"Everybody can get better on 15 minutes per day."
"You can even get better on 5 minutes per day."
Tom Tucker, Unrenowned Golf Coach 😄
Tom's Featured Tip: Is "Feel" Real?
Lesson Comments: What Students Have To Say
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Is "Feel" Real?
The Best Training Aid For Indoor or Outdoor Practice
The Divot Board
This is the most useful ball striking development training aid that I own.
Is "Feel" Real?
For simplicity, all advice on actual swings or drills is provided from a right handed perspective.
Is your "feel" lying to you?
Ever hit one and know it was off the toe… only to watch it fly pin-high?
Or the opposite: you “flushed” it… and the ball lands 12 yards short?
We all live in that gap between what we think happened and what actually happened. The question is: does that gap shrink as you get better?
A really interesting study by Philip Herder and Luke Benoit (International Journal of Golf Science, 2022) looked at how accurately golfers can estimate what just happened based on feel alone, and how does that change with skill level? The Setup
They brought in 49 golfers ranging from scratch-ish to 35 handicap and had them hit 20 shots with a 7-iron indoors. Here’s the twist: no visual feedback. Projector off. Launch monitor screen covered. Computer screen covered. They were just hitting into a net without able to see ball flight or any feedback from the launch monitor.
After every shot, each golfer had to guess:
- Where they struck the face (toe/heel and high/low)
- Carry distance
- How far left/right the ball finished (offline dispersion)
What they found (the part that should change your practice)
As skill improved (lower handicap), “feel” got a lot better for two things:
- Strike location (toe/heel and high/low)
This was the strongest relationship. The better the player, the closer they were at identifying where they hit the face (especially toe vs heel).
In their stats, the relationship between handicap and horizontal strike estimation error was strong (r = 0.675). Vertical strike estimation was also meaningful (r = 0.534).
Translation: better players aren’t just hitting it more centered… they’re more aware of where they hit it.
- Carry distance
Better players were also more accurate estimating how far the ball carried (r = 0.428). Not as strong as strike location, but still real.
Now here’s the surprising one…
- Offline direction (left/right finish) DID NOT improve with skill
Handicap had basically no meaningful relationship with how accurately players estimated how far offline the ball finished (r = 0.114).
That’s surprising, right?
It suggests that without seeing ball flight, it’s really hard to figure out if “I pulled it” or “that’s going right”… even for good players.
If you’re trying to improve, feedback is everything. And most golfers don’t realize they’re often practicing with bad feedback.
- If you can’t accurately sense strike, you might make the wrong adjustment.
- If you can’t estimate carry well, you’ll misjudge your gapping and your club selection.
- And if you think you can feel direction, you may chase fixes that don’t match reality.
And it also hints at what’s harder to train: knowing your offline direction seems to depend heavily on being able to actually see the ball flight. Without that, the brain fills in blanks… confidently… and incorrectly.
What you should do when you practice (simple, measurable, effective)
Here are two drills that turn “feel” from a guess into a skill.
- The Strike-Call Challenge (10 minutes)
You need impact spray, impact tape, a dry-erase marker (or a launch monitor that can measure this).- Hit 10–20 shots.
- Before you look at the face, call it: toe/heel and high/low.
- Then check the strike.
Keep score. Literally: “How many did I call correctly?”
Do this twice a week and you’ll start building what I call a feel library: what sounds/feels match up to where you hit it on the face? Keep practicing this, and you will improve your sense of feel. To make this game even better, intentionally try to hit a specific part of the face, and before you check, guess where it actually hit on the face.
- Call Your Carry (and disregard grading yourself on total distance)
On the range, most golfers fall into a trap: they judge shots by where the ball ends up (roll included), and then wonder why their on-course yardages are inconsistent.
Instead:- Pick a target with a known distance (this is much easier with a launch monitor).
- After each shot, call your carry before checking it.
- Track your error (e.g., “My guess was +6 yards… then -4… then +2”).
Because better golf isn’t “always hit it great.” It’s “know what happened and choose the right response.”
Herder and Benoit’s study is a reminder that improvement isn’t only about mechanics. It’s also about perception… and great players tend to have better perception of the things that matter most: strike and carry.
Spray the face, call your strike location on the face, and improve your feel and your ball striking!
Try it, you'll really like it!
Email Comments: to TomTuckerGolf@gmail.com
Mike Bennett and Andy Plummer, The Stack and Tilt Swing
Love your practice, own your swing, own your health, and remember that golf is a game of discovery. Don't be afraid to experiment when you practice, it's good for your golfing brain.
Tom
Golf Lessons
I am now conducting lessons at The Batavia Country Club
Lessons are available for all ages and skill levels, please contact
me - Tom Tucker - at (716) 474 3005 or email me at TomTuckerGolf@gmail.com
for more information.
Outdoor Lessons Details and Rates:
Outdoor Lessons Details and Rates
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Sponsors and Affiliates
Buying a sponsored product through any of my affiliate links helps support this free newsletter, and I only affiliate with excellent products that I use myself. Thanks, Tom
Batavia Country Club (585) 343-7600 www.bataviacc.com
Great rates, the best greens in WNY.
Golf Digest Four Star rating for public courses to play in New York State.
Tee times online or by phone in season.
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All the best,
Tom Tucker
Teaching Professional, Batavia Country Club
WGTF ' "Top 100 Golf Teacher"
USGTF Class "A" Teaching Professional
IGPA Certified Golf Psychology Coach
Cell: (716) 474-3005
Email: TomTuckerGolf@gmail.com
http://www.TomTuckerGolf.com
"There are no substitutes in the quest for perfection1"
~ Ben Hogan