Losing Focus while taking shots

Walter Alright · 14-09-2020 10:26pm #1

Like the title says does anyone else lose Focus/Concentration while taking shots which results in poor strikes.

What do you all think about while taking a shot? Do you focus on tempo? A target? A swing thought?

What pre shot routines do you use?

Any other tips or advice,etc?

I'm a 15 handicaper, play once a week and its usually straight out of the car and onto the first tee. Maybe a few putts tops before starting.

I have a young family so playing a comp once a week at the weekend is the most I can commit to at the weekend.

Any help, comments, advice, tips or advice would be greatly appreciated.

dan_ep82 · 14-09-2020 10:31pm

Yep, used to and still do at times. Pretty sure most do over a shot they aren't quite comfortable with.

Picture the shot in your head behind the ball.
Take aim and address the ball and trust it to be good.
Hit.
If I make a mistake at least I commited.

finglashoop · 14-09-2020 10:58pm

Yep.

Especially putts. And have only realised recently as i try hard to keep head down.

I find its more so keeping my eye on the ball through my swing. Keeping my head down used to kill me and i very rarely lift my head now but ive been trying hard to keep my eyes focused on the ball.

I found with my putts i was half watching my swing to keep it straight and thru.

jamesbondings · 14-09-2020 11:22pm

I used to. Believe it or not I read "golf is not a game of perfect" which helped me build a routine to follow and step away if I lost my focus. Its difficult to change but have noticed less mad shots, I still get bad shots but haven't had any duffed shots or slices. Seems crazy a book can help.

I went onto his putting book (can't remember the name or author but if you look up the name above you can find it) and I haven't 3 putt on any green. Actually find I'm sinking the longer ones more than usual!

Think his name is Bob Rotella..... Might be wrong.

Walter Alright · 14-09-2020 11:27pm

finglashoop wrote: »

Yep.

I find its more so keeping my eye on the ball through my swing. Keeping my head down used to kill me and i very rarely lift my head now but ive been trying hard to keep my eyes focused on the ball.

To be honest sometimes after I take a iron shot I’m not sure if I’m looking at the ball at point of contact.

I also struggle with the transition from backswing to downswing. I tend to rush it & snatch at the ball sometimes.

I’ve read some tips where some people count on their backswing & downswing but I’d struggle to do this

Walter Alright · 14-09-2020 11:31pm

jamesbondings wrote: »

I used to. Believe it or not I read "golf is not a game of perfect" which helped me build a routine to follow and step away if I lost my focus. Its difficult to change but have noticed less mad shots, I still get bad shots but haven't had any duffed shots or slices. Seems crazy a book can help.

I went onto his putting book (can't remember the name or author but if you look up the name above you can find it) and I haven't 3 putt on any green. Actually find I'm sinking the longer ones more than usual!

Think his name is Bob Rotella..... Might be wrong.

I actually have that book but never read, picked it up in Dealz one day when I was buying chocolate. I must rout it out & give it a read. Thanks.

Walter Alright · 14-09-2020 11:35pm

dan_ep82 wrote: »

Yep, used to and still do at times. Pretty sure most do over a shot they aren't quite comfortable with.

Picture the shot in your head behind the ball.
Take aim and address the ball and trust it to be good.
Hit.
If I make a mistake at least I commited.

So you prefer to visualise the shot. Do you also try to ‘feel’ the shot in your practice swings or just ‘see the shot’ in your minds eye & commit?

dan_ep82 · 15-09-2020 9:16am

Walter Alright wrote: »

So you prefer to visualise the shot. Do you also try to ‘feel’ the shot in your practice swings or just ‘see the shot’ in your minds eye & commit?

Just try to see it honestly, keeps me focused more on what I want to do and less about how I want to do it.

GreeBo · 15-09-2020 2:36pm

Walter Alright wrote: »

To be honest sometimes after I take a iron shot I’m not sure if I’m looking at the ball at point of contact.

Dont look at "the ball", focus on a specific dimple or letter in the name of it.
If you are just looking down at the general area of the ball your focus will move.

blue note · 15-09-2020 2:36pm

It's by far the biggest cause of me mi****ting shots. Most often it will be a big slice or a fat shot, but I can also top it, hook it, etc. I lose concentration during the swing. At the top of my swing I duck my head down. From there I'll have to swing out to in to compensate (big slice) or hit before the ball (fat shot).

The two thoughts I try to keep in my head to stop me doing this are swing easy and keep my head steady. When I feel I do both of those things, my quality of striking is well below my handicap. When I don't it's well above.

Actually, just to note for the non-full shots my thought is to follow through (and keep my head steady). It's the opposite of full shots in that instead of trying to kill it I ease off when swinging and the result is actually the same. I duck my head and this causes the same problems. But what I need to have in my head while swinging is to keep my head steady and follow through.

Plenty of other things to remember too - bring the club around my body, keep my left arm straight, don't ease off on the grip with my right hand (can allow the club face to turn if I do). But mainly - keep my head steady and swing through / swing easy.

The Tetrarch · 17-09-2020 11:01am

You could take the advice in Caddyshack "be the ball"

Seriously, take two clubs and swing them together slowly to get a rhythm going. You can do this at home (not indoors).

Timothy Galway wrote books about this. What do you do before the stroke?
In tennis he asked players to think "bounce" as the ball bounced, and "hit" as they hit the ball. That stopped them from thinking about other things.
For golf he changed that to "back, hit". Think (say internally) "back" when you get to the back of the swing, and "hit" as you go through the ball.
Another way to relax before the hit is to tense muscles, then relax them. As you stand over the ball you could tense your stomach muscles for a few seconds, then relax them, then swing.
And hold the club as lightly as possible, barely touching it, then "slop" the club through the ball.

That will be 100 Euro please.

prawnsambo · 18-09-2020 8:57am

blue note wrote: »

It's by far the biggest cause of me mi****ting shots. Most often it will be a big slice or a fat shot, but I can also top it, hook it, etc. I lose concentration during the swing. At the top of my swing I duck my head down. From there I'll have to swing out to in to compensate (big slice) or hit before the ball (fat shot).

The two thoughts I try to keep in my head to stop me doing this are swing easy and keep my head steady. When I feel I do both of those things, my quality of striking is well below my handicap. When I don't it's well above.

Actually, just to note for the non-full shots my thought is to follow through (and keep my head steady). It's the opposite of full shots in that instead of trying to kill it I ease off when swinging and the result is actually the same. I duck my head and this causes the same problems. But what I need to have in my head while swinging is to keep my head steady and follow through.

Plenty of other things to remember too - bring the club around my body, keep my left arm straight, don't ease off on the grip with my right hand (can allow the club face to turn if I do). But mainly - keep my head steady and swing through / swing easy.

Padraig Harrington covered something like this in one of his famous videos.

His advice was to stay looking down long enough to see your divot. It may not be the exact same problem you describe, but I find it to be an easy enough thought to maintain and it does work.

GreeBo · 18-09-2020 9:54am

The Tetrarch wrote: »

You could take the advice in Caddyshack "be the ball"
Seriously, take two clubs and swing them together slowly to get a rhythm going. You can do this at home (not indoors).

Timothy Galway wrote books about this. What do you do before the stroke?
In tennis he asked players to think "bounce" as the ball bounced, and "hit" as they hit the ball. That stopped them from thinking about other things.
For golf he changed that to "back, hit". Think (say internally) "back" when you get to the back of the swing, and "hit" as you go through the ball.
Another way to relax before the hit is to tense muscles, then relax them. As you stand over the ball you could tense your stomach muscles for a few seconds, then relax them, then swing.
And hold the club as lightly as possible, barely touching it, then "slop" the club through the ball.

That will be 100 Euro please.

You want your core tense when hitting though....

thecomedian · 18-09-2020 10:00pm

jamesbondings wrote: »

I used to. Believe it or not I read "golf is not a game of perfect" which helped me build a routine to follow and step away if I lost my focus. Its difficult to change but have noticed less mad shots, I still get bad shots but haven't had any duffed shots or slices. Seems crazy a book can help.

I went onto his putting book (can't remember the name or author but if you look up the name above you can find it) and I haven't 3 putt on any green. Actually find I'm sinking the longer ones more than usual!

Think his name is Bob Rotella..... Might be wrong.

“Putting out of your mind” is the book.
It helped me at the start.

Losing Focus while taking shots

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