Good Putting.com

Balance your body during the full swing

Golf experts do agree on something.  It’s not possible to play a good stroke if your balance isn’t maintained throughout the swing.  Keeping your balance sounds pretty simple.  But it’s nigh impossible when you have a death grip on the club, your arms and shoulders are stiff and you’re trying to hit the ball with every ounce of strength can muster.

Beginners are often warned to not try to hit the ball so hard.  A little energy well directed and smoothly applied will drive the ball father than a monstrous effort that ends up not connecting the ball at the center of the club.  If you’re balanced, you have more freedom when hitting the ball.

You want to keep your head in one spot, your eyes on the ball clearly.  Actually the steadier you keep your head in one spot, the better you see the ball.  This is all part of creating your foundation of balance.  Anything that tips you off balance makes it impossible to see the ball clearly.  You must keep your head still and not move it from the spot in which you start.

You can’t have your body rigid and your muscles tensed if you’re wanting to maintain your balance. Unless you relax your muscles, your head is going to move.

Practice in front of a mirror and you will see that your muscles really do need to be relaxed in order for you to keep your head still during a swing.  No two people have the same frame or physique.  So you have to work out some things for yourself.  But always start with the foundation of keeping your head in one position. If your head is still, you can see the ball clearly and you will turn your hands at the right instant.

Just by keeping your head perfectly still you’ll correct a lot of faults.  You can’t grip your club incorrectly without at some point disturbing your balance and moving your head.

And you can’t keep your balance unless you follow through correctly.

If your mind is concentrated on keeping your balance and keeping your head still, you won’t overswing or jerk your club away.  You won’t put forth too much effort forth at any one point.  You won’t be stiff and you’ll have a smooth, even rhythm to your swing and a nice finish.

Balance really is the cure-all for many faults of golf. It takes time before you see improvement, so be patient.  Think about keeping your head still and maintaining your balance at all times and you will have a foundation for an excellent golf game.

An example of poor balance during the golf swing

Relaxing is the key to good putting

When you’re on , you’re on.  The world is your oyster.  When you’re off… well, it seems even a preschooler has more of a chance to get the ball in the hole than you do.

You’d swear you have the same stance, the same putter, the same “feel” as the times you made the shot easily.  What happened?

Is putting merely a game of luck?

Not a chance.  It may seem that there’s no real key to putting successfully.  And granted, putting isn’t an exact science.

But if you’re having a poor game due to putting problems, it all can be summed up in one simple word.

Tension.

The more you relax your muscles during your putting, the more accurate your shots will be.

You make the game hard for yourself when you stiffen your muscles.  The basis of good putting, as with all other shots, is absolute relaxation of the muscles.  Fluid movement allows for perfect freedom and play.  If you’re trying to brace yourself to keep your balance, you’re courting disaster.

When you’re putting well, your movement is free and your confidence high.  The second you miss an easy putt, you become anxious and brace yourself to try more carefully.  The more you brace yourself, the worse the tension in your body becomes.  Consequently, your putting suffers.

You can change putters, change your stance, and mimic every pro player you’ve ever watched.  But it all comes down to loosening up.  Make your muscles go flabby and limp, loose and free.  Pretend your muscles are jelly.

Tension kills good shots.  When you furrow your brow and set your muscles in a rigid fashion, you lose the freedom necessary in successful putting.  Now you may make several shots in a row, but the time will come that no matter what you try, nothing seems to work.  That’s the time to gelatin-ize your body.  Relax your whole body as if you’re about to fall to the ground.  (But stay standing!)

The extra bonus here is that as you use this method of relaxation and putt more successfully, your confidence will increase and you’ll be even more relaxed on the green.

Loosening those muscles really is the magic bullet when it comes to putting!

The majority of the game of golf is putting - pure and simple.

It looks so easy - rolling that little ball into a nearby hole.  But mastering the skill has threatened many a golfer’s sanity.

Here are a few quick tips to help improve your putting skills this year.

• When practicing use one ball instead of your whole bag.  This is what really happens on the course so practice this way.

• Lock your wrists.  When holding your putter your palms face each other.  This prevents one hand from being dominant over another.  Your wrists should have no movement at all.

• Make sure you’re totally relaxed before you strike the ball.  Your muscles should have no tension in them at all.  All the work should be done with a rotation around your shoulders.

• Make sure your follow through is longer than your backstroke.  This ensures that you are accelerating through contact with your ball.

• Relax your knees a little.  Don’t lock up.  Think of an athletic stance because you are doing an athletic activity.

• Your heels should be shoulder-width apart.  This gives you a nice stable base to putt from.

• Your body should be parallel to the line you have chosen not pointing toward the hole.

• Always accelerate through ball.

• Make sure you get the ball to the hole.  No putt was ever made that came up short.  Besides if you putt past the hole you can watch the ball very closely and you will know what the line is.

• Practice your putt at home on your carpet by putting to a coin.  The smaller the coin the better.

• Find a putter that you like and stick with it.  It usually is not the putter that is the problem.

• Challenge yourself at every hole.  Make something up so that when the pressure is on you are ready to perform.

Keep your head and body still during your putting stroke. Without keeping your head and body still you will be inconsistent at best, and have very little chance of making any putts.

Keeping your head still will reduce tension in your shoulders and neck and give you a more fluid swing. Your shoulders will naturally swing around your neck with your head still. This is a loose and tension free swing. If your head is moving there will be additional tension in your swing and this will lead to inconsistent putts.

Also what did every coach tell you when you were young? It did not matter if it was baseball, football, soccer, or golf, what did they tell you? Keep your eye on the ball. With head movement it is difficult to keep your eye on the ball. So keep it still and you will have more consistent putting, and better scores.

Keeping your body still will again reduce inconsistent putting and increase your putting ability. We have spoken about forming a triangle with your shoulders and hands. This triangle hinges on your neck and swings around it. Your body stays still, especially your lower body. There is no need to give extra movement. Extra movement leads to extra putts and higher scores.

The more simple your putting stroke is the more consistent it will be. With practice your putting will get better and better. Without a consistent swing no matter how much practice you do you will not improve your putting.

Ninety percent of golf is mental. Oh heck, make that 95%! Arnold Palmer stated, “The toughest 6 inches in the game of golf is between a player’s ears”.
The fastest way to lower your score is to master the ability to focus.
Most golfers tend to think they must practice more, find a new instructor, buy more videos, get the swing right, change those clubs. But one of the often overlooked and most important mental aspects of the game is focus.
Now you want to make sure you focus on the result you want. In golf the shot is determined by your level of concentration. You’ve likely just rushed right in and played shots without concentrating. No wonder the ball ended up going haywire!
It’s better to make ten focused swings than 100 quick, thoughtless ones. Your swing will naturally break down when you’re fatigued. So be sure to take a break when you’re practicing. Brain breaks give your mind and body a chance to implement what you’re learning.
One way to practice the art of focusing is to light a candle and stare into the flame, only thinking of the flame. Every time your mind starts to move to any other thought, bring it back to the flame. Think of the dancing orange colors, how they melt inside of each other.
The first time you do this, you might be hard -pressed to last for 3 minutes. Work up to 20 minutes, and your ability to focus on anything will have improved immensely. You’ll be able to take this enhanced skill to the golf course.
When you’re playing, just think about the next shot. During down time, allow your mind to relax and wander for a few minutes. Don’t try to concentrate the entire game, or you’ll get very fatigued, very quickly. Save the mental workout for thoughtful shot decisions and center on what shot you’re going to play next.
Also, keep your cool and behave in an emotionally controlled manner. You will perform more effectively. In the great game of golf, emotions soar and fall quickly. You can go from totally happy to totally ticked off in no time at all. In fact, the feeling of anger is actually a series of reactions that happen in just 1/30th of a second.
Stop it at the first spark. The important thing is to figure out what is really making you angry. Think of the grand scheme of life and how today is just a speck. Your golf game is a speck on a speck. It helps to minimize the situation and look at the big picture of what’s really important in life.
Master the mental art of focus, and you’ve got 95% of the game of golf all figured out!