What is the last thing you think about before you swing?

[BC MIST]

What is the last thing you think about before you swing?

[dberndt]

I'm not very good, so maybe I'm doing it wrong. But I think about just about nothing the entire round. I just sort of space out and play the game on instinct. Pretty relaxing that way.

I think about my swing, target, etc when I'm at the range.

[Started2k3]

Something else - Right before I start my swing I think and visualize the clubhead path that I want (6" on either side of the ball). But during the swing I try for nothing.

[ironmaster15213]

I will normally just think of a good smooth shoulder turn away from the ball, arms and shoulders together at the same time (one piece). If my timing gets off a bit I will count one, two, three....four...bye,bye ball send a postcard

[sillywilly]

For the last 10 years I've been humming a song to myself. tt's just very soothing. I don't think about the swing, the score or anything. Thats what the 2 -3 prac. swings are for

[Wknd_Warrior]

Could be anything, I think it really depends on how well I'm playing. Right now most of my mental chatter is about my setup and grip, especially with the driver.

[mberube]

Swing fearless….

[kerisb]

I picture my club face hitting the ball. Other than the basics of aiming, distance, I prefer to think of nothing and go with instinct. It drive's my husband crazy cus he never knows which club I am going to use for any shot........it is all what feels rights when I am standing over the ball looking at my target. Actually today I played reasonably well and just before each swing I said to myself "commit to the shot" and then just swung. If I start thinking about all the mechanics and technical stuff then I might as well stop playing cus I get all messed up. My husband goes through a routine of his feet, shoulders, club positon and analysis every shot before he swings.........drives me crazy, me I just get up and hit the ball.

[Chieflongtee]

It is humanly impossible to think about nothing unless you watch the ball like a hawk watches his prey. See if you cant count to 10 without thinking about something else in the process. Same deal goes on when you stand over the ball too long.

[Big Johnny69]

I chose other:

"Geez, I really hope I don't hit anyone over there on the right with this swing...."

[harbacostal]

I think about the shot. On a good day I'm thinking about where I'd like it to end up and how it is going to get there. Then I look down and the ball empty my head and let it hang...

[little brit]

I can get bogged down with mechanics and have to think about not coming too inside on the backswing, but I do best when I can just concentrate on the target.

[BC MIST]

Would someone care to describe what they think of, either generally or specifically, if they checked "something else?"

[davevandyk]

i really try and think about nothing, or at least something outside of the golf course. I almost have an imaginary line behind the ball, about 2feet behind. Once i cross that line, i am done thinkin about my swing, where to hit it, how hard etc..., If i am not ready to hit the ball, i don't cross that "line"

[rezadue]

For me, the only time I have decent swings is when I can purge all swing thoughs ( with the exception of tempo ) by staring at the ball. It is like a reset switch. Stare at the ball and reset brain. Before brain reboto and begins thinking too much, take a swing with good temp.

Unfortunately some days I just can't seem to be able to do this though.

[Wilster]

Something else... keep your head down and your eyes on the ball !

[jeffc]

if you are talking about just before I take the club back, for me it is tempo. Just prior to that it is hand position.

[Kilroy]

I visualize the ball flying to the target. Lose waggle. Just befor the trigger is pulled I try to remember - smooth one piece takeaway with a shoulder turn.

If tension or lack of confidence creeps in I can shank them with the best of the mods here. Once they start it can be weeks. I am just now getting back to hitting decent irons after 3 weeks of the shanks. No helecopters though, except for my RC, and that's another passion altogether!

[Nat Williams]

visualize the clubhead hitting down on the ball b4 the turf w/ irons ... w/ drive, nothing

[Big Johnny69]

I visualize the ball flying to the target. Lose waggle. Just befor the trigger is pulled I try to remember - smooth one piece takeaway with a shoulder turn.

If tension or lack of confidence creeps in I can shank them with the best of the mods here. Once they start it can be weeks. I am just now getting back to hitting decent irons after 3 weeks of the shanks. No helecopters though, except for my RC, and that's another passion altogether!

Hey, hey, hey, no need to single us struggling golfers out.

[big mac]

Go ito your backswing slow and deliberate and don't take your eyes off the ball-------------------------then pray

[jonf]

I think about thinking about taking the club back low and slow and making a good swing, but I know that i inevitably end up thinking about things like my score, which spot I don't want to hit it, the last time I sliced my driver etc etc etc.

[leftylucas]

I take a deep exale to leave all the bad out.

[BC MIST]

The responses are interesting in that only 5 have checked off the "Your swing" choice. But, the following are examples taken from the posts above, that are really swing thoughts and would go under the "Your swing" category: low and slow, slow and deliberate, club head hitting down on the ball, smooth 1 piece takeaway, tempo, head down, eyes on ball, club head path, smooth shoulder turn, setup and grip, face hitting the ball,... So there are actually many more who use swing thoughts when they play than the survey indicates.

Also, the Chief is correct when he says that we cannot think of nothing. Conscious human beings HAVE to think of something.

The response of "not coming too inside on the backswing" makes me ask the question, how can you visualize something NOT happening? If I say "Don't visualize a white golf ball, what do you visualize? A white golf ball. Worses till, if I think, "Don't hook it," what one sees is a ball hooking. This negative visualization encourages the subconscious to have you hook it. Therefore, one MUST be thinking positively, visualizing only what you want happening, not what you don't want happening. However, all of this happens BEFORE you swing, and so is not really relevant to my question of what golfers are thinking about, while they swing. What kind of thoughts maximize my probability of hitting a good shot? IMO, swing thoughts are conscious and counterproductive, and will intefere with what you do subconsciously, well, target is a focus on the results(score?) and does not help, and nothing is impossible. So, what is ideal?

[mberube]

The responses are interesting in that only 5 have checked off the "Your swing" choice. But, the following are examples taken from the posts above, that are really swing thoughts and would go under the "Your swing" category: low and slow, slow and deliberate, club head hitting down on the ball, smooth 1 piece takeaway, tempo, head down, eyes on ball, club head path, smooth shoulder turn, setup and grip, face hitting the ball,... So there are actually many more who use swing thoughts when they play than the survey indicates.

Also, the Chief is correct when he says that we cannot think of nothing. Conscious human beings HAVE to think of something.

The response of "not coming too inside on the backswing" makes me ask the question, how can you visualize something NOT happening? If I say "Don't visualize a white golf ball, what do you visualize? A white golf ball. Worses till, if I think, "Don't hook it," what one sees is a ball hooking. This negative visualization encourages the subconscious to have you hook it. Therefore, one MUST be thinking positively, visualizing only what you want happening, not what you don't want happening. However, all of this happens BEFORE you swing, and so is not really relevant to my question of what golfers are thinking about, while they swing. What kind of thoughts maximize my probability of hitting a good shot? IMO, swing thoughts are conscious and counterproductive, and will intefere with what you do subconsciously, well, target is a focus on the results(score?) and does not help, and nothing is impossible. So, what is ideal?

I agree with 99% of what you are saying but focussing on the target is not score oriented. Lots of pros focus on the target. If you focus on your target you are eliminating every other dangerous zones between you and your target. It’s the same thing in every target sport. If you play darts, you focus on your target and nothing else. If you play that horseshoe game you focus on the pin and nothing else. As soon as you thing of technique you are screwed.

Focusing on the target in golf is a great way to forget about mechanical thoughts, hazards, the ball, your grip, the club….. The only thing you have in your mind is that small target. It worked for me for a long time and it was great fear eliminator. You have to remember that focusing on the target goes not mean that it will land there. I used to focus on a target that was unattainable. The tip of a tree two mile away. Also the target must be where the ball starts and not where it finishes. If you fade the ball the ball will fade away from that target. Look at the pros on TV. Most will look at their target 4-5 times before hitting the ball. If that is not target orientated I don’t know what is.

Mike

[little brit]

The responses are interesting in that only 5 have checked off the "Your swing" choice. But, the following are examples taken from the posts above, that are really swing thoughts and would go under the "Your swing" category: low and slow, slow and deliberate, club head hitting down on the ball, smooth 1 piece takeaway, tempo, head down, eyes on ball, club head path, smooth shoulder turn, setup and grip, face hitting the ball,... So there are actually many more who use swing thoughts when they play than the survey indicates.

Also, the Chief is correct when he says that we cannot think of nothing. Conscious human beings HAVE to think of something.

The response of "not coming too inside on the backswing" makes me ask the question, how can you visualize something NOT happening? If I say "Don't visualize a white golf ball, what do you visualize? A white golf ball. Worses till, if I think, "Don't hook it," what one sees is a ball hooking. This negative visualization encourages the subconscious to have you hook it. Therefore, one MUST be thinking positively, visualizing only what you want happening, not what you don't want happening. However, all of this happens BEFORE you swing, and so is not really relevant to my question of what golfers are thinking about, while they swing. What kind of thoughts maximize my probability of hitting a good shot? IMO, swing thoughts are conscious and counterproductive, and will intefere with what you do subconsciously, well, target is a focus on the results(score?) and does not help, and nothing is impossible. So, what is ideal?

I guess what I should have said to you is that in general I know that I tend to come too inside on the backswing, as I am starting my take-away I think of turning my left hand under my right. Which is just my thought which may make no sense to someone else. but for me it results in a less inside backswing.

[hoylake]

IMO, swing thoughts are conscious and counterproductive, and will intefere with what you do subconsciously, well, target is a focus on the results(score?) and does not help, and nothing is impossible. So, what is ideal?

With me, at address there are all kinds of thoughts: shuffling, feeling out the stance, checking body position, ball position, aquiring the target with the eyes, waggling, maybe a takeaway thought or two. But there's a point where all that fades out, fades out completely. There's a perceptible shift. The last thing I think of before I take the club back is not a directed thought, it must be directed because I am the one directing it, but it feels like it just happens. What I feel is a distinct sense of my body (not the parts, arms and legs etc) but the body as a whole, a single unit gearing up to hit the golf ball. That's the only thing I am thinking about, my whole body gearing up in preparation to to the job, make the swing. This thought is brief, surely less than a second, and somewhere during this thought comes the transition to the actual backswing.

[BC MIST]

I agree with 99% of what you are saying but focussing on the target is not score oriented. Lots of pros focus on the target. If you focus on your target you are eliminating every other dangerous zones between you and your target. It’s the same thing in every target sport. If you play darts, you focus on your target and nothing else. If you play that horseshoe game you focus on the pin and nothing else. As soon as you thing of technique you are screwed.

Focusing on the target in golf is a great way to forget about mechanical thoughts, hazards, the ball, your grip, the club….. The only thing you have in your mind is that small target. It worked for me for a long time and it was great fear eliminator. You have to remember that focusing on the target goes not mean that it will land there. I used to focus on a target that was unattainable. The tip of a tree two mile away. Also the target must be where the ball starts and not where it finishes. If you fade the ball the ball will fade away from that target. Look at the pros on TV. Most will look at their target 4-5 times before hitting the ball. If that is not target orientated I don’t know what is.

Mike

I will agree that thinking target is better than thinking swing thoughts, but if your conscious thought is about a "small target," it is a stress inducer as a small target is very difficult to hit. In the games you mentioned above your focus is on the target because that is where you want the horseshoe or the dart to go. So, in golf why don't you look at the target, (the green)? To me, it's because your target(the green) is not your target. It's the golf ball instead because it is detached from your body unlike the horse shoe or the dart.

For me, I think target as part of my preshot routine and my preshot routine is everything I do BEFORE I put my hands on the club. Putting my hands on the club, taking my stance, waggling if it's done, IS PART OF MY SHOT, and should be done automatically or subconsciously, for optimum performance.

Can you have a conversation with someone while tying your golf shoes? Of course. So how do your shoes get tied if your focus is on the conversation? Simple. It is something you do subconsciously. Therefore, in golf, why can't your mind be focused on something other than golf, and yet still have you hit a perfect shot? It can and will, if you let it. Only when we play truly subconscious golf will we play our best. If we think target, results, swing thoughts, tempo, "nothing," we may do OK, and OK may give the illusion of being our best, but it is NOT.

After the occasional very good round, I always have the same sensation or feeling that
playing well was so incredibly easy and that I could have been even better. Why? My not so scientific conclusion has always been that my mind was NOT on any of the commonly accepted ideas, but on something other than golf. It was like someone else had taken over my body and swung for me.

The problem with probably all of us here, is that we are constantly trying to swing better and our swings are in a constant state of being improved. We take this to the course and play well for couple of early holes and then slowly we go down hill. If we would stop making the adjustments when we play and just allow our subconscious to swing for us, we would likely play better. However, until you have actually played golf like having a conversation while tying your shoes, it's tough to understand the difference.

[Chieflongtee]

The problem with probably all of us here, is that we are constantly trying to swing better and our swings are in a constant state of being improved.

If you are trying to fix your swing it is because you believe it to be broken.

[jonf]

Can you have a conversation with someone while tying your golf shoes? Of course. So how do your shoes get tied if your focus is on the conversation? Simple. It is something you do subconsciously. Therefore, in golf, why can't your mind be focused on something other than golf, and yet still have you hit a perfect shot? It can and will, if you let it. Only when we play truly subconscious golf will we play our best. If we think target, results, swing thoughts, tempo, "nothing," we may do OK, and OK may give the illusion of being our best, but it is NOT.

And this is only an attainable goal, if you happen to be Buddha.