The topic of selecting the proper target for your golf swing is a challenge. For years, a friend stands behind me while I am hitting a tee shot and lets me know if I hit (after I tell him) my target or not. We are not focused on the result of the shot, but if I actually hit what I was aiming for. If I did hit my target (which is most of the time) then my ball is in play on the fairway. Occasionally I will miss, but not enough to be out of play. It is not that I always make a great swing, but after years of practice, I am confident that I will hit my target off the tee. I bet you are wondering what my secret is for this challenging feat and I am here to tell you in the hopes it lowers your golf scores.

The process for my target selection is two fold. It is mental and physical. Of the two, my mental selection is the most important. By selecting a target far down the fairway I am telling my brain that I want to aim at a small target and to focus on on what I need to do physically to make that happen. I realize that it seems like a different approach, but I have found that my body will fall in line to try and achieve what my brain is envisioning.
Therefore, when I pick my target I think I can make my shot all the time. It is my sole focus when setting up for my shot and as I already mentioned my body just falls in line. Everything aligns to make the shot I want to achieve. Where I am trying to draw, fade or hit straight, my mind is focused on my target. I am not sure if I am explaining this fully, but my mental process is far more important than my physical one.
My physical process always starts with my pre-shot warm up. Standing behind the ball and focusing on my target is the first step. The next steps are automatic from the moment I start walking towards the ball. Remaining focused on my target, I step up to the ball and hit away. This process usually works extremely well as I am in play off the tee 90% of the time.
I guess you have figured out that to hit your target in golf, it is important to have a mental process. Remaining focused on your small aim point is the key to hitting the ball off the tee box in play. Hitting my target is always my focus. If you make it yours, I think good things will happen to your golf game.
I am a grateful golfer! See you on the links!
It took me 20 years but I finally played the oldest course in the state yesterday in a charity scramble. What a day. Temps in the low 70’s. The course looked in excellent shape. We didn’t win but we had fun and finished a respectable 5th which I thought was pretty good since we’d never played the course before. One of my partners won the long drive contest and I watched 44 people not beat my putt in the putting contest before the very last person holed his out. I had to laugh. So many times I thought someone would get inside mine and the very last guy sinks it. Lol
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Sounds like great fun, Kevin. Glad to hear you knocked off a must play course from your list.
Cheers Jim
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I think the number one thing to do after deciding the basics like type of shot you expect to execute and club, is to decide where on the tee box best suits what you’re wanting to do. Left, right, front, back, there is a lot of room there to work with and that can help mitigate errors if considered in your planning.
Before choosing an aimpoint, choose where to tee the ball up and then pick the aim point that suits the shot from behind the ball. Every half a degree matters.
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Kevin,
That is a great point. Selecting the area you want to hit from on the teeing area is very important. Might be an article in there somewhere. 😉
Cheers Jim
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