putting woes

[out_in_30]

my game has what I like to call the flu. my putting is so dreadful at this time that my whole game is suffering from it. my %age is plummeting on the amount of 5 footers and in that I make. my stroke feels great when there is no ball there... once i get over the ball my stroke feels horrible. i am trying not to think about it too much. I have a tournament coming up next week and am trying not to panic. but if it doesnt go away soon i am in a lot of trouble.. how can i rid my putting of these demons!???!?!

[out_in_30]

really? nobody has anything to say about putting problems?

[martytilma]

Practice, practice and more practice. I would suggest trying the 3 foot drill. I've been doing it and its done wonders for my putting this year. Put down 10 balls around a hole in a 3 foot circle and try to go around twice without missing. If you miss start over. At first it took me like 15 tries to do it and now I can usually do it in 5. Good luck!

[martytilma]

really? nobody has anything to say about putting problems?

Also, do you have a pretty good putting routine? It will help shake the nerves before you putt if you to.

[TempoIsKey]

I've been playing this crazy game for close to 25 years and I just came up with this putting drill a couple weeks ago and It has already helped my putting significantly. Go to the putting green and find an identifiable spot lets say 5 to 6 ft from the cup. Make sure it is a spot that you can place the ball exactly on it every single time. You want to make SURE that the ball is placed in the EXACT same spot every time. Start putting. Once you make a couple and figure out the break if there is any, it's all stroke from there. The put will be the same every time. It's like making the stroke the only variable. It really builds confidence, or it did with me anyway. Hope this helps.

[pbailey]

I has my first ever putting instruction about a month ago. The results are amazing. He didn't change anything about my grip, stance etc. First thing he did was to prove to me that when lining up a putt with the ball in the center of the putter through my alignment off. I now address the ball, align the putt with the ball near the toe. When I'm satisfied I'm on my line, I slide the putter out to center the ball.

Like others have suggested, the way you practice is huge. His drill for me is to putt 2 from 2 feet, split out about a foot from each other, then 3 from 3 feet and keep moving out. Can't move out unless you make them all. He taught me speed and touch by starting the drill with pushing the ball with the putter rather than stroking it. One key point to his teaching is seeing the target in the minds eye and stroking the putter towards that target. He also insisted I don't ground the putter when I'm ready to stroke the ball. Feel very awkward at first, but all this is adding up to more putts made, especially inside 10 feet.

[ks8829]

Two tips that I heard on the Golf Channel during he Memorial. I heard Nick Faldo just mention when Aaron Bradley had his putting woes what he said to Aaron, putt from 6 - 10 feet all day until you are comfortable, he came in 3rd place his next round. Zack Johnson said that he is trying to keep the cup between his wrist and hand throughout his putt.

[blackxpress]

What martytilma said. I practically sleep with my putter. The rest of my game could stand a great deal of improvement (although it is coming along nicely) but my putter saves my bacon a lot of the time. That's because I practice my butt off. I do the 3 ft. drill that martytilma mentioned. Also, I practice at home every night. Instead of sitting in my recliner and watching the Golf Channel, I set up a coffee mug in front of the TV and putt into it while watching the Golf Channel. I start off with 3 footers and then keep moving it back until I start missing. At 15 ft. I don't expect to make every putt but if I start missing more than half of them I move it back to 3 ft. and start over. Out on the course I'm deadly from 5 ft. in. I don't 3 putt very much because my short game is pretty good. If I can get on the green inside 5 ft. I feel confident that I can 1 putt from there. If I'm 10 ft. or more from the hole my strategy is to take my medicine and play for the 2 putt. I imagine that the hole is the size of a small washtub. As long as I can get the ball into the washtub I've got my 2 putt and I'm happy. Once in a while I make the putt anyway but all I was trying to do was get it close. A 2 putt from 15 ft. is acceptable to me. I don't blame it on the putter because I should have been closer to the hole to begin with.

[out_in_30]

thanks for the responses guys. i think i just need to not think so much and just focus on making a good stroke. When i practice putting on the putting green i make a ton of putts; probably because i dont care if they go in or not and I am freely stroking the putt. Its just so hard to feel like I dont care when the putts count. thats where I definitely relate on the pre putt routine mentioned above. I think ive come up with something that is going to help me. practice round soon so we will find out soon enough.

[GDIB_net]

My heart goes out to you.Been there ,done that. And with a toonamint coming up----yikes! Here is something that has actually helped me. I used to play alot of basketball and I wanted to have the same mentality about putting as I did about shooting a free throw. What i came up with is --I read the putt and pick out the spot right in front of the ball and I mean right in front the closer the better. And all I concentrate on is rolling the ball over the spot.It's not as easy as it sounds, especially in competition. Once I came up with the discipline to do it, my worries about the stroke disappeared and I started making putts and when I didn't had a lot of tapins. Good luck. GDIB

[nuck81]

Trust your intuition. Your body KNOWS what to do.

I tell this to my music kids learning a new instrument. Most people can whistle a tune. Has anyone ever had a whistling lesson that tells you the exact aperture your lips must create in order to produce the particular tone in your head? No, you hear the pitch and your body makes it happen. Same thing with putting. See the target and trust your body to make it happen....

[GDIB_net]

Whistling! Wow a great word picture. If you don't mind, I'd like to use it someday. GDIB