Aim

After a mini bar-crawl a friend and I found ourselves flinging darts in Howell's Bar with a couple regulars. Having had a dart board in my dining room throughout college I consider my self better than average, I didn't expect to go 17 - triple 17 - 19 in my first round. For each toss I would stare intently on the hole that I wanted the dart to plug into. Thoughts of arm movements, plane, and speed never entered into my process.  When I missed my target my focus had invariably slipped to and area or color rather than a definitive hole.

Aiming is more than a step in your pre-shot routine, aiming is the intentional focus on a target. Think of a sniper, if he aimed his rifle and proceed to look at the trigger while he fired; how accurate could he be? In golf we look down at the ball but our focus must be on the mental image of our target. Deep focus on the target frees up the body to make an athletic turn back and through the ball.  Ice Hockey provides a great example of a target focused movement;  NHLers stare down their target as they fire slap shots. Here Alex Ovechkin is about to reach impact and his aim is clearly not the puck.

Do you think he cares what position his right arm is in during the backswing?

When practicing or playing remember the goal is where you aim not the ball; free your mind from the sight of the ball and imagine your target while in mid-swing. Your backswing and follow through will become more free flowing and connected.

ppms