Putting Advice

As the British winter continues for the foreseeable future I have been lucky enough to spend the past 7 days out at Taba Heights Golf Resort in Egypt where I hosted our annual Tournament & Tuition week. The golf course is stunning with views across to Jordan and Saudi Arabia and with temperatures typically in the mid 20’s this resort is a perfect destination for a golf….it was heaven!  

Over 30 of our students travelling with us to take part without exception they all struggled early in the week to adjust from the relative poor greens of the UK to the fast dry greens of Egypt. Of course as golfers we know what happens once we either 3 putt or miss a couple of short putts……the post mortem begins and this is when things can really turn bad.

So during the week I worked very hard on 3 core aspects on the greens.

PUTTING TIP 1 - MANAGE YOUR EXPECTATIONS! You can just imagine how missing a couple of short putts and then following this up with a 3 putt or two could make you feel…but hang on a minute EVERYONE is finding the greens tough. All of a sudden you begin to realise that if you can just manage to keep your head while those around can’t you could be in with a shout! I think the majors in golf reflects this, where as a par score in a regular tour event is often not good enough to compete, par can be a fantastic score in any of the 4 majors.

PUTTING TIP 2 - VISIT THE RIGHT WEBSITES IN YOUR MIND! All too often a few failures on the green cause a player to react with typically destructive phrase such as “God I’m an awful putter” or “That was THE WORST stroke I have ever made”. Just imagine if there was a website for each of these phrases, www.godimanawfulputter.co.uk or www.thatwastheworststrokeihaveevermade.co.uk What sort of pictures, images and feelings do you think you would see??!! It doesn’t bear thinking about!! So remember there is a string of pictures and feelings in your mind behind every statement you make, perhaps next time golfers should consider an error as just a blip or a hiccup rather than a DISASTER!! www.thatwasahiccup.co.uk is not such a bad place to be! By the way don’t even think about clicking the above www. addresses to see if they really exist!

PUTTING TIP 3 - GET YOUR ANGLES RIGHT AT ADDRESS FOR A SOLID CONTACT! 

Backward arms and wrists...definitely NOT like this

Too many golfers tend to set up with some really poor angles at address, see opposite, especially in the left and right arms. What I always like to see in the set up is a “preparation for the task in hand” which in this case is making an impact to the ball! In the picture opposite notice how the right arm looks relatively straight by comparison to the left. Typically golfers who address their putts this way tend to have the concept of keeping the putter in line with the ball, and being very sqaure and balanced at address. All this set up leads to is a stroke where the body initiates too much of the movement with the putter almost being dragged away from the ball.

What I prefer to see at address is the “preparation” to strike your putt!

More Like This....here the arms begin to match each other with neutral wrists and hands

Here you can see the shape of the arms is more matched, with the wrists and hands in neutral to each other. This now completely changes the sequence and allows players to get the putter moving more freely without it being dragged by the body. This all leads to a far more solid contact and better distance control on your putts. So if you feel that you do not control the distance on your putts and suffer from an un-solid feel then try this today and enjoy the benefits!

Your interaction makes www.puttingtips.co.uk one of the leading putting sites on line, please post your comments to this article which I will look forward to reading and commenting on.

With the golf season still a number of weeks away I would like to share one of the most valuable putting lessons I can offer any of my students….a lesson in confidence.   

Give yourself evidence of improvement

The regulars here at Putting Tips will be aware that I recommend collecting essential data about your game and in particular on your putting; this data includes putts per round, single putts per round and 3 putts per round. By noting these stats you will literally be able to chart your progress and notice your evidence of improvement! While I acknowledge that other aspects of golf influence these stats, they are a still a great indicator. For example, visit the PGA Tour website and look at the putts per round stats for 2009, who do you think was leading it?  You’ve got it, one Brad Faxon one of the best putters over the last decade, with an average of 28 putts in his 59 tournament rounds, this in spite of only making 5 cuts from 23 starts! So my message is simple, collect your stats, measure your performance AND measure your future progress.

Use memory to fuel your confidence

Memories play a crucial role in building or destroying confidence. Is there a golf hole at your club where you have an overwhelming feeling of dread as you stand on the tee? Perhaps you always hit a big cut or put your ball in a well placed hazard? The chances you can picture such a hole and the reason behind this feeling is MEMORY; on the particular hole in question you have no doubt hit poor shots in the past which are quite literally coming back to haunt you! So when it comes to putting this year lets use memory to your advantage. I would strongly recommend keeping a putting diary, in this diary you will record the best 3 putts (not a 3 putt!) from each round you play in vivid detail; this means everything you thought, saw, felt, and even smelt!  Imagine over the coming months collecting this information, how would it feel to reflect on these successes? This diary would quite literally fuel your confidence.   

Finally can I just say a huge thank you to all those who responded with posts and e-mails to my last putting tips blog, the feedback was brilliant! Once again I look forward to reading your comments to this post and I will endeavour to reply to each of you.

Happy New Year to all my readers and subscribers here at putting tips! Throughout 2010 my commitment remains to bring you all the very best and latest putting advice containing effective ideas on how you can become a better putter.

Keep your eyes open for new features in 2010 including video tips and ‘before and after’ footage of our pupils. If you have not done so already please make sure you sign up to our regular e-newsletter Picking It Out The Cup; this sign up is available on any putting tips page.

I would like to challenge all my followers here at Putting Tips to improve their putting performances in 2010; how would taking fewer putts affect your scores? How would this improvement feel to you?

With virtually no physical limitations, better putting is THE MOST realsitic area to improve for any golfer playing the game. So with this in mind I would like to suggest you take your first step, this first step involves answering 6 simple questions.

Q1: What is your current handicap or average score?

Q2: If you improved your putting performances, what would it be possible to reduce this handicap or average score to?

Q3: What 5 aspects of putting are preventing your improvement? Include everything from technique, mind set right the way through to equipment.

Q4:What 3 actions do you need to take if you are to improve?

Q5: Who do you need to help you with these actions?

Q6: When are you going to start?

When you answer these questions I would strongly suggest that you write down your answers as opposed to just thinking them in your mind. Taking the time to write down your answers could prove to be the most important task you undertake this year. Making this active commitment is very powerful and has been proven time and time again to be more effective in empowering people to take action and fulfilling their goals.

As always can I ask you to send me your answers and post a comment below. I really hope to create a putting community on this site and your interaction is crucial in achieving this. I look forward to hearing from you and reading your comments.

With another wet and wild British winter well and truly set in I thought I would give you my top 5 rules to follow when putting in windy conditions. I’m not sure about my subscribers in europe but anyone based in the UK will be able to benefit from these in their very next game!!

Rule 1; whilst this may be a relatively obvious piece of advice make sure you widen your stance in order to stabilise yourself against any strong gusts of wind. The precision of any stroke will be serverley affected if you are literally being blown around.

Rule 2; combined with rule 1 make sure you angle yourself over the ball more than usual i.e. get lower. By doing this you will again increase your protection from the wind, a good idea as you do this is to move your hands down the grip.

Rule 3; Long flowing strokes are going to be far more affected in the wind so I would recommend using a shorter, firmer action. This concise action will also require less movement and keep you compact during your stroke.  

Rule 4; Golfers are always prepared to allow for the wind in their long game yet completely overlook this factor when they reach the green. YES the wind can and will affect your ball on the green! 

Rule 5; Finally and perhaps most importantly you must mange your expectations. For example, in the summer when the greens are true and you can feel the sun on your back, a 5 foot putt up the hill is one many golfers expect to hole. However faced with the same putt on a windy day, this straight forward putt suddenly becomes the equivalent of a black run on a ski slope! As golfers miss a few putts they generally begin to doubt their strokes, question their green reading and shortly after even question their right to play the game!!  The fact is you are going to miss more putts in bad weather BUT remember this will be happening to your fellow competitiors too, so keep a calm head, your mindset in neutral and just deal with the outcome of each putt.

Please post your comments below and let me know what works for you in windy conditions.

Confidence on the greens is something that golfers around the world claim they want and need to FEEL if they are to hole more putts.

Whilst in the main I agree with this, they do say feelings come and feelings go and so what I believe golfers need to acquire is what I call TRUE CONFIDENCE.

True Confidence is based on more than just a feeling, it is based on facts. These facts will fuel your confidence  and stay with you through the trials and tribulations of a round of golf.

What I recommend is in practice using a sequence of games that simulate the real game of putting by involving a score. Let me introduce a simple game I call Around the World…all you need is a one ball, 4 tees and a hole!

Measure 1 putter length away from the hole a place a tee in the ground, do this 4 times at the compass points (taking the average putter length you will have your tees’ just under 3 ft away)

Take one putt from each tee and for each putt you hole you earn one point, if you miss then simply move onto the next tee

Having hit one putt from each tee, move them 1 putter grip length further away and repeat the process (about another foot away)

Do this until you have completed 5 laps and you have a score out of 20. Now multiply this score by 5 and you will have your percentage of putts you have holed in the game, for example 10 out of 20, 10  x 5 = 50 %

Imagine playing this game over a series of months and your scores go from 50% up to 75%; how do you think you might feel now? Based on FACTS you will begin to enjoy the many benefits of TRUE CONFIDENCE, which is more than just a casual feeling.

As a final condition of this game, you can only ever play it ONCE on any given day.

Play this simple game next time you visit your golf centre and start recording your scores and send them in to me! Please include your handicap (or average score) with your results.

As always I look forward to your comments; could practicing this way save you a shot in your game? Please post your comments below and why not let me know your favourite putting game as well.

Ernie Els had a welcome return to form in China over the weekend finishing 2nd to Phil Mickleson in WGC HSBC Champions event.

With a stunning final round of 63 Ernie came close to stealing the title, had it not been for a bogey on the last it could have been so much better! Els putted very well throughout the tournament and was ranked 3rd for putts per round averaging just 26.2. Better still for Els though was that he topped the ranking for ‘putts per green in regulation’ averaging just 1.546.

What can we learn from a player like Els on the greens?

The answer is SPEED. We have all heard the chessy phrase,  ’never up, never in’ a hundred times before but there is some truth in it. Too many golfers under hit their putts and so remove any chance of their ball dropping in the hole. For the majority of golfers out there if they could get their ball past the hole they would in turn hole a lot more putts.

So what is the key to good speed on the greens?

Well, it could be that how you read the greens is the most important apsect to consider if you are going to get the ball dropping more regularly.

I’m sure that each of you pay some attention the green, its contours and the potential speed of your putt.

But let me ask you; what part of the green are you actually reading?

The answer for almost of all of you is that you are reading the green from the position of your ball to the front edge of the hole. The fundamental flaw with this is that you will have failed to consider any part of the green past the hole and by doing so you are unlikely to even reach the target.

If you remember centuries ago when people thought the world was flat, how many sailors do you think were prepared to navigate their boats anywhere near to the so called edge? The likely hood is not many, after all why would you sail into an area that does not exist in your mind!

So applying this mentality to the greens, if you haven’t read past the hole is it likely that you will hit your ball with enough pace to go past it? The answer is no! If you truly want to improve your speed on the greens in the very next game, you play then make sure you read past the hole so that your mind knows this place actually exists.

Have you got some good drills for improving speed control on the greens? Please share them in your post and of course add your feedback once you have applied this technique to your game.

Could there be a lesson that golfers could take from the kitchen out to the course? I certainly believe so.

If golfers could learn to clearly identify their personal ingredient list for great putting it has the potential to transform their performances on the green.

Consider for a moment the simple task of making a cup of tea. It involves a tea bag, a mug, hot water and milk. Now would you agree that if I keep applying these 4 ingredients I am going to get close to what I call tea every time. Likewise if I remove any one of these 4 ingredients, would it be fair to say that I would no longer have what I call drinkable tea?

Can you see where I’m going with this? If we applied this analogy to your putting and identified the 3 or 4 MOST important ingredients, all we need to do to give ourselves the best chance of a great performance is to keeping applying them to our putts.  

What would your 3 or 4 ingredients be? There are no right or wrong answers here, what counts is identifying what is important to you. Below are some possible suggestions:

• Clearly identify a line
• Pick a spot
• Visualise the ball falling into the hole
• Take practice strokes
• Correct grip, posture etc
• Light grip pressure
• Use the line on the ball
• Good breathing
• Get it past the hole
• Stay still through the stroke
• Focus
• Firm wrists

These are only suggestions and of course the list could go on and on!

Over your next few games and indeed practice sessions try to identify your most important 3 or 4 ingredients.

Could this strategy have the potential for you to hole just one more putt in your very next game?

I think the answer has to be absolutely yes!

I would be fascinated to hear what your ingredients are, so please post them along with your comments.

The way we place our hands on the putter is crucial to our success on the greens. Golfers tend to be too concerned with the mechanics of their strokes and overlook the fundamental factors that actually influence it the most, such as the grip.

There are 3 key principles that I would recommend in achieving  the correct putting grip.

Principle 1 - From the front view

I like to think of the grip on your putter as being ’square shaped’ and with that in mind I would recommend that for a right handed golfer, the left hand sits at the top of the grip on the left side of the square with the right beneath it and on the right side of the grip. The only part of either hand to sit on the front of the grip are the thumbs.With this completed grip, the palms of the hands should be facing each other in what I would call a neutral position to the body and putter face.

Principle 2 - From the back view

Perhaps the most important point to stress here is the fact that the grip itself should be through the palms of the hands. A simple check point is to look back into a mirror and ensure that the putter shaft itself appears to run on the same line as the forearms. Too many golfers set the shaft too low under the forearms which means their grip is too much in their fingers, this in turn creates the likelyhood of too much activity in the wrists and forearms.

Principle 3 - From the front view

Having established your grip correctly through the palms and in a neutral position, the final point to stress is the position of the grip in relation to the ball. We are still preparing to impact with a golf ball and based on this I always like to see the hands slightly in front of the ball at address, this leads to a far more solid feel at impact.

Please post your comments below and let me know which of these tips you are most likely to adopt to your game.

Earlier in the year (2009) Luke Donald threatened to achieve the extraordinary feat of taking just 18 putts for 18 holes in the 1st round round of The Memorial at Muirfield Village Golf Club. However he just came up short and finished with a credible 20 putts on his way to an opening 64.

Whilst the perfect round of golf, a score of 59,  is given many headlines every year, this equivalent putting achievement is rarely heard about. For the average club golfer out there shooting 59 is not something they can relate to. By comparison how ‘possible’ is it for a golfer to get close to taking just 18 putts in a round?

The answer has to be VERY POSSIBLE.

The fact is that putting represents an aspect of golf that any player can excel at regardless of age, strength or flexability. Let me tell you now you CAN train to become an outstanding putter.

POSSIBLE could well be the most powerful word to keep in your mind. By nature it is a very neutral word, by that I mean it’s not overly positive or negative. I have a big problem with both extremes of positive and negative for many reasons, but let me ask you, when you stand over any putt on the course in your next game, is it possible that you could hole it? The answer has to be YES! Keep the word POSSIBLE in the forefront of your mind and the next time you putt you will start to enjoy the benefits it brings. I will expand on this more shortly but for now just make a mental note of it.

For the record as I write this there are 5 recorded 18 putt rounds on the PGA Tour, the most recent by Corey Pavin in 2002.

Please post your personal best putting scores which will help build to our information base here at putting tips and why not add what you believe is your biggest challenge when it comes to putting. I look forward to hearing from you.