Focus on the Target

This past Saturday I really muffed a putt on the last green. I was only about two metres (6 feet) from the pin and ended up nudging the ball at least 30 cm (1 foot) wide of the hole. What was the problem? I was so intent on getting my stroke dynamics right that I didn't even take a serious sight on the hole.

Afterwards it occurred to me that this was a perfect example of focusing on something other than the target. I've read of this tendency in various books on golf, but this experience brought the reality of the problem home to me. Once again its a reflection of how important the mind is in golf. What absorbs our thinking at the moment of playing the stroke is bound to influence its outcome. If - as in the case above - our thoughts are occupied with matters of technique, then there is every possibility that the all important matter of where we are trying to hit the ball will be missed out altogether.

What's the solution? Forethought, routine and simplicity seem to be the answer. Forethought is where it really begins. One good golf teacher says, "Do your thinking before you attempt to play your stroke". That's excellent advice. All consideration of the type of shot you want to play, the club to use, the precise target you want to aim at, needs to be done before you address the ball and attempt to swing the club.

Routine is a great aid to doing this. Going through the same set of actions in preparation for every shot, and getting to the point where we do that automatically for every shot, is one of the keys, the experts tell us, to playing consistent golf. And that's particularly so in pressure situations. Having a standard set of actions - sighting the shot from behind the ball, deciding on what club to use, the exact target point for the shot, getting alignment and aim correct etc. - this sort of standard, repeated procedure is a great help.

Last of all, and perhaps the most important, simplicity at the point of making the stroke is essential. By that I mean keeping the mind focused on a simple, single thought at the time. Different people have different "swing thoughts". Whatever our particular one is, it should be a simple, single statement. Too many thoughts destroy the cohesiveness and smoothness of the swing.

I know that I've wandered a little away from my original theme - focusing on the target - but in a sense, failure to do that is a symptom of a larger problem. It's the result of becoming over absorbed with details instead of keeping things simple at the point of making the stroke. And forethought and routine are essential to making that happen.