I start this golf blog with a side foray into bowling. For several years I bowled in competitive leagues with friends. I was an above average bowler, carrying a 192 average in my last full league season. My best game was 299 – one pin off from a perfect 300. What I learned in bowling is that intense focus on my target leads to success. The process for success was to precisely set my starting alignment for my feet, then focus intensely on the target arrow over which I wanted the ball to roll, then I started my approach with nothing in my mind but the arrow. Most importantly I had to maintain that focus on that target arrow until I saw the ball roll over the target. This latter point ensured I made a proper release. If I was distracted or not paying attention, even for an instant, the results were unpredictable, but not usually bad because my technique and form were reliably good. Also, bowling is performed in a highly stable environment where repeatability from shot to shot is possible even if focus isn’t spot-on if you have good technique.

I have played golf not quite as long as I have bowled, but am a bit below average golfer for at my age for men the average golf handicap is 19.2 and I carry 24.6 HC. However, I realized recently that when I employ the same intense focus on target as I did in bowling, my results were usually very acceptable. However, where bowling is performed in a stable environment, each golf shot, even off the tee, is executed in a varied environment that requires a choice of strike and target suitable for the situation. This variety results in focus issues for me and likely for most golfers at my level. If I’m distracted by thinking about how to hit a ball out of a divot, I may loose focus on the ultimate target – the middle of the green or spot on the fairway where I want the ball to go. For me, at least, this loss of focus usually results in a bad ball strike with typically unpleasant results because my technique in golf is still a work in progress.

As mentioned in an earlier blog, one of the main influences on my recent swing improvement is the youtube channel, “Wisdom in Golf” with Canadian Pro Shawn Clement. One of the primary tenants of his swing teaching is that humans are “gravity geniuses” and we will invariably hit the target we focus on. In his teaching, the biggest cause of swing faults is when the target of focus is hitting the ball. He demonstrates that the way to cure swing faults is to shift focus to the real target – the spot “out there” where you want the ball to go. Once I started incorporating the sequenced momentum swing changes and added setting my target focus “out there” my swing results improved significantly.

Before I describe my swing focus methodology, I wanted to add one more piece of information that I found in one of the many golf books I’ve read.  The mind is capable of generating any image you desire. Instead of finding a specific target “out there” to focus on such as a different colored patch of grass, or tree, if you have good visualization skills, mentally, visually place a familiar object where you want the ball to go as a target. In the book the author described visualizing placing an archery target block as his target. Although I have shot at archery target blocks in my life, it wasn’t a compelling image to me. However, very quickly I thought of my perfect target image – a bright orange Home Depot 5 gallon bucket. So when there’s not a strong target in the fairway or on the green, I mentally put an orange home depot bucket where I want the ball to go and focus on hitting the ball to that target.

To reproduce the same intensity of focus I had in bowling I’ve developed the following focus mentality for golf that is incorporated in my pre-shot routine for full and wedge shots. After I evaluate the lie and target and select the appropriate club, from behind the ball I visualize placing the HD orange bucket on the fairway or green where I want the ball to land and I visualize the trajectory of the ball traveling through the air to the bucket. I step to the side of the ball and take one or two practice swings that replicate as closely as I can what type of shot I wish to produce to deliver the ball to the bucket. I step up to the ball and align the club with my intermediate point, align my feet, then look up one more time to fix the target bucket in my mind. I look down and focus intently at the back of the ball (or for wedges a piece of grass in front of the ball) but still hold the bucket “out there” in my mind, and initiate the swing.

When I successfully follow this pre-shot routine and intensely focus on the bucket target, I almost always hit the ball safely around the bucket. At this point in my golfing life though, I probably employ this pre-shot routine less than 50% of the time with the correct intensity of focus. It is one of my goals this year to start grading every shot on every hole as to whether I have attained the mental focus required. If I took five shots on a par four and on only three shots I performed my pre-shot and focus routine I will write on the scorecard a 3/5 and evaluate if I can increase this pre-shot/focus grade over time. What I know from my bowling experience is that I can lower my handicap when I increase my ability to focus on every shot.