How much of putting is Mental?

[dak4n6]

Originally Posted by iacas

Why is that an indication that their test is not "rigorous"?

I think it's pretty interesting that by saying only that little thing people made more putts. I've seen plenty of studies lately that say the same thing. People made more putts with a putter they believed was a Tour player's putter, too.

It doesn't take much.

Yeah, I agree that that much bias in the results is pretty amazing given such a weak suggestion. I just thought that a research team of PhDs would come up with a little more elegant way of planting the 'luck' seed. That was the first thing I was interested in when I opened the article - how did they make their ball 'lucky' - and was disappointed when I found the answer. I work with some Human Factors pyschology scientists and they can get pretty clever in either deceiving their test subjects or teasing data from them..

[saevel25]

Does it matter if the mechanism is straight forward or more subliminal? I guess they could have told them the ball is more advanced than the normal golf ball. But to me it just speaks that its pretty simple to switch on confidence in a person, and that in its self can increase a person's putting ability. Even if they are making only 20% more putts, that's what 3-4 strokes per round. That's pretty substantial for golf.

[dak4n6]

I have always felt that of all games, golf displays THE MOST connection between confidence and performance. I always try to remind my son of this when he gets all frustrated and down on himself.

[x129]

The methodology is all important. For example how do we know that the 14 people that got the lucky ball just weren't better putters to start with?  What happened when those putters putted with a nonlucky ball? Did they sink more or less putts?  What about when you extend the number of trials to 100 putts per individual? What does it do to an experienced golfer? Does have the noise about a lucky ball help them (distracting though) or hurt them (distracting thought)? And so on.

And yes there are numerous pro athletes going through crazy rituals. Who knows if that helps or hurts them in the long run.

Originally Posted by saevel25

Does it matter if the mechanism is straight forward or more subliminal? I guess they could have told them the ball is more advanced than the normal golf ball. But to me it just speaks that its pretty simple to switch on confidence in a person, and that in its self can increase a person's putting ability. Even if they are making only 20% more putts, that's what 3-4 strokes per round. That's pretty substantial for golf.

[saevel25]

if its a nervous tick, just something habitual that is directly related to stress, then its probably bad. If the ritual or habit is formed as a mechanism to ground the person to something familiar and comfortable, to ease stress, then it helps.

But true, how the test was performed is key, and its hard to find the answers to that. But if we take it on face value, and just experience from being an athlete, mental concentration is huge.

So what this might tell me is, some putters might be a lot better than they think, and if they start believing that they can putt they will live up to there ability. Some putters just suck and need a lot more work than confidence. But i do say this, you get a guy to sink a few putts in a row, get that confidence building up, then you can get them to practice with more focus and intensity, and passion, they will become a better putter faster, and probably a better putter overall.

[Beachcomber]

Here is a snip it that I found which I believe plays into putting - in particular pressure putting:

You don't get full explanations from Harbaugh about much. You get clues. And this, from his postgame presser early this morning, is about as far as he'll go to explain why Sunday's game was important for his team -- and Kaepernick. "I used to live next to a train station in Chicago,'' said the former Bears first-round pick. "It's like, the more you hear the train, the less you hear it. I feel that way with our team in terms of pressure in big games. The more you hear it, the less you hear. The more you feel it, the less you feel it. So, I feel good about that. I feel good about our team in those big game situations.''

Read More: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/nfl/news/20121217/week-15/#ixzz2FLQ6FaLP

Basically, the more you putt under pressure, the better you will preform.  As the pressure will become less and less.

[cooke119]

There is the feeling of "being in the zone" where your drives are straight, your second shot hits the green, and you sink your putts. That has got to be mental. I started another thread about my 'tempo' going out to lunch and I couldn't make anything happen. That also has to be mental and judging from the responders to the thread a lot of people experience it as well. There is however the physical aspect, " the more I practice the luckier I get" but so much of this game we play is mental IMHO.

[tiger1242]

What I've found out about putting that almost always works is this one simple key...

If I hit my approach shot inside of 10 feet my putting stats are amazing, lots of one and two putts and very few 3 putts. I think I discovered the secret to great putting!

[jshots]

Personally for me, I make more putts when the hole is bigger.

[Dave2512]

My best putting days come when I feel good, no hangover, no work related stress and anxiety, no physical ailments etc. If it's a good day I play good golf all the way around.

[colin007]

heres what happens for me sometimes, like once every 3 rounds.  i stand over a putt that i know is almost certain to go in.  and im talking like a 12 footer, one that otherwise i have no business making.  theres something about those putts that when i stand over it i can "see" the line and the ball going in the hole and it just happens.