Never hit the ball until you know where it is going says Paul Thornley, PGA Pro
The first step to playing fantastic golf is realising that there is an essential part to the game that has been there since the first round was ever played in the Scottish Highlands.
That essential part, the vital thing to remember at all times, is the intended line to the target, from the ball to the hole or the fairway - now commonly known as the ‘target line’.
PGA Professional Paul Thornley, creator of the unique indoor golf swing practice aid Targetline (http://www.targetline.co.uk) grew up in Surrey and as a member of Richmond Golf Club he got to play with the Stage Golfing Society, a body made up of members involved in theatre, film, television or radio. He was lucky enough to play several games with world snooker champion Cliff Thorburn, a very warm and highly interesting character with possibly the strongest competitive nature Paul had ever encountered.
Paul says: “Cliff was incredibly difficult to beat and he played off two. As a 16 year old I was a scratch golfer but still I found Cliff a tremendous challenge on the course. Over the three or four years we played together we had several conversations about concentration. Cliff explained that during his youth in Canada he was involved in matches where the players were competing for prizes worth thousands of dollars and because of this, every single shot counted.”
Paul recalls one conversation with the world snooker champion distinctly. Having lost yet another game to Cliff, he asked him what made him so competitive. Paul says: “I wanted to know why it was that he holed so many putts just when he needed them and I was also interested to know how putting and golf related to snooker. His answer was perfectly simple and it was at that point that I realised the importance of the target line.”
Cliff told Paul that he would never, ever hit a shot until he knew where it was going; it was as simple as that. Whether he was playing golf or snooker, he would never make a pass at the ball or attempt to hit it until he was absolutely convinced that he knew where it was going. He was meticulous; always knowing in his mind where the ball was going to end up.
Paul concludes: “That is the crucial lesson that I learned and focused on all the way through my golfing career, and it is the lesson that I share with all my pupils when I’m teaching golf. If you want to turn your game around from this point onwards then bear in mind those words that Cliff Thorburn told me: never hit the ball until you know where it is going.”
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