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Putting, often our first experience at this wonderful game of golf. As young children, it is our annual chance at a free ice cream cone......that's only if we can putt it thru the clowns smiling mouth! But something happens as our golf game matures; we spend countless hours on the driving range trying to perfect that golf swing. We lose sight of our beginning, we forget that our introduction to this game was on the putting green. We still think "If I just hit this little golf ball close to the hole, I may not even have to putt at all."

I want you to think about the last five foot putt that you had to make, could others literally see the tension radiating from your body? Could they see the anxious expression on your face or could they even see your neck start to disappear as the shoulders pull in and got tight.

If this sounds like your last putting experience, I would like to share my pregame putting routine, that narrows my focus and frees up my stroke on the course.

The next time you find yourself on the practice green, find a flat six foot putt to a cup and place two tees lightly in the grass a half inch inside each edge of the cup. Essentially, you have created a mini-goal post to hit putts through. It sounds very simple, but when you try it, you'll notice how much more acutely you focus. Instead of putting balls quickly to a wide variety of targets, you now have a great way to focus your concentration on a much smaller target. By the time you make it out on the golf course, the standard size holes will feel like basketball
hoops in comparison.

Labels: Putting

Putting is without a doubt one of the most important aspects of golf. It is also the best way to lower your score and can actually be the fastest way to shoot lower scores since improving your swing can take time whereas putting is primarily a mental game. The secret to great putting lies in your mind and in your ability to maintain your confidence.

Build Confidence:

Putting is all about confidence and it is when people lose their confidence in putting, that is when they start getting poor results on the green. Think about it for a second. How many different putting styles are there out there even on the PGA Tour yet they all produce great results and even the funkiest putting styles have been used to win major events.

So it is not the stroke that matters, however this does not mean you should ignore putting mechanics. In fact, if you are a beginner it is recommended that you take a lesson or two from your local golf pro just to get an idea of some of the mechanical approaches. A good mechanical tip is to make sure that your eyes are directly over the ball. This will help you to see the line of the putt better.

After this you need to stick to one approach regardless of what other people might say. Do not chase the "perfect stroke", it doesn't exist. You are better off chasing the 'perfect mentality'.

Putt To Make It:

So what is the ideal way to think to improve your putting. The bottom line is that when you step over the putt you must know the ball is going in the hole. I realize there are many that say for long putts you just want to get it close but I disagree because you are just increasing your margin for error if you are aiming for some 3 foot circle. Always putt to make it.

Before a round hit a few long putts to get the feel of the greens, you may even want to aim for the edge of the greens instead of the hole because you do not want to see yourself consistently missing putts.

With long putts you will not make the majority that is why when practicing to get the feel of a green putt to the fringe. This will help to maintain your confidence. You want to spend a lot of time practicing putts inside 10 feet as you should be making the majority of these and also they are important putts as they can make a big difference in your score.

Develop A Selective Memory:

Think of yourself as a great putter and see yourself making putts, forget the misses. You must develop a highly selective memory when it comes to putting and forget all your misses and only remember the ones you have made.

Constantly replay the great putts you have made in the past in your head both on the course and off. This again will help you to maintain supreme confidence every time you step over a putt. Also developing a solid pre shot routine that reminds you to become confident is very useful. When reading greens you want to trust your first impression and go with that.

Nobody reads greens perfectly every time, even the pros mess up constantly so be gentle on yourself if you misread a green. Again if you do misread a green, try to forget it and remind yourself again of all the times you accurately read a green and consequently made the putt.

The Importance Of Keeping The Mind Quiet:

You do not want to think about putting mechanics when are about to stroke the putt. The only thing that should run through your mind as you are about to stroke the putt is the target which should be something small like the blade of grass at the back of the hole or a foot to the right of the hole if the putt has break to it. Just let your mind and body work to automatically hit the putt with the right direction and distance. Keep your mind as silent as possible and let your natural athletic ability take over.

A good exercise to build a quiet mind is to focus on something neutral like the tip of a pen or your breathing. Try to only think of that neutral item and if other thoughts enter your mind then gently return your focus back on that item. Over time it will become easier to slip into that quiet state of mind. Apply this to each putt by focusing on the target and only that. These are some of the tips the greatest putters follow and there is no reason you cannot be a great putter too. While putting is critical to good golf you must also look at your full swing, other areas of your short game and the mental game to really get better.

As published on:
http://www.golfswingtips4u.com/golf-putting-tips.php

Labels: Putting

Do you have the yips? Well do not worry because you are not alone, many have suffered from this condition and the good news is that many have also recovered and become even better putters than they were before. So what is the real solution to the yips? If you had them for a while, I bet you have tried the latest putting aid, or the latest model putter to try to cure your problem. Did it work? Most likely not, at least not permanently.

Get Rid Of Fear:

The only permanent solution to putting yips is get down to the core of what is causing it in the first place. The yips is nothing more than just fear of missing a putt. Most people with the yips care way too much and think way too much before they are about to hit the putt.

How you think as you are about to stroke the putt is critical because you need to develop the ability to not think of mechanics as you are about to hit the putt. Only focus on your target which should be very precise when you are stroking a putt.

Build Confidence:

Putting is all about confidence and you must have confidence over every putt that you will make it. In addition you have to develop the ability to think selectively. Do not allow yourself to remember your missed putts, rather focus on the putts you have made both long and short and relive those great putts constantly.

The solution to putting yips lies within you and will not be cured by some miracle putter or putting aid. The only reason getting a new putter might help you temporarily is because you believe that you can now make putts with this 'advanced' putter.

You trust your stroke more and so naturally you make more putts but inevitably you will miss a few as even the greatest players do and you will go back to not trusting your stroke. The greatest putters simply shake off the misses and get right back to trusting that the next putt will go in the hole.

Do Not Dwell On Your Misses:

They know that there are a million factors that could have caused that putt to miss so they do not dwell on their misses. They only focus on their successes. This is not difficult and does not require special mental skills. It is simply a decision on your part to think this way. Every night before you go to bed relive your top 3 greatest putts ever made and remind yourself that you are a great putter.

You Are Already A Great Putter:

The truth is that we are all born great putters, it is just that sometimes we forget that fact and start putting ourselves down whether it be consciously or subconsciously. Get back to the truth of how good you really are as a putter. You were born with great touch and feel, you just need to trust it.

Spend only a bit of time before a round putting to the fringe to get a feel for the speed and then sink a few short putts to boost your confidence and then simply hit the first tee knowing you will have the greatest putting performance of your golfing career. Never lose your confidence and you will never lose your putting skills and you will also banish the yips forever. Becoming a good putter is the first step to great golf, you must also address the full swing, chipping, wedge shots and the mental game in order to improve.

As published on:
http://www.golfswingtips4u.com/putting-yips.php

Labels: Putting

The putting stroke that is best depends upon the individual. So try them all and decide which is best for you.

Shoulders controlling: With the wrists in a locked position and with the shoulders and arms working in unison, together they control the club throughout the stroke.

The shove type: The word 'shove' is misleading. An actual shove is illegal. It's only a feel. What gives this 'shove feel' is that the stroke is made with a very short backswing and a long follow-through. The advantage of this type of stroke is the shorter the backswing, the less chance of error.

The grip most certainly will influence the clubhead, but any type of grip that will keep the wrists from opening or closing the blade is a good grip regardless of how the hands grip the club. Whatever grip is chosen, the thumbs should be on top. The thumbs are the feelers, and being on top one can feel if the blade is square. Any stroke that holes the ball consistently is a good putting stroke. Regardless of the style of the stroke, the putterhead should never be taken to the outside of the target line on the backswing.

Finally, I have a drill that may work for you when practicing your putting stroke called the Tack stroke. To learn this stroke, pretend there is a tack stuck in the back of the ball - and when you make your stroke, have the putterhead drive the tack further into the ball. This will encourage you to hit the ball with more authority which, with this shorter stroke, will result in less chance of the putter blade getting out of what is called 'square position'. So start getting "Tacky" on the greens!

As published on:
http://www.golflink.com/golf-tips/tips/ward010.asp

Labels: Putting

You Should putt like you swing
... or a little more eloquently stated, "A putting stroke is a true swing, and should be made up of the same components as your full swing;" is recommended advise in much of the instructional writing through the years. Percy Boomer, in his classic book "On Learning Golf" made a comparison when he stated that, "Anyone with a proper concept of the golf swing, who then applies those same concepts to the putt, will surely become a superb putter." Johnny Miller apparently concurred when in 1977, he blamed the loss of his full swing on the fact that he had made changes in his putting stroke a couple of years earlier, which eventually disrupted his rhythm on all shots. If you can accept these statements, you can utilize the fact that your putter swing is small, slow moving, and largely without muscular effort, to better enable yourself to grasp the concepts, and mechanics, which are equally important to all golf swings.

As published on:
http://http://www.golflink.com/golf-tips/tips/anderson003.asp

Labels: Putting

BEST TIP: Stay down through impact.

At address, keep left hand ahead of or over the front of the ball.

Soft hands improve feel and relieve tension.

Maintain constant pressure in both hands throughout the stroke.

Keep eyes over ball.

Keep head and body still.

Work on consistent tempo.

Make sure back of left hand and palm of right hand face target through impact.

Stand tall, point elbows toward hips and concentrate on distance.

Play ball slightly ahead of center.

Hit ball slightly on upstroke.

Take the club back slow and follow through.

Putt with your arms, not your wrists.

Accelerate into the ball.

Avoid left wrist breakdown.

Aim for back of cup on short putts.

For long putts, concentrate on speed and aim for an intermediate target.

Labels: Putting

The average player is said to take 2/3rds of his total shots from less than 100 feet from the hole. With this in mind it's clear that you can't score well without putting at least adequately.


The "art" of putting, although no more easily perfected than the other parts of your game, has certain characteristics which make it the ideal discipline with which to both start and finish every practice session. In fact, putting can be practiced without ever leaving your house, and you should hold every expectation that this "carpet" practice will pay dividends to your golf game. I know dozens of top professionals who spend hundreds of hours practice putting on carpets to either improve,or maintain, their putting stroke.


It's generally accepted that you're a bad putter only if you use more than the allotted 36 putts per round, but better players actually use about 32 putts per round. This then should be your goal. A goal which you should continually be monitoring and striving for.

Labels: Putting