Putting - how did you get better?

[JimmyDoesGolf]

I read "Putting out of your mind" by Bob Rotella. This book changed everything about the way I putt, and now I regularly 2 putt most greens. Any 3 putts I forget about and move on.

My key points are now:
Go with my first impression of the line, it's normally correct
Don't worry about the speed, my brain can do that itself
Just focus on one target, and make that as small as possible, eg and blade of grass
See the ball rolling into the whole
Take one long look at the target, and as soon as you look back at the ball, stroke the putt

[Righty to Lefty]

I have some crazy theories about putting which have helped me tremendously with my putting and my distance control which is more important than the line when you are outside of about 20 feet. I ALWAYS get my line from behind the ball and NEVER change it from standing over the ball because you are seeing the line for a completely differernt angle and from behind the ball is always more accurate than when you are standing over it. Next once I've set my putter I don't even look at the ball. I look at a spot about 2 inches in front of the ball and I take my putter directly over that mark and that ensures that I have likely hit my line so long as my putter head is perpendicular to the target. If you look at the ball then you will likely lose your sense of where the hole is and then you will make a tenative stroke and then three putt! For my distance control, I pretend as if I am hitting a chip! I know that sounds crazy but think about it when you hit a chip you are trying to chip to a spot and then you get roll out depending on whether the putt is uphill, downhill, or flat. Get this, if the put is flat pick a target half way and putt to it. If the put is downhill pick a target about 25% of the way there and putt to that, if it is uphill, pick a target about 75% of the way there and putt to that. If the balls stops at the spot that you were aimed at then you didn't give the putt a chance from the start because didn't give it enough(Example: On a 10 foot perfectly flat putt if you leave it half way then you only gave the putt enough force for about 2 1/2 feet. Or pretend you are hitting a three foot putt to and imaginary hole and see how far it would roll past the cup because of the extra momentum. For you to die a 3 footer into the cup you would probably take about a 1 inch back and thru swing). I think about golf allday long and I came up with this to help me with my distance control out of the bunkers and it worked like a charm. I also don't take as long to execute putts because I have a set routine and thought to help me not have to grind over distance control. I think people are going to think I'm crazy when they read this but it really works. Think about it, when you hit a chip you aren't trying to hit the ball all the way to the flag. You are trying to hit a spot in between you and the flag and you are factoring a set amount of roll out. This thought is even more accurate then with wedges because you aren't getting backspin. Basically you are playing with momentum. Give it a try and report back!!