How to improve hand-eye coordination

[nevets88]

I have no doubt that it's possible. I've seen many athletic types pick up all sorts of sports - tennis, baseball, soccer, etc..., inhumanly fast. Some people just have the athletically gifted gene. Some people have the gift and an a good work ethic. That said, single digit is easier attained on an easy course. It would be alot more difficult to get to a single digit if your home course were say, Oakmont. On a relatively easy muni, it's easier, but still an achievement.

[shortstop20]

Well of course you would figure the stroke index into it.

You can't say you're a scratch player because you shoot 72 on a course that plays to an index of 66. :)

[khale]

Ok, the young guy that I mentioned scores in the low 80s the two times I played with him. Basically he beat me both times by about 10 strokes. He played vasity soccer in high school and also very good in basketball. I am not sure how much time he put into practicing but he plays one or two rounds a week when he was in college at UC San Diego.

Is hand-eye coordination the same as balance? Or they are related but not the same thing. Can you have one without the other. I watch the golf channel occasionally and they talk about a having balance will help you with contact. I have been practicing standing on one leg while holding the other leg and your whole body in the horizontal position to improvie balance.

[bplewis24]

I would classify balance more in the "athleticism" realm rather than the hand-eye coordination arena. And yes, you can have one without the other.

I was explaining to a friend the other day that most sports break down into ball-based sports and tool-based sports. Ball-based sports (football, basketball) allow an athletic person to pick up the game an excel over athletically inferior folks at amateur levels of the sport. As an example, a guy may just have blazing speed and be able to step out on a football field and run anybody down which would allow him to excel at several positions. In basketball, a guy can have height or crazy leaping ability that allows for the same.

Meanwhile, tool-based sports (tennis, baseball, golf) have aspects of the sport that require a lot of practice to excel at a specific skill. A guy who runs a 4.3 or has a 40" vertical leap isn't guaranteed to be able to bat .300, make solid, consistent contact with a golf swing or hit a drop shot in tennis. The tool or utility aspect requires hand-eye coordination along with practice.

Brandon

[tim31x]

Its possible but not very likely at all

I was a 9 handicap after my first season of golf, playing in a few tournaments and playing high school matches. its not impossible and its becoming more and more common now. i was also a very good football and baseball player as well as many other sports before taking up golf.

[nevets88]

Isn't a common biography of most tour/nationwide/college golfers basically someone who picked up a club in their teens, fell in love with the game and practiced nonstop and got into single digits in a short period of time? It's the same for anything.

People who have a talent for something can pick up things quickly that others eventually pick up in a much longer period or maybe not at all. I'm not athletically gifted, but with alot of work, I'm a competent golfer, but I probably will not be scratch, but it took me a couple of years to get to the point where I could play the most difficult Beethoven/Bach/Rachmaninoff pieces, whereas some people take 10 years or not at all. Some people understand differential equations, nooo problem, others just can't get it, no matter how hard they try.

I think to be competent in most sports, you have to have hand-eye coordination. To get to a higher level, to division level college sports, you have to the coordination plus the speed/size/strength/instinct or exceptional coordination.

[chipandcharge]

I know most athletes are born with good hand-eye coordination. I have met one young guy who just picks up golf for a year and he was a single digit golfer. He is also excellent in every sport he plays. Most of us are not like that. What are some tips for improving my hand-eye coordination?

Thanks,

I just read about some research done by a Dr. Joan Vickers on the subject of "quiet eyes" for golfers and other athletes.  I found it very interesting, particularly since I used a variation of her advice before I ever found her web page, and my ball striking improved tremendously.  Here are two things that she  found in her research. You can find her by searching for her name and for quiet eyes.  She wrote a book on her research.

First, low handicap golfers, whether putting or other clubs, look at the ball 33% longer than high handicap golfers, but this
is only 1/2 second longer (2.0 seconds versus1.5 seconds).

The second thing she found that they look with quiet eyes, meaning that where they look is much more localized than high handicap golfers, whose visual pattern spreads over a larger area.  So, when high handicap golfers look at the cup before putting, their eyes roam over more area than for the low handicappers, which is why the terminology "quiet eyes" is used.  Then, when the look at the ball before starting their backswing, they look at a very localized spot on the ball with quiet eyes.  When they look at the ball, they may look at as small an area as a dimple.  I read somewhere that the precise dimple is not as important as focusing your attention at a single dimple.

I found this last part very interesting (looking at a localized spot on the ball, like a dimple) because it goes against the advice to use soft focus and not look at the ball too sharply.

She also says that golf is a sport where the athlete benefits from good eye-hand coordination.  I've seen people say that eye-hand coordination should be turned off because it interferes with good ball contact.  Maybe this is like research on drinking coffee where the outcomes of the research say opposite things--ok, not ok, ok, not ok, etc.

[Abu3baid]

I just read about some research done by a Dr. Joan Vickers on the subject of "quiet eyes" for golfers and other athletes.  I found it very interesting, particularly since I used a variation of her advice before I ever found her web page, and my ball striking improved tremendously.  Here are two things that she  found in her research. You can find her by searching for her name and for quiet eyes.  She wrote a book on her research. First, low handicap golfers, whether putting or other clubs, look at the ball 33% longer than high handicap golfers, but this  is only 1/2 second longer (2.0 seconds versus1.5 seconds).  The second thing she found that they look with quiet eyes, meaning that where they look is much more localized than high handicap golfers, whose visual pattern spreads over a larger area.  So, when high handicap golfers look at the cup before putting, their eyes roam over more area than for the low handicappers, which is why the terminology "quiet eyes" is used.  Then, when the look at the ball before starting their backswing, they look at a very localized spot on the ball with quiet eyes.  When they look at the ball, they may look at as small an area as a dimple.  I read somewhere that the precise dimple is not as important as focusing your attention at a single dimple. I found this last part very interesting (looking at a localized spot on the ball, like a dimple) because it goes against the advice to use soft focus and not look at the ball too sharply. She also says that golf is a sport where the athlete benefits from good eye-hand coordination.  I've seen people say that eye-hand coordination should be turned off because it interferes with good ball contact.  Maybe this is like research on drinking coffee where the outcomes of the research say opposite things--ok, not ok, ok, not ok, etc.

I would love to know if there really is a difference in contact between concentrating on the ball vs a dimple.. I now look at the whole ball.

[boogielicious]

Quote:

Originally Posted by khale

I know most athletes are born with good hand-eye coordination. I have met one young guy who just picks up golf for a year and he was a single digit golfer. He is also excellent in every sport he plays. Most of us are not like that. What are some tips for improving my hand-eye coordination?

Thanks,

I just read about some research done by a Dr. Joan Vickers on the subject of "quiet eyes" for golfers and other athletes.  I found it very interesting, particularly since I used a variation of her advice before I ever found her web page, and my ball striking improved tremendously.  Here are two things that she  found in her research. You can find her by searching for her name and for quiet eyes.  She wrote a book on her research.

First, low handicap golfers, whether putting or other clubs, look at the ball 33% longer than high handicap golfers, but this

is only 1/2 second longer (2.0 seconds versus1.5 seconds).

The second thing she found that they look with quiet eyes, meaning that where they look is much more localized than high handicap golfers, whose visual pattern spreads over a larger area.  So, when high handicap golfers look at the cup before putting, their eyes roam over more area than for the low handicappers, which is why the terminology "quiet eyes" is used.  Then, when the look at the ball before starting their backswing, they look at a very localized spot on the ball with quiet eyes.  When they look at the ball, they may look at as small an area as a dimple.  I read somewhere that the precise dimple is not as important as focusing your attention at a single dimple.

I found this last part very interesting (looking at a localized spot on the ball, like a dimple) because it goes against the advice to use soft focus and not look at the ball too sharply.

She also says that golf is a sport where the athlete benefits from good eye-hand coordination.  I've seen people say that eye-hand coordination should be turned off because it interferes with good ball contact.  Maybe this is like research on drinking coffee where the outcomes of the research say opposite things--ok, not ok, ok, not ok, etc.

I saw Dr. Joan Vickers on Scientific American Frontiers with Alan Alda.  She discussed her ideas and demonstrated them using putting.  It was an excellent show.

I used this idea when coaching soccer, especially for corners, penalty and free kicks.  For PKs, I would have the players look at the whole net and pick their target.  Then focus on the ball and never look back. It worked great.

[chipandcharge]

I would love to know if there really is a difference in contact between concentrating on the ball vs a dimple.. I now look at the whole ball.

Since I brought up the research of Dr Vickers, I suppose it is my responsibility to look for actual data.  I believe she published her research in reviewed professional journals, so she would have to have solid data.  As for whole ball versus dimple, either could work if it quieted the eyes, which her research found was one of the two factors mentioned.  I can see why focusing on a single dimple works for me since I have double vision and actually see two golf balls.  I'm guessing now that my eyes must be jumping back and

forth between the two balls, where the second ball is displaced about 1/2 inch from the actual ball.  It seems that simply the process of focusing or staring at one dimple helps me quiet down my eyes since I have to put much more attention to focusing on one dimple out of the many dimples on the ball.  By the way, focusing on a dimple works well with my intention to swing down on the upper rear quadrant of the ball.

[chipandcharge]

I saw Dr. Joan Vickers on Scientific American Frontiers with Alan Alda.  She discussed her ideas and demonstrated them using putting.  It was an excellent show.

I used this idea when coaching soccer, especially for corners, penalty and free kicks.  For PKs, I would have the players look at the whole net and pick their target.  Then focus on the ball and never look back. It worked great.

Thanks for the confirmation from soccer.  In one of her articles, Dr. Vickers wrote that her quiet eyes intervention worked for free throw shooting on the University of Calgary's women's basketball team.  The article said that the basketball players were instructed to focus on a spot of the rim before making the free throw shot.  The particular spot could differ from individual to individual.  It didn't have to be an aiming spot.  It just needed to keep the eyes from roaming over too big an area.  At least, that's my interpretation.  I imagine the theory applies to a marksman.  I always heard about quiet fingers, but it seems that quiet eyes would also be essential.

[Osmond]

no way he's a legit single capper

he's probably guesstimating and not counting obs and giving himself mulligans

Its very unlikely that you just fall into a consistent swing right away

Huh? Why would it not be possible? I don't consider myself a great athlete but it took me 40 rounds and less than a year to be a 9 hcp. A friend of mine started last year (he did play 100+ rounds) and is now a 4 hcp. I'd be wary if someone was a scratch golfer in a year but even that I think is doable.

[Patch]

With anything, to do it right requires some sort of practice. To improve one's hand, eye coordination requires practice. The more important word (imho) in the topic is "coordination". Some folks are gifted with better coordination than others. A golfer with more coordination, will out play a golfer with less coordination, most of the time.

Another important factor I would think would be how clear a person's eye sight is. The better one's eye sight, the better they will hit the ball.

I practice my golf hand, eye coordination, (in addition to other parts of my full swing) every so often on a dry lake bed. I take a 2, or 5  iron blade and hit balls off the dry lake bed. With that kind of lie, there is absolutely no forgiveness. I either hit the ball correctly, or I don't. At some point during that practice regimen, I will start picking the ball clean off the dry ground.