Hitting a small point on the ball?

[buckeyekid1996]

does anyone do this? i would figure it would help you concentrate better on you drives.

[SusanLawless]

As it happens I tend not to focus too much on a small point.  I have tried in the past but generally now I just look at the ball in its entirety...works for me though I know others have a different perspective.

Good luck

[Golfingdad]

I've just recently started trying this and it does seem to help me make more solid contact.  I also subscribe to the theory that smaller targets = smaller misses.  (This works well for me in bowling too ... got my target down from "somewhere between 2nd and 3rd arrow" to "12 board" to "the black line in between the 12th and 13th board" and my scores are better because of it)

[iacas]

I don't even really look at the golf ball when I hit it. I'm just kind of looking in the general vicinity.

[glock35ipsc]

Heck I don't even SEE the ball when I hit it.  I have that Annika Sorenstam thing going on.....I look at the back of the ball when I set up, but my head is already turning when the ball is struck.

[Mr3Wiggle]

Originally Posted by iacas

I don't even really look at the golf ball when I hit it. I'm just kind of looking in the general vicinity.

I'm with you there.  Started for me when I used to follow the club back on the takeaway with my eyes (as a kid).  Stopped doing that, but I've never really focused on a part of the ball.  That is unless I'm doing a drill that requires it.

[Golfingdad]

To clarify my previous post ... I TRY to focus on the back of the ball throughout the swing until impact, but I don't think that I am seeing it at impact either.  I just noticed that when I don't really focus on the ball as long as possible I tend to hit a lot on thin shots.

[B-Con]

I pick a very specific spot on the ground just after the ball and try to hit that. For me, I've found that picking a specific spot can tighten up my ability to hit it. A general notion of "hit the ball" doesn't always produce the best results for me. Sometimes during practice I'll pick a spot on the ground and do a series of half or 2/5 swings to see how close I can get the center of the clubhead to that spot. While it's hard to tell exactly where the clubhead passes, I can get a general gist how close I was. It's impressive how often I miss the center.

[phedrick]

I try to focus on a spot on the ball, but often I don't, and when I don't there is no telling where the ball will end up!

[rossvanwyk]

I look at a point in front of the ball, cos thats where I want my swing to bottom out. Especially on drives, I look at a point on the ground quite a bit in front and a little to the right so I make sure I'm swinging in to out and through the ball. The ball is not your target, so don't swing AT it, you gotta swing THROUGH it.

[SusanLawless]

Thats a good piece of advice...sometimes I swing and focus on a bit of grass at the front of the ball for that very reason and I try and make sure that the head comes down on that plane so I strike through the ball!

At least thats my theory ;)

[NathanGreen]

Interesting as I started doing this.  On my practice swings it is easy to focus on a small spot but when I tried to do this in reality my eyes were never able to keep up.  I tend to hit my drives with more feel than with a razor focus on a small spot...

I have tried to do it but not so easy to actually make it happen!

Originally Posted by buckeyekid1996

does anyone do this? i would figure it would help you concentrate better on you drives.

[Truegolf]

My golfing buddy who is scratch marks his ball with a dot and also tries to position the dot on the tee where the clubface will meet the ball for every club He does not feel it makes any difference to him cause he tells me he doesn't look at the dot but he has been doing it out of habit and it makes feel confident of his tee shot I tried this and also positioning the ball so the dot more on top and visual in tee shots but it doesn't work for me and i feel its more of a distraction