Dave Stockton - Unconscious Putting
I highly recommend reading Dave Stockton's book, Unconscious Putting, because like many others I have found that my putting has improved drastically with his mindset. If you are unfamiliar with who Dave Stockton is, he won 25 times on the PGA and Champions tours - including the PGA Championship twice and 3 Champions Tour Major titles. He won these events on the strength of his putting and short game, because he was never a long hitter and was never even in the top half of all ballstrikers on tour. According to Stockton, he made his money by hitting eight or nine greens in regulation and taking 25 or 26 putts, using the same approach he learned from his father sixty years ago. Between Dave and his sons, they have worked with players who won 29 times on the professional tours in 2010 - from Phil Mickelson at the Masters to Yani Tseng at the Nabisco and Women's British Open. "The lessons are about as far away from a swing teardown as you can get [...] I've yet to give a lesson that takes more than four hours -and that includes both putting and chipping." Stockton searches to showing you how to engage your mind productively and efficiently in all the steps leading up to the putt and then how to turn it off and let the unconscious mind take over.
His Keys to Unconscious Putting
- When you sign a check, you grab a pen and just do it, with no extra attention paid to how you make the lines. Good putters handle this part of the game in the same way.
- That's what separates the best putters from the rest - the ability to see that line. "I believe putting is a simple act. You see the line the ball should take to the hole, lock in on that line, and let the stroke go while that line is fresh in your mind."
- Keep It Simple Stupid: Read the putt from behind the ball and from the low side of the putt. Look for drainage points, mountains, and the contours of the green
- Pick the new "front door" of the putt (where the new center of the hole is with the break of the putt) so that you have a margin for error if you roll it a shade too hard or soft.
- Focus on the line to that "front door" of the hole. Always make sure you visualize a line before setup. Pick a spot an inch in front of the ball and focus on rolling the ball over that spot.
- Have balance in your grip where neither the left or right hand is in a weaker or stronger position relative to the other (otherwise the right hand tends to get too active and wristy).
- Having a slightly open stance (where the left foot is an inch or two inside the right foot) makes it easier to see the line.
- I would rather have the ball position be too far back in the stance than too far forward (the ball can stay on the face of the putter for a longer period of time). I like to play my ball underneath my dominant eye--which gives me room to make my natural stroke and to see the line with the least distortion.
- Error on the side of being too close to the ball because the farther away the ball gets, the more the stroke turns into an arc like the full swing.
- Left hand towards the target with the putter staying low to the ground through the finish.
- Have forward press to start the stroke--go for your own speed and amount that feels comfortable (caution against pressing the handle off your target line).
Chapter 1: Your Putting Signature
When you sign a check, you grab a pen and just do it, with no extra attention paid to how you make the lines. Good putters handle this part of the game in the same way. Instead of consciously attempting to replicate a specific series of movements, the stroke is in the background. Most people play nervously trying to replicate a stroke rather than make a stroke.
Think of putting analogous to driving a car. When you learn how to drive a car, you do have to learn how to hold the steering wheel, use the gas, and follow traffic rules. But once you learn these basics, you are don't have to consciously think about them again. Unless of course, you recently got in/ almost got in an accident or a police car starts to trail you, then you start to think about how fast you're going and start worrying about your driving. It's taking an extreme amount of additional energy and attention to do something that you previously hadn't given a conscious thought.
In putting it's the same way, once we learn the basic grip and stroke then we don't have to consciously think about anything but rolling the ball into the hole. Once we are taught by others that you need to try hard to avoid three putts and try to leave the ball inside a three foot circle on long putts, we begin down an anxiety filled conscious state. "I don't think about the mechanical process of rolling the ball anymore than I'd think about the mechanics of dropping an ice cube into a glass of water [...] I'm teaching you to do something you already know how to do. You've just covered it up with a lot of extra bits and parts that make putting way, way more complicated than it needs to be. We're going to go back to how a kid learns to putt.
Chapter 2: Create a Picture
The focus should be on the path of the putt to the hole. Many players don't understand how to read a putt to determine speed and break. If you don't have a good feel for break and speed, you're not going to have an accurate mental picture of the ball rolling along the right line and falling in. That's what separates the best putters from the rest - the ability to see that line.
Then once you see the line, how do you make the ball go where you intend? The key is to stop cluttering your pre-putt routine with steps that at best don't do anything to help you roll the ball on line, and at worst, actively hurt your chances to do it. "I believe putting is a simple act. You see the line the ball should take to the hole, lock in on that line, and let the stroke go while that line is fresh in your mind."
Here are some ways to visualize the path of the putt:
Seeing the ball in snapshots of time/ seeing the ball roll towards the hole at a good speed that would only leave you a foot or two past at most.
Seeing a line painted on the grass, pick your favorite color.
Many players get in their own way when putting because they go through an extended set of pre-shot movements that not only disconnect them from seeing the line, but also physically aim them in a different place than they intend. "Hand a putter to a kid, give him a basic idea of how to hold it, and turn him loose on the practice green. It won't take long for him to intuitively see how the ball reacts to a slope and to start rolling the ball startlingly well. And with no fear. It's only after you increase what you "know" - layers and layers of mechanical advice, "rules of thumb" about green reading, and a fair amount of scar tissue from missing critical putts - that you get away from this natural ability.
The first priority is to pick the basic break of the putt. "My goal is to find a break in every putt I see (longer than 4 or 5 feet), so I can determine what part of the hole I want to roll the ball into."
Make a new "front door" of the putt so you have greater margin for error if you hit the putt a bit too hard or too soft.
At the start of every lesson I give--to a tour player or an amateur--I ask every player to try the signature exercise we talked about in the last chapter and then I set up a simple common situation. I give them a 12-foot putt with about 6 inches of break, and I say that this putt is to win something important--whether it's a major championship, a card at Q-school, or to win the B-flight of the club championship. I ask them to go through their entire process, from read to actually making the stroke, so I can see how they see the putt and how that vision translates into rolling the ball.
Unfortunately, many, many players at every level put up a lot of roadblocks for themselves. They get in the way of their own good putting. They don't get a complete or accurate feel for the line, or they junk up their routine in between the road and the stroke and lose connection with the line they chose--either because they stop actually looking at the line, or because they go through an extended set of pre-shot movements that not only disconnect them from seeing the line, but also physically aim them in a different place than they intend. My goal here is to remind you how simple reading greens--and rolling you ball--really is.
If an elaborate routine helps you see your line, and doesn't get in the way of making a comfortable stroke a pace that suits you, I'm all for it. But if you have a two-minute reading and pre-putt routine that doesn't help you see the line or feel more comfortable, all you're doing is giving yourself more time to get nervous and think about the reasons you're going to miss. That's just not productive.
My first priority is to pick the basic break of a putt. My goal is to find a break in every putt I see, so I ca determine what part of the hole I want to roll the ball into. If I have a 12-footer with 6 inches of break from right to left, I'll visualize a curve, with the ball falling into the hole at about four o'clock. On that line, if I hit it a shade too hard, the ball has a chance to drop in on the high side, at three or even two o'clock. If it's a shade too soft, it can drop in on the low side, at five or six o'clock. Not only have I given myself a much more specific target, but I've given myself a lot more space for the ball to drop in. If I am for the center of the cup--six o'clock--and hit the putt a shade too soft, it has no chance of going in. If I hit it too hard (combined with the fact that I haven't played enough break), I'm probably going to lip it out and leave myself a downhill, sidehill comeback putt.
As I walk up and mark my ball, I'm using my eyes and my feet to determine what the predominant break is on the putt. I almost never play a putt longer than four or five feet dead straight. Once I've determined the speed and predominant break, I move to the low side of the break--opposite the apex of the putt. In other word, if I have that same 12-footer with 6 inches of right-to left break, I'll walk to the left side of the hole and stop at the midway point of the putt. Looking at the putt from the low side I believe is the best position to see the complete layout of the green contours (uphill/ downhill, break, speed, line).
From the low side I break the putt into thirds and get really interested in the last third of the putt. I visualize how the ball will take the curve on that last third and exactly where it will drop into the hole.
It's not about being perfect. If you take your first impression and go with it, you're going to be looser, and you're going to make a better stroke. In my experience, taking more time to do something that should be done in your subconscious is almost never better.
After looking from the low side, I crouch behind the ball for a second or two just to confirm what I see. I keep my eyes and my focus on the line during my entire pre-putt routine.
I stand up and make a few small "feel" strokes with my open right hand and then I take my grip in both hands as I step in first with my right foot and then my left all while looking at my line.
I take my balanced grip as I setup to the ball and I take one last look at the hole, my eyes focusing on a spot in front of the ball, and I start my stroke. I never lose connection to the line.
I don't take a practice stroke, but if doing it at that point helps them get comfortable and stay in rhythm, I'm for it. Devote at least 50% of your putting practice to seeing the line and rolling the ball on that line.
Chapter 3: Let It Go
You're probably not reading this book because you have a shortage of information telling you what to do when it comes to putting. And that's the basic problem. The idea that you need to be thinking about so many things during the putting stroke has become so ingrained that many players don't feel comfortable unless they have that laundry list of things to think about. The process doesn't involve any kind of checklist. You just can't play that way.
Once you start putting with more of a direct connection to feel and to your line, you're going to discover how much simpler this part of the game can be, and how much more sensitive you naturally are to speed and to the solid contact of the ball on the face of the putter. It's a simpler and more effective way to roll your ball--not to mention the fact that it's way more satisfying and fun.
I use whatever setup feels comfortable and helps me see the line I've chosen. When Annika Sorenstam came to me in 2001 she had reverted to really overthinking what she wanted to do, trying really hard. She was spending so much time thinking about mechanics and practicing that she was tied completely in knots. When we met for the first time she remained convinced she needed a practice swing so we incorporate it into a routine where the practice swing happens behind the ball, perpendicular to the target line. The move into the stance is then calm and deliberate and the stroke is fluid. I really wanted her to stop thinking so much when it is time to make the stroke, and by the second or third lesson it just clicked for her. And her new routine ended up matching her full swing routine just beautifully. She wen t on to win eight tournaments in 2001 and eight of her ten career majors in the next five years.
Yani Tseng came out to see me after taking 40 putts in a miserable final round. We played a hole and on the tee shot and iron shot, she had gotten up to her ball and just hit it, but on her putt, her routine bogged down. She was slow and unsure, and it was absolutely no surprise that she didn't come close to making it. She was doing the same thing that Annika had done--she was trying. She was grinding so hard over her mechanical thoughts and the desire to get better, and she was twice as critical of herself. The simple thing that I told her was that you have to just let it go. See it and hit it.
I just shake my head when I hear teachers or commentators say that a player needs to take his time over an important putt, or to do anything outside of the ordinary routine that the player has established from the first putt of the tournament.
The average player with issues of hitting at the ball because they are so bound up in mechanical thoughts; I simply ask them to go through their routine, and instead of looking down at the ball right before making the stroke, I ask them to keep looking at the target. It's amazing how quickly the stroke smooths out, like a snap of the fingers.
You need to visualize yourself successfully making putts before it actually happens with any regularity in your real game.
Simplifying your pre-putt routine will keep you focused on your line and set up in a way that makes it shockingly easy to get the ball rolling where you want it to go. And you'll never need to take a practice stroke. "Stroke mechanics are far down on my list of things that need tinkering in most players' putting games. If your mind is right, you're going to make more than your share of putts. But having a handle on a few basics - setup and stoke fundamentals tuned for your body type and putting style - will help you diagnose and correct your own putting game when you struggle. You'll learn how to roll your ball, not hit it.
Chapter 4: Roll Your Ball
What I'm doing in this chapter is describing a variety of adjustments that you can try in your setup and stroke if you aren't seeing the line or rolling the ball with feel. First of all get around the mindset of rolling the ball, not hitting or accelerating the putter through impact. We want a smooth even rhythm.
I don't believe in a cookie-cutter setup position or actual putting stroke, but I have a definite idea of what I like to see in a player's grip. There's some room for variation--as long as the basic idea of balance is still there.
- Left hand towards the target with the putter staying low to the ground through the finish. If you start with your shoulders tilted you're going to be far more likely to flip the hands or pull the putter up through impact--or to lift out of your posture too early.
Why you 3-putt:
Judging speed and break poorly is just the start. If you aren't approaching your longer putts with the same sense of strategy that you would for a tee shot on a tricky par-5 with trouble on both sides, your selling yourself short.
Confident Putting
More than any other factor, the quality of your self-confidence - and your self-talk- determines the quality of your putting skill.
The correct putter for you:
See my previous post on choosing the correct putter for you:
Putting Part 1
Sergio's comeback seems to have started with a tip he got from putting guru Dave Stockton, who recounted the story while visiting with a group of Golf Digest editors in our Wilton, Conn., office on Friday. Here's a short report from Assistant Managing Editor Jeff Patterson:
Stockton said that when he's asked to take a look at someone's putting stroke, he also likes to see their chipping motion. Naturally, Sergio Garcia was brought up. Senior Instruction Editor Peter Morrice asked Stockton why Sergio seems to have so much creativity around the greens, but little success on them. After saying Sergio looked all right in his 11-shot victory the weekend before at the Castello Masters, Stockton related an interesting anecdote:
Stockton was on the putting green at Firestone Country Club during a practice round for the 2010 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. While Dave worked with one of his tour pros, Sergio was within earshot. The message Stockton was trying to
get across was that putting is all about using the left hand. As with hitting a low chip, the left hand is the key ingredient, as it never breaks down.
Later, while walking the course, Stockton heard Sergio repeating the lesson that Stockton had intended for a fellow competitor. Stockton approached Sergio and said, "Really, if it's the left hand, why do you still use so much of your right?" At that time, Sergio was using a traditional reverse-overlap grip, but still relied heavily on his bottom hand. Garcia soon had a brief trial of left-hand low at the end of the 2010 season, before he moved to the claw grip for the 2011 season.
The progression seems obvious: Sergio worked to take his right hand out of the stroke--first with the left-hand-low grip, and then with the claw grip. In the claw, the right hand is only a guide (like the non-shooting hand in basketball) and doesn't have much grip on the club.
