Breaking the Average Barrier – Part 3

“It is much more important to understand what a putt feels like as opposed to what it looks like.” 

I do not think anyone would argue that ball speed control is critical to being better than average at putting. I contend that you are more likely to see the break than you are finding the correct effort to match the read. I would also submit that it is an area of weakness from an instruction perspective. As I speak to other instructors about this subject the following are some of the questions I ask and comments I submit. 

1. 1. How do you judge the distance?  

1. Do you take visual snapshots?  

1. Do you take a visual video?  

1. Do you measure as you might with a field shot? 

1. 2. I suggest that we speak in terms of effort rather than speed as in, “How much effort is required to roll the ball the required distance?” 

2. 
   

3. 3. Do you have a sense of where you apply the most effort in your stroke? 

1. 4. Do you swing the putter, or do you hit the ball? 

1. 5. Once you have judged the distance, do you have a feel for the effort required prior to movement or do you react while you are in motion?  

1. 6. Do you judge the effort required by the length of your stroke or the speed of your hands? 

1. 7. Do you prefer to be past the hole or is short of the hole safer? 

These questions and others help me understand and define the player mechanics or instructor preferences. It is important to suggest there are no right or wrong answers to these questions. They do however identify conflicts. For example, we know if you consider yourself a hitter, a heavy mallet is not the best putter choice.  

As you consider these questions accept what you do and look for a way to use that understanding to be better at what you do, rather than thinking there is a better way and continually changing. Remember every time you make a change you start over. 

 

Breaking the Average Barrier - Part 2

One of the characteristics of the best putters I have known, is that they understand that all putts are different. So, with that thought in mind let us consider how using that one understanding changes our perspective, as we try putt better than average. 

Practice 

I am going presume to speak for all instructors when I say this, “Because striking a ball with a putter is a relatively easy task, there seems to be an assumption that finding the “right” putter or the “right” method, will substitute for the work required to succeed.  

Putting aids and repetitive drills prepare us for a single circumstance when the key to putting well is the ability to adapt to a different circumstance with each putt.  

The attitude of the “above average putters” is different. When interviewed there is a common theme. A ball, a putter, and a putting green and working on the entire process with each putt. A decision on ball speed required, reading the break, finding the appropriate set up for the putt, and then making the stroke. Making conscious decisions to perform an unconscious act. This is a key distinction; most practice regimes do the conscious portion for you.  

Here is a simple example. One of the drills I offer to my clients is to roll golf balls through a gate built with tees. I never ask them to putt through the gate to a target. I only ask to build a stroke that can roll the ball through the gate. But, because most are result based rather than process based, inevitably they connect a hole to the gate. That is where they fall into my trap. Often, I get feedback that says, “I can roll the ball through the gate, but I miss the putt. What is wrong with my stroke?” Nothing! The gate is in the wrong location. They forgot the more important conscious aspects of putting, speed decision, read decision based on speed, the appropriate set up for the putt and went straight to subconscious. They confuse the process of placing the putting gate in the correct location with the result. If you make the goal, ball through the gate, you know immediately if your stroke works or not, which is the goal of the drill. In other words, they let the gate substitute for the conscious aspect of the task. 

Before I get the negative feedback, yes, I do eventually connect the gate to the hole. In fact, all my practice regime is done with no aids other than 4 tees. But each layer of practice is done within a different context and with a specific goal.  

Last bit of advice for today. Do not make your practice regime easy. Do not substitute success at the drill with success on the golf course. Focus on the hard parts and everything gets easier. 

Vision and Putting Interview

 https://gameimprovementgolf.com/182-visual-discipline-in-putting-bruce-rearick-interview/

Recent interview with Tony Wright as we discuss how we discuss some things to think about as we use our vision in putting.