Putting Guides – Part 3 of 5

December 17, 2012January 29, 2017 / The Grateful Golfer / 1 Comment

My next putting tip has to do with how aggressive you want to play. Many advisers, coaches, pros, and friends have varying views on this topic. It is very difficult to determine what is best and when.

Many will say that if the greens are playing tough to lag putt outside of 15 feet. Others will suggest to always attack the hole. Dave Pelz at Scoregolf.com says that for putts 35 feet or longer to image the hole is 6 feet wide. This lag putt will hopefully cut down 3 putts.

Chris Czaja from Golfinstruction.com states that “One basic rule I have golfers follow is that if you are outside four paces from the hole, just go for a two putt.” He is also a strong supporter of practicing you putting stroke for 30 minutes a few times a week.

Ask yourself, when you have to make an approach shot or long putt….how often are you short of the hole? I would suggest that you are short most of the time. As a result, here is my view:

100% of short putts don’t go in!

I never intend to lag putt. I believe that by trying to sink every putt is the only way to play golf. I know that many players will not agree with my view, but I think that most players need to be more aggressive when they play and it starts on the green.

What do you think? Is lag putting the way to go or is being aggressive a valid alternative?

Putting Guides – Part 2 of 5

December 16, 2012 / The Grateful Golfer / 2 Comments

Back 6 forward 12! Now that you have made solid contact on the ball, where are you putting it too? There are many ways to line up your putt, determine the slope, the grain, hole location, etc. and we will talk about that in later posts. Right now I want to talk about hitting your line.

How do we consistently keep the ball on line? At SirShanksAlot.com, they talk about the difference between spot putting and line putting. Spot putters do not have to look at the hole and only focus the spot they are putting too. Line putters focus on the hole and take the whole shot into account. I remember about 30 years ago when Jack Nicklaus gave an interview and he talked about putting. He said that he picked a spot about 3 feet in front of the ball and putted to that spot. I took his point to heart (and if it is good enough for Jack……), but added my own little twist.

First thing I do is determine my line. Then I pick a point three feet in front of the ball. This is the point I must hit first when putting. Right now you are saying sounds simple; well here is my twist.

I additionally want to determine the speed of the putt. Therefore, I pick another point on my line (past the 3 foot point) that the ball has to go over to make sure I have enough speed on the putt. Additionally, these two points help make sure your putter head follows through on the intended line. I have found that if I hit both points, I one putt quite often and rarely three putt. This style really works for me.

It is a simple way to ensure consistency when putting!

It is snowing right now….looks beautiful. Only 4 months to go before golf season! I am a grateful golfer. See you on the links!

Putting Guides – Part 1 of 5

December 14, 2012 / The Grateful Golfer / 19 Comments

I believe that improving your putting will reduce your overall score by 10% or more. I can make this bold statement because experience has proven that when a person scores extremely well, they usually have putted lights out. Take the pros for instance, anyone who scores really low credits their success to chipping and putting. Personally, all of my low rounds have resulted from 27 putts or less per round.

There are many websites dedicated to improving your putting. These sites include selling attachments for your putter, a gadget to make your stroke consistent, how to visualize your smooth stroke, being aggressive, lagging your putt, being confident…..well oh my! There are many things that can help with your putting; but only you can decide which method will work for you.

I figured that I should provide my tips to success on the green. You will likely have heard of them before, but they work for me and I use them every round. So, here is the first of five suggestions that the average golfer can use without having to pay anything.

My putting tip from May 2012 is the first. It is very simple. Ensure your putter head follows through twice as far as you take it back. This will allow for solid ball striking and a greater chance the ball will travel on its intended line.

I know it sounds simple, but I can assure you that your miss hits (either by line or distance) will be significantly reduced because of the solid contact. Additionally, your lag putts will be close and chances of three putting will fade away.

Ultimately, I believe that if your putter head travels back 6 and forward 12, it will significantly cut your number of putts per round. Give it a try and let me know what you think! See you on the links.

What do you Listen to on the Golf Course?

December 12, 2012 / The Grateful Golfer / Leave a comment

What do you listen to on the golf course? As silly as it sounds, this is a very important question. What you hear sets your attitude, focus and mental state. No really, it has a tremendous impact on your game. So what exactly do I mean?

You are on the first green and lining up your putt. The people on the tee box near by are laughing, joking and making lots of noise. You step away and start over. Your inner voice is saying how inconsiderate they are and you miss your putt because you lost your focus. You were listening to your inner voice and went to a dark place.

You are on the first green, the birds are singing, the sun is shining and you are totally focused on your game. Your inner voice is saying “WOW! What a great day!” You feel comfortable and your inner voice is sending you to a great place. You listen, play well and stay totally in the grove.

I know when I am losing my focus while playing. I talk to myself about what is going on, what I am going to do after the game, I wonder what is for supper…etc. When I catch myself, and believe me sometimes I don’t, I tell myself to focus and get my head in the game. I start to talk about my pre-shot routine and how successful I am going to be on the next how. The power of positive thought works for me most of the time, but sometimes…

Ultimately, your inner voice is something that we listen to all the time. It sets the stage for success or can lead us down into a deep dark hole. So the next time you are playing, think positive, listen to your positive inner voice and enjoy your time on the links! I am a grateful golfer.

The Total Collapse of Your Game!

December 10, 2012 / The Grateful Golfer / 5 Comments

Image from: http://www.golfchannel.com/news/golftalkcentral/top-10-photo-galleries-meltdowns/

Adam Scott at the 2012 British Open

Playing golf is tough! Anyone who says that golf is easy has never really experienced the total collapse of their game. I mean a the complete inability to make any stroke; you have a case of the yips; or you are not sure where the ball is going!

I am sure everyone reading this right now is saying, yup been there done that. I was playing in a tournament last year and was even par after 13 holes. I was hitting the ball extremely well, the hole looked like a garbage can lid, and my focus was razor-sharp. Then walking down 13 something changed. I have no idea what it was, but it was something. What started my downfall was a pulled 6 iron into a green side bunker. Lying two, I thought up and down and away we go. After a smooth double bogey and six more over par, I finished my round with round with an 80. Needless to say I started to second guess everything about my swing and finished sixth in the tournament and struggled for 2 weeks after.

After the tournament I thought about what went wrong with my swing. And I finally came to the conclusion that nothing happened. It was all mental. I realized that I had convinced myself that something was wrong. Once I figured that out, my game went back to normal, but what a lesson.

After reading the top 10 collapses of 2012 from the Golf Channel, my little collapse is paltry at best! You can read them all, but I bet you can guess which were the top two were. At number two – Adam Scott at the British Open and at number one – The US Team at the Ryder Cup.

My point of all this is that golf games collapse, golf games thrive and golf games….well you can add your own statement here. Golf is a tough game and it does take quite a bit of skill to be successful, however a positive mental attitude is just as important as physical prowess. Having confident in yourself will bring rich rewards on and off the course. I am a grateful golfer. See you on the links.