Can't Keep My Eye on the Ball

[cdj588]

I have only been playing for about 9 months and i am actually pretty good says my friends who have played for years. However, i of course still have problems and the easiest but most difficult for me is keeping my eyes on the ball. SO far i have hit at the range and not even looked at were its going i just teed up a bunch of balls and hit them for about 30 minutes. Then i took a five minutes brake and once again i take my eyes off the ball. i dont know what to do. i keep my head down when i make my practice swings and keep telling myself "keep your eyes on the ground" but i still leift when i comes time to hit the ball.

Theres my story and problem, any suggestions or ideas on how i can keep my eyes on the ball ill try them. Im playing again saturday and im going to wear a hat in hopes thatll take away all distractions infront of me. At this point ill try anything.

On a side note, my friends who i play with say if i keep looking for the ball before i hit it they are going to hold a 2X4 in front of my face so i hit it when i look. Hope yall have a better recommendation

[golf_junkie27]

Take a tee and place them about an inch before the ball. Make sure you can see the club strike the tee after you have hit the ball. You should be able to stay down and through accomplishing your goal.

[Machwon]

If I top a ball after looking up I make sure to place my ball were i can read the logo as im set up for my shot. Or the number on the ball itself. Helps me focus on nothing but the ball and keeps my head down through my swing.

[Shindig]

On a side note, my friends who i play with say if i keep looking for the ball before i hit it they are going to hold a 2X4 in front of my face so i hit it when i look. Hope yall have a better recommendation

If you can't keep your eye on the ball, then don't keep your eye on the ball.

Next time your friends are in a bookstore - or even near one - go hunt down Harvey Penick's Little Red Book. Harvey taught Tom Kite and Ben Crenshaw, among others, so he has some credibility. He calls looking up the "biggest alibi ever invented to explain a terrible shot" and says that "Even Ben Hogan told me he loses sight of the ball 'somewhere in the downswing'." Focusing on keeping your head down or your eye on the ball will just restrict your range of motion. It's nice to have something simple, like keeping your head down, to think about, but most people overdo it and tuck their chin into their chest.

[OrlandoGolfBlogger]

If you can't keep your eye on the ball, then don't keep your eye on the ball.

That's interesting, first time I've heard that bit of advice. I'm going to have to look that book up next time I'm at borders. I don't know if I agree totally with the advice, but you've given me something to think about.

Good Post!

[extremeld]

only owls can keep there eye on the ball, bet you cant keep your left arm straight either!

[blackxpress]

Are you sure you're looking up? As others have pointed out, that's about the biggest catch-all excuse in golf. I've watched other golfers very carefully and noticed that a lot of times they'll hit a bad shot and say, "I looked up" when in actual fact they did not look up. They lifted up during their backswing, swayed their hips during the backswing, decelerated on the downswing, bent their left elbow, broke their wrists too soon, swung with their arms instead of their hips or any number of things but the one thing they did not do was look up. Which is not to say that looking up is a good thing. We all do that from time to time with terrible results but I'd say most of the time there's some other reason we hit a bad shot and then, because everybody makes such a big deal out of it and we can't figure any other reason for why we duffed the shot we say, "I looked up."

[sonicblue]

Remember, poor contact almost always come back to basic mistakes made early on (all inter-related):

1) You got "disconnected" - i.e., your swinging with too much arms and hands, and they're moving separately from your body, making it very hard to return the club to the ball

2) You're overswinging

3) You lost your balance

Next time you're at the range, find two people: one guy who can play, and one guy who can't. Just step back and look at them. The good player will look like he's in slow motion; the other guy will look like he's on overdrive, feet losing their stance, spine angle going up/down during the swing, etc...

If you're just starting, I say, mimic (not "copy," "mimic") good players first, then you can find your own unique twists. Few people can play this game well with truly unique, unusual swings. You should emulate all the fundamentals of good players - tempo, balance - first, then your own mechanical nuances can be ironed out later.

[Razorhog]

I'm a newbie as well and suffer from the same ailment. I find putting a picture of Jessica Alba behind the ball helps tremendously
Seriously - My brother's advice was "stop watching the ball before you've hit it"
Instead of watching where the ball goes, use your mind's eye to envision the ball going to the mental picture you took when assessing the shot.

[1chaos52]

I had the same problem years ago. I know that I have become a better golfer by keeping my head down when swinging. The tip I used and still use today is to always have the line on the ball (I draw one for putting purposes) on top of the ball facing the target as a visual stimulus. The other thing I do is I turn my head back a little bit mor so that I am more looking at the ball with my left eye (right handed). This seems to help my timing of looking up as my head turns toward the target as the club is hitting the ball. May not work for everyone, and I do still occasionally hit a topper, but it was significantly reduced once I started doing this.

[pjsnyc]

...He calls looking up the "biggest alibi ever invented to explain a terrible shot" and says that "Even Ben Hogan told me he loses sight of the ball 'somewhere in the downswing'."....

I always thought that picking your head up CAUSED all of the swing faults listed in the posts on this thread - am I wrong?

[Franco!]

If you can't, then don't.
Look at any pro, their head is way up at impact.

[DavidFehertysBike]

That's interesting, first time I've heard that bit of advice. I'm going to have to look that book up next time I'm at borders. I don't know if I agree totally with the advice, but you've given me something to think about.

He is totally right. If you make any kind of proper backswing, you head will come off the area that it was at address and your inital sight line of the ball will change. Its an optical illusion. When I was stuggling with the same issue you're having now, my pro once told me that Jack Nicklaus acutally turned his head away from the ball as he went through his backswing..weird. So trust your instincts more than your eyes in this case. Its more important to foucs on keeping your chin level through the swing so your shoulders can past comfortably under it rather than keeping the head "down" - so to speak. I dont have a drill or feeling to relay that might help you get the sense of this, but perhaps another poster here does.

[iacas]

If you can't, then don't.

No, it's not, and I'm not sure why you'd say such a thing. Almost all of them are looking down at where the ball is/was.

[cdj588]

there is alot of good tips here guys. i really appreciate it. keep them coming.

[CG031]

No, it's not, and I'm not sure why you'd say such a thing. Almost all of them are looking down at where the ball is/was.

I'm with iacas here. What are you talking about 'their head is up at impact...' are you serious with that comment?

[thedub]

First, i have this same problem from time to time...but if you have colorful tees, randomly grab a colored tee and tee the ball up without looking at the tee, swing, and make sure you can see the tee color

Or, have a friend stand parallel to you and the grip side of a club against your head as you swing to make sure you keep your head down.

or, watch your divot, and that tells you where the ball is going!!

[TinCupTampa]

If you can't keep your eye on the ball, then don't keep your eye on the ball.

This is good advice... keep your chin up. I try to look at the ball as much as i can... I try to read the writing or pick a dimple to stare at. If I top the ball... its purely because I am swinging to hard.