Fit for Play
Eye on
the Prize
Hand-eye coordination is key to club control
by DAVE POND
M
OST OF US HAVE SEEN TIGER WOODS’ memorable
commercial plenty of times. The Nike spot features Tiger
bouncing a ball off the face of an iron for almost 30 seconds
before splitting the fairway with a perfect approach shot off the final
bounce. In fact, most of you have probably tried it.
One bounce is easy, two is a reachable goal, but any more than that
and things get rather difficult. Tiger’s feat may seem like a parlor trick,
but good hand-eye coordination can improve your game on many levels.
“Hand-eye coordination helps a golfer control the golf club during
the swing,” said Peter Weisel, a US Kids, Flatstick Academy, and
Titleist Performance Institute certified coach. “It’s most important
for shots where we’re trying to control the distance of the shot, like
irons and fairway woods.
“An important factor in controlling the distance of your shots is
hitting the center of the clubface. The better your control of your
club, the better your scores will be.”
Weisel, a VSGA Junior Golf Circuit Regional Coordinator, offers
some exercises to improve hand-eye coordination.
1
JUGGLE WITH A WEDGE
We’ll start with the one that will let you show
off to your friends. Over time, doing this “Tiger
drill” on a regular basis should help increase
the number of times you can bounce the ball
without it falling. From a technical standpoint,
that means your ability to move a club in time
and space will have improved.
1. Take your preferred wedge and hold it so the clubface is pointing
directly up (towards the sky).
2. Drop a ball and bounce it off of the wedge.
3. Move your wedge back and forth as needed to bounce the ball
back into the air.
4. Bounce the ball into the air as many times as you can.
36
V I R G I N I A G O L F E R | N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R 2 0 18
vsga.org