Good Putting.com

Warm up routines are very important to having a good round. It is probably more important to warm-up on the putting green to get ready to play.

A good warm-up routine is to start with short putts. Use no more than three balls to start out with. Hit 9-12 shots or all three balls 3-4 times.

Then go to a medium length putt. Medium is different for everyone, I would say from 10-15 feet. Do that for 9-12 shots or all three balls 3-4 times.

Then try a few long ones. Go as long as possible. You don’t have to spend a whole lot of time doing this, you don’t even have to make them. Practice getting it as close as you can to the hole. If some go in it is a good boost. If they do not go in but get close then you have the right speed. Again don’t spend too much time on the long putts. Focus on getting the right speed and distance.

Finally finish up with some short 3 foot putts. Start off with trying to make 3 in a row. Once your skills are getting better make 6 and 9 in a row. This is a great boost getting ready to play, and will build the confidence in the short putts. Knowing you can make 6 in a row on the practice green will help you with those tricky putts on the course.

With all stokes in golf your grip is the only point that your body comes into contact with the club. Your grip controls the whole golf swing. No matter what grip you use your leading hand guides the stoke, the trailing hand delivers the blow.

So how does this work? It may seem more complicated with a full swing but it is not. Lets look at the putting stoke.

As you take the club back the hands gently pull the club away from the ball. The hands are working in tandem. Once the swing shifts to the downswing the hands have very specific jobs. The leading hand guides the club right back to where it began. Delivering the club back to where it started will ensure that the club is square at impact.

The trailing hand is the hand that gives the stoke the power. On a full swing if you are concentrating on the feel you can really tell that the trailing hand does the work. On a putt you have to keep it in control. There is no popping motion, no quick actions, simply use the right hand to deliver the power.

Using both hands as one will give you a consistent putting stroke leading to more putts made.

Jack Nicklaus - The most critical of all: Having a positive attitude. Believe you can make em and you frequently will. Believe you can’t and you generally won’t.

I would say that if Jack tells me that it is important to have a positive attitude about your putting then it is important to me to have a positive attitude. So why is it so important to have a positive attitude when putting? Your attitude will tell you that you can make it and you will begin to see the line. Your attitude will tell you that you can do it and you will. Your poor attitude will tell you that you have no chance and you will find a way to not make it.

So if you have a choice between being negative and having a poor chance at making a putt, or being positive and having a good chance at making a putt what would you choose? We know what Jack Nicklaus would choose.

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!