Jake Pleczkowski, Head Golf Professional, Naples National Golf Club

Alex Elias

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Evan Schiller

Stressing the immense importance of playing a round one shot at a time, Jake Pleczkowski, Head Golf Professional at Naples National, said, "A pre-shot routine is one of, if not the most important things in golf." Urging a pre-shot routine to be "business like", Pleczkowski said, "One's decisions shouldn't include any emotion. It should be, 'How far do I have? How far is it to cover?' Get your grip, take two steps in, take a practice swing, and pull the trigger."

Building on his advice, Pleczkowski acknowledged that many players get into trouble by thinking ahead during their pre-shot routine. As an example, Pleczkowski referenced a Par-5, saying, "One shouldn't be thinking, 'If I hit this good, then I can go for it.' Instead, the first priority should be to hit it solid down the center of the fairway and then you can decide about going for it." Subsequently, Pleczkowski attributed many players deviating from their pre-shot routine as a result of not trusting a specific aspect of their game. Pleczkowski said, "You’re setting yourself up for failure by avoiding an aspect of the game that makes you uncomfortable." Specifically, he said, "The guy that has a really good short game never really worries about missing the green, but the guy who never hits any greens, that can wear on them. Their whole game becomes centered around avoiding their weakness." 

"I can't tell you how many times I can't hit a green in regulation to save my life, but on two Par-5s, where I'm laying up, I hit two of the most perfect iron shots of my life. That's because the fear of missing a green and needing to trust your short game isn't there," said Pleczkowsi. ​

​When Pleczkowsi was asked about how one can overcome the obstacle of avoiding their weakness, Pleczkowski said, "Recognize the good shots and build on those thoughts." Specifically, in regard to his teaching, Pleczkowski said, "With the students that I see several times a season, it's thirty minutes on the range, at most, and thirty minutes on the course. Therefore, we can walk through every hole." Recalling a member who was struggling on his chipping, Pleczkowski said, "Instead of chipping on the chipping green, we went out to exact hole, found his divot, and we hit shots for fifteen minutes. Now, he knows how to hit that shot when that situation happens, instead of him knowing how to hit that shot if he can remember how he did it on the chipping green."