Golf Advice - A Different Perspective

This past summer I have become a fan of The Dan Dakich Show on the ESPN radio affiliate in Indianapolis, 1070 The Fan WFNI. One of the reasons I enjoy his show is Dan's ability to use the sports issues and developments of the day as teachable moments to help his audience in their day to day lives. Once a coach always a coach. One of the things I hear Dan stress on a regular basis is that the key to success in sports, business or really any aspect of your life is to make a consistent effort in whatever you do, every day.

As I have thought about this over the course of the summer, I have found that not only is it great advice in how you determine to live your life, but that it has major applications in the fun, but probably less important aspect of playing a round of golf.  I have been fortunate in my life to be able to make a living by promoting a game. Currently by promoting the Pete Dye Golf Trail, but throughout the majority of my career to promote golf as an instructor.  I learned early on that the game is more fun for my students when they play better. In an effort to play better golf I have found we are tempted to try all manner of things. Often trying something new on almost every shot. So much so, that when we do hit a good shot we have no idea what we did to produce the improved results.

My suggestion is to use the Coach's advice and make a consistent effort. Do the same things every time you hit a golf shot. Even down to making the same swing in the same sequence of motion, regardless of results. Will you miss some shots? Of course, we all miss shots regardless of skill level. But by recognizing the effort and trying to repeat it in every swing, we can learn something about our swing and making educated changes as opposed to random moves.

One thing you can do in the off season to help is to try and verbalize your swing. Tell yourself how you swing the club. An example would be as a right handed player , my left arm starts the club back as my hips clear out of the way. When the club gets past my back foot I start to use my shoulders to finish the backswing. To start back to the ball, I start my downswing with my knees, clearing the way for my arms and hands to swing the club to the ball. There are countless number of combinations so the best way to start is to describe simply what you do. Don't worry about right or wrong just identify what you do. Two good things will happen. It will be easier to identify the need to make a change for improvement and when you indentify that need, you will have a guideline to base your decision. More important you will have the basis of making the consistent effort that is a key to successful golf game.

Visual Advice - Influence of the Dominant Eye

When it comes to golf, vision is the most influential of all the senses. Where are we and where do we intend to go are constant and critical questions. Where to align the body to swing the club? What direction does the club appear to be pointed as viewed from the side? What is our perception of the target’s location when viewed from a side on position?  Getting an accurate picture to use when making these decisions can be difficult.

The problem is we trust what our eyes tell us, even if the “picture” they create is not accurate. This inaccuracy occurs much more often than we realize. Since visual and perceptual inaccuracies have an influence on the basic fundamentals of our golf shots, it has to be difficult to set ourselves correctly if we don’t see the direction accurately. 

While we all see things in the same manner, our perception of what we see is different for everyone. Much of this is caused by the concept of a dominant eye and its position relative to the image. Since there isn't any agreement about how a dominant eye influences us as golfers, we are left to our own devices to find the “best way” for an accurate view of the target. Do you know your dominant eye? The classic method to evaluate the idea of a dominant eye is to make a circle with your index finger and your thumb. With both eyes open hold the circle at arms length put an image in the circle. Now close one eye. Does the image stay in the circle or move?  If the image stays in the circle, the open eye is your dominant eye. If when you close one eye it moves, the closed eye is the dominant eye.  Now do the test again closing the opposite eye first and see if the results are the same.

For any golf shot it helps to create an imaginary line at the ball, but many of my students have trouble with this concept. What I have found is that it is easier to create reference points either from behind the ball ending at the ball or in front of the ball going toward the target. In an interview with my online clients I found there seems to be a correlation between the dominant eye and which side of the ball they look to create this imaginary target line. The following is a test I have had some success with. Get a 12 inch ruler and a golf ball. Set the ruler on the ground pointed to a target across the room and put the ball at one end of the ruler. Now with a golf club set the club behind the ball and set up to the ball using the ruler as a reference to the target. How does the ruler look in relation to the target? Now put the ball at the opposite end of the ruler and do the test, again setting up to the golf ball. Was there a position that looked like the ruler was aimed more accurately? If there was we suggest that you focus on that side of the ball when try to create an imaginary reference for your set up.

While it might seem that for right handed golfers the line behind the ball would be most accurate for right eye dominant players and the one left of the ball for left. After more than a year of testing I can tell you there is no pattern or rule. Each player has been different. Head position tilt of the head, How we approach the ball, visual patterns on the putter all seem to have an influence. Yet all agree that how the information pertains to them has been helpful. At the end of the day for me how to help the individual means more than finding a rule that pertains to everyone.

We have found one pattern as it pertains to the actual stroke. The following are generic and average images of the path we see on PuttLab, relative to the target line. One for players who see a line to the ball and for those who focus on the line past the ball. These are average arc shapes, in the real world some are smaller and some are bigger. I don't have enough data to make any claims. What I don't know yet is whether stroke mechanics influence a visual preference or if vision forced the mechanics. But we do have enough to know that those that match one of these patterns in general are less conflicted and more consistent than those who don't.

 

Play Golf or Play Swing?

A couple of years ago I was lucky enough to attend the opening of the Harbor Shores Golf Club in Berrien Springs, Michigan. Designer Jack Nicklaus was joined by Arnold Palmer, Tom Watson and Johnny Miller for a clinic and a round of golf. The clinic began with Tom Watson explaining his beginnings in golf. He described how his first lesson came from his Dad. Mr. Watson showed young Tom how to hold the club, how to make the ball curve left and how to curve the ball curve to the right. He taught him how to hook and slice it on the very first day and then how to use that knowledge. Not one way to stand, or the proper positions during the swing, but how to control the clubface and make the ball curve.

As a former employee of Arnold Palmer I was well aware of the story of Mr. Palmer’s first lesson from his father that was in essence the same story. What I didn’t realize was that the first lessons for Johnny Miller and Jack Nicklaus were the same as well. They were taught to hit shots, not how to swing a club. Experiment, not with the thought of good or bad, but with the intention of gaining information by experience. All of these Hall of Famers started the game with the concept that to play successful golf requires a variety of shots.

#7 The Fort Golf Course and Resort

I think for many inexperienced players the idea of a shot curving is considered a negative thing. Poor shots curve and good shots go straight. The truth is just the opposite, most golf courses are not built to be played effectively with a straight ball. Using the member courses of The Pete Dye Golf Trail as examples, each requires different types of shots to get around the golf course successfully. The mastery of Mr. Dye's build strategy is that each hole is a puzzle to be solved and more easily solved if you can bend the ball around some of the trouble.
 

Over the course of the offseason we will continue this conversation of strategic play and how it will benefit your scores as you challenge the Trail next season.