Great thread. I agree with several of the posts. I myself can sympathize with the OP, and don't understand how some nights it's just easier than others. I blame mechanics (which are probably 95% fine), eye movement, etc. Usually just lack of focus I'm sure, with some components of mis-aiming and mis-stroking occasionally thrown in.
I also have historically more of a CB last sort of guy, which I know puts me in the minority, but as one other poster said, if you are lined up, it shouldn't matter where you look. I've been experimenting with looking at the OB last, but it's weird, especially when I'm using more than nominal english or the OB is a long way away. I guess I'm just so used to having the CB in sight and the OB in peripheral vision, not the other way around. But I am getting more and more used to it, and it does give a little more focus to the contact point on the shot. It's like trying to keep my elbow perfectly still during the whole stroke - it may be the accepted and simplest thing to do, just doesn't feel right to me.
It's a lot like putting - almost everyone looks at the blade of the putter / contact point on the golf ball, i.e. what you are hitting, not the destination (the hole). But there was a drill in the magazines a while ago about "feeling" the shot, distance, etc., and they advocated once you were set for the shot to step in and look at the hole while putting. It feels very weird, especially after doing something a certain way for 10 years, but wouldn't you know it, I didn't miss the ball completely, it went in the hole, and the ones that did miss were actually in a tighter group than when I focused on my stroke and looked at the ball? And I felt a shortened backswing and better acceleration through the ball, all because I was "feeling" the shot and not forcing it? Hmmm...
So, in an effort to raise my game that extra 5% or whatever to be able to compete with the big guns in town, I'm trying a lot of things during my 2 nights a week I get to practice. And reading things here, and re-reading old books and articles, and studying match tapes and DVDs, and talking to some good players - the new-and-improved "Fuji-Whopper" being one of them. It's good to hear different approaches, especially from people whoe are genuinely nice, genuinely care, and by the way are great players themselves.
Again, thanks for the great thread!
Scott
I also have historically more of a CB last sort of guy, which I know puts me in the minority, but as one other poster said, if you are lined up, it shouldn't matter where you look. I've been experimenting with looking at the OB last, but it's weird, especially when I'm using more than nominal english or the OB is a long way away. I guess I'm just so used to having the CB in sight and the OB in peripheral vision, not the other way around. But I am getting more and more used to it, and it does give a little more focus to the contact point on the shot. It's like trying to keep my elbow perfectly still during the whole stroke - it may be the accepted and simplest thing to do, just doesn't feel right to me.
It's a lot like putting - almost everyone looks at the blade of the putter / contact point on the golf ball, i.e. what you are hitting, not the destination (the hole). But there was a drill in the magazines a while ago about "feeling" the shot, distance, etc., and they advocated once you were set for the shot to step in and look at the hole while putting. It feels very weird, especially after doing something a certain way for 10 years, but wouldn't you know it, I didn't miss the ball completely, it went in the hole, and the ones that did miss were actually in a tighter group than when I focused on my stroke and looked at the ball? And I felt a shortened backswing and better acceleration through the ball, all because I was "feeling" the shot and not forcing it? Hmmm...
So, in an effort to raise my game that extra 5% or whatever to be able to compete with the big guns in town, I'm trying a lot of things during my 2 nights a week I get to practice. And reading things here, and re-reading old books and articles, and studying match tapes and DVDs, and talking to some good players - the new-and-improved "Fuji-Whopper" being one of them. It's good to hear different approaches, especially from people whoe are genuinely nice, genuinely care, and by the way are great players themselves.
Again, thanks for the great thread!
Scott