I'm a low single-digit handicap and trusting the spinning direction of the ball as to whether I am slicing, hooking or hitting straight is like trusting a politician - never as advertised.
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So, the question is, should one practice impact location (sweet spot) precision directly or not?
There are opinions that one should not directly focus on trying to hit the ball with the centre of the club face. That is no doubt a valuable instruction when somebody is chasing a good result on a golf course. At that time one should be completely target oriented, means focused on a place where the ball is supposed to land. However, playing golf and working on your golf swing are two different things. So, what about when you practice, work on your swing? Should you focus on directly trying to hit the ball with the sweet spot in order to improve your club face impact location?
Surprisingly, there can't be much found by googling about this particular topic. Nevertheless, not so long ago I was confronted with a view of a golf pro that was against such direct impact location precision practice. His view was that it all becomes too complicated if you directly target the ball. One should practice body, arms, legs, club positions, and then, a good solid impact will automatically develop. But will it?
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There are many studies that show some moves or features of the golf swing that are supposed to be common to all great golfers. However it seems you can always find a swing that is exception to the rule. Showing that these rules are not absolute. At least in classic golf game, where precision is the main point.
For example, here is a video that shows some of the weirdest swings in professional golf that go against almost any rule out there of a so called standard golf swing. Amongst them Jim Furyk's and Eamonn Darcy's "chicken wing" swing, Jim Thorpe's helicopter follow-through, and, Josh Broadaway's cross handed swing!
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