ’cause I was thinking too much about the routine instead of the swing.
Then Came Jimenez
So, after the Bradley experiment felt like a bust, I started watching Miguel Angel Jimenez. Totally different vibe, right? The guy looks so relaxed out there. The cigar, the stretching routine that looks like he’s warming up for a siesta, not the Ryder Cup. His swing seems so smooth, almost effortless.
Back to the range I went. This time, the goal was: be like Miguel. Relaxed. Smooth. No rushing.
- I tried slowing down my tempo.
- Focused on just swinging easy, not killing the ball.
- Tried to copy that sort of nonchalant walk-up to the ball.
It was… better? I mean, I definitely didn’t magically get his swing, but focusing on being less intense, more rhythmic, actually felt more comfortable than the Bradley routine did. Didn’t smoke a cigar though, range rules and all that.
What I Figured Out
So after spending time trying to mimic these two very different, very successful golfers, here’s what I landed on. It wasn’t really about copying their exact moves. Bradley’s routine works for him. Jimenez’s rhythm works for him.
Trying to just bolt those onto my own game didn’t really click. What I did take away was seeing how different approaches can lead to success. One guy is super intense and precise in his setup, the other is fluid and seemingly carefree. It made me think more about my own natural tendencies and what routine or feeling actually helps me hit the ball better, rather than just trying to be a carbon copy of someone else. It was a good reminder that there’s more than one way to get the job done in golf, or anything really.
