There are many instances of this being true; most famously was Johnny Wilkinson’s practice habit on focusing his sights on a distant seat, in between the posts, rather than between the uprights. Then when he came to match day, the space between the uprights would look enormous!
Back in the early nineties I had the pleasure of playing in the States on a golf scholarship, representing the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. It was, in essence, my golfing awakening to the principle of ‘aiming small, missing small’.
Many lessons were learned in and out of the classroom, but the one I remember most of all, was whilst competing at University of Virginia’s tournament. It was on Birdwood’s 390 yards, ninth hole, where I realised that my life could do with being significantly more accurate. I mean buckets more.
As I watched my playing opponent’s ball fly a good twenty five yards further than mine, landing centre left of the fairway, I was surprised to hear disgusted outrage as the club was venomously dispatched back into the bag.
I asked why he was upset and he explained that he had missed the ‘stripe’ he was aiming for; he had wanted to play a full nine holes hitting everything at which he aimed. It had been obvious to me for over a year that this guy was seriously good. He had more talent than any other opponent I had come across and, to date, he is still the best player I have played with or against.
The irritated individual in question was a young David Duval, even then wearing his trademark sunglasses. The same Double D who signed for Nike for $35 million, shot 59 in 1999 and held the world number one spot before Tiger took over the position. A golfing superstar in the making.
Since then a significant amount of writing and study has been done on the power of focusing on a small target which leads to the following two outcomes being almost certain; firstly, more chance of hitting the target and, secondly significantly tighter grouping around the target.
The more concentrated the focus the more accurate the shot. Sounds very simple, doesn’t it? It’s light years away compared to the usual shot routines that are visible wherever golfers go to practice. The vast majority of players have a more scatter gun come machine gun pattern and sound to their practice. Fifty balls dispatched in less that twenty minutes with little concentration on where and how the balls end up, often scaring the birds out of the trees.
Follow these two very simple rules and implement them into your shot routine:
Tell yourself where you want the ball to go, always where you want, not where you don’t want. The ‘don’t hit the ball in the water or trees or bunker’ statement makes the very thing you don’t want to happen, happen.
When you have carefully picked a spot, make that spot as small as possible. So, for example, instead of it being the left hand side of the fairway, find a sprinkler head, a particular patch or lump. Make everything around that spot disappear by focussing on it whilst making your practice swings. Visualise the ball in the air and landing on that spot. Then take aim, make your very best move, hold your finish and watch your shot.
Do this every time and you will see an improvement. Ok, you may not have Nike calling you up to discuss contracts but you will see a huge advantage over your playing partners in a short space of time. You will probably feel the way Mr Duval did competing against me.
Good luck out there and if you need any help you’ll find me at the new Academy at Pestana Vila Sol.