Golfers could do well to watch a skilled marksman as he prepares to shoot. The marksman sees the concentric circles of the bulls-eye but doesn’t stop there as he keeps narrowing the focus until seeing the smaller target, i.e., the center of the bulls-eye.
It’s funny, but as I get better at instructing PGA Tour players the focus of what I see and teach becomes more acute. If there’s anything that has changed in my three decades of teaching players it’s that if the clubface is a degree open or closed, I can somehow see it with more clarity. Before, I knew the clubface was a little bit open or closed but didn’t see it as clearly.
As players get better their focus narrows. Two of the most impressive things I’ve seen in professional golf are the runaway victory by Tiger Woods at his first Masters, in 1997, and the stirring victory by an aging Jack Nicklaus in 1986. I watched the way Woods spotted the ball down the line, just like Nicklaus, and I was amazed to watch both players get behind the ball, pick their intermediate target and dial in to hit the right shot to the right spot. No one has done that better or more consistently than those two, who are widely considered the best players in golf history. The only debate is the order.
When I watch most amateurs play I often see that they’re so worried about what they look like, what they’re going to do with a shot or what swing thought they should be having at the moment. They’re not focused on the target. They’re playing a game with a 1.6-inch ball to a 4.25-inch golf hole at distances of up to 500 or 600 yards away. If they only knew to keep their focus narrow, no matter the distance, club or task. The game gets a whole easier when that occurs.
I remember Greg Norman saying how comfortable he was to spot a leaf in the fairway and land the ball near there without trying. He saw it with his eyes while lining up his shot and saw it in his mind when over the ball and during the swing. It came naturally to him. Wouldn’t that be cool to pull off every once in a while?
I’ve never owned a firearm or shot a gun, so my marksman analogy isn’t from personal knowledge. But studying any target-oriented game, whether it’s archery or bowling or firing a gun, you have to be super narrow in your focus, and the same is true for golf.
I suggest this for everyone, tour players and amateurs alike. Start with putting and roll the ball toward the narrowest of targets. Don’t get fixated on the hole but on a spot that will take the ball to the hole. Hit those spots regularly and you’ll be surprised how often your ball goes in the cup.
When comfortable on the greens, use a similar approach with your pitching and chipping and focus on hitting a small target that will get your ball on the proper side or quadrant of the green for the most makeable putt. Then go to your long game and focus on the corner of a bunker or a limb on a tree or a mark in the fairway. See the spot; hit the spot.
Most importantly, though, use that narrow approach for all 18 holes – from your tee shot on No. 1 to your last putt on No. 18. You don’t have to get so focused that you forget to enjoy the round, beauty of the day or companionship of your partners. But give it a try and see if your score isn’t at least a few strokes lower than your previous round.
When I’m talking to my professional players about an approach shot, it’s really an extension of a chip shot. Sometimes from 192 yards they use a longer club but with a 6-iron chip swing to a precise spot. They’re really that good, and it’s mainly because they’ve been focusing on their craft for a very long time.
Jamie Mulligan is COO and a PGA professional at Virginia Country Club in Long Beach.
