Get Full Access to This Course
Start learning with expert instruction
Practice Aiming Away From Pins
3h 38m
19 lessons
Core Course
Course Progress
Sign in
to track your progress
Discover the benefits of practicing golf by aiming away from the pins where the instructor highlights the value of aligning range practice with on-course play for improved alignment and realistic simulation of game scenarios.
In this video, I discuss the importance of practicing aiming away from the pins in golf. I've noticed how often my students, especially tournament golfers, tend to aim at the pins on the driving range, and when they switch to aiming at a specific spot away from the pin, their shots often become less accurate.
This one topic reveals an underlying theme. It's important to align range practice with on-course play. In this case, match where you aim on the course to how you aim at the range. Typically, aiming directly at the pin is rare.
The key takeaway is that practicing aiming away from the pins helps golfers improve their alignment and better simulate on-course scenarios, where precise aiming is crucial.
Video Transcript
WEBVTT
1
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:09.080
This drill video is practice aiming away from pins.
2
00:00:09.080 --> 00:00:13.150
So I often have a conversation with my students, especially my term in golfers,
3
00:00:13.150 --> 00:00:14.380
when we're
4
00:00:14.380 --> 00:00:18.280
hitting on the range, or this is the scenario that triggers this conversation,
5
00:00:18.280 --> 00:00:18.600
we're hitting
6
00:00:18.600 --> 00:00:22.440
on the range and they're hitting good shot after good shot, maybe five or ten
7
00:00:22.440 --> 00:00:23.040
good shots
8
00:00:23.040 --> 00:00:26.630
in a row, the perfect ball flight they want, and then I say hey, you know what,
9
00:00:26.630 --> 00:00:27.200
let's just
10
00:00:27.200 --> 00:00:32.980
change targets, pick a spot over there, and then they hit a few bad ones.
11
00:00:32.980 --> 00:00:38.650
And so usually that reveals that we need to work on aiming, and one of the
12
00:00:38.650 --> 00:00:39.680
things that
13
00:00:39.680 --> 00:00:43.660
I'll segue that into is well, where do we want to aim?
14
00:00:43.660 --> 00:00:49.920
On the range, it's really easy to just get lazy and aim at pins.
15
00:00:49.920 --> 00:00:54.290
But the process, the conversation I usually have with the student is, okay,
16
00:00:54.290 --> 00:00:55.040
tournament
17
00:00:55.040 --> 00:00:58.280
golfer, how often do you aim at the pin on the golf horse?
18
00:00:58.280 --> 00:01:02.040
And I'll say never, and then I'll say on the range, how often do you aim at the
19
00:01:02.040 --> 00:01:02.480
pin?
20
00:01:02.480 --> 00:01:05.160
And they'll kind of smirk and say always.
21
00:01:05.160 --> 00:01:08.160
So we want to match what we're doing on the range with what we're doing on the
22
00:01:08.160 --> 00:01:08.680
course.
23
00:01:08.680 --> 00:01:13.880
So when you're getting into the aiming phase, or the aiming process with your
24
00:01:13.880 --> 00:01:14.400
shots on the
25
00:01:14.400 --> 00:01:19.880
range, I want you to start practicing aiming a specific distance away from a
26
00:01:19.880 --> 00:01:20.480
pin.
27
00:01:20.480 --> 00:01:26.740
So I've got the camera set up here, and there's a green pole in the middle of
28
00:01:26.740 --> 00:01:28.260
the range there.
29
00:01:28.260 --> 00:01:32.160
I'm going to practice, okay, this one I'm going to aim maybe one finger to the
30
00:01:32.160 --> 00:01:34.140
right of it.
31
00:01:34.140 --> 00:01:40.690
Or potentially I could do it in yards, or flag stick with whatever I want to
32
00:01:40.690 --> 00:01:41.480
use, but
33
00:01:41.480 --> 00:01:44.940
I'm going to practice picking targets that are specific distance away from the
34
00:01:44.940 --> 00:01:45.320
pin.
35
00:01:45.320 --> 00:01:51.240
I'm going to practice on this one, I'm going to spot a little bit to the right.
36
00:01:51.240 --> 00:01:53.780
We better not cheat the process.
37
00:01:53.780 --> 00:01:58.640
So there's my inner, got my aim, get my set up.
38
00:01:58.640 --> 00:02:04.760
So I'm looking just a little bit to the right, intermediate, all systems go.
39
00:02:04.760 --> 00:02:10.280
We're hopefully going to hit it right at it.
40
00:02:10.280 --> 00:02:13.000
Well, I did feel myself, I kind of pulled it a little bit.
41
00:02:13.000 --> 00:02:18.200
This is kind of early in the warm up, but overall it was a fairly good shot, it
42
00:02:18.200 --> 00:02:18.400
still
43
00:02:18.400 --> 00:02:22.480
would have hit the green, and it was a better, I felt more like I was hitting a
44
00:02:22.480 --> 00:02:23.040
shot on the
45
00:02:23.040 --> 00:02:26.360
course because I was aiming away from the pin rather than at it.
46
00:02:26.360 --> 00:02:29.490
If I had been aiming at it and hit that shot, I probably would have said, hey,
47
00:02:29.490 --> 00:02:29.720
that was
48
00:02:29.720 --> 00:02:31.320
a pretty good shot.
49
00:02:31.320 --> 00:02:37.220
So I want to get in the habit of aiming my drives away from just a specific
50
00:02:37.220 --> 00:02:38.200
spot, but
51
00:02:38.200 --> 00:02:44.810
I kind of think of a zone and with my irons especially, wedges are the one area
52
00:02:44.810 --> 00:02:45.080
where
53
00:02:45.080 --> 00:02:46.800
you probably will be aiming where it pins.
54
00:02:46.800 --> 00:02:50.520
So mid-irons, long-irons, hybrids, all those things I want to get used to
55
00:02:50.520 --> 00:02:51.640
aiming away from
56
00:02:51.640 --> 00:02:57.540
pins and the better I can get at it, the more I'm going to adjust my aim each
57
00:02:57.540 --> 00:02:58.360
shot.
58
00:02:58.360 --> 00:03:02.450
This will help and you're working more on transfer practice or skill building
59
00:03:02.450 --> 00:03:02.920
rather
60
00:03:02.920 --> 00:03:05.240
than just working on mechanics.
61
00:03:05.240 --> 00:03:11.000
So now let's do one at the right edge of the bunker pretending the pin is in
62
00:03:11.000 --> 00:03:11.920
the middle
63
00:03:11.920 --> 00:03:14.360
of the bunker.
64
00:03:14.360 --> 00:03:20.270
It looks like we got a little pull today, we'll see if we can work that out
65
00:03:20.270 --> 00:03:21.080
before we
66
00:03:21.080 --> 00:03:23.640
have to go to work or play.
1
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:09.080
This drill video is practice aiming away from pins.
2
00:00:09.080 --> 00:00:13.150
So I often have a conversation with my students, especially my term in golfers,
3
00:00:13.150 --> 00:00:14.380
when we're
4
00:00:14.380 --> 00:00:18.280
hitting on the range, or this is the scenario that triggers this conversation,
5
00:00:18.280 --> 00:00:18.600
we're hitting
6
00:00:18.600 --> 00:00:22.440
on the range and they're hitting good shot after good shot, maybe five or ten
7
00:00:22.440 --> 00:00:23.040
good shots
8
00:00:23.040 --> 00:00:26.630
in a row, the perfect ball flight they want, and then I say hey, you know what,
9
00:00:26.630 --> 00:00:27.200
let's just
10
00:00:27.200 --> 00:00:32.980
change targets, pick a spot over there, and then they hit a few bad ones.
11
00:00:32.980 --> 00:00:38.650
And so usually that reveals that we need to work on aiming, and one of the
12
00:00:38.650 --> 00:00:39.680
things that
13
00:00:39.680 --> 00:00:43.660
I'll segue that into is well, where do we want to aim?
14
00:00:43.660 --> 00:00:49.920
On the range, it's really easy to just get lazy and aim at pins.
15
00:00:49.920 --> 00:00:54.290
But the process, the conversation I usually have with the student is, okay,
16
00:00:54.290 --> 00:00:55.040
tournament
17
00:00:55.040 --> 00:00:58.280
golfer, how often do you aim at the pin on the golf horse?
18
00:00:58.280 --> 00:01:02.040
And I'll say never, and then I'll say on the range, how often do you aim at the
19
00:01:02.040 --> 00:01:02.480
pin?
20
00:01:02.480 --> 00:01:05.160
And they'll kind of smirk and say always.
21
00:01:05.160 --> 00:01:08.160
So we want to match what we're doing on the range with what we're doing on the
22
00:01:08.160 --> 00:01:08.680
course.
23
00:01:08.680 --> 00:01:13.880
So when you're getting into the aiming phase, or the aiming process with your
24
00:01:13.880 --> 00:01:14.400
shots on the
25
00:01:14.400 --> 00:01:19.880
range, I want you to start practicing aiming a specific distance away from a
26
00:01:19.880 --> 00:01:20.480
pin.
27
00:01:20.480 --> 00:01:26.740
So I've got the camera set up here, and there's a green pole in the middle of
28
00:01:26.740 --> 00:01:28.260
the range there.
29
00:01:28.260 --> 00:01:32.160
I'm going to practice, okay, this one I'm going to aim maybe one finger to the
30
00:01:32.160 --> 00:01:34.140
right of it.
31
00:01:34.140 --> 00:01:40.690
Or potentially I could do it in yards, or flag stick with whatever I want to
32
00:01:40.690 --> 00:01:41.480
use, but
33
00:01:41.480 --> 00:01:44.940
I'm going to practice picking targets that are specific distance away from the
34
00:01:44.940 --> 00:01:45.320
pin.
35
00:01:45.320 --> 00:01:51.240
I'm going to practice on this one, I'm going to spot a little bit to the right.
36
00:01:51.240 --> 00:01:53.780
We better not cheat the process.
37
00:01:53.780 --> 00:01:58.640
So there's my inner, got my aim, get my set up.
38
00:01:58.640 --> 00:02:04.760
So I'm looking just a little bit to the right, intermediate, all systems go.
39
00:02:04.760 --> 00:02:10.280
We're hopefully going to hit it right at it.
40
00:02:10.280 --> 00:02:13.000
Well, I did feel myself, I kind of pulled it a little bit.
41
00:02:13.000 --> 00:02:18.200
This is kind of early in the warm up, but overall it was a fairly good shot, it
42
00:02:18.200 --> 00:02:18.400
still
43
00:02:18.400 --> 00:02:22.480
would have hit the green, and it was a better, I felt more like I was hitting a
44
00:02:22.480 --> 00:02:23.040
shot on the
45
00:02:23.040 --> 00:02:26.360
course because I was aiming away from the pin rather than at it.
46
00:02:26.360 --> 00:02:29.490
If I had been aiming at it and hit that shot, I probably would have said, hey,
47
00:02:29.490 --> 00:02:29.720
that was
48
00:02:29.720 --> 00:02:31.320
a pretty good shot.
49
00:02:31.320 --> 00:02:37.220
So I want to get in the habit of aiming my drives away from just a specific
50
00:02:37.220 --> 00:02:38.200
spot, but
51
00:02:38.200 --> 00:02:44.810
I kind of think of a zone and with my irons especially, wedges are the one area
52
00:02:44.810 --> 00:02:45.080
where
53
00:02:45.080 --> 00:02:46.800
you probably will be aiming where it pins.
54
00:02:46.800 --> 00:02:50.520
So mid-irons, long-irons, hybrids, all those things I want to get used to
55
00:02:50.520 --> 00:02:51.640
aiming away from
56
00:02:51.640 --> 00:02:57.540
pins and the better I can get at it, the more I'm going to adjust my aim each
57
00:02:57.540 --> 00:02:58.360
shot.
58
00:02:58.360 --> 00:03:02.450
This will help and you're working more on transfer practice or skill building
59
00:03:02.450 --> 00:03:02.920
rather
60
00:03:02.920 --> 00:03:05.240
than just working on mechanics.
61
00:03:05.240 --> 00:03:11.000
So now let's do one at the right edge of the bunker pretending the pin is in
62
00:03:11.000 --> 00:03:11.920
the middle
63
00:03:11.920 --> 00:03:14.360
of the bunker.
64
00:03:14.360 --> 00:03:20.270
It looks like we got a little pull today, we'll see if we can work that out
65
00:03:20.270 --> 00:03:21.080
before we
66
00:03:21.080 --> 00:03:23.640
have to go to work or play.
Get Full Access
Unlock All Core Courses with Premium
Get access to this course plus all videos, drills, and progress tracking.
Best value: $29.95/month or $229/year
Discussions
Course Progress
Sign in
to track your progress