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Visualizing on the Course

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Tedfroop

One eyed and left handed
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Playing in my playing lesson last week I had a moment of realization about my game.

I hit an approach on 10 a little long and put it about a foot into the rough behind the green and the ball settled down a little. The green sloped somewhat steeply away back toward the fairway and I had about 6' to the flag.

I looked at the lie, green and the collar and after going through my wedges from the 60 back to the 52 I pulled that and the putter. I hit it as well as I could, to about 3' below the hole and made the putt (birdie). My coach asked me why I used the club i did and not one with more loft and I said that is the shot I saw. He tried the same shot and in 3 tries was never closer than 10'.

I never thought more about it until I got home and realized that standing beside the cart, picking a club I saw in my mind a 60, slid under the ball, bounced out to the collar. I saw a 56 one bouncing and running off down the green. Then I saw the 52, just out, two bounces in the fringe to slow it up and roll out to below the hole, and that's what I did.


So, do you visualize shots on the golf course? Can you see as Jack Nicklaus said "movies in your head" before hitting a shot? When you can see those "movies" clearly do you hit the shot like you saw it?
 
I do not "see" a "movie" on a full swing shot. I've tried, and tried, but cannot.

Shawn Clement says the focus on your target should be so intense that the ball should appear blurry when you look down. I haven't achieved that level of visualization or focus either.

However, I definitely see the line on putts and other short game shots. Not a literal line, but a feeling of where the ball is going to go. I suppose I need to try to apply the same feeling to my full-swing shots.

I have seen pros say that different people have different methods of visualization. Some are visual and see a movie. Others are auditory and talk themselves through a shot. I'm wondering if I'm olfactory though, because my shots stink. ;)
 
i do for putting more than anything i really worked on it during the morgan cup and i putt better than i have ever in my life. i could see the ball rolling in a lot before i made my putt gave me a lot of confidence.
 
On very important shots I close my eyes and play them out. People think I'm crazy but I think it works. I am a huge believer in visualization and positive vibes.
 
I'm a bit of a visualizer. Not as heavily as you mention, but I do too a degree. On full shots I visualize where the flag is and I try to swing my club out just to the right of where it is, knowing that I'll push it a bit and it'll usually draw back in. It doesn't go much past that though. On chips I visualize the spot on the green that I want my ball to land and of course visualize the break of where it'll roll to. But i don't picture it rolling perfectly into the cup. When I get that specific it causes me to freeze over the ball because my body is trying to gauge everything for that "perfect" shot.
 
I try and stare down my target and visualize the flight of the ball. I find it works well when I'm trying to draw the ball or hit it over a tree. It feels like the body just knows what to do when I see the shot.
 
I definitely play the shot in my head. The image gets a lot more detailed with greenside shots and putts though. The more creative the shot, the more vivid the mental picture. I think the OPs realization that he was walking through options and settled on the best one he saw, is a great epiphany. That type visualization will lead to some great shots.
 
Yes, especially near the green, but also off the tee and the on approach shots - just not as detailed. It's part of my pre-shot routine.
 
Buckjob said:
i do for putting more than anything i really worked on it during the morgan cup and i putt better than i have ever in my life. i could see the ball rolling in a lot before i made my putt gave me a lot of confidence.
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Count me in this group. If I need to hit a hard draw or cut then I try to visualize but I find it most useful putting. I look at the hole and imagine what the ball would do if I hit directly at the hole...then adjust from there.
 
I try visualize on the course. Watched this awhile back, and it changed the way I visualize my shots. When putting I see the line I'm trying to hit, try see break point, etc. but for longer shots, I've been using this wall as in the video, and then visualizing the trajectory in my mind. I believe its shaved a few off my card.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_f9...ew-vl&list=PLAEnNnHWpE9akvHuOu2VVCyLgPaMbOSWi
 
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I try to visualize my putts, similar to the tracer on Tiger Woods video game. I can see that line, all I have to do is get the speed right, which unfortunately I don't do alot of the time. With other shots I kinda look at the hole and decide what I want to do.

I need to get back to doing the same thing consistently instead of trying to do too much though.
 
Yes, but more often than not, I only 'see' my putts. For me, for what is mostly casual golf, visualizing every shot is mentally draining.

Sometimes I do work to visualize my tricky chip/pitch shots though.

~Rock
 
McRock said:
Yes, but more often than not, I only 'see' my putts. For me, for what is mostly casual golf, visualizing every shot is mentally draining.

Sometimes I do work to visualize my tricky chip/pitch shots though.

~Rock
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I don't do every shot either. Stuff like drivers, fairway clubs, most approach shots its all about picking a target that is easy to see and hit towards. Like a big tree that stands out, a sign or yardage post in the fairway something like that. All you want is to get the ball to the target.

When I get green side or short and have options is when the visualizing starts. To do it well you need to see the lie, slope of the green, whether you need to lift the ball up or you can run it up, a putt, a pitch, a cut lob, is is sitting down or up, how could I mess this up and not get the ball out or end up in a worse place. I want to figure out what will get me to a spot where I have a short strait uphill putt if possible and not need a hero shot to do it.

I always see that the really good pros do that better than the average guys so its something I work on doing. It can make a not so good day of ball striking a decent day on the scorecard.
 
As part of my pre-shot routine I stand behind the ball and stare down my target/line. I usually take a deep breath and pause for a moment and go over how I want to ball to travel and where I want it to come down. I think it definitely helps me out to "see" it in my head. I've noticed it helps me to keep my focus for the round when I'm really going over it in my head. As long as I don't start thinking of swing mechanics, just shot shape/flight etc it usually works out well.
 
wadesworld said:
Shawn Clement says the focus on your target should be so intense that the ball should appear blurry when you look down.
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I've seen my ball blurry before, but not due to focusing on the shot, but due to focusing on the beverages :D. Seriously though, I step behind and pick a target line on every tee shot and fairway/approach shots. But chips and putts are the only ones I usually visualize.
 
I visualize the flight path of every shot that requires a little finesse. It usually helps me make the right decision.
 
When I'm playing well and focused, I can see every shot play out. I always see the shot around the greens just as you had described and choose my short game weapon accordingly. For putts, I actually look at the line 3 times when over the putt after lining it up and see a visual similar to the Fidelity Investment commercials and their green arrow line.
 
Nothing more frustrating than spending a few min visualizing the perfect shot and then screwing it up. I like to simply pick a target, decide how much draw or cut to put on it, and hit to my yardage. Keeps me focused on the shot but also keeps me from freezing over the ball. On par threes I like to imagine my ball flight on the pro tracer they show on tv. Man I think thats cool!
 
Fryt said:
As part of my pre-shot routine I stand behind the ball and stare down my target/line. I usually take a deep breath and pause for a moment and go over how I want to ball to travel and where I want it to come down. I think it definitely helps me out to "see" it in my head. I've noticed it helps me to keep my focus for the round when I'm really going over it in my head. As long as I don't start thinking of swing mechanics, just shot shape/flight etc it usually works out well.
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^^This
 
wadesworld said:
I do not "see" a "movie" on a full swing shot. I've tried, and tried, but cannot.
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I wish I could do like Kevin Costner in, "For Love of the Game". Sadly, my mental game just isn't there I suppose.
 
Tedfroop said:
So, do you visualize shots on the golf course? Can you see as Jack Nicklaus said "movies in your head" before hitting a shot? When you can see those "movies" clearly do you hit the shot like you saw it?
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It's how I play golf. I select something to aim at, and trust my swing to do the rest. Example: I play a draw, and from my anticipated landing area, I'll find something well right of that and aim for it. Not unlike chipping and putting, I very much look at that first part of my shot line more than I do my finish ball position.

I think it makes the game a ton easier. It also gets you focusing on something other than the trouble that might be present.
 
Canadan said:
It's how I play golf. I select something to aim at, and trust my swing to do the rest. Example: I play a draw, and from my anticipated landing area, I'll find something well right of that and aim for it. Not unlike chipping and putting, I very much look at that first part of my shot line more than I do my finish ball position.

I think it makes the game a ton easier. It also gets you focusing on something other than the trouble that might be present.
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This. Pretty much the same thing I described.
 
I do visualize. I start with picturing impact and reinforcing the feel of solid contact in my mind. From there I picture the flight of the ball, chip, or roll of the putt.
 
"I don't always visualize my shots, but when I do they go exactly where I see them going." -The Most Interesting Man in the World

Seriously though, I do visualize some of my shots. I tend to read the green a little harder and "see" the break in the putt I'm going to hit. On the course with full swing shots, not AS much. This is more about feeling the swing to hit to a spot. Unless I really need to make a interesting shot, I don't. Good example recently was when I was playing with a group and we were doing a modified scramble. This one hole (long but straight par 5) was being played, one person off the tee, scramble to the green. Anyway, we ended up in JAIL behind a long group of trees just off the right side of the fairway with no real way to get to green at all. I REALLY had to visualize this shot as it was going to be a HUGE left to right bender. I had all the guys hit out as far down the fairway as possible. Then I took about the biggest inside out, massive slice swing I could do still hitting a solid shot. I pulled it off just like I saw in my minds eye. The guys I played with that day, still talk about that sometimes. We made a birdie when we shouldn't have...but I saw that shot, and hit it. It helps!
 
Hawk said:
Yes, especially near the green, but also off the tee and the on approach shots - just not as detailed. It's part of my pre-shot routine.
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Same here, I can clearly visualize puts, chips and pitches are a little fuzzier already.

In my proces I start behind the ball, looking at the target. I try and visualize the flight of the ball; mostly don't get past how it starts though. Then I pick a spot in front of, or behind, the ball to line up on. I take my stance and do one or two practice swings, until it feels right. I step forward, take my stance and hit it.

Tonight while wondering how I have such muscle aches I found out I have a (new) major flaw in my swing. Will practice on it tomorrow. (I end up with my hands WAY to far backward, have to over stretch my right shoulder to get there and that hurts like a b*tch.)
 
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