Putting While Looking at the Hole
Focus on the hole is essential. Hal Sutton set the course record at Keswick Hall after Dr. Bob told him to play a round using his normal putting routine with his eyes not on the ball but on the target. He had tried it beforehand on the practice green for half an hour and it worked dramatically. Sutton had the problem that I have suffered with as well, he'd start to feel the anguish of the three-putt before he'd even hit his first putt, "don't waste that good drive and good iron shot by three-putting" (31). All you would see from a computer print out of a good putters' thoughts is: "my target is that little tuft of raised grass on the lip of the cup." Their minds are quiet and clear. In our society, we've been educated to revere thought, to revere the conscious mind. And in some endeavors that's fine: engineering, strategist, training your mind for personal development. But this cultural pressure makes it difficult for some people to clear their minds. What gets you into a peak state is when you are demonstrating positive confident body language and focusing on positive good things. In putting, you want to narrow the focus of your thoughts as much as possible, to shut down a lot of the conscious, thinking parts of the brain, the parts that give instructions. Putting is one of those physical tasks that are best left to the less intellectual, less rational parts of the mind.
Putting while looking at the hole
Pace Putting Drill
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOAO_ovLHaM
Danny Willet's Pace Putting Game
Set up a tee peg 1 foot before the hole and a tee peg 2 feet behind the hole. Getting between the first peg and the hole = 1 point, getting between the hole and the second peg = 2 points, holing the putt = 3 points, not getting in between pegs = -1 point
Jeev Milkha Singh's Putting Aid and Drill
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Akj5YZNn9m4
Alexander Noren's Drawback Drill
If you don't hole it on your first putt but are within a clublength of the hole, you putt out from there. If you miss short or past more than a clublength, then you have to draw the putt back a clublength and go from there. If you miss again, you must draw that putt back a clublength. Do this for 9 or 18 holes. The Par is 2 for each hole; set a goal to accomplish (ex: +2 or -2 thru 18 holes)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7BPhIopRcg
Physical Barrier Drill (7)
Put down a physical barrier just under 2 feet behind the hole (a club, flagstick, etc). Then putt from a considerable distance focusing on getting the ball between the hole and the flag. The physical barrier gets it in your mind that you should focus more on feel and distance control.
Feel Drill (8)
Have 4 balls ready to putt with. Hit your first putt a certain distance focusing on feel and distance (without putting to a hole). Then without looking at the result, grab another ball and attempt to get it next to the first one while feeling the distance of that first putt (and so and and so forth). At the end of the drill, look up to see what the results are and restart from further distances or try it with your eyes closed.
One of the keys to better distance control is rolling the ball instead of hitting it. Hold your left shoulder with your right had and make some one-handed strokes (1) to keep the left shoulder level, the putter head low, and the left hand in control. By keeping the shoulder low and the putterhead close to the ground, you avoid the hit move (2) that comes when you flip your hand at the ball.
GO LOW TO THE HOLE (6)
One of the keys that clicked for Rory McIlroy when we worked with him recently was to focus on moving his left hand low and toward the hole through the stroke. To amplify this feel, practice with just your left hand, holding your left shoulder with your right hand (see Dave Jr., right). This reminds you to keep your shoulders level, and the one-handed stroke encourages you to swing the putter without the left wrist breaking down.
Read More http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-instruction/2011-10/dave-stockton-putt-like-the-pros#ixzz2T0AYm5ee
THINK ROLL, NOT HIT (9)
The key to distance control is to roll the ball, not hit it. To do this, take an open stance, your weight slightly favoring your left side and your putter shaft leaning toward the target (right). The open stance makes it easier to feel the left hand going out and down the target line. The forward lean offsets the 4 degrees of loft I recommend for a putter and helps the ball roll smoothly.
When you make the stroke, keep the putterhead low to the ground past impact, like Ron is demonstrating (inset). The putter will ascend slightly, but don't try to hit up on the ball -- whoever told you to do that was wrong, because it makes the ball hop.
When you make the stroke, keep the putterhead low to the ground past impact, like Ron is demonstrating (inset). The putter will ascend slightly, but don't try to hit up on the ball -- whoever told you to do that was wrong, because it makes the ball hop.
SPOT THE SPOT (10)
If you stare at the ball too long at address, it's easy to get brain-locked and hit a bad putt. To avoid this, I don't even look at the ball. Try looking at a spot just in front of the ball on your target line and rolling the ball over that spot. Put a tee in the ground in front of the ball when you practice (right). This gets you thinking about the target line instead of the stroke--the opposite of what most golfers do.
Another trick to free your mind is to picture the ball going in on the high side of the hole on a breaking putt. Most golfers miss low. For this left-to-right putt (above), I want the ball to enter the cup well left of center.
Rhythm & Metronome Drill (7.5)
Use a metronome to measure rhythm from the start to the backswing (1st beat) and from the backswing to impact (2nd beat). Almost all golfers fall between 70 and 80 bpm
If you are coming up consistently short, that means the bpm is set to fast, and you need to slow the bpm (from say 76 to 74) and allow for more time to get to the beat and allow for more time to get back to the ball which equates to more energy and further distance. If you are consistently too far past the hole, then your bpm is to slow and you need to increase it from say 76 bpm to 78 bpm.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4IFGPGe6dc
Shoulder Pendulum Drill (5)
Try putting an alignment stick or club underneath your shoulders to use your shoulders a little more in the putting. This will help your distance control.
Distance Control & Symmetrical Stroke (7)
Lots of amateurs struggle with distance control because they don't have a consistent length of swing (symmetrical swing either side of your body) and a constant rhythm to their stroke. Pick a flat part of the putting green and put some tees on the width of your stance. Put the ball in between the tees and say to yourself tick, tock (like a clock) on the backswing and forwardswing respectively while you.
Working with this drill/ making sure that your length of stroke is equal on both sides will mean that your rhythm is consistent and vice versa. This will lead to better distance control.
Then add a putters length to each of the tees (so a clubhead outside the width of your feet) and you will find that the distance of your putts roughly double. Add another length, it triples (and so on...)
Hitting the ball in the center of the putter face is key for solid putts and feeling distance control.
Ladder Putting Drill (8)
Attack Angle Stroke Drill (7)
Use a sand wedge and hit the ball with the leading edge to make sure you have a level angle of attack. We don't want the club to come to much up on the follow through (topping it into the ground, making it hop) and we also don't want the club to come too much down (chipping at the ball making it loft into the air). So grip your sand wedge like you would a putter and roll some putts from about 8-9 feet making sure you're hitting the equator of the ball.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iR6gJTsb274
Putting Feel Drill (9)
Money Back Drill (5)
A quick jabby stroke leads to inconsistency in distance control. Try putting a coin in the back of your putter and making sure that it stays there throughout the whole stroke. This will ensure a smooth tempo/ thythm.
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