Focal point during swing

Practice
#1

I’m interested in where you all actually focus your eyes during the swing.

For example:
Driver - I focus on the rear inside of the ball (keeps me from going too over the top…trying to inside out).

Irons - I focus on the front of the ball center…sometimes even in front of the ball half an inch to help me hit down through.

Chipping/pitching - rear center of ball

Putting - a point of grass in my line a few inches in front of the ball.

I’m wondering how different that might be from other passionate golfers in this forum.

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#2

Fascinating. I always focus on where I want the club to meet the ball (or enter the sand in a bunker) for all shots. I’ve never thought to vary my focus based on the shot. I’m going to give it a try.

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#3

Pretty much the same for me. With the irons it took me quite a while to realize I needed to focus on a spot just in front of the ball or I’m likely to hit it fat.

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#4

I just look to the front of the ball at all times, except in the sand and on the putting green. In the sand like @Wasa I look at the point in the sand I want the club to enter. On the putting green I look at the center of the back of the ball.

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#5

Agreed…on days I’m hitting fat, I may focus a half-inch in front of the ball. If I hit it thin, I may move it to the front of the ball or even center. Seems like I hit it fat after a long lay-off.

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#6

Agreed on the sand entry point - thanks for adding!

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#7

@Gisclairj, why do you like your focus on the front, rather than the back of the ball? Is it to make sure you hit through the ball?

#8

That’s really interesting (and very specific!) – one of the things I need to keep working on is exactly focus during the swing and into impact … going to make a note of these ideas and try them out! :+1:

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#9

Yes that’s exactly why. I used to look at the back of the ball and slowly have been moving my eyes to the front. I might even look a couple inches ahead of the ball. Instead of me on focusing on the ball and trying to “hit” it, I’ve been swinging a lot more free looking just ahead of the ball as to an impact point. It used it be get to the back and quit. But like golf, what works for one, won’t work for another.

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#10

I try a little different approach that works for me, but maybe not for others. I have a “fuzzy focus” over every shot. By that, I mean I rarely focus specifically on a dimple, or the back of the ball, or a line. Instead, I have a semi-glazed focus over the entire area of the ball in general. This helps me relax at address and concentrate on the swing that I want to make for the shot.

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#11

Same for me. I try to see the ball as a whole rather than zoomed in. I don’t notice any markings or dimples when I’m hitting the shot

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#12

Same for me. I can’t remember where it was I read about focusing on “the center of the ball,” as that is what you want to hit solidly. I’ve tried focusing on a single dimple on the back of the ball and it just makes me feel too stiff and frozen. Especially with Adam Young’s “far external” loci of foci for things like chipping and pitching and lag putting, I try to burn the image of the hole into my head and try to keep “seeing” that out of the side of my head during the shot, more so than the ball itself. Then your shot is more athletic and reactive. I think about tennis or baseball, which is obviously more reactive than golf. In those sports you can’t focus on a single spot on the ball, but rather you’re reacting to the ball as a whole, and not even the ball itself, but rather where you estimate the ball will be by the time it meets your bat or racket. You can still hit the ball well. So in golf it’s also okay to have a generalized focus on the ball. Helps you “see” and feel other things, like the path of the club and the first 18” of the ball flight and the target and all that fun stuff.

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#13

That’s exactly the way I see it. I try not to have a focal point on the ball but instead, a few inches ahead of the ball. Basically, my left eye is ahead of the ball and my right eye is at the back of the ball.

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#14

Just to toss out a slight twist on this theme…

Two winters ago attended a mental game clinic (in FL … will prob do another one in the future) and one of the tenets presented to us - with the idea of reducing your internal analysis on technique and mechanics that may be inhibiting your swing - is to move your mental focus external on the target

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#15

Hmmmm, I wonder how that could work. Is the suggestion to look at the target whilst swinging?? I feel like this could lead to all kinds of problems, namely early extension.

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#16

No – the idea is to replace mechanical (possibly numerous) swing thoughts with what they termed an “awareness” of your target … so that you’re reacting (athletically, as they say) to your target/goal and are not consumed with internal over-analysis…

(Hope that helps?)

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#17

Gotcha, thank you for the elementary break-down. I never claimed to be smart, but I guess you all knew that since I took up golf at 44. :rofl: I love the idea of this.

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#18

I like any way to take your mind off of swing mechanics. Whether that’s through clearing the mind or target awareness, we need to think about golf, not golf swing.

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#19

For sure. Most sports the focus is on the target where the ball is going, not the ball itself (basketball, baseball, football). Golf seems unique in that you’re not looking at the target while you try to send your ball towards it, but rather the ball itself. I think you definitely need to look at the ball while swinging (with the exception of Spieth on his short putts in his heyday, remember that?!), but maybe your mind should be on the target, depending on the length or type of shot…?

So… eye on the ball, mind on the target??

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#20

I like what you said here @Wasa and @devonpetersen Golf is so unique as far as sports go because you’re not reactive like you are in most other sports. The exception is basketball and pitching in baseball. With basketball though, the target never moves and you know exactly where it is within a foot or two of where you are on the court. Pitching the distance is always the same and the target never moves. However, with basketball most of the time your body is in motion and the basketball shot is reactionary. This leaves pitching in baseball and golf where mechanics really can get involved and mess with your head. If you’re thinking about mechanics during your golf swing or pitching wind-up you’ll never have a smooth delivery. Now what makes golf so much more complicated is distance and variables are always so different. Different lies, different grass, and different environmental conditions that all have an effect on the characteristics of ball flight. So as if thinking about the mechanics wasn’t enough, you have all of that to deal with in addition. But as @cksurfdude and @Wasa said, stay external to the target. With so much going on in golf that make it already hard enough, just letting go and doing what your body and mind know to do naturally without your help frees up your entire swing.

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