Focus on your swing

AS you know, the start of the new season is just around the corner so it’s about time to dust off the clubs and start thinking about your game’s first practice session.

Although it’s probably a little too close to the first competition for any major swing changes, let’s discuss a concept that you could apply to your next practice session that could have a positive impact on your game.

A fairly common golfing cliche I hear when working with club golfers is ‘I lifted my head’. Although, in theory, this can be the correct observation, it really has nothing to do with one’s head, it’s their eyes.

A lot of the time, people are so keen to see where the ball has gone, they lift their eyes to look for it before they have even made contact (thus lifting their head). You could say that, often, we are more interested in the outcome of the swing than the process as a whole.

When you next get onto the driving range, make some practice swings aiming for a tee peg. I’d like you to view your swing as a process that only has a starting position and a finishing position (i.e. in your mind, it doesn’t matter if you make contact with the tee peg or not). Make sure you are addressing the tee as athletically as you possibly can and make sure you finish your swing completely balanced and facing the target.

If you discipline yourself, focus simply on starting your swing from the correct position and finishing your swing completely balanced, you’ll be surprised by how well you will contact the tee peg. Now, in theory, hitting a tee peg properly should be a harder task than hitting a golf ball, because it is smaller. However, because your brain knows that you cannot hit a tee peg 200 yards, you don’t try to. You swing within yourself.

Once you feel confident that you really are focusing on your swing as a process, introduce a ball and try your best to replicate what you’ve just been practicing.

Naturally, your eyes will want to try to follow the ball. Be disciplined. Do your best to remember that the priority is to complete your process in a balanced fashion and remember that the outcome (particularly on the driving range) is secondary.

Completing this drill correctly is not some magic trick that guarantees a perfect golf shot. Your technique might still produce a ball flight that slices or hooks.

However, if you work hard at completing your process in a balanced fashion, you will begin to contact the ball solidly and consistently, which will build a confidence that will fill your game as a whole.

l If you want to find out more about this concept or more information on the golf coaching services offered at Awali Golf Club, please feel free to contact me on 39761873.

Happy golfing!