Instruction

3 Steps To Lights Out Putting

Published

11 years ago

Apr 17, 2013

Early in my coaching career I was obsessed with putting. I was in an environment where I was around a bunch of great players and it became my goal to become the model of putting proficiency. I wanted to be that example to follow and be known as a great putter to other players, as well as my peers.

To tackle my goal, I practiced like crazy. I used every training aid on the market and was consumed with building the perfect-looking stroke. After a couple years of grinding away, my putting officially reached its absolute low point.

“How could this happen?” I thought. I was a great putter as a kid. That’s partially what gave me the confidence to think that I could really be one of the best. I’d figured if I could increase my attention to detail that I’d really be able to take my putting to the next level. In the end, it was my mechanical mindset that literally became my undoing. I was so concerned with “how to stroke” that I lost all connection with the hole and the idea of getting excited about making putts.

To find my putting groove again, I had to learn to let go and focus more on the challenge associated with getting the ball into the bottom of the hole. I had to use my imagination, get into the feeling of making the ball roll, and enjoying the process of being more artist than engineer.

Putting is an area of the game than can be both complex and very simple. Certainly there are times where tuning your mechanics will help elevate your game. However, If you find yourself stuck in a rut and your goal is to simplify your approach, then this story is for you.

Take A Walk

Your first step toward “moss mastery” is learning how to view the hole from different perspectives. You see this a lot with a player like Phil Michelson, who commonly stalks his putt from a variety of angles.

In putting, what you see isn’t always what you get. Very often a putt may look relatively benign when crouched behind the ball in a traditional green reading position, however, once you walk up to the hole you get an entirely different story.

I like to begin by taking a moment to stand right by the hole. I often imagine water coming out of the cup and flowing downhill. This provides the first indication of what kind of putt I’m dealing with.

Once I know which way is downhill, I’ll circle back to the ball’s resting point and take a walk from the ball to the hole. Sometimes I’ll walk low and other times I’ll walk high. Each putt is different. If you walk high, make sure you have a good feeling as to how much break you might be playing, as a walk that’s too low could actually have you damaging your line.

As you survey the landscape really use your imagination and tap into all of your senses. Feel your balance below your feet, noticing any subtle changes in the slope. See the ball curling and diving into the cup at your ideal speed. Find your line and then commit to it. All of this can be done very quickly, so make sure you do a better job of seeing the break without making the game longer.

Find Your Flow

Once you’ve got your line nailed down, it’s time to find your flow. Let go of trying to overly control the path and face and instead focus on feeling the weight of the putter head swinging in rhythm. Try doing this from behind the ball with your eyes level to the ground, gazing down your line to the hole. Here you’re trying to feel the putt “in your gut” versus critiquing every inch of your stroke. Just like rehearsing a bean bag toss in a carnival, stare down your target and feel the putter swinging in silky smooth rhythm. In doing this, my hands are extremely soft on the club, which gives me the best opportunity to tune my senses towards getting that baby to hit rock bottom.

Keep The Feelin’

Now that you’re committed to your line and are pumped to make it, you don’t want to “lose the feeling” by taking too much time over the ball. A good rule of thumb is to putt within eight seconds of your last rehearsal swing.

With your cell phone, set your alarm to count down from eight seconds. At first, just hold the phone in your opposite hand while making rehearsals. Once you’re ready to walk into the ball, start the timer and slide the phone into your pocket. Get set over the ball, take dead aim and pull the trigger. You’ll find that the eight-second gap keeps you moving and focused, eliminating the opportunity to let mechanics and indecision disrupt your positive momentum.

Ben Crenshaw once said, “Putting is an art, not a science.” Although a little science can really help you understand a lot about the game, embracing the fun and creative side of the putting can really help you find your way again!

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Related Topics:putting

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Jeff Ritter

An accomplished coach, author and motivational speaker, Jeff Ritter is recognized for his unique approach to teaching the game. A consistent presence in the world of golf media, Jeff’s articles appear in Golf Digest Magazine, GolfWRX, Golf Tips Magazine, Golf Punk Magazine in the United Kingdom, The A Position , POP Golf Magazine Mexico and the Arizona Republic. He has also been seen and heard on ESPN, FOX Sports, FOX Sports Radio, Sirius XM Radio and The Golf Channel. In 2010 Jeff was named by Golf Digest Magazine as one of the Best Young Teachers in America! Jeff resides in Phoenix, Ariz., where he operates out of the Raven Golf Club Phoenix. As the National Director of Instruction for Nike Golf Schools and Junior Camps, he spends his summers running Nike Junior Golf Camps Flagship location in Pebble Beach, Calif. Jeff's marque initiative is a high-performance, lifestyle-based coaching brand called "Make The Turn." The high-energy curriculum inspires players with the tools and support to effectively elevate their games both on and off the course. Programs include: 3 Days Schools, Executive Athlete Retreats, Online Training, Weekend Challenges, as well as Mindset, Fitness and Nutrition based strategies. For more information, visit: www.jeffrittergolf.com

3 Comments

Dr. Jeff Eger

Jun 12, 2013 at 11:00 pm

You have discovered mental golf gives you the small tight picture,lose your flow or automaticity,dissolve imagination.When you see efficiently(in all 7 visual skills and my 6 step ocular set up) then you see EZ-trust it-Feel it(intuition)-trust it and do it.The big picture lets you see slightly ahead of real time(Zen like).Please read all my wesite if you have an open mind and truly want to be an efficient putter like you were as a kid.All consistant champions are “feel Players”,that I have worked with.When you think you have lost the feel.

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David

Apr 25, 2013 at 10:39 am

Nice read, Jeff. I personally find making long putts to be one of the three most enjoyable shots in the game, along with pulling the string on a pured short iron, and the feeling of a well struck long iron. I love the idea of the timer in the pocket during practice as I believe that most putts are missed before the stroke even takes place.

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Sebastian Zander

Apr 18, 2013 at 2:19 am

“Let go of trying to overly control the path and face and instead focus on feeling the weight of the putter head swinging in rhythm.” — I guess controlling the path and face is what most likely makes my putts miss the hole so often. I’ll have to change my mindset and learn to commit to my line. Feeling the weight of my putter might just be the perfect thought for focussing. I will give this one a try the next time I’m on the putting green. Thanks.

– Sebastian

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Instruction

Clement: Laid-off or perfect fade? Across-the-line or perfect draw?

Published

2 weeks ago

Apr 24, 2024

Shawn Clement

Some call the image on the left laid off, but if you are hitting a fade, this could be a perfect backswing for it! Same for across the line for a draw! Stop racking your brain with perceived mistakes and simply match backswing to shot shape!

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Instruction

The Wedge Guy: The easiest-to-learn golf basic

Published

1 month ago

Mar 29, 2024

Terry Koehler

My golf learning began with this simple fact – if you don’t have a fundamentally sound hold on the golf club, it is practically impossible for your body to execute a fundamentally sound golf swing. I’m still a big believer that the golf swing is much easier to execute if you begin with the proper hold on the club.

As you might imagine, I come into contact with hundreds of golfers of all skill levels. And it is very rare to see a good player with a bad hold on the golf club. There are some exceptions, for sure, but they are very few and very far between, and they typically have beat so many balls with their poor grip that they’ve found a way to work around it.

The reality of biophysics is that the body moves only in certain ways – and the particulars of the way you hold the golf club can totally prevent a sound swing motion that allows the club to release properly through the impact zone. The wonderful thing is that anyone can learn how to put a fundamentally sound hold on the golf club, and you can practice it anywhere your hands are not otherwise engaged, like watching TV or just sitting and relaxing.

Whether you prefer an overlap, interlock or full-finger (not baseball!) grip on the club, the same fundamentals apply. Here are the major grip faults I see most often, in the order of the frequency:

Mis-aligned hands

By this I mean that the palms of the two hands are not parallel to each other. Too many golfers have a weak left hand and strong right, or vice versa. The easiest way to learn how to hold the club with your palms aligned properly is to grip a plain wooden ruler or yardstick. It forces the hands to align properly and shows you how that feels. If you grip and re-grip a yardstick several times, then grip a club, you’ll see that the learning curve is almost immediate.

The position of the grip in the upper/left hand

I also observe many golfers who have the butt of the grip too far into the heel pad of the upper hand (the left hand for right-handed players). It’s amazing how much easier it is to release the club through the ball if even 1/4-1/2″ of the butt is beyond the left heel pad. Try this yourself to see what I mean. Swing the club freely with just your left hand and notice the difference in its release from when you hold it at the end of the grip, versus gripping down even a half inch.

To help you really understand how this works, go to the range and hit shots with your five-iron gripped down a full inch to make the club the same length as your seven-iron. You will probably see an amazing shot shape difference, and likely not see as much distance loss as you would expect.

Too much lower (right) hand on the club

It seems like almost all golfers of 8-10 handicap or higher have the club too far into the palm of the lower hand, because that feels “good” if you are trying to control the path of the clubhead to the ball. But the golf swing is not an effort to hit at the ball – it is a swing of the club. The proper hold on the club has the grip underneath the pad at the base of the fingers. This will likely feel “weak” to you — like you cannot control the club like that. EXACTLY. You should not be trying to control the club with your lower/master hand.

Gripping too tightly

Nearly all golfers hold the club too tightly, which tenses up the forearms and prevents a proper release of the club through impact. In order for the club to move back and through properly, you must feel that the club is controlled by the last three fingers of the upper hand, and the middle two fingers of the lower hand. If you engage your thumbs and forefingers in “holding” the club, the result will almost always be a grip that is too tight. Try this for yourself. Hold the club in your upper hand only, and squeeze firmly with just the last three fingers, with the forefinger and thumb off the club entirely. You have good control, but your forearms are not tense. Then begin to squeeze down with your thumb and forefinger and observe the tensing of the entire forearm. This is the way we are made, so the key to preventing tenseness in the arms is to hold the club very lightly with the “pinchers” — the thumbs and forefingers.

So, those are what I believe are the four fundamentals of a good grip. Anyone can learn them in their home or office very quickly. There is no easier way to improve your ball striking consistency and add distance than giving more attention to the way you hold the golf club.

Clement: Stop ripping off your swing with this drill!

Published

2 months ago

Mar 4, 2024

Shawn Clement

Not the dreaded headcover under the armpit drill! As if your body is defective and can’t function by itself! Have you seen how incredible the human machine is with all the incredible feats of agility all kinds of athletes are accomplishing? You think your body is so defective (the good Lord is laughing his head off at you) that it needs a headcover tucked under the armpit so you can swing like T-Rex?

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