Just like most weekend warriors I have suffered for my putting for quite some time. It was not that I had the yips or anything like that, I was just lost. I knew the basics of how to strike the ball and the basics of reading a green, but my pace and consistency was shot. I was just as likely to leave it 5 feet short as I was to send it 5 feet by the hole.
My new Odyssey putter helped, but if you are inconsistent even that putter that Rodney Dangerfield had in Caddie Shack will not save you. It was a tip from Dave Stockton on a Golf Channel show with his sons that turned the tide in my putting and has made this year much improved over the past few. The best part is that it is easy to do. First imagine that there is a golf tee pushed down into the ground about an inch in front of your ball along the line that you intend to hit it. Then you just practice hitting the ball over that mark and keeping the face of the putter square to my line until the putter head passes the mark as well.
For me this has been a new life saver. By keeping the face square and watching the ball roll over that mark it took aim out of the equation and allowed me to focus on pace and nothing but pace. If you don’t have to worry about your alignment you are free to only focus on how far.
For how far I started focusing on the same thing I try to do with my driver, let the shoulder turn control the pace. As long as I keep my hands relaxed but not soft enough to engage my wrists and focus on making a solid shoulder turn it I seem to be able to consistently roll the ball this year. I don’t know that make any more 12 footers but I do seem to have more 2-3 footers on my second put and I’ll take that all day.
Try it out and I hope it works for you!
Richard