Where Do You Want the Ball to Go? |
Focusing on the
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| by Jeff Troesch |
 It is interesting to me to observe athletes
in various sports as they perform their
tasks. Watch a quarterback looking for a
receiver, a basketball player fixating on the
rim before shooting a free throw, or a
baseball pitcher staring at the glove before
delivering a pitch. Each of these athletes-
and dozens more examples like them- is
looking at where he or she wants the ball to
end up. From a mental perspective, what’s
happening here is that the player is focusing
on the “where” of their task, rather than
the “how” of how to get it there.
Compare and contrast this with how many
golfers act. The players that play well will
spend a fair amount of time staring at their
target before they proceed to hit the ball-
looking at a distant specific target to which
they want to hit the ball or the hole itself
if they are putting. Contrarily, some
golfers will get what I call “ball-bound” and
have their eyes primarily stuck looking down
at the ball with very little attention paid
to the target. This is a clue to me as I’m
working with players that their attention may
be in an unhelpful place. Some will be
thinking too much about their mechanics- the
path of their putter or take away of their
swing- and not completely trusting or relying
on their body to get the ball to where they
intend. Others are worried about making a
mistake and are trying “not to mess up”.
There are a lot of examples of distracting or
unhelpful thinking.
In order to over this, in my teaching I
strongly recommend that the player spend much
more time looking at the target than they do
at the ball. The phrase I use is, “stare at
the target, and glance at the ball”. In this
way, players will have a tendency to be more
focused on their objective and have a more
clear intention for what they want the shot
to do, and will be less caught up in the
thoughts that can be a distraction.
So spend a little more time in your pre-shot
with your eyes and attention on your target,
and watch yourself be more successful as you
hit shots and roll putts!
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