Close eyes and swing

A VERY common problem that I see with club golfers is that their practice swing and actual swing are completely different.

On the golf course, I often see beautiful, balanced practice swings when there is no ball followed by ugly, violent swipes when it comes to hitting the shot. Although these swipes can cause hooks and slices, more often than not, they result in poor ball striking. 

As discussed in previous articles, the introduction of a ball, and the anxiety that comes with it, can cause golfers to forget about their swing thoughts and trust their instincts, which inevitably results in inconsistency.

Let’s consider how changing your concept and not your swing can positively influence the consistency of your ball striking.

The next time you are on the practice tee, forget about golf balls. Grab some tee pegs or any other tiny object and put them on the driving range mat. Address one of these objects like a golf shot, close your eyes and see if you can make contact with it using a full practice swing.

Considering the object is smaller than a golf ball and you cannot see it, the task should be significantly harder than hitting a golf ball.

I predict that you will be surprised at how good you are at successfully hitting the object with your eyes closed. Due to the fact that you cannot see the tee peg and you know that you cannot hit a tee peg 150 yards, your brain is not interested with the outcome of the task. It is simply focused on making good contact with the object and as a result produces a smooth, balanced swing.

This is precisely how our brain should be working when the golf ball is there. Try to let the ball get in the way of your swing as opposed to trying to hit the ball. There is a big difference.

The final part of the exercise involves putting a tee peg on the floor and placing ball directly in front of it – closer to the target.

Try to trick your brain to believe that you are only interested on making good contact with the object (as above, left). If you can do this properly, you will notice that the ball does essentially just get in the way of your swing and will fly through the air.

Whilst I accept that this drill does not guarantee that you hit the ball straight, if you can successfully hit the tee peg, it does guarantee that you will strike the bottom of the ball and get it airborne.

Seeing the ball consistently fly through the air in practice will positively influence your confidence the next time you are on the golf course.