13. When there is no ball in the way we focus our attention on the swing.
When the ball is sat there in front of us, we now focus on the ball.
Two different mindsets give us two different swing outcomes.

Any golfer knows that the practice swing is easy and that the problems start when we set up to the ball.

Well here is a great practice drill to help combat the problem. First of all though, why do we have this problem? To sum it up very short and sweet, when there is no ball in the way we focus our attention on the swing. When the ball is sat there in front of us, we now focus all our attention on the ball and the hoped for result.
Two different mindsets give us two different swing outcomes.

So we have to find a way of making that wonderful fluid, flowing practice swing but with the ball in the equation also. The following drill does just that and I would recommend that everyone gives it a go. The only downside to the exercise is that you can only do it properly with half swings and a shortish iron for reasons I will tell you of shortly. However the feedback or experience from the drill can be applied to a full swing.

So here we go. Get 30 or 40 practice balls and set a target up at no more than 60 yards distance. Then proceed to play every shot without looking for a single result until you have hit all the balls. I must emphasise, no looking until all the balls are hit. As you play the shots, try to assess your results through the feeling of your swing. It does not matter if the results are short or long. What does matter is that you learn to focus on swing feeling whilst playing a ball. The reason why the drill will not work with a full swing is because the follow through position would bring your head up to face the target when you would consequently see the ball and a result. This ultimately leads into the bias of too much focus on ball and result - the very thing we are trying to counteract.

Practice this drill regularly and you will begin to replace your existing (ball focused) swing with what feels more like your practice swing technique on the ball. The confidence to do it will come in time bringing with it big improvement in your consistency and performance along  with a swing that will produce more in the way of  "Effortless power" rather than "Powerless effort"