D
Deleted Member 1156
Guest
Your last 6 posts haven't added much to the discussion.
What do you think about during your swing?
- Thread starter jcooper5083
- Start date
Your last 6 posts haven't added much to the discussion.
Phil2511
Global Moderator
For the second time.
JustOne
Ryder Cup Winner
So you'd recommend it to people with smaller brains that maybe couldn't handle it?
jcooper5083
Club Champion
Well that made for an interesting couple of pages to my thread. Glad i could facilitate a bit of banter.....
In relation to all this back and forth about the target let me explain what i meant and hopefully it will bring what was a good discussion back on track;
Someone said that it was wrong to think about the flag on a 220 yard hole. You have jumped the gun here. The flag is not always the target. If you are hitting a draw shot or allowing for the wind or teeing up with a driver then your target may not be the flag. It could be a particular tree or landmark. The point is to narrow down your target so you can visualise the ball going there which allows you to visualise the ball leaving the club, its trajectory, flight and even spin. What ever it is it is about getting the thought away from "i aimed down the left, i aimed down the middle" and also to bring the swing thought away from all the mechanics and focus on positive images of the ball going where you want it not several mechanical techniques you need to get right as these should be ingrained from the practice range.
I hope this brings it back on subject and we can continue a good conversation about all out swing thoughts and respect each other methods.
Thanks all
In relation to all this back and forth about the target let me explain what i meant and hopefully it will bring what was a good discussion back on track;
Someone said that it was wrong to think about the flag on a 220 yard hole. You have jumped the gun here. The flag is not always the target. If you are hitting a draw shot or allowing for the wind or teeing up with a driver then your target may not be the flag. It could be a particular tree or landmark. The point is to narrow down your target so you can visualise the ball going there which allows you to visualise the ball leaving the club, its trajectory, flight and even spin. What ever it is it is about getting the thought away from "i aimed down the left, i aimed down the middle" and also to bring the swing thought away from all the mechanics and focus on positive images of the ball going where you want it not several mechanical techniques you need to get right as these should be ingrained from the practice range.
I hope this brings it back on subject and we can continue a good conversation about all out swing thoughts and respect each other methods.
Thanks all
SocketRocket
Ryder Cup Winner
Yes, I like that explanation.
bobmac
Major Champion
We are all different.
I respect your approach to each shot......
However......
As I am different from you, I do it a different way.
I select my club based on all the facts. Weather, lie etc
Aim accordingly then focus on the mechanics of the swing.
If I make a good swing and a good contact, the ball should go the required distance and direction.
Is one of us right and the other wrong?
In my opinion...........no
Do what works for you
Piece
Tour Winner
My routine is that I pick my shot I want to play and set-up the target lines accordingly, then visualise the shot. Step up to the ball and my "swing thought" is a do a decent takeaway.....then watch the ball nose dive into the wet cabbage
jcooper5083
Club Champion
100% agree and that was the intention of the thread to see what everyone does and it is good that we are all different as if we all had the same approach it could be come a very stale game. the differences in us all make for an interesting sport.
Good times
JustOne
Ryder Cup Winner
I find it interesting... would love to get inside the head of someone who says they think about the target and see if that's what they REALLY do though. Big difference between saying something and actually doing it.
SwingsitlikeHogan
Major Champion
So on our 7th - nice little R-L dog-leg par 4 - 150yd carry over heather to fairway. I address the ball and think 'nice little draw over the 'Keep Out of the Heather' sign' then I think 'plane plane nice follow through' (to my prefered Hoganesque finish). Then I go blank and let mind and muscle memory take over - which as often as not means I ignore exhortations made on sign, do a 'helicopter' swing and spear tee shot straight into our beautiful heather. Brill.
cookelad
Tour Winner
I'm in Bob's camp on this one, I pick a target, pick the club that I believe will get me to that target and focus on making a "good" swing and trust that if I do that the ball will arrive somewhere near the target!
jcooper5083
Club Champion
Indeed they are two different things which is why I am working on it to make it the thing I do. I want to visualise the shot and the ball going to the target not think about multiple swing mechanics as this doesnt work for me. I want the swing to be all about nerve and muscle memory through practice and the my thoughts to be on the shot. A couple of practice swings before the actual shot will be where, if any thoughts on swing mechanics come in, maybe as a reminder but not during the actual swing.
If you read or listen to "Golf is not a game of perfect" then you will see where I am coming from - again, not saying this is right for everyone.
Like I say it is good that we all do things our own way and thats what this thread was about, finding out what we all do and not about saying one thing is right or wrong like some people have previously done. All about free will
Game on...
Region3
Ryder Cup Winner
Mental coaches say that you should be focussing on an image of the target in your mind as you swing, whether it's a full swing, chip or putt.
From what I've read though they differ on what the target is on the green. I've only read 2 authors but one says the hole is your target, the other says the imaginary point to turn the putt into a straight one is your target.
Personally, I've tried and failed on a full shot to retain an image of my target while I swing.
When I putt, after I've line myself up the only thing I'm thinking about is a mental image of the hole. When I chip/pitch my focus is on an image of my landing point.
I've read that when Earl Woods was teaching his son to putt, he had him focus on a mental image of the hole during the stroke. I think it works (worked) for him.
As for the snooker question... I'm looking at where I want the cue ball to strike the object ball, and thinking about where I want the cue to strike the cue ball.
From what I've read though they differ on what the target is on the green. I've only read 2 authors but one says the hole is your target, the other says the imaginary point to turn the putt into a straight one is your target.
Personally, I've tried and failed on a full shot to retain an image of my target while I swing.
When I putt, after I've line myself up the only thing I'm thinking about is a mental image of the hole. When I chip/pitch my focus is on an image of my landing point.
I've read that when Earl Woods was teaching his son to putt, he had him focus on a mental image of the hole during the stroke. I think it works (worked) for him.
As for the snooker question... I'm looking at where I want the cue ball to strike the object ball, and thinking about where I want the cue to strike the cue ball.
jcooper5083
Club Champion
Great response, thank you and interesting to hear someone else that is thinking of a target rather than menchanics.
SwingsitlikeHogan
Major Champion
I'll be quite honest. As I have never had a lesson of any sort (and never been one for putting, chipping or practice ground practice), but somehow got down to 6 through playing a lot of golf - I don't actually know very much at all about the mechanics of the swing (so I tell folk not to both asking me what they are doing wrong - I usually haven't a clue). So I wouldn't KNOW what to think about in respect of swing mechanics. As I said all I do is get in my mind the 'side-on' drawing of Hogan addressing the ball with a plane drawn through his neck to the ball (not in any detail - just vaguely). And then I picture his finish (see my avatar). And that - for me - is it. Seems to work. However I grant you that I may be a little unusual.
And putting - it's keeping to routine in my preparation rather than any thoughts of the mechanics that I focus on. Where there is a borow to sort out I work back from the hole and picture the ball rolling across the green - then imagine the initial line that will take my ball onto the final line into the hole. Find something on the green on that initial line - then complete my prep routine and off the ball goes on it's merry way.
