When standing over your ball lining up your shot, what are you looking at? Are you looking at a specific point on your ball, your club, or the ground. It is purely personal and depending on your visual acuity, your choice might be clear.Picking the right focal point when setting up your shot is very important. It helps set up your club face alignment, position of the ball on your club face, and aids in the proper location of the ball in your stance. I realized that this seems like quite a bit of for such a small spot, but we must remember that everything within the golf swing is connected.

I asked a similar question earlier and this is what you said:

I will let you decide where you sit on the question, however, for me, I use two of the techniques. I first look at the whole ball, then seconds before starting my swing, I zero in on the back of the ball. This technique is used with all my clubs without fail.

When I first step up to the ball I zoom out to ensure that my feet, the ball and the club head is in my line of sight. The whole picture ensures that my ball is in the right position within my stance and the proper distance away from my body for the club in hand.

Looking at the whole picture allows me to adjust my posture and grip. This 3 foot of space in my vision is very important to the success of each golf shot. Also, I want to add that after years of trying different approaches, starting by looking at the whole shot area has really helped me to quickly focus on many aspects of my swing set up. I wish I would have adopted looking at the larger aspect of my set up earlier in my career. Who knows where I would be now.

Now that I am comfortable with my set up, I need to focus on something more specific. For me it is the very back of the ball.

Every sport I have ever played has taught me one thing. I have to watch the club or racket make contact with the ball. Not just see the contact, but actually focus on the exact point of where the contact is made. This important point helps ensure that my swing mechanics are exactly as they should be.

Golf is no different. For crisp contact, I need to focus on a specific point and watch the club make contact with this point. I do this all the time without fail….well I most of the time. I find a noticeable difference when I watch the contact compared to when I let my focus fade and go through the motions.

Focusing on a single point at the back of the ball, I am able to execute my full swing. “What?” you may be saying, but it is true. Once my swing starts, I stay focused on the back of the ball. After I watch my club hit my ball crisply and cleanly, I keep focusing on the point of contact and count to 1 in my head before attempt to watch my ball flight. This minor delay allows me to finish my entire swing by maintaining my swing position on contact and to allow my follow through to follow my intended line.

Focusing on these two areas before during and after my swing has lowered my golf scores considerably in the last 10 years. The challenge moving forward is to ensure I use my process on every swing with intent. Sometimes my mind lapses, but remaining in the moment will also be keep to focusing on right things with my favorite iron.

I am a grateful golfer! See you on the links!