How long does it take?

[islandgirl]

[QUOTE=GoFlyers;45762]If you are getting/taking advice from fellow golfers and still shooting in the low 90's... now that is impressive!

No, you're right. What I meant was if my swing is to quick or if I'm swaying..things that I can fix. You're right, to much advice out there and the waters really get mucked up.

I'll try the putting games..anything to try to improve the mess I call putting.

[golfchief]

Ok here's a couple of tips, with out seeing you putt.
1. Your pushing the ball to the right-- try moving the ball back toward the center of your stance.
2. grounding the putter during the swing--- don't place the putter on the ground, leave it just above the ground. ( when your a little nervous you may be pushing the putter down into the green making you drag the putter)
3. try putting with your shoulders, bring the club back to a spot behind the ball,start inside the right shoe toe then the outside of the shoe toe, follow through the ball the same distance as you went back. see how far the ball is rolling after stroking the ball. putt 3 or 4 balls from each position to get a group then pace off the distance. go to the practice green and find a flat spot to a hole.take a pace away, stick a tee in the green and take another pace and place another tee in. a pace is about 1 yard depending on your stride. from the info in your grouping of putts you should have and idea how firm to make your putting stroke. As you get more comfortable from these disdances keep taking another pace away from the hole. The three putts should turn into 1 and 2 putts very soon if you practice this.
When your playing and not sure how firm to stroke the putt just pace it off and make the swing adjustment for length from your practice.

[islandgirl]

GC- Tks, what you said actually makes sense to me..not just being told to "feel" it. These are things that I can understand and put into practice. Once it warms up here again I'm going right out to try it.
I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks again for your input-it's appreciated.

Laurie

[chingali]

islandgirl it sounds like you REALLY need to work on your putting! It's one thing to practice your putting by just hitting putt after putt, which is good to groove something repeatable another thing but it is another thing to get your putting to hold up out on the course when under pressure. I recommend practicing your putting but adding an element of pressure/accountability to it as well.

Use the circle drill, but don't allow yourself to go home or play golf or do something you enjoy more than putting until you have achieved your target. The circle drill consists of placing 6 balls (or any number of balls) an equal distance around the hole and then holing each of them. Start out putting your 6 balls 2 feet from the hole, after holing them all place them 3 feet from the hole then 4 feet then 5 feet. If you miss one putt, you go back to the 2 foot circle and start again. If you hole all of your putts from 2 feet through to 5 feet you have holed 24 in a row, it's surprisingly hard to do and it forces you to maintain your focus and concentration. Miss a 4 footer and it's back to the beginning. I'll usually do this as the last thing before I go home, and I don't go home until I have completed the task or it gets dark and my wife calls me complaining. If I finish the task quickly, I let myself go in to the clubhouse for a beer. I actually do the drill out to 6 feet, but you can tailor the maximum distance to your current skill level, the thing to remember is, it should be difficult for you to finish.

Another practice game I play is called "under". This is pretty simple, I take 3 balls and pick a number under par I have to get to before I can do something else like go home or have a beer. I randomly putt the balls to holes on the putting green, and putt them all out, no gimmes. Every hole is a par 2, so say I decide I want to go until I get to 20 under, I have to hole 20 longish putts and 2 putt the rest. As your putting improves you can increase the amount under par you want to reach.

The final practice game I play is to putt against an opponent. Find a friend or someone else putting on the practice green and challenge them to a putting contest. The way we always play it is you keep score, no gimmes, every hole is a par 2 and we either pick a number under par to reach first or we pick a time the contest ends. Whoever won the last hole gets to pick the next one you putt to. As a kid I used to play this one nearly every day of the week with my mates and there was always lots of pressure because whenever we did it there'd always be at least a few members out on the balcony betting on us and shouting all kinds of interesting (never helpful or well meaning!) advice at us, sometimes there'd be quite a crowd. Later on when playing in the club championships these were the same members who'd be following us around and they were the same guys following us and on our team when we played interclub events, it was a good fun way to ease us youngsters in to playing in front of crowds!

So basically what I am trying to say by outlining the above drills is, practice putting the way you are going to putt while playing, with a bit of pressure on every single putt.

[evaldez]

I'll try the putting games..anything to try to improve the mess I call putting.

Gee Island girl... Putting is the final step in completing a hole and it can make the difference between a good round and a terrible round of golf. It all depends on your putting skills to be able to get your ball into the hole in a minimum number of strokes. And this requires a lot fo practice. To be able to Putt good, you should maintain a still and relaxed body and use a Pendulum-Like Swing using only your arms and your shoulders. Strive more on Putting Practice..

Cheers and good luck! evaldez ABC's of Golf

[islandgirl]

just wanted to say thanks again to all of you for your tips. I did 2 things yesterday, first I replaced my Odyssey putter with the Ping G5 Craz-e, which at 33" is 2" shorter than my old putter. Then I went to the practice green and PRACTICED for what seemed like an eternity . I used the tips that made sense to me and that I thought I could actually do like the circle drill and GC I put the ball in the middle of my stance, used the tee and pacing off drill as well as used my right foot for reference.

The good news? I played 18 today (my orginal intention was to play 9, so I walked 18-what was I thinking? that bag gets heavy after a while !) Anyway, shot an 86 with 7-1 putts, 7-2putts and only 4-3 putts! Now that is exciting!!!

Thanks agin all..

[golfchief]

Great, glad we could help. keep up the practice in you'll get in the 70's.

[evaldez]

just wanted to say thanks again to all of you for your tips. I did 2 things yesterday, first I replaced my Odyssey putter with the Ping G5 Craz-e, which at 33" is 2" shorter than my old putter. Then I went to the practice green and PRACTICED for what seemed like an eternity

That's great! Go on and continue

Putting for the best !!! Cheers, evaldez ABC of Golf