Your eyes are your greatest asset on the golf course. For some, their eyes see everything and become distracted. While others use their eyes to enter a world of focus not many know about. Believe it or not, “THE ZONE”, which many people talk about is a direct result of how your sight and mind perceive things on the golf course. A great putter will see their ball going in the hole before they hit it. A great wedge player will only focus his attention and sight on holing the shot. A great driver of the golf ball, will visualize the entire flight and roll of the ball before he steps in to hit it.
The eyes in golf make the difference between great players and average players. Many beginning and recreational golfers don’t move their eyes beyond the ball or their own swing. They fail to pick spots and focus on hitting their target. They seem to be more concerned with hitting the ball or their technique. Therefore their mind doesn’t have a good picture of what it needs to accomplish. What we see sends the message to our mind and body to make the appropriate action. Past experiences, both negative and positive, can have a dramatic effect on what message our mind sends to our body. It’s important to keep our eyes on the target so we don’t confuse our mind.
The following tips will help you use your eyes better in golf and narrow your focus.
Tip #1 Make Eye Contact with Your Surroundings
Very successful professional golfers use their eyes to constantly check their surroundings. Before they hit a shot, they are completely aware of what’s going on. For example, they throw grass to see wind speed and direction or look to the tree tops to see wind they can’t feel. They also look at ripples in the water to see wind speed and direction further up the hole. Many look at the surface of the green to see any grain influence on a putt or indifferences that can affect the roll. The more information we can process through our eyes, the more decisive we’ll be in selecting the proper club and shot. Always remember that your eyes will help you strategize. If you see a water hazard, don’t fool yourself into thinking it’s not there as that only strengthens its presence in your mind. Use your eyes to take in as much detail as possible from wind and bunkers to the position of the pin on the green. All these details will help in configuring a strategy to play the hole.
Tip #2 Burn Your Target, Narrow Your Focus
One of the best visuals to use when utilizing your eyes prior to hitting a shot, is to picture yourself as Superman and you’re shooting lasers from your eyes and it’s burning a hole through your target. Sounds strange but this is the type of focus your eyes can provide just before hitting a shot. What this ultimately means is that we want to narrow our sight to a very precise target. If you can accomplish this type of focus with your eyes you will create a quiet mind that allows you to free up and make a confident swing at your target.
Visualization has been used by all the greatest golfers throughout history. Many talked and wrote about it. Jack Nicklaus would not hit a putt until he first visualized it going in the hole. Current PGA TOUR Professional J.B. Holmes uses visualization of the shot as a major component to his pre-shot routine. Proper visualization happens when you stand directly behind the ball on the target line and take in the complete scene. The very best at it visualize themselves swinging smoothly, making perfect contact and they see the complete flight and shot shape. The greatest putters will crouch down and see the ball roll on a perfect line with perfect speed and visualize it dropping in the hole at a precise spot. Your eyes see the picture while your mind paints the outcome. Try visualizing your shots to help with confidence and shot making.
Believe it or not, your eyes are like a high quality camera. We have the ability to sharpen the focus and zoom in on a target. We can also zoom out and see a larger picture. Just before you hit a shot, it’s important to zoom in on the target. After you hit a shot, it’s equally important to zoom out and enjoy the scenery and surroundings. Just like your hands are the last link the body has to the golf club, your eyes are the last link to what your mind sees. Find a trigger that switches the focus on prior to hitting a shot. This trigger ultimately begins your pre-shot routine and allows you to focus on the shot at hand.
