You all want to hit the ball farther. You can all imagine those 300+ yard drives that will not only lower your scores but make you the envy of all who are so fortunate enough to watch you hit those drives. Most of distance is an ego thing.

Drives need to be long enough and in play enough - but that's about all that is required. If you want your scores to get low and stay low, become a great putter. Tiger wins because of his good short game, not because he hits it long. When he is not putting well he doesn't win.

If you hit all the greens in regulation and two putt all the greens, what percentage of your shots are on the green? You're right, 50%!!!!!!

With those truths in mind, how do you become the great putter you need to be? Read on. Our newsletter will discuss the mechanics of the stroke and some unusual ideas that can work wonders. The next newsletter will discuss reading greens and practice methods that will make you want to practice your putting.

The Art of Putting

Putting is often depicted as a science, but it is an art. We are taking a Concept Golf view of the game, so you will get a look at putting from that perspective, rather than a so-called scientific approach.

To illustrate just how important putting is to your score, I ask this question: if you hit every green in regulation and two putt every green, what percentage of your shots would be putts? You're right, 50%. We'll begin by discussing the ideas behind the putting stroke, then move on to making practice fun.

Putting is simple: hit the ball into the hole. It's amazing how often golfers overlook that objective and get all tied up in the mechanics of the stroke. Just as with the full swing, the idea that improvement is found by changing the stroke is very seductive. Golfers at all levels fall prey to this kind of thinking. We will talk about the putting stroke in terms that will allow you to learn the ideas, not specific body positions, and get on with making putts.

Let's talk mechanics of the stroke for a moment. The putting stroke, body position and ball position are all very personal. Hold the putter any way you want. No rules. Stand any way you want. No rules. Put the ball any place in the stance. No rules. An observation: many of the very best putters have used an open stance. They can see the hole better. You must be relaxed, especially in the shoulders. Grip the putter gently.

The stroke is made with the biggest muscles possible. The putting stroke is the same basic motion as the driver swing. While you don't need the weight transfer from the right to the left for a putt on fast greens these days, you still should use the biggest muscles possible. Use the muscles in the lower back to cause the shoulders to be moved. That way the shoulders and arms can be completely relaxed. Do not use your arms to make the club move. Any time the arms make the arms move, you are asking for a poor shot.

Today's traditional golf instructor tells you that you must be perfectly still and never look up during the putting stroke. These thoughts make your body freeze and cause the arms to do the work, creating a poor stroke. It is not necessary that you stay perfectly still while you putt. Some movement is fine and will not cause you to miss the putt or the ball. Bobby Locke moved his head when he putted and he beat the best in America primarily because he was a superb putter. Use the big muscles in the lower back to cause the shoulders to move and the arms will follow with sensitivity and reliability.

Because you use the muscles of the back to move the upper body, your arms and putter follow the same swing path as the driver. The backswing is slightly to the inside of the target line and the putter face seems to be open to the target line. As the club swings back past the ball, it will go slightly to the inside of the target line and the face will seem to close to the target line. The face is really square to the target line, but it seems to open and close slightly.

There is a "scientific" approach these days which says the putter should always travel along a straight line back and through as if on a railroad track. This can only be done with contrived control of the direction of the club, with the arms taking charge and moving independently of the body. Again this focuses your thoughts on micro-managing parts of the body in order to have a prescribed swing direction that is incorrectly assumed to be the same for all golfers. The good putting stroke is a very small version of the full swing. It has all the same principles and must be done in your way.

One of the reasons you want the big muscles to make the putting stroke is that the stroke created with the big muscles makes a very delicate putt possible. Think of the things you do that require delicacy. What about shooting a basketball through the hoop? That requires that you use your legs to do that accurately. What about bowling? Again it the legs and back that make good shots possible. How about tossing a ball underhanded to a child? It's your legs that make the delicate toss possible. It's OK to use your legs in putting - even with fast greens. I have a number of students who have improved their putting with this weight transfer principle.

If you are having trouble making a free-moving putting stroke, give these ideas a try. First, actually do the weight transfer with your feet. Move your body to transfer your weight to your back foot and then back to your front foot. You won't need to move as much as you would for a full shot but move enough to feel the weight shift. Let this moving of your body actually cause the swinging of the putter and the putting of the putt.

Having the ball go the right distance is most important.

There a

re two aspects to putting: line and distance. Most golfers take a lot of time and effort to get the line right and then leave the ball two-feet short or 10 feet past the hole. The reality is that the distance, or speed, is 95% of putting. With the exception of perfectly straight putts, even the line is mostly determined by the speed of the putt.

You won't be successful at putting if you read a putt to break right and it breaks left. However, if you do get a reasonably correct read, the amount of the break is determined by the speed of the putt. All putts can be straight - if you hit them hard enough. Our focus is on three areas: 1) the correct ideas of the putting stroke, 2) determining the proper effort for the distance required, and 3) an understanding of what you are really trying to accomplish. As always, we will keep it simple.

How can you get the correct speed? First, know the general speed of the greens today. You can get that from the practice putting green and the other greens you have played today already. Next you need to know if your putt is uphill or downhill and how much. Check the putt from the side if you are not sure. Third is the length of the putt.

How hard do you have to hit the ball in order for it to go the distance you want it to go? Once again, we return to your "system." Let's illustrate how your system works.

You have three golf balls and are going to quickly toss one to each of three people at different distances. How do you get the ball to go the right distance each time? You don't think about it -- you just look at each person as you throw the ball and it will go the right distance. You didn't throw any balls 20 feet past a person or 20 feet short. Your system works the same way in putting. As long as you know where your target is, you will hit the ball the needed distance. Most often you hit poor putts when you are focused on hitting the ball, or trying to make sure you perform the stroke in the latest prescribed manner, and forget about your target. It's really as simple as knowing where the hole is and hitting the ball into the hole.

How do you translate all this information to the putt itself? Some of the knowledge comes from experience, but much of it comes from the moment. You "read” the putt according to gravity and how hard you are going to hit it. (We'll discuss this in more detail in the next newsletter). Next you "draw” the line on the ground from the middle of the hole back to the ball. Now you take a practice stroke looking at the hole. You are filling your system with all the information it need to make a stroke that will hit the ball at the proper speed into the middle of the hole. You have also experienced the shot before you do it with the ball. Set your putter behind the ball so it is square to the beginning of the line going from the ball into the middle of the hole. You can now forget all about the line and think only speed.

What do you think about during the putting stroke? The answer; the hole, your target. That's all. Never the stroke. With shorter putts you can actually see the hole with your peripheral vision. With longer putts you need to get the hole clearly pictured in you mind while you putt. Only with the target clearly in mind can your system know what you expect from it. Your system must always know your goal. Be careful that you tell your system your true goal. Is it to make a good stroke or to make the ball disappear?

Here is another idea I want you to give a try. Look at the hole as you putt. This is something I ask all my students to do. I want them to at least give it a try. The results are often surprisingly good to them. I expect the good results but it's a shock to them. Often they are so happy with the results they take it to the course - with good results. It makes good sense. In most other sports and activities you are looking at the target rather than the object that is going to the target. You can do that in putting but not the full swing because of the way the body is built at the neck.

There is one more thing about putting that is important to cover. You need to hit the ball solidly in the sweet spot with the putter. I see lots of golfers miss hit the ball and wonder why they don't make many putts. Most often miss hits are with the bottom of the blade, almost topping the putt. To hit the putter solidly, think of hitting a low putt. When your picture is a low putt, your system will know to have your hands ahead of the ball at impact. Just as with every shot in golf, your hands need to be past the ball before the club head makes contact in order to have good solid shots. As I talked about this idea in the full swing, it is the result of three things. One is adequate moving of the body. Two is total relaxation of the upper body. Three is a shot picture of a low shot. Putting uses the same principles as the full swing to hit solid shots.

Now go make some putts!! Next newsletter I'll discuss reading greens and some practice techniques that make putting practice fun.

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