Mastering the Art of Putting: Essential Skill Sets for Success

Putting is a Learned Skill.

To understand what is wrong with your putting you must first know how to putt, now it’s crucial to recognize that putting is more than guiding the ball to the hole. Unlike the forceful swing of a 7 iron, putting requires a gentle touch. The challenge lies in maintaining accuracy while using little to no force. To become a proficient putter, one needs to develop skill sets that involve precision, consistency, and a deep understanding of the fundamentals of putting.

Don’t be too Hard on Yourself

You know those putts that as they get closer to the hole, they make an abrupt stop with a quick little turn at the very end. Was that the result of your stroke or is it possible that the grass next to the hole was taller than the rest of the green (footprints around the hole) and it was the added friction from the taller grass causing the ball’s erratic behavior? Much of what happens on the green has very little to do with your stroke but are the result of imperfections on the surface, such as hidden ball marks, footprints, or sand from the bunkers, hell some of those imperfection can also cause you putts to go in! Distinguishing between a flawed stroke and external factors is vital to refining your putting skills. The greens are their own little party where the quests are treated both friendly and unfriendly, no apologies!

Characteristics of a Good Putting Stroke

A good stroke is one that has been correctly memorized, meaning you can repeat at will. With a good consistence stroke, you will learn the difference between a mishit and a bad spot on the green or a misread making it less likely that you find it necessary to change your stroke.

Repeatability is key to a good stroke and nothing is more repeatable than a pendulum. Once a pendulum is activated gravity takes over. Attached a string to a golf ball and try and swing it like a pendulum. You will find it takes some practice before you can keep it swinging in balance, but once you have it swinging in balance all you have to do is maintain your posture, if you turn your shoulders, add some sideways movement or lose your spine angle the ball becomes harder to control. The pull of gravity makes a pendulum possible, so why not use it in your putting stroke?

To be a good putter you must have a quality consistence stroke (QCS). The 3 components to QCS are alignment and setup, posture, and stroke. You must aim exactly where you want to hit the ball (putt line). Your feet, knees, hips, and shoulders must be parallel with your putt line, and let your arms hang much like the string tied to the ball. Keep your posture by maintaining your spine angle, keep your head steady and no sideways movement. Finally, your stroke, should mimic a pendulum and with the exception of the amount of backswing and follow through your stroke should be exactly the same on every putt.

Fundamentals are Key to Understanding Your Stroke

Maintaining good fundamentals is paramount to avoiding unnecessary adjustments. Losing sight of these fundamentals leaves you guessing about what went wrong with your putt. Let’s say you stroke the ball and its rolling on your intended ball line, what happens next will determine what if anything went wrong. If you make the putt, it’s because you made a good stroke. Now if the putt rolls good but comes up short or long then you know your speed was off. Same scenario but the putt does not break where you thought it would, then your read was wrong. The last thing you want is to watch a good putt miss the hole and then blame it on your stroke.

Love me Some Geometry

Imagine standing over a perfectly straight six-foot putt. A line can be drawn starting at the ball and ending in the middle of the hole (putt line). Now let’s consider this same six-footer but it now has 6 inches of break, so now your putt line starts at the ball and travels to a spot 6 inches from the hole, there it forms an angle heading straight to the middle of the hole, and from there the line travels back to the ball forming a triangle. (See image) Visualizing a triangle might free your mind up allowing you to just feel the stroke.

Think of it like this, you just stroked the ball and it is moving right along your putt line (top side of the triangle), at some point it will drop down into the triangle. Your goal is too determined the amount of touch needed to keep the ball inside the triangle long enough to reach the bottom angle and go in the hole. Aside from freeing up your mind visualizing a triangle may help you develop touch, here’s why.

Your brain loves patterns and a triangle is a pattern, so if you practice seeing them long enough your brain will be able to recall the touch needed for all the different types of triangles, you won’t have to think about it because your subconscious already knows what to do.

Your Subconscious Mind Just Wants to Help

Your subconscious mind is a borderline superpower, it monitors every organ, and in fact every cell in your body (all 37 trillion of them). Out of all these cells your subconscious can find the exact one needed to defeat the virus that has entered your body. Another aspect of your subconscious mind is that it’s wired to help you, so why not use it to play better golf! Here a way to teach it.

Make Good Putting a Habit You Can’t Break

When it comes to teaching your subconscious its helpful to fundamentally understand your subject. Study it, learn it, memorize it, and repeat it. You must study the fundamentals of putting until they are completely understood. The next step is to take that knowledge and incorporate it into your body. It’s not enough to understand putting intellectually but you must also feel it. The only way to teach your body how to feel putting is through repetition. Practice it the correct way long enough and your body will know it better than your mind. You know when you start to think about how to drive your car or brush your teeth it becomes harder, you want the same thing to happen with your putting.

Something to considered as you practice your fundamentals. At first it can be frustrating but as you improve it becomes easier and you might reach a point where it becomes boring, watch out you’re not done yet. Once you get past your boredom is when the subconscious starts to take over and it becomes a habit.

The best part about learning the fundamentals of putting is you can do it at home. As you are learning the fundamentals and playing golf just do your best to trust the process while of the course. One day your touch and feel for the stroke will overpower your thoughts about how to make the stroke.

In Summary

Becoming a proficient putter requires a combination of a consistent stroke, understanding fundamentals, visualizing geometric patterns, and harnessing the power of the subconscious mind. Embrace the process, invest the time, and witness the transformation of your game. Good luck, happy putting and remember – better golf is in sight!

This article only touches the surface of the science behind putting. For a better understanding I highly recommend Dave Pelz’s Putting Bible. Mr. Pelz’s went from a career as a Nasa engineer into a career as a short game guru and some of this article is based on his data. ParFection is a good companion for many of the drills he lays out in his book.