The Most Important Thing In Golf

The Most Important Thing In Golf
by:  Mark Croft

When you arrive to the first tee for a round of golf what is your most important goal? You have

probably been thinking about this goal since you knew you were going to play the round of golf.

My guess is shooting the lowest score possible for the number of holes you are going to play and

have fun doing it. So upon arrival to the first tee your goal becomes get the ball in the hole as fast

as possible with the fewest amount of strokes possible. At that moment each hole (the bottom of

the cup)becomes your goal, your destination, your Target.

The most important thing in golf is your target. Your target is your direction and destination on

every swing and the better your direction, the faster and more efficiently you will reach your

ultimate destination; the bottom of the cup.

As a teaching professional for many years, I have always asked my students at the beginning of

their lesson “What is your Target?” During those thousands of lessons I have gotten some very

interesting answers to this question and all too often the answers are Huh, What, What do you

mean, etc. Far too many golfers tee it up and let it rip without ever having a target; never a clear

idea of direction or destination and this is one of the best ways to end up in the ditch of golf.

Every golf swing must have a clear and present consciousness of direction and destination. This

conscious awareness is paramount to every golfer’s success.

One of the best players on the PGA Tour in the 20 th century who didn’t have a graceful and

pleasing swing was Lee Trevino, but he could send a golf ball toward a baseball cap 280 yards

away and land in that baseball cap (target) 9 out of 10 times. One of his famous quotes was “I

can hit a 2-iron 200 yards through a keyhole in a door.” This tremendous awareness of target and

a constant and clear image of his target with every single swing was the key to his very

successful career and it can help make you a better golfer as well.

So how can you get better at your target awareness and having a target every time you swing?

Let’s start with flat putts from 10 feet and increase distances from there. Practice putting with the

hole as your target beginning from 10 feet with little or no break to the putt. Be aware of the line

or direction to the target and the distance. When you reach the point where you can convert 6 out

of 10 or better move back another 10 feet and continue the same process. As you continue the

drill moving backwards and changing clubs your goals of final destination may change from the

bottom of the cup to a precise proximity but you still have that target and its distance ever

present in your thoughts. Depending on how much you practice you should be back to a tee shot

distance in less than a month, but in any time frame I guarantee your accuracy will have

improved immensely simply because your target awareness is now part of every swing.

You may contact Mark about this article of any other questions you have about golf at

mark@markcroftgolf.com.

Hit the target!