What are you Chipping at? What's your Real Target?
All golfers are trying to score lower. This leads to the goal of getting the ball into the hole as soon as possible. This leads to the thinking that the hole is your 'goal' which our brain processes as 'the hole is the target'. It may surprise you that in 100% of the shots that you take on the golf course (that are not putts) the hole is NOT your 'target'. It may be your goal, but the two, while inextricably linked are not the same thing. Let me explain.
When facing a shot from just off the green you must realize that the hole is not your target. This is especially true when faced with a sloped or undulating green. Because the ball will change direction once it lands on the green breaking this way or that, speeding up or slowing down based on the green's surface, you cannot aim at the hole. While doing so may cause the ball to land directly in line with the hole, however, it will break away from your desired destination (the hole) due to the break in the green.
This is also true for up and down hill slopes. As noted above, if you aim for the hole you may get the ball properly on line, however the ball will stop short or possibly run a good distance past the
hole. By aiming at the goal/destination (the hole), you do so because, unconsciously you assume the green is a flat surface.
Your 'real target' should in fact be the spot on the green where you will be landing the golf ball. With the knowledge above, you should at this point recognize that prior to choosing your target landing spot you will need to evaluate the green and read its slopes and speeds. Based on this information you can determine the best spot to land your ball so that the undulations in the green will feed it towards the hole. The spot that you need to land the ball that will make all this happen is your Real Target! Focus on this spot and do everything you've leaned about striking the ball to make it land in that spot with the speed required to navigate the breaks the slope of the green will apply. If you judged the green correctly, you strike the ball as intended AND you hit your target the ball should roll very close to (and hopefully in) the hole.
Let me know how many 'tap-in pars' you get on your next round because of this golf tip.
- TheGolfExpert
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