Jul
23
2008
Do you ever get those really long putts? Like 75 feet or more? Yeah I know it is crazy long, and you have to swing your putter way to long to make a proper putt. So what do you do?
Play it just like a chip shot. Open up your stance a little bit (to the left if you are right handed). Play the ball a little further back in your stance. Not extremely far back but only two balls further back than normal. And use your chipping stoke.
Opening the stance up will allow you to make a little longer backstroke and give it a little more pop than normal. It will also involve your body a little more with the stroke.
How much further? Just as much as a normal chip. Practice a few times and you will see that it makes those long long long putts a little easier.
Jul
16
2008
Playing with a young player who was struggling during a recent round I noticed something that I have not yet addressed here.
I have talked about the 40-60 swing where the back swing should be about 40% of the total swing and the follow through should be about 60% of the swing. I personally exaggerate this even more giving it about a 20-80 swing. But that was just a simple quick problem to fix.
The big problem with the young man was that because he was using a longer backstroke than a follow through he was not accelerating through the ball. Now I don’t want to imply that with a putt you should accelerate through the ball like a full stroke, but you should have a steady acceleration to promote a longer follow through than backstroke. It is quite a simple step that will improve your putting stoke.
This may be one of the biggest faults in amateurs golf strokes. But it is also the most simple to fix. Try a longer follow through. The only way to achieve this is to accelerate through the putting stroke.
May
01
2008
How do you get the feel for really long putts? Try tossing a ball underhanded and let it roll to the hole. This same movement that you use to underhand the ball to the hole is the same force and movement that you need to swing the putter. It is a simple little drill to get your distances down.
Now what if you have a putt that is so long that you putting stroke is becoming uncomfortable? It will happen from time to time. The putting stroke is only meant to go so far. If you are uncomfortable making a putting stroke use a chipping motion.
Open your stance up slightly and play the ball off your back foot. Swing the putter as if you are playing a bump and run, or use your usual chipping motion. Concentrate on delivering the putter square to the line that you want the ball to start on.
With extreamly long putts don’t worry too much about the line. What you want to think of is the underhanded toss. You are not really going to look at the line and try to figure out where the ball is going to break. All you do is toss the ball in the general direction of the hole and hope it ends up close. With putting we are not going to hope it ends up close, instead we are going to putt the ball in the general direction that we think the putt should go. Instead we are going to concentrate on the distance of the ball. I like to say “we are just going to throw it up there and see what happens” Again back to the underhanded toss. The mentality and the action are all the same.
Good luck and let us know how things are going. We would love to hear from you.
Apr
23
2008
Do you remember that one day that you had the best round of your life? Remember that day? Remember that day that you played and didn’t think about your score for the first 12 holes and then realized that you were on pace to have the best round of your life?
Of course you do, everyone remembers that one great round. But do you remember what you did to have that great round? If you don’t you should try to use a journal.
Many pros have used journaling after practice sessions, played rounds, and tournaments for a long time. That is one of the things that separates them from amateurs. They keep track of every little thing. Wind, temperature, playing conditions, feelings, equipment, they keep track of everything. When they have a good round they can look back and see why they had that good round. When they are in a slump they can look at their journal and see what they were doing before to get out of it. When they want to analyze their game they have a manual to do so.
If you want to get better you should get a journal too. Write down what you have done in your round. Write down what you have done for practice. How did you feel, what were the conditions, what is the shape of your equipment, what ball did you use, everything. Just journal everything at first, you will figure out what to write and what not to write before too long.
If you want to know what a journal can do for you check out the most famous journal in golf, Harvey Penick’s Little Red Book: Lessons and Teachings from a Lifetime in Golf
. The story goes that he had a red notebook with him everywhere he went. He wrote down every teaching and practice session that he had, and out of it came not only some of the greatest golfers in history such as Tom Kite, and Ben Crenshaw, but an insightful commentary on golf and life. It is a great read and you can get it here.
It does not take long to do so give it a try. What do you have to lose?
Nov
09
2007
OK OK so we didn’t finish so well. That is ok. I did not know that we would have so much residual traffic from such a simple site. So we will start back up after Thanksgiving. That should give us some good solid time practicing our game, and getting in shape for the next season.
The good part is that we will be brining you some products, tips, tricks, and information that will only be found here. Make sure that you subscribe to our feed so that you don’t miss out.
Thanks for stopping by, and we will see you on the links.
Best of luck
