KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE BALL?
 

If I hear one more person utter those words I think I'll scream.

I thought I would get in a little practice the other day, to prepare for the upcoming pro-am I will be playing in at Dungeness this Thursday. Usually, I migrate to an area of the range that is not to populated, so I can focus in on what I'm trying to work on. But this was a particularly busy time on the driving range so I just took one of the few spots available in the middle of the crowd.

A couple stalls in front of me was a guy trying to teach his wife or girlfriend how to play. Directly behind me was a father and three kids (not sure they were all his – the lucky ones were not) in the 8 - 12 year old range. I guess I should applaud them for trying, but to use an analogy, if you’re not good at math - don't try to teach math, and if you’re not good at English - don't try to teach grammar.

In roughly thirty minutes time, between these two men, I must have heard the phrase "keep your eye on the ball" at least two dozen times. I don't have an accurate count because I didn't really start counting until probably ten minutes into my practice session. But in the last twenty minutes I actually counted fifteen times, and kind of took a guess I heard it at least eight or ten times before that.

To understand where I'm coming from, you must understand that keeping your eye on the ball has absolutely no bearing on whether you will make good contact with the ball or not. If the ball were moving then I'd agree you have to see it to hit it. But the golf ball is static; you don't really need to see it. If you are a doubter, then check out this news clip about Jeremy Poincenot, the Blind Golf World Champion. There are many blind people who play golf with a great deal of success. Their greatest challenge is not in being unable to see the ball, but in being unable to see the target.

So, if you have the urge to tell someone "keep your eye on the ball" then bite your tongue. You can tell them to stay balanced, make a slower, shorter swing or maybe even to CLOSE their eyes (don't laugh until you try it - you may be surprised). However, the best advice you can give them would be to take lessons from a qualified instructor. If you just can't resist the urge to help, then just help them with their math when they’re adding up their score.

Return to home page