A question I get a lot from media when doing interviews is: What in your opinion is the biggest mistake amateur golfers make when they play or practice? My Answer is always surprising when I say “they are trying to hit the ball”! Told you you would be surprised! Think about it, the ball is not the target; where you want the ball to end up is! Like in tennis and baseball, your eyes are on the ball but your focus is on where you want it to go, and this is what the central nervous system needs to position the body. If you are confused or unsure about where you want the ball to go, how can you perform? It is this hesitation that causes disaster.
So be clear about where you want the ball to go and let this “prime directive” lead you to your set-up; you will find that your distance to ball, ball position and alignment will be much more efficient when you begin and stay in this focus. Here are 2 videos to help you get your head around this important concept:
Stay tuned for our next post where we will talk about how to transform your thinking process into feel so that you can perform even more instinctively!
Shawn
I used some of those swing thoughts in my game this morning and they definitely rang true.
Shawn I fully agree. Being ball bound is a limitation. In billiards one doesn’t look at the cue ball – the ball that one hits first – one looks at the spot on the object ball which is the ball one wants to hit into the pocket. Making the transition to being target focused makes a heck of a lot of sense – though I’m not finding it easy to accomplish.
Awhile back I started looking at the cup when putting as that’s where I wanted the ball to go. I find this to be more reliable for it fits the concept of focus on the target and let the central nervous system take it from there. Golfdoconline.