In general, do professional golfers aim farther left and right than the rest of us?
I ask this for a two reasons. First is my attempting to understand the D plane.
Second, I'm reminded of Jack Nicklaus's strategy in his book where he says he typically aims 20' left of a pin/target and tries to hit a 10' fade. Hit is straight, he's got a 20 footer for birdie. Hit it perfectly and he's got a 10 footer, push it and he's got a tap in.
This intrigues me because the pros (and good ams) almost always have the ball moving toward the hole. The rest of us seem to have the ball moving away from the target. I know that with the players I usually play with this is true. Even guys who are decent ball-strikers rarely start the ball online and work it toward the target. Way more often, a ball is started toward the target and works away from it.
Is there a mental hang up with us that makes us start the ball at the target? Do we think we are better than we are? Are we embarassed about how far we really have to aim to play our shot? Or is it just all because we don't fully understand the D plane?
Thoughts?
Even in putting, the (pro) miss is on the high side of the hole. A chip shot you are trying to leave below the hole for an easier putt would be an exception, but you get the idea
I think that it comes down to the face, especially since your average am always aims the face at the target (because that's what we've always been told to do). If the clubface is pointed at the target at impact, then the only way it will work toward the target is if the path matches it, and you get a dead straight shot. I was never able to move the ball toward the target, especially with a fade, until I stopped aiming the clubface at the target.
There may also be the psychological element of "what if I hit it straight?" The worst feeling is to stand up over a shot and not really know what it's going to do. In a situation like that, you're not going to be comfortable aiming way off the target, because you're scared that the ball won't curve, and you'll shoot where you're pointed. So the subconscious (or even conscious) decision is to not aim too far away from the target, in case you hit that miraculous straight shot.
I believe that most good players have the awareness and the hands to swing in such a way that the ball starts away from the target and moves toward it, even if they have the wrong intellectual concept of the ballflight laws. That intuitive sense of where the face is in relation to the hands, and the ability to use that relationship to create the spin and trajectory that they want, is what separates them from the rest of us, just like some people would never be a dead-eye jump shooter, no matter how many hours they put in. But understanding how face and path interact to produce a certain ballflight, even if it's just a rudimentary understanding, gives you a chance at producing the ballflight you want, if you can apply that knowledge, IMO.
