Have you ever had a staring contest with your golf ball?
This may sound like a funny question, but chances are that you have this contest regularly with your ball. And for the record, you will never win that contest.
One of the biggest mistakes I see players make is in the amount of time they spend staring at their golf ball prior to finally making their swing. This is typically how it plays out: the player will take a beautiful practice swing, or two, before stepping into their shot, and once their stance is set, the next ten seconds are spent just staring at the ball before finally starting their swing.
During those ten seconds, tension and doubt likely creeped in, and 100 percent of the time you spent staring at your ball has completely backfired on you.
Time to change up those numbers.
I call it my 80/20 rule. Rather than having a player spend 100 percent of their prep time staring at the golf ball, I suggest spending 80 percent of your time staring at your target and only 20 percent of your time staring at your ball.
Practicing the 80/20 rule will help reduce the amount of tension that builds up in your body prior to making your swing. By spending more time focusing on your target, you are maintaining motion in your neck and your shoulders.
This motion is what helps to reduce the tension. In addition, by spending more time focusing on your target, you are more likely to focus on the shot you are hoping to make, rather on the swing.
The next time you watch golf on television, pay attention to the amount of time players spend focusing on their target, rather than focusing on their ball. If you can start doing the same thing, your game will continue to improve.
Just remember the 80/20 rule.
