Golf is such a visual game. Instinctively, I don’t understand how blind people play, and some of them play well.
But visualization is a big issue, brought home to me this weekend. Two weeks ago I played two courses in California, both of which had many trees along the fairway. I hit about 80% of the fairways, even though these are very tough courses. This weekend, on my south Texas home course, I hit three fairways in two rounds.
On my course, missing the fairway puts you in the rough, but there aren’t a lot of obstacles. We have some palm trees which will eat a ball, and mesquites which grab a ball and throw it to the ground, but there isn’t a dense wall. I did manage to hit a eucalyptus today–the only one on the course. When you stand on the tee box and identify a target, there isn’t a lot of definition to tunnel your vision.
This applies on the green as well. I roll the ball best when I sense a good line for the ball to follow. I sometimes rush myself, and don’t put the focus on the hole as well as I should or on the path I want. When I do, I invariably hit the ball too softly or off line.
I’ve read two books recently, unrelated to golf, which enforce this concept. One is a book about the function of the brain. Another was on vision. Both said that the brain retains an image for about eight seconds, but can only recognize an image if it is visible for at least half a second. They both agree that the body wants to comply with a vision and mental picture. If the target is 150 yards away, and you dial that into your brain, the body will try to comply with a swing that hits the ball 150 yards. (Don’t try this with a sand wedge.) I’ve tried, and had some success, although I let my mind wander too much to really get it in focus during a round.
Maybe that’s what really separates the tour pros from the rest of us.