looking at the ball at address question

oneohone

Quick question for all you avid and experienced golfers.:)
I only returned to Golf recently after over 20 years, having played just a little society golf at that time.
My driving is ok...shortish but straight, my putting is very good 7/10 and chipping is fairly good.
My problem is irons from fairway...5/6/7 mainly...find Im topping the ball a lot.

Went for a lesson a few weeks ago and the pro put a piece of masking tape in front of the ball and said hit the masking tape when hitting the ball.
Seemed to work and tried it out on the course with mixed results.
Not as good now as a few weeks ago.
When hitting my drive I keep my eye on back of ball.
When hitting fairway irons should I keep my an inch or two in front of the ball,look at the back of the ball, or at the ball itself.
I find it awkward looking in front of the ball.
Anyone any basic tips....I will go back to pro in a week or two anyway, but if you can give a little advice for my saturday outing would be much appreciated....i know its probably a stupid question but any advice would be helpful....many thanks

PRAF

Not sure if this is going to be any help or not, hopefully it is, but I don't think I have ever thought of that question at all! Besides actually looking at the ball, I never even consider am I looking at the back of it, front of it, etc.

I suppose if you have good setup, posture and ball position, you would tend to be looking at the back of the ball anyway because your head will be slightly behind the ball.

My advice is to keep working on the fundamentals of grip, posture, alignment and ball positioning and you won't go far wrong. Best of luck!

GreeBo

Pick a dimple or mark, letter, etc on the ball and focus on that.
I find just looking at "the ball" as a whole sometimes leads to not looking at the ball at all! :eek:

oneohone

Thanks for replies guys.
Maybe Im not phrasing it the way I should....maybe its where i actullay should hit the ball for different shots .
When I got my lesson the pro told me to keep my eye on a spot on the back of the ball when driving, as its a different sweeping stroke, and this works ok for me.
On the fairway with say a 5 iron, he said to imagine the tape he used in the lesson to be in front of ball and to lift this up, presumably then taking a divot.
However, on the course, to do this I look at about an inch or so ahead of ball, and aim my club for this.....but my eye is not then looking at the ball :(...presumably causing me to top it.....should I look at the ball on the stroke and still hit ahead of it? It seems to be 2 different shots!

link_2007

GreeBo wrote: »

I find just looking at "the ball" as a whole sometimes leads to not looking at the ball at all! :eek:

For something that makes no sense, that makes perfect sense.

ForeRight

I am constantly amazed at how complicated people make this game.

Head down, eyes on the ball, swing through the ball and dont lift the head until the ball is well gone out of the club.

Why over complicate this?

PRAF

ForeRight wrote: »

I am constantly amazed at how complicated people make this game.

Head down, eyes on the ball, swing through the ball and dont lift the head until the ball is well gone out of the club.

Why over complicate this?

Agree that people over complicate things, agree that you should keep it simple, agree that you should keep your eyes on the ball (during the backswing) and agree that you should swing thru the ball.

But IMO the "keep your head down" stuff and "don't lift your head" is the not the best advice, as people often take it to extremes. But don't just take my word for it, this guy knows a thing or two about golf and he says the same thing!

http://www.ernieels.com/golf/about/swing_tips/how_to_hit_it_big.html

PRAF

oneohone wrote: »

Thanks for replies guys.
Maybe Im not phrasing it the way I should....maybe its where i actullay should hit the ball for different shots .
When I got my lesson the pro told me to keep my eye on a spot on the back of the ball when driving, as its a different sweeping stroke, and this works ok for me.
On the fairway with say a 5 iron, he said to imagine the tape he used in the lesson to be in front of ball and to lift this up, presumably then taking a divot.
However, on the course, to do this I look at about an inch or so ahead of ball, and aim my club for this.....but my eye is not then looking at the ball :(...presumably causing me to top it.....should I look at the ball on the stroke and still hit ahead of it? It seems to be 2 different shots!

Not sure if you got bad advice or have misinterpreted the advice you got, but it does sound over complicated as ForeRight says. Take GreeBo's advice about focusing on the ball and use the below (or similar) as a guide for ball position

http://golf.about.com/od/golftips/ss/golf_setup_3.htm

PARlance

I'd suggest some research into ocular dominance!
http://www.golf.com/instruction/how-find-and-use-your-dominant-eye

Golf can be such a head melt, thanks for raising this, yet another thing to occupy myself with!!!

spacecoyote

ajcurry123 wrote: »

I'd suggest some research into ocular dominance!
http://www.golf.com/instruction/how-find-and-use-your-dominant-eye

Golf can be such a head melt, thanks for raising this, yet another thing to occupy myself with!!!

Thats interesting, had a pro tell me about this before. He basically said that Left Eye Dominant players tend to be naturally better putters.

I'm right eye dominant myself. Might have a look at that tip about your dominant eye being over the ball when putting and see if it makes any difference to me hitting on line.

oneohone

Thanks for all the replies guys.
Think i'll just look at the ball and aim for taking a divot.....or is this the wrong approach?
Anyway will be getting a lesson next week and hopefully the pro will clear up his advice.
Maybe , as someone here said it might have been wrong advice so might try another pro...thanks again

GreeBo

Personally I disagree with "trying" to take a divot.
For me at least a divot is the result of a correct swing, not the intent.

L.O.F.T

GreeBo wrote: »

Personally I disagree with "trying" to take a divot.
For me at least a divot is the result of a correct swing, not the intent.

Whilst I understand your explanation Greebo I believe the OP may not simply from what I have read from his opening post and posts thereafter.
A divot is a result but not necessarily a result of a correct swing. A divot can come from a turf first ball second strike or a divot can come from an overly steep attack on the ball which delivers no result. As pointed out the OP needs to seek the advise of a Pro and stick to what it is the Pro is trying to teach him. It is my belief that the OP is too shallow on his path to the ball and has not grasped the concept of a descending blow to the ball (Irons). It's not a weakness but rather a lack of knowledge that is frustrating his efforts to become better.

GreeBo

L.O.F.T wrote: »

Whilst I understand your explanation Greebo I believe the OP may not simply from what I have read from his opening post and posts thereafter.
A divot is a result but not necessarily a result of a correct swing. A divot can come from a turf first ball second strike or a divot can come from an overly steep attack on the ball which delivers no result. As pointed out the OP needs to seek the advise of a Pro and stick to what it is the Pro is trying to teach him. It is my belief that the OP is too shallow on his path to the ball and has not grasped the concept of a descending blow to the ball (Irons). It's not a weakness but rather a lack of knowledge that is frustrating his efforts to become better.

I was classifying a divot as ball then turf, but I take your point.

OP typically when a pro gives you a feeling to imitate or a drill its for when you are at the range only, you shouldnt (imo) be trying this feeling on the course. When you are hitting ball after ball at the range you are ingraining a certain swing feeling, then you want to let this just come out on the course.

scubapro

OP personally I dont think it matters on what part of the ball of ball you focus on, once you have a proper setup and weight shift you will hit down in the ball, golf is complicated enough without thinking about where u should be focusing ie front back middle etc the bottom line is if you don't transfer your weight properly /keep your spine angle/have an overly shallow swing or have an overly steep swing you will continually to hit it fat / thin

irish bloke

Basically what the pro is telling you is where your swing should bottom out. Which is in front of the ball for irons.
A great drill for you would be to address the ball as you would normally with a 7 iron. Now push the ball abt 3 inches in front of you.
Trick here is to look at the ball in front but take your swing as if the ball is in the normal position. This now forces you to get your weight forward on the downswing and strike down on the ball.
Try it, bet you will be amazed at some of the ball contact strikes you get.

charlieIRL

OP, you had me thinking about this today as I was playing my round. I pick a spot on the ball (sometimes logo) and don't take my eye off it until after I hit it.

heavyballs

ForeRight wrote: »

I am constantly amazed at how complicated people make this game.

Head down, eyes on the ball, swing through the ball and dont lift the head until the ball is well gone out of the club.

Why over complicate this?

I can see where your username came from.
That's dredfull advice.

ForeRight

heavyballs wrote: »

ForeRight wrote: »

I am constantly amazed at how complicated people make this game.

Head down, eyes on the ball, swing through the ball and dont lift the head until the ball is well gone out of the club.

Why over complicate this?

I can see where your username came from.
That's dredfull advice.

Head up, eyes on the target, swipe at the ball and check where it's gone before the club hits the ball.

How's that. Is that better advice?

Enlighten us with what you do when hitting the ball

heavyballs

ForeRight wrote: »

Head up, eyes on the target, swipe at the ball and check where it's gone before the club hits the ball.

How's that. Is that better advice?

Enlighten us with what you do when hitting the ball

LoL, now we're supposed to 'swipe' at the ball.
In your first statement you said,' keep your head down untill the ball is well gone'.
There is no need and as another poster pointed out it can also result in not getting through the ball correctly.

What do i do? I just focus on the back of the ball,if it's a fade i focus slightly on the right and so on,people on here complicate golf too much.

ForeRight

heavyballs wrote: »

ForeRight wrote: »

Head up, eyes on the target, swipe at the ball and check where it's gone before the club hits the ball.

How's that. Is that better advice?

Enlighten us with what you do when hitting the ball

LoL, now we're supposed to 'swipe' at the ball.
In your first statement you said,' keep your head down untill the ball is well gone'.
There is no need and as another poster pointed out it can also result in not getting through the ball correctly.

What do i do? I just focus on the back of the ball,if it's a fade i focus slightly on the right and so on,people on here complicate golf too much.

My reply was suppose to be sarcastic but seems to be lost on you.


We seem to be pretty much in agreement that people over complicate things too much.

heavyballs

ForeRight wrote: »

heavyballs wrote: »

ForeRight wrote: »

Head up, eyes on the target, swipe at the ball and check where it's gone before the club hits the ball.

How's that. Is that better advice?

Enlighten us with what you do when hitting the ball

LoL, now we're supposed to 'swipe' at the ball.
In your first statement you said,' keep your head down untill the ball is well gone'.
There is no need and as another poster pointed out it can also result in not getting through the ball correctly.

What do i do? I just focus on the back of the ball,if it's a fade i focus slightly on the right and so on,people on here complicate golf too much.

My reply was suppose to be sarcastic but seems to be lost on you.


We seem to be pretty much in agreement that people over complicate things too much.

Sorry bout that first reply,I can only blame my responce on a severe lack of sleep,I'm not normally that slow

leedslunatic

Best advice ever .

PARlance

ajcurry123 wrote: »

I'd suggest some research into ocular dominance!
http://www.golf.com/instruction/how-find-and-use-your-dominant-eye

Golf can be such a head melt, thanks for raising this, yet another thing to occupy myself with!!!

I'd like to retract that and thank the OP for putting this into my head!!!
Since this thread, I've been up to the driving range (grass area open again, such a bonus) 3 times and out for 18 holes.

On all occasions I worked on this with my Driver.
(Haven't changed anything with my irons...it wasn't broke so I didn't try to fix it... just yet)
When I say worked, there actually wasn't any work to it, I just tried something different and stuck with it.

It might sound a bit strange (I still think I was daft for even trying it) but I've started to focus on the ball with my left eye.
Now... I'm not closing my right eye, neither am I going cross eyed or anything
I'm simply just trying to focus more on the ball with my left eye moreso than my right.

From the first time I did it, it worked a treat!
I'm sure it's more a mental than anything else.
Whilst I was looking at the ball before, I wasn't focusing on the ball.
I could see it, it was there, but there was no focus on the ball if that makes any sense.

This new-found focus on the ball has resulted in no other thoughts entering my head during my swing.

Played Tulfarris on Friday and bar my first drive (didn't bring it onto the course) every other drive bettered any previous drives I've ever hit on a course.
I didn't take note of FIR's but it was a massive improvement on anything I ever did before. I was also hitting it way further then I ever did.
My newfound confidence and probably an unwillingness to believe I was actually striking it so well got me into trouble on a few occasions... hopefully I'll be able to reign that in in future.
Don't want to go into distance as we all know where that ends up

To say I was happy was an understatement.

* I do realize I have F'ed this up for myself by mentioning it! I've been trying not to say anything for last few days