Here at Golf Coaching Online we?ve given you loads and loads of golf putting tips, but throwing more and more tips at people can eventually become confusing and as we all know if we?ve played golf hamburg for a while ? there are NO quick fixes in golf. Maybe that is one of the reasons we?re all so addicted to it?
So I thought I?d look at what you need to be working on in the medium to longer term to build the ?perfect putting stroke?.
What IS the perfect putting stroke?
There are probably no 100% correct answers to that ? ask ten different golf pros that question and you?ll get ten slightly different answers. But if we think about some of the truly great putters such as Ben Crenshaw (probably the best of the best) we can see that his putting was not only technically amazing but he was such a complete putter. And by this I mean he had all three areas of putting mastered. So let?s look at each one and see what YOU need to work on to come somewhere near Ben?s putting skills:-
Putting Technique
From a technical perspective you need to work on different parts of the ?putting stroke jigsaw? one at a time and then put them all together to make it complete. So let me remind you of the different parts of the putting jigsaw and why you need to perfect them all (not that difficult!):-
- GOLF PUTTING GRIP
Your hands control the clubface, and whatever that clubface does the ball with do. With a wrong or poor grip you will be compensating in other areas and whilst this is possible, it makes putting much more difficult.
Not only do your hands control the trajectory of the ball but almost as importantly they provide you with FEEL from which you can learn to judge pace.
- PUTTING STANCE
The correct putting stance will enable you to swing the putter along a straight line and provide you with a stable platform ? remember your body should not move at all during the putting stroke. An amazing number of amateur golfers move their body during the putting stroke and don?t even realize they are doing it!
- ALIGNMENT
Poor alignment will make it much harder for you to hit your putt along the intended line.
- BALL POSITION
Without the correct ball position you won?t be able to strike the ball properly and get that nice ?roll? where the ball seems to literally hug the green.
- The PUTTING STROKE itself
Having got the entire basics perfect, there?s still plenty that can go wrong when you make your actual stroke! A great putting stroke has lots of features ? great tempo, very few muscles moving, a nice still head and NO body movement. Of all of these TEMPO is probably the most important.
To finish off on your technique, you need practice to engrain it, and practice CORRECTLY to make good putting technique second nature?
Visualization
Visualization is a very difficult thing to teach someone. A lot of it comes from experience and some of it overlaps with the final area you need to master (you need to keep reading to find out what it is!).
Visualization is not only about reading the greens; it is imagining what the ball is going to do when you hit it.
What golf pros mean when they talk about visualization are primarily two things:
- They visualize the line of the putt and how it?s going to roll on the green once they?ve hit the putt. They are thinking ?What if I hit it with that amount of pace towards that target? When will it turn? How much will it turn? How far will roll?? etc. By doing this they can work out where they need to hit the ball (i.e. the target line) and then how hard they need to hit it.
The more you do this the better you?ll get at it, and of course the better you become at reading greens the more accurate your visualization will become.
- Golf pros always visualize the ball rolling into the hole when they are putting. I know you might be thinking ?But most of the time it doesn?t!? and I agree. But this visualization will really help with judging the pace and how it will be turning at the end of the putt, plus it gets you into a positive mindset which leads me into our final area?
Psychology
This is probably the biggest and hardest area to master, and that is probably why it?s the most important! I?m sure you?ve all had a bad hole and got angry arriving on the next tee. I know what I used to do many years ago ? reach straight for the driver and absolutely lash the living daylights out of the ball ? usually resulting in a snap hook out of bounds or something similar!
Controlling your emotional state on the golf course can give you an almost unfair advantage over other players ? I really am not exaggerating?
And when it comes to putting you need to be more accurate than any other part of the game. It doesn?t matter if you miss the centre of the fairway by a few yards, but if you miss a putt by ONE MILLIMETRE then that?s a shot gone.
Being able to control our mental state means we can also control ourselves physically. Being able to control ourselves physically means we can execute our technically perfect putting stroke after we?ve visualized the perfect putting line and that little white ball dropping into the hole.
Golf Putting Tip ? Be CONSISTENT
I said at the start of this article that it wasn?t about one golf putting tip this week, but of course I can?t leave you without a final golf tip to take away and remember can I ? !
Whatever you do on the greens, even if it?s not technically perfect try to be Consistent. If your ball position isn?t perfect don?t worry too much, but make sure it?s in the same place for every single putt.
When you are faced with a real pressure putt don?t take a little longer lining it up or taking an extra practice stroke. Do the same pre-shot routine that you always do. Every putt is equally important! Again to remind you ? be CONSISTENT.
Our golf putting lessons cover ALL of the above topics and a whole lot more with lots of putting tips and drills. I can help you master all elements of putting to make you a truly great putter.
Find out how I can transform your putting today, click HERE Now!
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