For any golfer who wants to play great golf
Putting
TPI Friday Fix: Green Reading
Mar 27th
Titleist Performance Institute put out an excellent video that includes some excellent green reading strategies. There is a lot to digest but it makes a lot of sense.
Here are the steps outlined in the video:
Read the rest of this entry »
2 Excellent articles from Eben Dennis
Feb 22nd
Take a look at these two articles. One is on putting and the other is on grip for improving your short game.
Improve your putting with the Nick Faldo-tested thumb pointing drill
A firm-and-gentle grip will improve your short game
Eben Dennis is a teaching professional based in McKinney, Texas. His students include PGA Tour players such as Nick Faldo, Billy Mayfair, Robert Gamez and Shaun Micheel; collegiate golfers; amateurs and beginners. He is the author of “Power Feel Golf: Your Path to Great Golf.” To learn more about the book and its DVD companion piece, click here. Eben learned golf at Champions Golf Club while growing up in Houston, where he received tips from Jackie Burke, Jimmy Demaret, Ben Hogan, Julius Boros and Bruce Crampton. He attended Florida State on a full golf scholarship and played professionally in the U.S. and Australia.
Review: Aaron Baddeley: Putting from seeitgolf
Feb 3rd
Aaron Baddeley:Putting from seeitgolf is unlike any putting video you have seen. It is designed to replace the images of doubt and failure and replace them with success and confidence.
This video is intended to be used both in a 30 day training program as well as before rounds of golf. The idea is that by watching perfectly executed putts free of distractions you build in your mind solid images of success and visualization you can call upon on the golf course. It is intended to be viewed on a portable video player like an iPod, iPod touch, an iPhone or any other portable video player.
The putts are beautifully shot using 4 RED cameras. These cameras record at a very high resolution and are known for fantastic images. Read the rest of this entry »
Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda – The Importance of Putting
Dec 22nd
Steve Stricker would have made an additional 2.3 million dollars this past year if he holed 1 more putt each event that he played.
That is staggering. Can you imagine that? 2.3 million dollars MORE if he had made just one more putt in each event he played.
That is the importance of putting. How much would you work on your putting if that was the payoff?
Keys to Putting well on fast greens
Nov 17th
Key number 1. Try to leave the easiest putt
One of the keys to putting well on fast greens is to leave yourself in the best positions on the green. This does not mean that you need to hit it within 5 feet every time, it means understanding the contours of the green around the pin.
I would much rather have a 15 foot uphill putt with relatively little break, than an 8 footer down a steep hill. On a fast green it is nearly impossible to get the downhill putt to stop especially if it has any side break to it.
There’s a reason when you watch the PGA tour on TV the announcers are always making a comment on when a player leaves the putt below the hole. It is simply a much easier putt to execute. Leaving it below the hole allows you to be more aggressive because the slope works in favor. It will slow down quicker as it nears the hole. Because you can hit it harder, you can also play for less break.
Key number 2. Soft hands, light grip pressure
4 Keys to a great round today
Nov 1st
Just got back from upstate NY where I got to play one of my favorite courses, Orchard Creek in Altamont, NY. I had a 77 on a tough, very wet course. Drives were only rolling about a foot, and the rough was pretty wet. The sand in the bunkers was heavy. The greens were still fast as usual though. Things I learned during this round:
1) Putting Speed
The best way I’ve found to control my speed on fast greens is with a stroke that is short on the backswing and long on the forward swing. With this stroke my speed was not only much better but the roll was truer. I marked my golf balls with alignment lines and I was amazed at how true my putts were rolling with that end over end roll. Although unfortunately I didn’t have any short birdie putts, I was able to make plenty of long (10+ feet) putts for par which went a long way toward saving the score.
2) Reading the Line
Today’s Round
Oct 30th
I shot a 78 even though I only hit 6 greens and had 31 putts.
It was a good round though. I hit the ball very solid. I had a lot of good tee shots leaving me with wedges into the greens. Most of my misses came on the approach shots. I flew a few greens from 125 yards and in, since I’m still getting used to hitting the ball at bit further (even with the colder weather) so my distances are not totally dialed in. I had a couple of nice birdies and just had a good round overall. My putting can definitely improve and that’s something I’m going to work on. I also need to get a bit more accurate with my irons, especially the short irons. Getting into the mid and low seventies is going to be a challenge but I’m definitely looking forward to spending more time in the seventies. I feel like I’m getting to know the game better and that I can score well even when I’m not hitting a lot of greens. I feel like I’m becoming a better scrambler though of course I would prefer to hit more greens. I’m confident that will happen. My main miss is a pull when I get bit quick but I’m begining to more consistently hit nice baby draws.
Putting: Make it look like it has a chance to go in
Oct 4th
I want to talk about visualizing putts. Lately I hadn’t felt like I was seeing lines well. I had the speed down pretty well based on my previous post about putting. And I have continued using that technique. However, I’ve been missing a number of putts recently.
I tried something today that seemed to help a lot and as a result I saw the lines much better.
I was thinking that whenever I’ve seen the pros putt that it looks like every putt has a chance to go in. They don’t tend to miss by very much. If I look at my past misses, I could say that a small number of those putts looked like they had a chance to go in, but the majority did not. And it wasn’t that they were so off, they weren’t. In fact I missed a lot of those putts by maybe an inch or two on either side,or hit them short, or long, but they didn’t really look like they had a chance to go in.
So I tried something new. My putting thought was this: “Make the putt look like it has a chance to go in.” It doesn’t mean that it has to go in, only that it looks like it has a chance to go in. I hit the practice putting green, and my objective was to have every putt look like it had a chance to go in.
How to Make More Putts
Sep 18th
In “Zen Putting: Mastering the Mental Game on the Greens”, Dr. Joseph Parent redefines making a putt. He putts it this way, if you started your putt on the line you intended, at the speed you intended, then you made your putt. This is important becuase it takes pressure away from holing the putt, and paradoxically leads to holing more putts.
Two rounds ago I took about 34 putts. For comparison the average PGA tour player will take about 30 putts per round. In my latest round, I only needed 27 putts. That’s a big difference. So how did that happen?
I have found that applying Dr. Parent’s definition of making putts is very helpful. It gets you focusing on the quality of your process. Getting comfortable with this method should help especially in higher pressure situations. If you become accustomed to focusing on the process it will release some of the pressure. Once I have picked out my line, I find that the most important thing is to get the speed right. This comes from trusting your feel.
In my putting practice lately I have focused on feeling the right speed on the practice stroke, and repeating my practice stroke when actually putting a ball. It has lessened the need to hit it harder, or to ease up on it. And has made it much easier to putt consistently. As you begin to trust your ability to fel the right speed, you begin to feel less pressure. Here is why.
Trusting your insticts
Sep 15th
When it comes to putting I think as amateurs we often don’t trust our instincts. When I’m putting poorly my speed is off. But what happens is that I will take some practice strokes that feel right, but when it’s time to actually putt, I won’t trust my initial practice strokes and I’ll either hit it harder than I need to or not give it enough juice.
Today I set out to reproduce my practice strokes. And my speed was pretty much right on all day. I think though this is one of those habits that just needs time. It takes time to trust your instincts. At least for me it does. But I think in the long run this will be a key to reaching scratch.
