How to “Feel” a Great Golf Shot and Make It Happen

As you probably already know, there are a lot of technical aspects that go into a good golf swing. For everyone’s golf swing, there are a myriad of changes that could or couldn’t be made to make it better, but if you are looking to have improved performance next season spend some time this winter focusing on your senses.

There are essentially two stages that go into performing a golf shot at a high level, the first being the left brain or thinking stage. The second stage is moving into the right brain where your senses and emotions become involved. In short, can you feel a good shot and then make it happen?

The first stage is the one that we are all familiar with, where we think about what we want to achieve with either our golf swing, the outcome of a shot or a score we want to shoot. I’ve seen plenty of golfers who will be working on a drill or making a mirrored practice swing trying to hit a perfect shot, which is not bad.

It is certainly better than what I also will see which is a rapid fire range session that has no purpose. But there is no time spent focusing on what does that perfect swing make me feel, what do you visualize the golf ball doing from this perfect swing, how much tension do I have while making this perfect swing.

These are the questions that most golfers need to be focused on and spend more time practicing so they can have an answer when the time comes to perform. If you watch golf on television, pay attention to the answers the best players in the world give about their though process during a round. Usually they will talk about how they focused on their tempo or balance or staying loose.

Most people think they are just avoiding talking about what they really focus on technically. The real answer is, that truly is what they think about while they play. They spend their time practicing and perfecting a new move and then will practice making that swing while focusing on the feeling they gain from that move. When the time comes to perform, they fall back on these right brain feelings and emotions to help them create the belief that they can perform.

Scott Hogan is from Plainfield, is a Class A golf professional and full-time instructor at the SHG Performance Center in Joliet and Inwood Golf Course in Joliet. He has competed on the Pepsi and Gateway Tours and has been playing in golf tournaments for over 20 years. You can learn more about Scott at his website.