Lower Your Golf Score by Trying to See the Ball at Impact

By Bob Doyle

Many high handicap golfers fall prey to the natural tendency of wanting to see where their golf shots are headed as they are swinging. Their heads come up and out of the shot before they strike the ball. It is like trying to hit a nail with a hammer without looking at the nail. An errant hit often occurs on the nail and likewise, on the ball. More often than not, when the golfer’s head comes up, the result is a topped shot, a push, a slice, a hook, a hit behind the ball and at worse, a whiff. Often the ball moves very little or is not in play. A high score results.

Professional golfers and low handicap golfers learned early on that they must keep their heads back and behind the ball through impact. It is this “head back” aspect of the golf swing that enables them to make solid hits and to keep the ball in play. If one were to examine photos of their swings, it can easily be seen that their heads are in fact well behind the ball through the impact zone.

Over 50 such pros and scratch golfers were interviewed to learn what they had to say about seeing the ball at impact. Almost 100% said that they saw the divots on their lofted iron shots. “I could tell where the ball was headed and how well it was struck by my divot.” Four out of five said they were able to see the path of the club head through the impact zone. “I could tell whether the club head was coming from the inside, square or outside.” Only one out of five said they actually could see the ball at impact. “The speed of the driver club head is so fast that I really can’t say I see the club head hit the ball.” “I see the ball by feel,” were the most common responses.

Interestingly, almost all interviewees said that to see the path of the club head, or the divot, or the ball at impact, if possible, it was important to keep the head back and behind the ball into the impact zone. The high handicap golfer may have to develop new muscle memory to break the bad habit and natural tendency of coming up and out of the shot to see the flight of the ball. A training aid that gives tactile feedback about head movement is most useful in developing and accelerating the new muscle memory required to break this habit and natural tendency.

Learn to stay back and behind the ball through impact. Try to see the ball, the path of the club head or the divot through the impact zone to keep the ball in play and quickly lower your scores.

Bob Doyle is the founder and president of Forever Better Golf Inc. a golf equipment and training aid company dedicated to helping all golfers improve their swings and lower their scores. Their flagship product is the PRO-HEAD Trainer, a full swing training aid that helps golfers maintain their spine angles and keep their heads back and behind the ball through impact. To see the PRO-HEAD Trainer in use and take the 60 second challenge, visit http://www.foreverbettergolf.com/

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