Alison had been playing golf for just two years and had developed a good swing and approach shots but struggled when it came to putting. She admitted feeling anxious when she had to sink a putt; this was made worse if it meant finishing under par or winning the hole. I watched her putting in my teaching room and everything looked fine but as this was a no-pressure shot it didn’t tell me anything. So I suggested she could have the next lesson free if she could sink a long putt into a plastic cup - this also made me a little anxious! As soon as there was something riding on the shot I noticed she held her breath and visibly tensed her jaw and tightened her grip on the club – she also missed the putt.
Once you’ve read the green and lined up your shot you should no longer be concerned about the hole when you address the ball. You’ve done the maths and worked out which direction the ball should go, and how hard you should hit it. So when you come to play the shot you don’t need to worry about sinking the putt- you just need to stay relaxed and focus on the task in hand, i.e., to carry out the next part of the plan.
Alison was thinking about the position of the hole, the consequences of missing and getting tense in the process. Once she’d lined up and was in her stance over the ball I asked her to focus on the movement of her ribs for a moment whilst she looked at the ball. Then I got her to be aware of the touch of her lips and to check there was a space between her upper and lower teeth. She found these thoughts helped her to relax and detach herself from the putt – she needed to ‘be in the moment’.
By maintaining these thoughts she was able to stay poised and achieve the smooth pendulum action required for a good putt. She tried a few without aiming at the cup and then with the cup without bringing anything extra, mental or physical, into the shot. She was able to take this onto the green and with practice her putting improved dramatically.
The techniques I used with Alison, and more, are available in my book 'Golf Sense'.
Also see:
How Practising Getting Out Of Bed Will Improve Your Putting
Once you’ve read the green and lined up your shot you should no longer be concerned about the hole when you address the ball. You’ve done the maths and worked out which direction the ball should go, and how hard you should hit it. So when you come to play the shot you don’t need to worry about sinking the putt- you just need to stay relaxed and focus on the task in hand, i.e., to carry out the next part of the plan.
Alison was thinking about the position of the hole, the consequences of missing and getting tense in the process. Once she’d lined up and was in her stance over the ball I asked her to focus on the movement of her ribs for a moment whilst she looked at the ball. Then I got her to be aware of the touch of her lips and to check there was a space between her upper and lower teeth. She found these thoughts helped her to relax and detach herself from the putt – she needed to ‘be in the moment’.
By maintaining these thoughts she was able to stay poised and achieve the smooth pendulum action required for a good putt. She tried a few without aiming at the cup and then with the cup without bringing anything extra, mental or physical, into the shot. She was able to take this onto the green and with practice her putting improved dramatically.
The techniques I used with Alison, and more, are available in my book 'Golf Sense'.
Also see:
How Practising Getting Out Of Bed Will Improve Your Putting
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