Golf Putting Tip: It’s Your Head, not Your Hands (Video) - by Pete Styles
Golf Putting Tip: It’s Your Head, not Your Hands (Video) - by Pete Styles

Some of golf's most frustrating shot happen when it's the simplest shot. And what could be simpler than tapping the ball in from 3 feet away. You consider that you've driven the ball 200 yards. You have an eye onto the green. You've rolled your first putt of the 3 feet, and then you go and miss the simple 3 footer, and that's where it get so frustrating because it looks like the simplest shot. And actually it's the simplest technique as well.

The technique is a very simple back and through motion. The club doesn’t have to travel fast. It doesn’t have to sort of aim in any particular direction. It's just straight back, straight through on a very short line, so it should be the easiest shot, so why it's so frustrating? For a lot of goals it actually becomes a bit of a mental issue that they stand over the putt and they convince themselves they're going to miss it. And they look it and think well, I'm going to miss it left or it's going to break right or I'm going to hit it too hard or even too soft.

And for a lot of times this, it's not actually the technical stroke those default. It’s the mental preparation, and the way to practice is, is literally just to get yourself on the putting green 3 feet from the hole and just get so used to knocking the ball in. It just becomes second nature. It doesn’t become an option to sort of miss the putting. It should just be so engrained every put goes in. So find yourself a relatively straight put about a 3 foot which is the length of most putters, so you drop it down this far away from the hole, nice straight, flat bit of green, that gives you the best chance to knock him in.

Line of the five balls work through one to five, and if you miss and then you come back and start again, so it kind of puts a bit of pressure on you, so it’s a bit like the on call situation. The technique is quite simple. You should have a decent putting grip. Everything is lined up nicely, and just tell yourself I'm just going to knock this one straight in bish-bash. That's the practice stroke straight back, straight through up to the first ball I'm just going to knock this one in straight back, straight through round to the next one. I'm just going to knock this one in straight back straight through.

So you don’t allow any negative thoughts get into your mind. There's a never case of who you might break over there, or it might miss over there, and I would look stupid if I miss this one. It's always just positive I'm just going to knock this one straight in what's the next one. Knock this one straight in, and the better you get to practice enough particularly if you do that just before you go out and play so the mindset is everything just go straight in the middle you then go out in the golf course with a much more positive mindset particularly over those shorter or more frustrating puts. So missing short putts is not in the putter, it's in the head.

 2013-09-13

Some of golf's most frustrating shot happen when it's the simplest shot. And what could be simpler than tapping the ball in from 3 feet away. You consider that you've driven the ball 200 yards. You have an eye onto the green. You've rolled your first putt of the 3 feet, and then you go and miss the simple 3 footer, and that's where it get so frustrating because it looks like the simplest shot. And actually it's the simplest technique as well.

The technique is a very simple back and through motion. The club doesn’t have to travel fast. It doesn’t have to sort of aim in any particular direction. It's just straight back, straight through on a very short line, so it should be the easiest shot, so why it's so frustrating? For a lot of goals it actually becomes a bit of a mental issue that they stand over the putt and they convince themselves they're going to miss it. And they look it and think well, I'm going to miss it left or it's going to break right or I'm going to hit it too hard or even too soft.

And for a lot of times this, it's not actually the technical stroke those default. It’s the mental preparation, and the way to practice is, is literally just to get yourself on the putting green 3 feet from the hole and just get so used to knocking the ball in. It just becomes second nature. It doesn’t become an option to sort of miss the putting. It should just be so engrained every put goes in. So find yourself a relatively straight put about a 3 foot which is the length of most putters, so you drop it down this far away from the hole, nice straight, flat bit of green, that gives you the best chance to knock him in.

Line of the five balls work through one to five, and if you miss and then you come back and start again, so it kind of puts a bit of pressure on you, so it’s a bit like the on call situation. The technique is quite simple. You should have a decent putting grip. Everything is lined up nicely, and just tell yourself I'm just going to knock this one straight in bish-bash. That's the practice stroke straight back, straight through up to the first ball I'm just going to knock this one in straight back, straight through round to the next one. I'm just going to knock this one in straight back straight through.

So you don’t allow any negative thoughts get into your mind. There's a never case of who you might break over there, or it might miss over there, and I would look stupid if I miss this one. It's always just positive I'm just going to knock this one straight in what's the next one. Knock this one straight in, and the better you get to practice enough particularly if you do that just before you go out and play so the mindset is everything just go straight in the middle you then go out in the golf course with a much more positive mindset particularly over those shorter or more frustrating puts. So missing short putts is not in the putter, it's in the head.