It’s cheesecake for me. What are you aiming for?

[Slab]

Got curious reading a reply on another thread about best club to hit into a green (naturally the green being the ‘target’ for that shot) & got me thinking about everyone’s ‘target’ off the tee
Unlike shots into a (very visual) target like a green that’s been provided for you, for tee shots on Par 4/5s we all just see a strip of fairway and you have to pick & define your own target somewhere out there

Off the tee and with a 21 handicap I pick a target line to hit rather than a 'green' shaped target, distance is pretty variable, so I guess my target is actually shaped a bit like a wedge of cheesecake but I appreciate better golfers will have much smaller targets in mind with the longer clubs in hand

So when you tee off with driver/3w what are you aiming at? What is the size & shape of your target you've created in your mind for the ball to land or stop in?
Curious how this might change as handicaps go up/down across the forum?

 

[Deleted member 1147]

Was told in recent lesson to always aim at something at eye level, where possible

 

[Orikoru]

Just line myself up to the bit with the short grass and try and hit as straight as possible. If I'm hitting fades that day then aim a little bit to the left. No more complicated than that really. On rare occasions if it's better to be on one side of the fairway, I guess I'll mentally draw a line down the middle of it and aim between that and the edge.

 

[Capella]

I usually pick a line to a tree or someting similar beyond the fairway in the direction I want to go. When I hit driver, the aim is usually: "as far as possible in that direction". When there isn't enough room to safely hit driver, I aim at a piece of fairway ... like a group of daisies, some dark spot of grass or the like.

 

[sunshine]

I always pick a line, usually a tree in the distance, which is the line I want the ball to start on. It's not where I want the ball to end up. I never aim for a large target like the green or the fairway, I try and make the target as small and precise as possible.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

If a fairway is wide I try to pick a point but somehow it never works as well as when you play a tight hole when the drive has to be more precise. Presumably my brain knows I am trying to trick it and it turns the tables on me as punishment

 

[azazel]

The smaller your target, the smaller your "miss" is likely to be, so I always try and aim for something very specific rather than the fairway in general - a certain cut of grass, a tree or landmark in the distance etc.

 

[Wolf]

I go old school with my aim very much a Jack Nicklaus tip from a book my dad had when I was a kid.

Choose a small spot in the distance then trace a line back to the ball until I see a small target on ground about inch or 2 in front of the ball, could be a blade of grass, an edge of an old divot on par 3 tee, but something so small it doesn't distract me but allows me to align my club to directly in front of me so I don't misalign then try and hit the ball over that spot.

I figured as a kid if that's good enough for the Golden Bear it's surely good enough for me and its stuck with me always

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

Tree, bunker, next tee.....anything really that gives me something to focus on which allows for the shape of my shot. Good example being the fairway bunker on the left side of our first fairway. It's out of range with a 3 wood and the prevailing wind will blow the ball back towards the middle of the fairway.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Pick a specific target, rehearse the swing, stand over the shot and focus on the target and commit. On shots into the green, I take a club based on yardage and conditions, trust and hope to put it as close as I can. At my place, the middle of the green is never going to be a million miles away

 

[garyinderry]

Most of time these days I am going for the Monty method of aiming down the left side, be that rough or tree line and trying to work it back into the fairway.

Into green I'll pick a tree or just left or right side of the green and try to move it in from there.

Closer in with 8- wedges my might try and hit it straight.

 

[Curls]

Something in the far distance, the top of a tree usually, and go from behind my ball to take my stance still looking at that. The rationale is that with practice you can align your body naturally parallel to that target, and because it’s so far away the difference in angle between you and the ball to that target is negligible. I’ll still do the pick a point thing and use that to double check, but most of my alignment is done before I look down at the ball.

 

[Wilson]

I go old school with my aim very much a Jack Nicklaus tip from a book my dad had when I was a kid.

Choose a small spot in the distance then trace a line back to the ball until I see a small target on ground about inch or 2 in front of the ball, could be a blade of grass, an edge of an old divot on par 3 tee, but something so small it doesn't distract me but allows me to align my club to directly in front of me so I don't misalign then try and hit the ball over that spot.

I figured as a kid if that's good enough for the Golden Bear it's surely good enough for me and its stuck with me always

Same for me, ideally using a tree or some other focal point in the distance.