Keeping your eye on the ball...

You're always reminded to "keep your eye on the ball." So you look at the ball. Unfortunately, just looking at the ball isn't enough when you're putting.

Why? Drop a ball on the green, assume your address position and look at the ball. What do you see? The ball, no doubt. But what about your feet? The putter? Your legs? If you're close to the hole, you probably see it too. How about the green behind the ball?

Your peripheral vision is working well. Maybe too well when you're ready to putt. You can try to narrow your visual field by "keeping your eyes on the ball," but you'll probably still see quite a bit of the surrounding real estate. Most people have trouble narrowing their visual field to just the ball.

The wider your peripheral vision, the more feedback your eyes send to the brain, and the more likely you are to be aware of any movement within your field of vision. Your brain naturally wants to monitor any movement, so the eyes move to keep tabs on your surroundings. Because eye movement is natural and necessary, you're probably not even aware that your eyes are in motion.

And when you're preparing to putt, increased eye movement can spell disaster. Unless of course, you catch sight of a bear sauntering out of the underbrush and beat him to the cart, clubhouse and safety.

But let's assume the bears stay in the woods, in the next county, in the next state.

You find yourself routinely missing makeable, short putts and your natural reaction might be to focus on the mechanics of your stroke. So you follow the putter with your eyes to analyze your mechanics. When you think you've identified the mechanical breakdown in your stroke, your eyes keep moving to correct the flaw.

So what happens now? Your eyes move from the ball in the take-away. They return on the follow through. Concerned about the final outcome, they dart to the cup ahead of impact to determine if the correction is working. It isn't. Missed again.

After a frustrating round, you spend quality time on the practice green. You're sure the problem is mechanical, so you work to improve your stroke. With no pressure, your fundamentally sound stroke returns. Eye movement lessens, and you leave the practice green with renewed confidence.

Unfortunately, your problems will probably return when the pressure returns. Your eyes will start moving to analyze and correct your stroke, and the putts will stop dropping.

Realize the destructive effect eye movement can have on your putting. Quiet your eyes while you putt.

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