FROM THE TEE

What were you thinking and where were you going?

What were you thinking and where were you going?

That two-part question is a real good one to ask after a poorly played shot or round of golf.

After playing poorly, you might be quick to place the blame on your swing, the weather, the course conditions, a member of your foursome that played slowly, your equipment or some other silly cause. The reason may have simply been a lack of clear focus on the shots at hand or improper alignment to the target.

Focus and alignment.

What were you thinking?

An 18-hole round of golf usually takes four hours. Within that time period, a golfer that shoots 80 may make more critical decisions than during a four-hour period of doing nearly anything else.

At work, you have to make decisions, some more important than others, but while working over an eight-hour period, do you really make 160 critical decisions? The decision to sign a document in blue ink versus black isn’t a critical decision. But every stroke taken in golf should require a critical decision. Are your best decisions made while you’re at a party or at a concert or at a football game? I doubt it. Oh, some bright ideas may pop into your head but not many critical decisions.

Personally, when I am faced with making a decision, I need to be completely focused on the subject and weigh the options thoroughly with clarity. In golf, this good decision process shouldn’t start while standing over the golf ball; rather, it should start while approaching the golf ball. Begin to evaluate the many considerations confronting you for the upcoming shot.

As you approach your golf ball, begin to notice direction of the wind, the level of your lie, the obstacles between your ball and the target. Even perhaps that you are closer to sea level or the temperatures are cool, so the ball may not travel as far. When you finally reach the ball, use the information you just acquired during your approach and add to it.

Look at the hole location sheet and determine how far the pin is from the front and the back of the green. By looking closely, you could see if the flag is close to the left, right side edges or in the middle of the green. Find your distance from the target with a rangefinder; consider whether your shot is level, uphill or downhill and add or subtract that amount for your proper carry distance.

Do you want to land the ball short and have it bounce and roll towards the hole? Or fly it to the target and quickly stop? Or maybe play away from the flagstick to the center of the green due to the hole’s position on the

green? Should this be a lay-up shot or a gofor-the-gold?

These are just a few of the critical decisions a good player makes before ever considering what club to choose. Elite players also consider the trajectory of the ball as a critical decision for upcoming shots. These better players are so talented that they may even choose to create more or less back spin and even side spin on the ball for their upcoming shot.

Boy, that’s a bunch of things to consider, right? It could take seven hours to play a round of golf at this rate. But seasoned players have programmed themselves to make these pre-shot decisions in seconds and without a written checklist. It has become second nature to them, and they make these evaluations decisively in preparation for hitting the best shots possible. To do this, they must be uninterrupted and focused. The pros on TV don’t chat with their caddies or fellow competitors about taxes or their new cars as they approach their golf balls. They may chat about those things walking off the tee and halfway to their next shot, but around the halfway point, they start making plans for the upcoming shot.

You may say, “I stress out at work and play golf to get away from it all, so I am not going to go through all that stuff on each shot on the golf course.” That’s fine – but don’t beat yourself up when you don’t play up to your potential if you simply are not focused properly. Find some medium ground on which to start assessing your upcoming shot and make decisions – perhaps at approximately 20 yards out from your golf ball in the fairway.

You will become better informed on your shot selection, and you will be able to swing with much more confidence.

Where are you going?

Alignment may be the number one factor that leads to swing and scoring problems. Your brain has two different thinking modes: your conscious mind and your subconscious mind. Your conscious mind isn’t as clever or powerful as your subconscious. You address the golf ball, and your conscious mind and eyes think that you are lined up to your target, but you are actually lined up 20 yards right of the target, your subconscious mind knows this and instead of making a nice back-and-through golf swing, your subconscious mind says, “Nope, I can fix this. You dummy, you’re aimed to the right, so I’m going to swing over the top and pull it back to the target.” What actually happens is you pull/slice your shot into the bunker to the right of the green.

There are a couple of fixes for this. Go to the range and use an alignment stick to point to your target for every shot. If you don’t have an alignment stick, use a golf club.

From the Tee I like to place another practice ball about 2 feet in front of the ball I’m going to hit to make an imaginary line to square up my swing. Any of these aids are good while you retrain your eyes for proper alignment. On the golf course, a player is not allowed to use an alignment stick or place a club down on the ground to assist in proper alignment, but there is an easy way to assure proper alignment when playing. Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods do it on every single shot. Jack and Tiger both, while standing behind the ball down the target line, pick out a spot or a leaf on the ground on their target line about 2 feet in front of the golf ball. As they begin the address process, Dave Jennings they simply line the golf clubface towards this spot and create an imaginary line between the clubface and the spot. Then, they square their feet, hips and shoulders parallel to this imaginary line and ta dah! They’re aimed properly. Try it. Again, alignment is a big key to playing good golf. Your eyes and what you look at also play a big role in where the ball will go. Let’s say you have a level 30-foot putt for birdie that you have decided is going to break about 4 feet to the left. You have lined your putter up 4 feet above the hole to the right. Your body is lined up 4 feet above the hole as well, and you take a look down your target line and steal another peek at the hole. You now make a stoke, but instead of the ball rolling down your intended line, the ball is rolling much further left and breaks 4 feet below the hole. The ball never had a chance to go in, and now you’re faced with a 4-footer for par. What happened? While over the ball, you took a peek at the hole instead of staying focused on the target line you chose. During the stroke, your subconscious took over and pulled it towards the hole where you last looked, not where your conscious mind wanted it to go. To make this easier for you, find a spot 4 feet to the right of the hole to look at while you address the ball, this becomes your target. Your chances of rolling the ball down your intended target line and making the putt will improve tremendously, and you may not find yourself pulling or pushing so many putts. Golf is such a great game, and we never stop learning different things about it. Make a good plan for each shot and get properly aligned. Don’t take any shot for granted. Be courteous to your fellow golfers on the course and at practice. If you just started, ask questions and seek answers. Learn the rules of the game and, most importantly, practice good golf etiquette. Have a great April, my friends. ~ Dave Jennings is men's golf coach for the Central Alabama Community College Trojans team.