Putting focus?

[schigara]

When putting, do you focus totally on the ball or do you let your peripheral vision kinda focus on the putter as well?

I used to strictly focus on the ball and was quite good at putting but recently I have started to notice that I am still looking at the ball on the takeaway but now I am also paying attention to the club head as well during takeaway and my putting is going downhill.

[alomar123]

I look at the club then the hole while on the downswing. You can only do this once you got the feel for putting distance

[MiniMoe]

In my mind's eye, I imagine the line the ball will roll to the hole. When I step up to the putt, I see the ball, the putter head, and still see the line I want to roll the ball on. Some say to focus on a spot on the ball, but in doing that , your brain can not focus on the target. I am always target oriented. I try never to do anything that will distract me for my goal of getting the ball to the target.


One added note, your eyes need to stay still during the putting stroke. I don't focus on any one thing, but my eyes stay still.

[brgolf]

I use practice strokes to get a feel for line, distance and technique. During the stroke I am looking only at the ball as moving my eyes could result in a failure to start the ball along the proper line.

[Adumb]

I can always read the break better from the dowhill side. Meaning if I have an uphill putt, I will read the break squatting on the other side of the hole. I will visualize the line the putt will take and aim to a spot to the right or to the left of the hole. Don't focus on the ball so much as focus on your stroke form and distance the ball needs to go. If you're a 3 putter think about getting the ball close. I guess it would be a lag putt, but actually it takes the pressure off with this mentality so you can possibly drop it in the cup. OR you can take the other philosophy, if it's a long putt that seems to be out of your range, don't give up. Putt as if you will actually make it. Look at what you need to do to make the putt happen. I used to be a 3-4 putter and the first mentality worked the best for me because I got tense, I rushed, I putted like Happy Gilmore. Then when I got to be a consistent 3 putter I switched to the next mindset of intending to make every putt and getting the best read and not rushing. Now I almost always 2 putt or 1 putt. No putters are nice too. It all takes practice, and reading the greens takes plenty of practice too. Good luck!

[imtomtomim]

I try to draw a mental line that I want between the hole and the ball and then just step up and hit it. I've found that instinctive putting has made me a fantastic putter. I used to be very technical and methodical about my putting, but once I started using my imagination and just rely on my hand eye coordination, my putting has become one of the best aspects of my game. I do use a line on my ball so I sometimes I can rely on a predetermined read and I focus my eyes on, and infront of the ball. Also, I focus on using my right hand for putting and the left hand is just for counter-weight stability.

[Gilles]

I used to keep my eyes on the ball until I touched the ball, then keep my eyes on that same exact spot to avoid any body movement that might alter the path of my putter head (teachings from my pro).

But then I've done some exercises on "straight putting" where you fix a 2 meter (6-7 feet?) string on two pencils, put one pencil in the ground behind the cup, then stretch the string along a straight putt and put the other pencil in the ground, with the string 3 inches above the ground. The aim is to check if the path of your putter head is straight or arched, which makes the chance you hit the ball in a non-perpendicular way bigger if the latter.

What I developed from this is that I now keep my eyes on the ball until my putter head touches it, then my focus shifts to the putter head, concentrating on keeping the putter head moving on a straight line. Only when my putter head has reached the end of my swing, will I look at the ball (which most often isn't visible any more because I've heard it going down before).
My putting (confidence) went up enormously.

(Still have to cash in in terms of handicap though)


Gilles

[lumpuckeroo]

In my mind's eye, I imagine the line the ball will roll to the hole. When I step up to the putt, I see the ball, the putter head, and still see the line I want to roll the ball on. Some say to focus on a spot on the ball, but in doing that , your brain can not focus on the target. I am always target oriented. I try never to do anything that will distract me for my goal of getting the ball to the target.

This is my approach also.