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Visualization.

White Rhino said:
Or don't go and that is where you can have problems. You see water or a sand trap and you immediately fear it and see your ball going there. So what happens? Yep, the ball went right where you visualized.
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Yeah, good point. Negative reinforcement somehow works better than the positive kind. Don't slice don't slice don't sli....argh darnit.
 
the_paulo said:
Yeah, good point. Negative reinforcement somehow works better than the positive kind. Don't slice don't slice don't sli....argh darnit.
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Been there, done that many times but now I try to have the last image in my head to be something good.
 
I visualize every shot. Trajectory, what it'll feel like, how it'll behave when and where it lands, how it'll move after landing, ball travelling on the line, entering the hole etc. If I can't visualize it then I usually hit a poor shot.
 
the_paulo said:
Yeah, good point. Negative reinforcement somehow works better than the positive kind. Don't slice don't slice don't sli....argh darnit.
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Your body doesn't hear don't slice, don't slice. All you hear is slice, slice, slice. You have to think straight, straight, straight. How often do we see this on putts as well? Don't leave it short....and it ends up short. Think long, long, long.

My coach gave me this tip while putting and it has changed my putting game completely. Pick your spot to putt and it should never be the "hole". Pick a blade of grass on the edge of the cup and swing for that if it is a straight putt. The last thing you look at before swinging the club should be your spot, NEVER the hole. Once you look back at the hole, your body changes its entire alignment.
 
I visualize all my shot's. I walk mostly and feel that walking helps set my eye up for the slope of the course and how I want the ball to travel to it's intended target. Obstacles are realized and alternate shot's are chosen if needed.
As far as Putting absolutely I have to visualize the Putt. On super long putt's rather than only thinking of putting the ball in the hole I see a bushel basket and attempt to let the come to rest inside that basket.For me it helps cut down on the yips.
 
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White Rhino said:
I was helped greatly by my present coach gave me a technique that gets me thinking like I did when I used to bowl in leagues a few years ago. Now, as a pre putt technique, I stand behind the ball and swing my arm like a bowler (subtly of course) and in my mind I am seeing the line of the putt and how hard I need to swing the club. Similar to a bowler seeing the line in the alley and knowing how hard he/she needs to throw the ball. I do this from behind the ball to get a better feel looking with both eyes at the target instead of just out of my left eye. Like I said this method has really helped me with my putting. If I don't sink the ball with the first putt I am generally left with a tap in or a putt that is generally of "gimme" distance. My 3 putts per round have dropped dramatically and with each round I play and continue to practice this technique I feel my 2 putt holes with similarly decline.
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As a former league bowler, this is a great analogy. I try to do this too, without the bowling swing (though I may give that a try). I also try to visualize exactly where the ball will enter the cup. I think about it as a clock face. So on a right to left break, maybe it will enter at 4 o'clock. Read Unconscious Putting just recently, and this was a main talking point around reading greens. If you visualize the ball going into the center of the hole from your perspective, you're essentially minimizing your room for error as a miss on the low side is more likely to be outside the hole. Hope that makes sense.

Visualization on full shots is something I'm working on. I don't really shape the ball though, so I'm looking for a target and an intermediate aiming point mostly.
 
JonD said:
Visualization on full shots is something I'm working on. I don't really shape the ball though, so I'm looking for a target and an intermediate aiming point mostly.
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Visualization doesn't require the shot to be shaped in a certain way - in fact a mindset like that kind of misses the point. If you want to hit a straight shot you should see straight shot, just like if you want to draw it or fade it.
 
thepete said:
Visualization doesn't require the shot to be shaped in a certain way - in fact a mindset like that kind of misses the point. If you want to hit a straight shot you should see straight shot, just like if you want to draw it or fade it.
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Oh no, I still visualize the the ball flight. I was just saying that it's boring as I'm generally not looking for the ball to curve. As far as flight is concerned, the only time it's not a standard shot is when I need to go over/under something or keep it low to fight wind.
 
Esox said:
How many visualize a shot before they hit it? Like seeing in your mind's eye the ball traveling on the line you want it to take and landing near the target. Or in the case of putting, while lining a putt up, seeing it roll along the line and into the hole.

I'm especially interested in putting, as I'm trying to find a way for my daughter to get the ball closer to, or into, the cup with her first putts. She seems to have become disconnected with where she wants the ball to go and getting it there. Very frustrating to watch.

Kevin
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I do visualize with my wedges around the green. Where I want to land it, and the ensuing result. With putting, I pick my line, and then I pick a spot 6 inches into that line. If I hit it, then it is just a matter of speed.
 
Actually, I spent a while practising my putting with my eyes closed. This helped my visualisation.
 
Every good shot I've ever had, I've visualized it before actually swinging. If I rush and just hit it then I might as well be at the range trying to burn through 100 balls in 30 minutes.
 
Esox said:
I like that. I did something similar when bowling. Though not well enough to ever get over 198 average.

Kevin
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White Rhino said:
I was helped greatly by my present coach gave me a technique that gets me thinking like I did when I used to bowl in leagues a few years ago. Now, as a pre putt technique, I stand behind the ball and swing my arm like a bowler (subtly of course) and in my mind I am seeing the line of the putt and how hard I need to swing the club. Similar to a bowler seeing the line in the alley and knowing how hard he/she needs to throw the ball. I do this from behind the ball to get a better feel looking with both eyes at the target instead of just out of my left eye. Like I said this method has really helped me with my putting. If I don't sink the ball with the first putt I am generally left with a tap in or a putt that is generally of "gimme" distance. My 3 putts per round have dropped dramatically and with each round I play and continue to practice this technique I feel my 2 putt holes with similarly decline.
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Putting this is my must try list! I use the Hank Haney approach at times, where you go with a real short stroke and then go with an extra long stroke... then somewhere in the middle is where you actually want to be.
 
I visualize most of my shots, but i do it almost subconsciously...meaning, i walk up and immediately start seeing a line i want to take...trajectory etc and take practice swings while 'seeing' that. works great for putting but, i've been doing it for so long that it feels like second nature...
 
I'll stand behind the ball and with both eyes try to find the line. I generally swing my putter a little to try to get the speed. I then putt to where I think the break point is.

The biggest help that I've found is that I had a putter fitting. They determined that my eyes were not over the ball. They shortened the putter by about an inch. Now, I stand a little closer to the ball and my eyes are over the ball. This has greatly helped my putting and cutting down on 3 putts.
 
I try to visualize what shot I think will work best for the situation but I don't actually see a ball flying down the fairway in my imagination. It is more of a line or a movement of air that way than a distinct ball image, I get a feel for the movement needed and where it needs to go then I know where to aim and what shape to put on it if any. For putts and chips that I am running up to the hole I try to trace a mental line on the ground to the hole and then back to the ball from the hole, sometimes I will detect a break going back from the hole to the ball that I can't find otherwise. Your eyes will pick up subtle changes in the green and bend the line to match the terrain.
 
I try to visualize a cold beer after a hot day on the golf course and it works pretty well for me :drinks:
 
I struggle with the visualizing of my shots. When I remember to do it, it puts me in total focus and I can usually hit what i'm seeing in my head, when I don't it's anyones guess what's gonna happen. So if you're in front of me or in a fairway adjacent to me, duck!
 
Great question. For me its a weird thing. I visualize all my putts and when I am rolling them well, the visualization is much more comfortable. Not sure if it is confidence or what, but when I am not rolling them well, my visualization is very uncomfortable, if that makes any sense.
 
Been a crazy day for me, but I just read through all the thoughtful responses. Thanks everyone. My daughter hit the ball great again today in a practice round, but putted poorly. We're heading to the practice green for a little visualiztion.

Kevin
 
I can visualize my putts better then actual shots but I do pretty well at both. I feel as if most times if I see the line for my line it goes in 9 out of 10 times which is pretty nice.
 
Good advice that I recently read was that you should always know the shot you're going to hit before you hit it. Something about the conscious mind stems from the subconscious. I've used the approach for baseball, but never applied it to golf. I'm actually working on this also!


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Ole Gray said:
I try to visualize a cold beer after a hot day on the golf course and it works pretty well for me :drinks:
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I can already visualize that cold Yuengling draft in my hand. :drinks:

Besides the 19th hole, short game is where visualization benefits me the most, it seems like I am better to miss the green then hit a pitch than to have a long putt.
 
Black and Tan Lefty, wow, was that empathic visualization?


Tapatalking
 
Esox I just finished reading Bob Rotella's "Putting out of your Mind" and a lot of it has to do with vizualization and how everyone sees it differently and views it differently. For me, I can't see the ball rolling to the hole, or a line to the hole or any of that, but I like to keep a picture in my mind of my target, whatever that target is. If its the right edge, or a spot on the green, whatever, when I'm standing over the ball I like to keep that picture in my mind of what I'm hitting towards and putt towards that spot.
 
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