When we play golf, all of the bad things we don’t want to happen can creep into our minds. Don’t hit it in the water. Don‘t hit into the trees. Gotta hit the green. Don’t shank it.
I started something about a month ago and it has made a massive difference. I started with putting.
I get lined up to make a putt. Once I am sure my alignment is correct. I look at the line on the back of my putter and in my mine that line extends out through the Ball and to a blade of grass about 2 inches in front of the ball.
My eyes are on the blade of grass, but my mind sees the hole and feels how hard I need to roll it.
If my alignment is correct, it’s just about rolling the putt over that blade of grass with the right pace. I will hit the 2 inch putt more often than not. As a result, I saw an immediate improvement in putting. Especially 3-5 foot putts.
If I trust my read, my alignment, then why would I ever need to do anything other than hit a putt in the center of the face over that blade of grass? The only time a well struck putt over that blade of grass is wrong is when the read or alignment is bad. What value is focusing on the result when my task is so simple.
My job is not to worry about “making the putt”, but rather my job is to strike the ball in the center of the putter and make a nice roll over that 2 inch target. The results are not my responsibility. Only the 2 inch target.
This approach has been mentally freeing.
Now it has occurred to me that ball striking is the same way. When we setup, we have chose an alignment that says, “here’s where I want the ball to go.” There is no value in worrying about anything else.
Pick the alignment, pick a spot just in front of the ball on the intended start line. Hit it. The result isn’t my responsibility, only making a nice pass over that mark.
Golf is more fun with this approach because i am not responsible for the result…water, trees, rough. My responsibility is to get the setup and alignment for the shot I intend to hit and make the pass.
Understand, bad shots are going to happen. That is a result that you can observe. But it’s not your job to control the outcome.
If you can free your mind from thinking about consequences and only focus on task at hand…get aligned, trust it, hit ball over intermediate target. This is a path to playing better golf And scoring better.
This is not easy, but the more you do it the easier it becomes. The more you realize that you are getting aligned and if you make a swing to match your alignment, would you ever want to manipulate a shot to go anywhere else? No. See it. Trust it. Hit it. Observe.
From observations, you can still make adjustments, but no adjustment should get in the way of your singular task. 2 inch target. Release it.
The golf swing happens so fast, getting your mind in the way, worrying about outcomes can never be the path to success. What do You have to lose by simply trusting your setup to deliver positive outcomes?
Excellent post, @Russell Hogue, PhD!! I've always played my best golf when my mindset is purely target-focused - and very specific targets at that. (For example, not that distant tree, but that little cluster of leaves on that branch on the left side of that tree.) Not just for putting, but for all shots. Once that target is acquired and locked in, I do exactly as you describe, bringing my line of sight back from that target to a spot just in front of the ball, aligning to it, and pulling the trigger.
It is indeed a great formula for playing good golf without the interference and mental noise of mechanical swing thoughts.