I have a question from Cshirey who put a question up on the blog. It's a really good one and we're going to take a look at it. He asks, “On iron shots, where should your eyes be looking: In front of the ball, on top of the ball, or behind the ball? Same question for woods? Thanks Charles Greenville, Texas.”
Well Charles, here we go. The key abut looking at it is important because you tend to hit where you're looking at. So I would not suggest looking in front or on top or behind it because all of those are not going to make a good, solid contact.
I believe you just look at the ball. You see the ball and you see everything around it and your eyes will return to the ball. I call that a concept I call focusing. I like to see the ground that surrounds the ball. Just like when you're talking to someone, are you really looking them dead in the eyes or looking at their nose? In many cases we just look, but we might focus one particular place now and then that catches our eye, but overall we just look at them and through them.
In this case I'm looking at the ball and I'm seeing the ground. To me that's important because when I'm looking and seeing the ground, I use that concept of focus to determine as to whether I'm staying still or I'm moving. If all of a sudden I start swinging and the ball is becoming bigger and the ground seems to be coming closer to me, it's obvious that, unless there's an earth quake going on, the ball's not moving. It has to be me that's moving. Therefore, if the ball is becoming bigger and the ground is getting closer to me, I'm going downward, for whatever reason. I'm scrunching and collapsing downward.
Conversely, if the ball is getting smaller or the ground seems to be moving farther away from me, I'm somehow getting taller. Again, if the ball is moving to the left and the ground is moving left I'd be moving to the right and, vice versa, if the ball and ground are moving to the right, I'm somehow reverse tilting or moving to the left.
I think it's important that you just look at the ball, but concentrate on seeing periphery around the ball, and focusing on the ball and ground completely, like you look at somebody when you're having a conversation. Or when you're hammering a nail, you're looking at the nail, but how hard are you focusing on it. If anything you're focusing on the center of it where impact is going to be.
So, get back to looking at the ball, see the ground, and the peripheral view of ground around the ball is going to one of the greatest assets you have to make sure that ball on the ground isn't moving, you're staying nice and still in your backswing to impact.
You don't want to look at the front or the back or the top. You just want to look at the ball, see it and focus. I think you're going to find you're going to be hitting the ball a lot more solid, straight and long.
The Surge!