|
How often do you stand within 100 metres of a green, wedge in hand and then proceed to hit your approach shot well short or well long or the intended target. With many players now carrying an extra wedge your only excuse for missing a green from under 100 metres should be a poor swing.
Trying to match swing length to the required shot distance is the problem that club golfers have.
A method that I use is to have four different length swings determined by where the butt of the club is pointing at the end of the swing. The four positions are--target, ball, ground and full--for each of your wedges.
If you carry three wedges, then you’ll find yourself with 12 different ball flights and distances from, say, 25 to 110 metres.
You’ll also find yourself with a new level of consistency, because you’re maintaining your normal swing speed, just adjusting the length of your swing.
Spend some time on the practice fairway getting the correct feel for these swing length variations. It will help if you can have a friend tell you exactly where the butt of the club is actually pointing...You then need to measure and record exactly how far each of these swing lengths will have the ball travel.
• Target: The butt of the club points at the target with the shaft parallel to the ground.
• Ball: Going back a little further, the butt of the club points at the ball.
• Ground: The butt of the club points straight down to the ground with the shaft perpendicular to the ground.
• Full: This is a normal swing length. Remember control is the key so don’t try for anything beyond your regular full swing.
You may struggle to remember the 12 exact distances across three wedges, so write them on the shaft of your wedges Notice how some distance may overlap (eg a B-sand wedge travels 45 metres, the same distance as a T-pitching wedge). Determining which club is required will need a little course management nous. The less-lofted club will roll further so make sure you’ve got plenty of green to work with. If you have a hazard to fly or only a small amount of green to work with you may need a more lofted wedge and extra swing length.
What is your focus?
How focused are you on the target?
With every new student I’ll ask them to hit six balls on the practice range taking dead aim at one of the distance signs on the range. I then turn them around and face me. My first question? What colour are the distance markers? and 75 percent won’t know.
This tells me that they are very technique orientated and have not placed an emphasis on what we are really trying to do, which is “to get the ball to go to a target”.
If you’re throwing a basketball or even lobbing a golf ball into a basket, the focus is always the basketball hoop or the basket, not technique. However, for an equally target-orientated sport, most golfers dedicate all of their focus to either swing thoughts or the ball and not the target. The difficulty with golf is that you are physically looking at the ball, it is your minds eye that we need to have on the target.
While you are working on your swing some of the focus must be on technique, but never all of it, we must never lose sight of the target.
The practice range is the place to spend some time focused on technique. You should also spend some time on the range focusing on a specific target--a 10-metre wide area for a driver or a five-metre circle for an iron.
However once on the golf course during a competition round, your entire focus should be the target. As Gold Coast-Burleigh Club Professional and former European Tour Star Vaughan Somers says: “It’s like the school dance, you’ve got to dance with the one you brought, no matter how ugly she is.” In other words it’s your swing, you’ve got to make the best of it when playing a competition round. We also use this technique when you drive a car around a corner, your eyes are on the corner, not the steering wheel.
Another quote worth remembering is: “Obstacles are the frightful things we see when we take our eyes off our goal.” Of course your goal is the target when you are playing golf. It is my experience that the golfer is very good at identifying all of the obstacles but not that good at identifying the actual target.
Breakout
This concept is not new. I’ve worked with Rugby League place kickers. Like golfers they have a pre-shot routine and the better kickers will always be focused on the target, not the ball they’re about to kick. They are looking at the ball when they kick it, but their minds eye is on the target.
Chris Rutherford
Head Professional
|
