Thursday, May 24, 2007

See an Ocean

Many people suggest picking out the smallest possible target to aim at when preparing to hit a shot. For instance, instead of aiming at a tree, it's said to aim at a single leaf on the tree. Or instead of aiming down the middle of the fairway, pick out a particular mower strip and aim at that.

These are good thoughts and have worked for some players, but most people who try to do this have difficulty. When they concentrate on such a small object, they get confused and practically paralyze themselves. They stand on the tee and look down the fairway for that tiny patch of dirt or blade of grass. Then they look back at the ball, do a waggle or some other part of their routine, and look back down the fairway. But when they look back down the fairway, they misplace that tiny object they were aiming for. Because of this, they get tense, and from there have little chance to make a good, aggressive swing.

Instead of taking this approach, you should try the exact opposite. Instead of picking out the smallest object to aim at, imagine that you are hitting your shot into the Atlantic Ocean. Picture yourself in the setting: You are near the edge of the water, and all you see is this vast, humongous, massive body of water. It is your objective to hit your ball into that water. And guess what will happen? You will usually hit a good shot because you can't miss. It's impossible to miss. There is no way in the world you can miss your target.

The reason this approach works is because it frees you up more. Instead of struggling to find that tiny target in the distance, then having all the pressure put on you to hit that target, you will be free to swing aggressively at the ball because there is no way in the world you are going to miss hitting the ocean.

So the basic idea with this thought is that it breeds confidence. And if you have confidence when you are hitting a shot, you will usually hit it well.

Use this thought mainly on drives and longer clubs. It is not for every situation. When you are 120 yards away, think of nothing other than the pin, but when you are trying to bomb a drive 300, the last thing you want to do is strain yourself to find a tiny object way off in the distance to try to hit.

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