One aspect of the mental game that I’ve been paying serious attention to recently is target awareness.

Golf is a 100% target-oriented game. Can you ever think of a time when you hit a shot without a target in mind? That’s a bad idea, even on the practice range. Especially on the practice range.

I’ve always known about the importance of targets in golf, at least on some level. However, I’m not sure I had a real awareness.

It wasn’t until I was reading Golf is Not a Game of Perfect by Dr. Bob Rotella (link to my review) recently that it all started to make more sense. There are many things he covers in the book, but three things resonated with me. It took random tips that had been fluttering around in the void that is my brain, and it turned them in to a process for improving my game.

Those three things are:

• Pick as specific a target as possible.
• During the pre-shot routine and during the actual shot, think of the target, not of swing mechanics.
• Commit absolutely to the shot and to the target you have chosen.

Pick a Specific Target

Picking a very specific target is something many players struggle with. It’s not enough to make your target the entire fairway or even the green. It reminds me of the movie The Patriot where Mel Gibson tells his son, “aim small, miss small.” Of course, that was on a different subject, but the thought applies to golf as well.

You cannot have too specific a target, because the more focused on it you are, the more likely your brain will help you get the ball there. That doesn’t mean we won’t ever miss. It just means that we don’t do ourselves any favors by granting permission to miss or to be imprecise before the shot even starts.

Think of the Target, Not of Mechanics

Thinking of the target during practice swings and during the shot is something that many people don’t do. This is especially true when things are going bad. We clutter our minds with swing mechanics and if things are going really bad, fear and anxiety as well. Dr. Rotella recommends players not think about mechanics during a golf shot and even during practice swings. He adds that if we must do it, then make at least one practice swing prior to the shot where we are only concerned with the target not on mechanics. Obviously, this changes on the practice tee, but for a round, it fully applies.

Absolute Commitment

I think absolute commitment to the target and to the shot is another spot where many players falter, including myself. It’s so easy to let doubt creep in. It’s the times when we think “don’t hit into the water” that we’re doomed to do it. It’s the times when we need to hit a draw but the last one we tried hooked out of bounds that we do that too. To be successful, all that doubt must be replaced with absolute commitment.

I’ve been working on a routine that incorporates these three components to my routine for each shot.

It might seem like an insurmountable task to change the way we think. Dr. Rotella says that we can choose the way we think, and I agree with him. Somehow, in a short time, I found a way.

Before each shot, I pick as specific a target as I am able. I decide what shot I’m going to hit. I commit absolutely to those two things. I take two practice swings, thinking of any mechanical thing I need to do better during the first and thinking only of the target on the second. A couple of waggles and I go, but only if I’m free from doubt and thinking about the target.

While I’m waggling, I look up at the target a couple of times and let it burn into my mind. When I look back at the ball, it’s sort of like looking at a very bright light then looking away and still seeing the bright light. I can still sort of “see” the target, if only in my mind.

Since I’ve been doing this, my scores and the quality of my shots has been increasing. I think if you become more target-aware, you’ll see the same improvement that I did.

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