How do the eyes influence the swing?

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How do the eyes influence the swing?  

  By: David M on Feb. 24, 2020, 9:46 a.m.

I'll try to be brief. I've noticed while chipping, my contact was a little heavy. In experimenting, I advanced my gaze in front of the ball with a noticeable improvement in contact with the ball. My focus [gaze] in front of the ball was 6 inches or more in front of the ball not only was contact better , but, the mechanics and ease of the chipping motion improved. My question is to your knowledge has there been any research or investigation on how the focus of the eyes influences the mechanics and or quality of the swing/contact? There was a brief mention of this in a video Gary McCord did talking about his learning from Mac O'Grady and Morad but that's as secretive as Red China. Thanks

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Re: How do the eyes influence the swing?  

  By: Tyler F on Feb. 24, 2020, 7:08 p.m.

+David M I can't say it's something I've studied intently. But it has come up a number of times in classes I've attended. The phrase that comes up the most is the "quiet eye". The quiet eye is a gaze in which the eyes hold a position and focus. But, the key is to understand the difference between Look and See.

Looking at something is what we do when we read something. It's a narrow focus. See is the quiet eye that we want in sports. It's a wider field.

*** Drill: A good way to train it is to hold your eyes on an object and see what other objects you can identify without moving your eyes. This is great to do in environments you haven't been to before. Like a new store or something.

Where you put your gaze isn't well studied. I've heard two pros answer the question, "I have no idea where I'm looking" Anyway, it sounds like you found a spot to gaze that helps with your mechanics. I'd keep playing testing that spot and see if it continues to work for you!

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