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Any Tricks/Hints For Learning To Keep One's Eye On The Ball? (Is it even necessary?)

MaybeDuffer said:
I suffer from a common golf newbie problem: Looking up towards the (intended) path of the ball too soon. My instructor's noted it. My golfing neighbors on either side of us has noted it. The golfer that put in our new A/C noted it.

And I know it's a problem. Not that this is the only issue with my swing and repeatability, but it's a consistent one. When I manage to keep my eye on the ball through contact I have a much higher success rate.

So: Any hints, tips, or tricks to help me train the grey matter to stop looking up too soon?
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@JB Let's get this post over to Swing Tips

MaybeDuffer, I would Highly recommend that you DO NOT keep your head down and stop focusing on the ball. Doing so, limits your range of motion, slows you down, and promotes a "Hit" mentality that is really hard to break. So if you're new, learn how to move your body properly, then start focusing on the target. I know that's easier said than done, but devote an hour to this task and let me know how it goes (this is a drill that you will eventually incorporate into your full swing over time):
  • SetUp properly...if you don't know how to properly Setup, here are some check points:
    • Stand Tall
    • Perform a standing crunch to get your upper and middle spine rounded
    • Slightly bend your knees (1/2" at most)
    • Let your arms hang naturally down.
    • Your armpits should be over the front of your shoe laces.
  • Feel Impact
    • Get the handle forward over your lead shoe
    • Open your hips 30-45 degrees
    • Open your chest 20-30 degrees
    • Look down range
  • Go from Impact to Take the club back to where it's parallel to the ground and pause
  • Look Downrange and open up
  • Feel your chest open and you will hear the ball being struck and then see it
  • DON'T FOCUS ON THE BALL, and DO NOT KEEP YOUR HEAD DOWN
 
Wow, @TrueMotionMatt, much of that is precisely the opposite of what my golf instructor and everybody else has been telling me.

I'll have to try that.

Thanks for the input!
 
Ok, here it is...take a look and let me know if you have any questions. Do us a favor and turn on your video camera and film a few good and bad and post your progress. 😉



DISCLAIMER: Usually, there's a lot of other work that Players go through to be able to do this drill, so tread lightly. I'm not sure where you are on your Golf Improvement Journey, so you may need to perfect your SetUp & Takeaway first, then work on this drill.
 
That's fascinating. Thanks!

I can do that. Well, I can try w/o hurting myself, anyway :) I've completed a Beginners golf course and have worked out several times/week with an Orange Whip. (And that latter I believe I'm doing in fairly good form, now.)

I've actually got a pretty good swing for a sixty-nine-year-old just learning golf--as per my instructor and a golfer who's a +2 that asked to see my swing.

It'll be interesting to see if it works for me. Can't wait to try it. Not today, tho. After yard work and 1-1/2 hours or swinging a club, yesterday, my sciatica is acting up a bit right now. (Currently sitting on the patio enjoying a cold one and relaxing.)

ETA: Just read your second-to-last post. You made that video for me? Wow. Thanks!
 
There are those who are target focused and are looking at the target even B4 impact. If you are truly "swinging through the ball" you do not have to worry about fixating on it. Easy to say, not so easy to do. This is not the same as looking up.
 
TrueMotionMatt said:
Ok, here it is...take a look and let me know if you have any questions. Do us a favor and turn on your video camera and film a few good and bad and post your progress. 😉



DISCLAIMER: Usually, there's a lot of other work that Players go through to be able to do this drill, so tread lightly. I'm not sure where you are on your Golf Improvement Journey, so you may need to perfect your SetUp & Takeaway first, then work on this drill.
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Right....What HE said....(that's kind Of what I was alluding to before viewing Matt's video.)
 
oh, along these same lines. When hitting into a net from ten feet, I often will notice a "fly" on my vinyl target. They seem to be attracted to it. I try to "hit the fly" and surprizingly, sometimes I do.
 
Whatever you choose to “look at”, be sure to actually WATCH the club hit that spot. Or at least feel like you are seeing the club hit that spot. This also keeps the head back a bit.
you could try setting up a rig with a towel to block your view down range. Just focus on contact. Even try just closing your eyes and feel the contact without worrying about where it goes.
 
Perhaps don't think about keeping your eye on the ball, instead concentrate on keeping your head still during your swing....which will result in your keeping your eye on the ball.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
 
There is a book called 'Search For The Perfect Swing' by Cochran and Stobbs where they tested out whether one could sabotage a golfers swing.

They placed many golfers in a single lighted room driving balls into a net and then as the downswing started , switched off the light into total darkness. They asked the golfer to do whatever they could to try and stop their swing when the lights went off or at least try to change it by slowing down or going OTT or mishitting the ball.

They found that the golfers were unable to stop/sabotage their swings when the light was switched off just as the downswing started. Nearly all could stop the shot if the light went out during the backswing.

And quoting from the book:

"What this implies is that once any of us has fairly begun the forward swing, we can't correct or alter it in any way . The time it takes to do the downswing (0.2- 0.25 secs) is just about the minimum time required for the brain to perceive external signals, to give orders for the appropriate action, and for the muscles concerned to do something about it "

So I suspect looking or not looking at the ball as the downswing starts won't make any difference to your intended swing. However , staring at the ball might inadvertently keep your head still and that will limit your natural movement in both the backswing and forward swing.
 
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aknow said:
Try hitting 10 balls in a row with your eyes closed. It will help.
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Holy smokes!

Following @TrueMotionMatt's recommendation and video, and taking @WILDTHING's comments into account, and thinking "So you don't really have to see the ball when you swing, eh?", though I wasn't prepared to try his method today, I decided a few gentle swings, trying your suggestion, was doable. So I grabbed my LW and a tube of limited-flight balls and gave it a go.

First swing: Missed the ball entirely. Thing is: I immediately knew exactly why. I could feel it. I'd pulled my arms in at the bottom of my swing.
Second swing: Missed the ball again. Again: I could feel exactly why: I'd lifted the club at the bottom of my swing.
Third swing: Hit the ball. I sliced, but still got about 25-30 yards out of it. (Funny thing is: I got the feeling I knew I'd sliced before I even opened my eyes.)
Fourth swing: Right where I was aiming, again for 25-30 yards.
Fifth swing: About the same distance, but I hooked it a bit.

I can see how this works, and it does work. Oh, and, since I was just horsing-around, I hadn't even thought to do any warm-up swings.

Additionally: Those limited-flight balls allegedly get only about 1/3 the distance a real ball would get. If that's true: Each one of the ones I hit would've been 75-90 yards with a real ball, which is about right for an adult male doing a full swing with a LW. I hadn't even been putting any effort into it!

I am literally astonished.

stevie-a said:
Perhaps don't think about keeping your eye on the ball, instead concentrate on keeping your head still during your swing....which will result in your keeping your eye on the ball.
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I've seen or heard a comment--in this thread, from my instructor, from somebody else--that that is the reason you're supposed to keep your eyes on the ball: So you don't move your head until after the club head strikes the ball.
 
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Put the logo behind the he ball and focus on that as others have alluded to.
 
Imo golfers need another dimension with their eye muscles. We have two muscles in our eyes - one which focus sight and the other to move the eyes. The eyes are the body's organiser with movement. They are first to move closely followed by the head towards the direction of focus. A habit we learn as infants.
Golfers who learn the game as children, usually add another dimension to their eye movements in moving their eyes opposite to their head movements simultaneously without losing focus.
Those who come to the game later in life usually don't have the ability to move their eyes opposite to their head/neck movements without losing focus. When this happens during the golf swing they panic and the shot is ruined. Or they don't complete their backswing turn in fear of losing eye focus even though the ball isn't going anywhere.
The good news is that it is a skill that can be learned and practiced in our everyday life away from golf.
 
I don't know about the eye movement. It sounds plausible. What I feel is happening is that during that split second near impact, as your eyes move toward the target, the club head catches up. I can easily see the ball hit the suspended vinyl target. As an experiment, I keep my eyes on the ball and rotate and point to the target. When I do this, I find that where I am pointing is a bit short, whereas if I swing through the ball and look towards the target, I point right at it. Now, whether or not this is true, I really do not know. But, it works!
 
I think I noted this, already, but I suspect one of my my problems has been anticipating ball movement and turning my head to get ahead of it, which would move my shoulders. Secondly: Concentrating on the ball leading me to hack at it. If Matt's suggestion works for me, it'll kill two birds with one stone.

Another thought I had was that, when I played baseball, softball, racquetball, or ice hockey, I never looked at the thing I wanted to hit, but where I wanted it to go when I hit it. If that didn't happen, I worked on my swing until it did. So, again, from that perspective: Matt's suggestions make sense to me.
 
@MaybeDuffer Yes, this gets back to the ascertion from Clay Ballard wherein he says that using the target to help stance/alignment. This would help maintain coordinated shoulder/hip/feet alignment from the get go. The fact that the clubhead would follow makes perfect sense to me.
 
MaybeDuffer said:
I think I noted this, already, but I suspect one of my my problems has been anticipating ball movement and turning my head to get ahead of it, which would move my shoulders. Secondly: Concentrating on the ball leading me to hack at it. If Matt's suggestion works for me, it'll kill two birds with one stone.

Another thought I had was that, when I played baseball, softball, racquetball, or ice hockey, I never looked at the thing I wanted to hit, but where I wanted it to go when I hit it. If that didn't happen, I worked on my swing until it did. So, again, from that perspective: Matt's suggestions make sense to me.
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Isn't it funny that you wouldn't look at a baseball that is moving, but your natural inclination is to look at a golf ball? Golf is a game of opposites for sure 💪
 
BTW, Tiger 🐅 🐐says keeping is head down is one of the things he hates the most about seeing his golf swing on video. 🤷‍♂️
 
One does eyeball incoming balls/pucks. But what one doesn't do is try to watch them all the way up to the point one would expect them to meet bat, racquet, or stick. One attempts to anticipate where they're going to be, adjusts how they'll swing, prior to swinging, and then swings when they expect the object will be where they expect it to be. That on-the-fly, pre-swing calculation would be the equivalent of a golf swing setup.
 
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@TrueMotionMatt Well, I must say that you have reaffirmed just about everything I have come to believe. "You've got to be able to separate the wheat from the chaff-there's a LOT of chaff".
 
Ok, well, that sucked :mad: Trying the eyes closed thing again, before trying Matt's suggestion. First couple hits were ok, then my swing went right in the gutter. The more I missed, the harder I tried, the more frustrated I got, the more I missed...

Next-door-neighbor spotted the problem: I was doing some sort of weird swinging out thing at the bottom of my swing. My guess is unconscious over-correction for sometimes pulling in at the bottom of the swing <smh>.

Maybe tomorrow will be a better day :)
 
The harder you try, the behinder you get.
 
MaybeDuffer said:
Ok, well, that sucked :mad: Trying the eyes closed thing again, before trying Matt's suggestion. First couple hits were ok, then my swing went right in the gutter. The more I missed, the harder I tried, the more frustrated I got, the more I missed...

Next-door-neighbor spotted the problem: I was doing some sort of weird swinging out thing at the bottom of my swing. My guess is unconscious over-correction for sometimes pulling in at the bottom of the swing <smh>.

Maybe tomorrow will be a better day :)
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Just listen to Matt. 😂😂😂
 
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