Thanks for joining me for the next Golf State of Mind eLesson. I hope you are feeling like this course is giving you a better understanding of the power your mind plays in golf and that there is a structured path for this mental conditioning.
In my opinion putting is an almost pure mental game. If you can learn to develop (and stick to) a solid routine and simultaneously improve your powers of visualization and feel, there is nothing preventing you from becoming a very good putter. The aim of this lesson is to show you how to do it.
With putting we don’t have anywhere near the physical demands of the long and short game. The beauty of this, is that there is no reason that you can’t putt as well as the best players in the world. If you can learn to get as focused as they do, learn how to read greens and implement a visual and feel based approach, you can make this a reality.
Putting is also where scores are made and lost. If you are an 18 handicapper and you make 36 putts a round (2 per hole) this represents 40% of your total number of strokes. For this reason, doesn’t it make sense to spend 40% of your practice time here? Most of us know that the short game and putting is the area that requires most attention, but very few of us decide to dedicate as much time to this as we do on the long game. With putting being such a big contributor to our scores, learning the right way to practice and approach each putt will have a huge effect on lowering our scores and give us a greater satisfaction from the game.
Learning a solid pre-shot routine to putting is a key part of my Golf State of Mind Teaching will reduce doubt and increase commitment and focus, generally leading to lower scores.
To summarize:
1) Get the fundamentals right and use your routine to ensure these are correct everytime. The most important things to think about here are having a light grip pressure and a consistent ball position (typically just inside your left heel).
2) Be very decisive about the read. When you are over the ball, second guessing yourself will result in a poorly executed putt. You want to be certain that you see the same line over the ball as you did from behind.
3) See the ball go in the hole in your mind. I find it best to do this during my practice strokes which helps me feel the speed and allows me to rehearse the putt. Make the number of practice strokes exactly the same before EVERY shot.
4) Align yourself to a spot within 1 ft of the ball. This means that your focus is on the direction you want to the ball to travel in the first 2-3 feet of the putt. This will make you less likely to focus on the ball’s final target and come out of your posture leading to a mis-hit putt.
5) Make a solid strike on the ball. At this point you can have 100% trust that your mind has all the information it needs to allow your body to make a good putt.
If you can do all these things during your routine, you will have hit a good putt whatever the outcome.
The most important factor in putting well is visualizing and committing to a line. Only you know how hard you are going to hit it, so only you can determine the the line you are going to hit it on. Reading the slopes and understanding how different grasses affect the putt will simply come with experience. The body performs better when the mind is focusing on visual images, instead of words or technical instructions. Developing acute visualization of the ball rolling on its line into the hole will give your body all the information it needs to execute a putt well. The more intense your focus is on the line and the greater your commitment to it, the better you will putt.
The best players in the world believe they will hole every putt (and why not?). If you have read any motivational books about the secrets of successful people, it is having a very positive image of this success that typically differentiates them from people who do not achieve it.You need to start believing you are a good putter and convincing yourself of a positive visual outcome before you strike the golf ball.
If you think about lagging it to the hole, you will miss more putts. I’m not saying you need to be so aggressive that you blow every putt 6 ft by, but always focus on making it. We need a vivid a picture of the ball following its line and dying into the cup. Be so precise that you see the side of the cup the ball will drop in. Seeing it go in a couple of times will increase your confidence and give you a far greater chance of making it. Use this mental imagery to feel the speed with your practice strokes, which will pre-set the right tempo. Then let the subconscious mind take over and concentrate on a solid strike.
Accepting the result, whatever the outcome is the final step. Releasing the past and staying in the present moment is a key to success in golf. Focusing on at least one positive of a shot instead of dwelling on mistakes will breed confidence in your game and help you with future shots.
As Jack Nicklaus once said:
“I’ve never missed a putt in my mind.”
Brad Faxon, one of the best putters the World has ever seen, talks about this in the video below:
Overtime, this process will no doubt lead to better putting, greater confidence and lower scores.
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