Easy, just pretend the ball isn’t there

The first time I saw Tiger Woods unleash his golf swing was while watching coverage of the 1997 US Masters, which he won – the first of so far 14 major titles.

I was amazed. I was in awe of his ability to whip the club around his torso in a blink of an eye … as if the ball was not even there. And then I thought to myself: “Why hasn’t any golf pro, or golfing mate, taught me this yet?”

Of course, I was referring to making a golf swing and treating the ball as if it wasn’t there. I thought this was a great golf swing secret that only I knew.

Indeed, I thought I was on my way to becoming a golf swing guru. Of course, this concept is quite a well-known theme among many teaching pros.

Among them is Dr Jim Suttie, the 2000 PGA National Teacher of the Year, who analysed this phenomenon in an article in the Naples News.

The "hit" impulse

He calls it the “hit” impulse and highlights it as the reason a perfect practice golf swing is rarely replicated when a ball has to be hit.

“The hit impulse can be described as the golfer's desire to hit at an object instead of simply swinging through an area,” he says.

Dr Suttie says that good golfers would make “incidental” contact with the ball, which means the ball just happens to make contact with the golf club’s sweet spot as you make your golf swing.

He doesn’t offer any physical remedies to fix the “hit” impulse. However, he does emphasise a psychological approach, telling the tale of a great Canadian pro Moe Norman, who, when asked what he focused on when making a golf swing, replied as follows.

If the ball fits

“Don’t know, don’t know, just trying to fit my two-inch ball on that 50-yard fairway. I think my ball will fit on that fairway.”

Now, if only we could all think like Moe ... and swing like Tiger did in 1997.

Picture: Tiger Woods at the 97 Masters (augusta.com)