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Where do you look when you swing?

JF

JF

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The magic of where your eyes are had a tremendous effect on me today.

A while back, I read in Golf Digest that it works very well to look four inches in front of and four inches farther away from you than the ball. It helps bottom the swing out in front of the ball and promotes an in to out swing, or so they say. I'd do it at the range occasionally a lot last year, and it certainly helped a lot, but I could never get used to it. Today after a piss poor round, I started doing it again on the range. 180* turn. Everything was PURED. I need to make myself do this every time.

On anything less than full swings, I like to look about an inch in front of the ball, helps me hit down on it and hit it square.

For putts, I look straight at the ball. I've tried looking at the hole before, doesn't work for me at all.

It's kind of crazy psychology how where you look impacts the swing. Where do you look when you swing?
 
If I can't complete the swing with my eyes closed, I did something wrong during the swing.
 
There definitely are coaches who advocate looking ahead of the ball. Some advocate looking at the back of the ball. Others don't really care where you look as long as your focus (focus, not your eyes) is on the target.
 
I usually look at the inside of the back of the ball and try to "hit" the ball there? This helps me stay focused and come from the inside more.
The long drive champion guy I was working with at the demo day for my cobra driver fitting, told me to focus on the from of the ball because that encourages hitting through the ball, and that he ReMax long drive guys think that way. It really helped me drive through the ball


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I used to watch the club go back and that was disastrous.

Now just keeping my eyes on the ball is a swing thought I am continually working on.
 
For irons shots and the like I focus on the front of the ball as I think this helps me hit down. Woods, it's the spot on the ball where I want to make contact. Same with my putter. I will give that drill a try though. Can't hurt anything, that's for sure!
 
mcook77 said:
I used to watch the club go back and that was disastrous.

Now just keeping my eyes on the ball is a swing thought I am continually working on.
Click to expand...

This is one of my bad habits that sometimes creeps into a round

Tapped out on my EVO 4G LTE
 
mcook77 said:
I used to watch the club go back and that was disastrous.

Now just keeping my eyes on the ball is a swing thought I am continually working on.
Click to expand...

I know exactly what you mean! Bad habits come out after a few bad shots....

On tee boxes, I just keep focused on the logo of the ball, on iron shots the back edge (prompting me to make contact with the ball, then turf), and on putts, the center/top of the ball.
 
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Back of the ball for me...but going to try that 'in front of the ball' trick...
 
I just look at the ball. Try not to look at the club.
 
I look at the back of the ball. That is where I want to hit it.
 
I look at the ground behind the ball, just a habit really more than anything but I do try to stay looking at the ground until the ball has launched and the hands are rolled over.
 
I have no idea. I close my eyes during my swing. Always have and probably always will.
 
I tend to look at the front of the ball to try and help me hit through it better...
 
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mcook77 said:
I used to watch the club go back and that was disastrous.

Now just keeping my eyes on the ball is a swing thought I am continually working on.
Click to expand...
I find that helps me keep my head still as well!
 
I keep my eyes focused on the part of the ball that I want to make contact with.
 
mcook77 said:
I used to watch the club go back and that was disastrous.

Now just keeping my eyes on the ball is a swing thought I am continually working on.
Click to expand...


This is my #1 fault. Can't shake it. It is awful on my swing.
 
With the driver I always looked at the very top of the ball - frequently I picked out one dimple there. With the irons, especially when trying to promote inside-out swing path, I looked at and tried to hit the inside back quadrant of the ball. Chipping was like the driver, top of the ball. When hitting off a tee, I always placed the ball white side facing up, names and logos out of view. For putting I lined up the words and arrows of the "ProV1" on top to match my intended line. The only time I ever picked out a target immediately in front of my ball was when hitting through a gap in the trees or other obstacles - then I would pick out a twig or pebble or discolored grass or some feature about 6 inches out on the line I needed to start on to hit the ball over - but I still looked at the ball during the swing.

(all of this is past tense because I haven't played in 8 months and likely won't again before the fall after I have and recover from hip replacement)
 
I look at the back of the ball. Helps keep my head still.
 
The thought of looking just ahead and just outside of the ball is recommended by several teachers, it helps you swing through the ball on an inside out path...it's something I have done from time to time.
 
I usually look at the 4:30 position on the ball but when my swing goes south I look 2 balls ahead for irons and 2 ball behind with the driver until things settle down.
 
Good question, and it is one I can't answer, which makes me think my eyes are probably wondering when I should be concentrating on one spot. I was just at the range earlier today and can't think of a shot I hit where I fixed to one spot on or in front of the ball. I am playing a round in the morning and will take some of the advice posted and see how it helps me. Interesting subject for sure.
 
I watch the club way too much on the takeaway
 
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