There is an old saying in golf: Drive for show, putt for dough. It means that most golfers are attracted to the long drive but golf is really about making a putt. Look at which club brings the most revenue to the club manufacturers: the driver. People will pay hundreds of dollars to buy a new driver and will spend countless hours on the driving range trying to hit the ball farther. Most amateurs would rather drive the ball farther, but all the professional golfers make their living by being great putters.
Very few amateur golfers embrace the fact that if they want to score better, they must putt better. When you go to the driving range, the range is crowded with golfers banging away with their full swings. The practice putting green is usually uncrowded. This is why golf is such a hard game. Most golfers would rather drive the ball 300 yards instead of making more one-putts.
Why is putting so important? You will become a better golfer if you eliminate three-putts and make more one-putts. The “old” Tiger Woods was an amazing putter. When the old Tiger Woods needed to make a putt to save par or make a needed birdie, he would make the putt. It got to the point where we would expect him to make a crucial putt. Tiger Woods can dominate again if he regains his putting skills. If he does not, he is like the rest of the professional golfers, we hope that he will be able to make the crucial putt! Tiger lost his dominance when he lost his dominant putting. Jack Nicklaus is the only other professional golfer that I know of who would always make a putt that mattered. When you look at the wining Ryder Cup teams, the one common trait is that the winning team made the most putts that mattered. When you look at the dominance of the Korean LPGA golfers, they are all great putters. I believe that in Korea they choose the golfers who can putt and then they teach them to develop consistent full swings.
The goal of putting is to get the ball into the hole. But that is not the focus of all great putters. All great putters do not focus on the outcome. The focus of great putters is to read the green correctly, start the ball on the desired line, make the ball travel the precise distance. They focus on the process of precise read, line, and distance. That is the only thing that the golfer can control. There is a story that after Jack Nicklaus missed a crucial putt in a tournament a reporter asked Jack how he missed the putt. Jack looked at the reporter and said “I made the putt. The ball didn’t go into the hole”. That shows you where Jack’s focus was; the process, not the outcome. It also shows the confident attitude that Jack has in his putting.
Putting is all about creating confidence and belief. You need to take the time to experiment and to be open to try anything to develop a technique that gives you absolute confidence and belief that the ball will travel the precise direction and distance and fall into the hole. There is no right or wrong way to develop confidence and belief. Whatever method is used does not have to be pretty or logical. It just has to make putts. It is very personal and you are the only one who can say what works and what doesn’t.
PUTTER
You must take the time to find a putter and a putting technique that gives you confidence. The putter must look good to you and must also feel good to you. When the putter is placed behind the ball, the putter must be square to the target and look like it will roll the ball on the desired line. The putter should feel that is a natural extension of the hands and that the face of the putter will be remain square to the swing arc. The putter must also feel that it will transmit the appropriate force to roll the ball the desired distance. The appropriate force is the force needed to make the ball roll twelve inches past the hole if it does not go into the hole.
The look and feel of a putter that inspires confidence is almost like a magic wand. This “magic” putter should immediately start to make putts and also provide a sense of confidence that every putt will go the desired distance and direction and into the hole.
All putters have torque when the putter is swung. This means the face will open and close as the putter swings. The “magic” in a putter is one that allows the golfer to confidently manipulate the putter head during the swing so that the face stays square to the swing arc. This is the “feel” and the “magic” that differentiates one putter from the next and is what the golfer is looking for in a putter.
Over time, this “magic” will go away. Then you must either find another magic wand or find another technique that will make putts. Usually, it is better to find another putter than to try to change the putting technique, but nothing is immune to being changed.
One putter technology that has the potential to change the putting landscape is the Lie Angle Balanced (L.A.B or LAB) technology. This technology is designed to automatically keep the face of the putter square to the swing arc. With the LAB putters, it is no longer necessary to manipulate the putter to keep the face square. In order to use the LAB putters, it requires the golfer to abandon the manipulations that were used with the conventional putters and just let the grip rest in the hands and feel the putter just swing. This concept of “letting the putter swing itself” may be too challenging for some golfers to change.
Here is a link that demonstrates the L.A.B. technology:
The L.A.B. technology shows that when using conventional putters, manipulating the putter, however slight, is required to putt well.
TECHNIQUE
The putting technique should also evoke complete confidence. A confidence that you believe that the putt will travel the correct direction and distance. The goal of an effective putting technique is to have the putter face strike the ball with the face of the putter pointing down the target line. Experiment with different putting techniques until a technique is found that provides complete belief. A technique that creates belief produces a confident stroke that makes solid contact with the ball to roll the ball the desired distance and direction.
The putting technique should be simple. It needs to be simple in order to be precise. A complex technique is not precise. The technique should take the putter back and forth in a rhythmic motion.
Whether the putter moves straight back and forward, inside to inside, or inside to straight, the putter head should be square to the target line at impact and accelerating through impact.
Jack Nicklaus said “Acceleration through impact is a must, both to reach the hole and to keep the ball online.”
Golfers have used many different putters and techniques to keep the putter face square: left hand low, claw, saw, arm lock, long putter, etc.
Just as in the full swing, you must use a pre-shot routine in putting. The pre-shot routine must include an effective green reading technique. Green reading is crucial in putting because you may have the best putting stroke, but it does not matter if you cannot determine the correct distance and direction to putt the ball.
The basic green reading technique uses the bottom of the feet to feel the slope of the green as you walk around the green. The bottom of your feet will tell you if you are walking uphill, downhill, or on a side hill. You should start by looking at the putt from below the hole, the low part of the green, to determine if the putt is uphill or downhill. Look at the putt from the side to determine the distance of the putt. Stand half the distance to the hole and look at the last half of the putt. Look from behind the ball to determine if the putt will break left or right.
MIND SET
Once you have determined the direction and distance the ball should roll, you must confidently make a pure stroke. The attitude to adopt before making the stroke is the belief that the ball will go into the hole. No worry or doubt. Here is a drill to feel no fear:
- Place a ball six inches from hole. While using your rhythm, stroke the ball into the hole. Be aware of what it feels like to confidently accelerate the putter so that the ball travels the precise distance and direction. It is this confident feeling that is needed for every putt regardless of the length of the putt.
- Keep moving back one foot at a time and see if you can keep the same confident mind set.
- When you get to a distance where you begin to worry or doubt, go back to six inches from the hole and start over.
- The objective is to learn what it feels like to adopt a confident mind set for every putt and believe that the ball will go into the hole.
It is better to use a confident mind set than to use a fearful or doubtful mind set. Using your rhythmic stroke helps to maintain the confident mind set. No worry or doubt.
For short putts, from three feet or less, confidence is the key. This means the focus is to confidently roll the ball so it bounces off the back of the cup or hits the flag stick if you leave the flag in the hole. When you tap the ball into the hole from six inches, you have complete confidence. Tap a putt over a virtual hole on the green six inches in front of the ball and notice how far the ball rolls. The ball will roll two to three feet. So, on short putts, just aim at a virtual hole six inches in front of the ball in line with the cup and confidently tap the ball into the virtual hole. Nine times out of ten the ball will roll two or three feet and into the hole.
Another way of creating a confident mind set is to use mind games. Good putters use mind games. The objective of using mind games is to create confidence and to take pressure off of the putt. When Stuart Appleby shot a 59 at the 2010 Greenbrier Classic, he said that when he was putting, he knew the putt was going in the hole before he made the stroke. When Vijay Singh won the FedEx Cup, he told himself that he was the best putter in the world. When Tiger Woods needed to make a six-foot putt to tie Bob May in the PGA Championship, he told himself that the putt was so easy his mother could make it. When Tiger Woods needed to make a twelve-foot putt to tie Rocco Mediate in the US Open, he said he did not care if he made the putt or missed the putt; he only cared about making a pure stroke. Another mind game is to pretend you have just missed the putt. When you actually execute the putt, you pretend you are practicing the putt you missed. The pressure is off because you “know” this is just a “practice” putt. If professional golfers can use mind games, you can use mind games.
Even though you are not on the PGA tour, you must adopt a confident mind set, have an effective routine, and just execute a confident stroke. You must TRUST your stroke and BELIEVE the ball will go in the hole.
MY TECHNIQUE
I focus to always make a putt with the precise amount of acceleration. Even on a one-foot putt, my focus is the appropriate length of the back swing and making a stroke that will produce a stroke that accelerates through impact to eliminate any chance of deceleration. I am aware of the length of my back swing so I can feel the buildup of the appropriate amount of force that is required for that particular putt. The feel is one of being rhythmic and continuous.
My current putter is the red L.A.B. Mezz.1 Max Custom. The specifications are:
Length: 35”, Lie Angle: 63 degrees, Shaft: L.A.B. Golf x TPT, Grip: Press Pistol 2 degree, Alignment Mark: Dot.
I place the left hand at the butt of the grip and the right hand below with the palms facing up. I place the back of the grip across the base of the middle fingers with the fingers wrapping lightly around the grip. I place the left index finger across the back of the fingers of the right hand. The thumbs are positioned up and off of the grip. The grip pressure is just enough so that I can feel the club swing in the fingers.
To determine the direction of the putt, I visualize the curve of the putt and I pick a point on the target line that will give me a straight putt. I pick an intermediate target two feet in front of the ball. I start behind and to the inside of the ball and feel the weight of the putter in my fingers as I approach the ball. I place the putter so that the ball is at the center of the putter face. I feel the tips of the little fingers barely touching the grip as I aim the face of the putter at the intermediate target.
I stand so the ball is opposite the left big toe and that my eyes are positioned inside the ball about two inches. The left foot is placed a couple of inches inside to create a slightly open stance. I keep the shoulders square to the target line with the butt of the putter on top of my left thigh. I stand so when my head turns 45 degrees to look at the intermediate target, the left side of the bridge of my nose is in line with the intermediate target.
I stand with a little bend at the waist with the inside of the left upper arm parallel to the left side, the right arm fairly straight, and the hands relaxed. This allows me to look down the target line.
Once I have “locked in” the direction, I focus on the distance. I focus on the amount of force I want to use. I consider the “appropriate” amount of force to be the amount of force required to make the ball accelerate a specific distance and then roll to the hole. I divide the distance the ball must travel into two parts: acceleration distance and deceleration distance. My view is when the ball stops accelerating it is decelerating. I use the length of the back swing to determine the amount of force that is released in the down swing.
I use the right hand to swing the putter. I feel the tiny stretch up of the inside of the tip of the right little finger and I feel the outside of the tip of the right little finger stretch up to swing the putter back the required distance to produce the acceleration distance. I allow the shoulders to move as required.
When I feel the length of the back swing has reached the desired distance, I feel the tiny stretch up of the inside of the tip of the right little finger and I feel the outside of the tip of the right little finger “bounce” up to swing the putter toward the intermediate target. I trust that the swing of the putter will cause the ball to roll down the target line the desired distance.
My focus is to feel putter swing back and forth. There is no need to use the hands to manipulate the putter to keep the putter square to the swing path because the L.A.B. putter automatically stays square to the swing path.
For me, this technique keeps the ball on the target line and the amount of force I use is very precise. It takes a lot of practice to create the trust and belief that it will make putts. The bottom line is that this method currently works for me. Once it stops working, I will need to find something else that works. No one ever said golf was easy.