Golf Tips: Where to Focus

“Keep your head down.” “Keep your eye on the ball.” “Don’t look up!” We’ve heard many quotes and tips similar to the ones above, and for some they seem to be effective tips. Through many years of playing this frog has found a focus point even better. Keeping one’s head down alone isn’t necessarily that beneficial if the player is worrying more about keeping his/head down than making a clean strike with the golf ball. The case is the same with not looking up. Many golfers try so hard to keep their heads down that they can’t finish their swings and end up contorted into all sorts of strange positions. Keeping an eye on the ball can be good, but what part of the ball? Some say keep an eye on the back of the ball. Some say keep an eye on the front of the ball so the club can travel “though” the ball. I’ve found it to be quite effective to focus on one dimple of the golf ball. Pick a dimple and keep focused on it until the club has struck the ball and the dimple is gone. Keeping an eye on such a smaller focus point helps us to hit the ball more solid and clean, with much more accuracy. One could vary it up a bit as well. Say you want to hit a draw. Focus on a dimple to the inside/back of the ball, the side closer to you. Make sure the club strikes that dimple or close to it with an inside-out path. There’s your draw. Conversely hitting a cut we would focus on a dimple on the outside/back of the ball. The club would come from outside-in through the ball, cutting across it. Instant fade. Next time you’re on the range, pick a dimple and focus on it until the ball is gone. Try moving the dimple around and see which positions work best for your game, and your specific shots.