Putting, Part I (Video) - by Pete Styles
Putting, Part I (Video) - by Pete Styles

So let's now have a look at how your pre-shot routine might vary slightly when you're actually putting. So we've covered pre-shot routine when you're hitting your full shots. And be it a driver, an iron, or a wood, it would probably be the same pre-shot routine. It might be slightly different when you're putting. One of the simple things we got to take on putting is reading the green a little bit more as well, reading the actual break of the putt and also the distance of the putt. It's not simply the case of hitting a full swing; we have to judge things a little bit better. So maybe more practice swings is more important here and more time to read the green.

Now, time's quite important here because we don't want to take too long. You know, speed of play is a bit of an issue. When you're watching the battle live on the television, they might be taking five, five-and-a-half hours to play a competitive round. That simply is not acceptable from a club level. Most club golfers of the four-ball should be aiming to get around in four hours or less. So reading the green, you can't really take too long. If you're the first player to take your putt on a green, you need to be quite speedy because everyone else is waiting to take their putt. But if you're not the first player to take your putt, second, third, fourth player to take your putt on the green, try and read your putt while the other player is playing his shot first. So take a good opportunity; you've got more time to read your putt if you like. Maybe have a look at it from behind the ball. Maybe even go to the other end. Take the opportunity to tend the flag stick for everybody else. You go that end, tend the flag stick for everyone, you've got a great opportunity to read your putt while you're doing it.

So as you build up your pre-shot routine, it would normally start from behind the whole looking down the line of the golf ball towards the hole here, getting down nice and low to read the breaks. Maybe even have a look from the side-on so you can see the length of the putt and if there's any uphill or downhill variation in break.

Then as we move to in towards the side of the hole here--sorry, the side of the ball here, we've decided on the line of the putt. We now need to just have a little feel for the speed of the putt. A couple of little practice swings; just feeling how far I want to rock my shoulders. Now, this stage, I quite like to look at the hole as well just to get a gauge and the feel for whether I think my stroke is acceptable to get the ball to the hole. If I'm making a very short, jerky, stubby stroke, I got a feeling that's not going to work. But, likewise, I'm not going to practice a swing that's perfectly or easily seeable, that's too long, that's much too aggressive to hit it that distance. I want to get a putting stroke that's perfectly weighted just to roll the ball down to the hole side.

And as I'm making this practice stroke, I'm actually visualizing how the ball would roll to the ball, actually visualizing it dropping into the hole so I get the confidence that this ball is a makeable putt. Then I would step up to the ball, settle myself, a little look at the hole, down at the ball, look at the hole--ball, and then pull the trigger. Now, if I can do that routine for you in real time actually without talking just so you can how long that's going to take me, it won't actually take too long. So if I had a good look at the putt from here and then into my routine.

And that routine might have taken maybe 10 seconds, which I think is an acceptable amount of time for you to take over each putt. Try and be careful that you read the putt fairly briefly and you got a good opportunity to read it. If somebody else is reading that putt as well, you don't take too long over the ball. But make sure you have a pretty short routine that's the same every single time; long putts and short putts the same.

 2012-05-31

So let's now have a look at how your pre-shot routine might vary slightly when you're actually putting. So we've covered pre-shot routine when you're hitting your full shots. And be it a driver, an iron, or a wood, it would probably be the same pre-shot routine. It might be slightly different when you're putting. One of the simple things we got to take on putting is reading the green a little bit more as well, reading the actual break of the putt and also the distance of the putt. It's not simply the case of hitting a full swing; we have to judge things a little bit better. So maybe more practice swings is more important here and more time to read the green.

Now, time's quite important here because we don't want to take too long. You know, speed of play is a bit of an issue. When you're watching the battle live on the television, they might be taking five, five-and-a-half hours to play a competitive round. That simply is not acceptable from a club level. Most club golfers of the four-ball should be aiming to get around in four hours or less. So reading the green, you can't really take too long. If you're the first player to take your putt on a green, you need to be quite speedy because everyone else is waiting to take their putt. But if you're not the first player to take your putt, second, third, fourth player to take your putt on the green, try and read your putt while the other player is playing his shot first. So take a good opportunity; you've got more time to read your putt if you like. Maybe have a look at it from behind the ball. Maybe even go to the other end. Take the opportunity to tend the flag stick for everybody else. You go that end, tend the flag stick for everyone, you've got a great opportunity to read your putt while you're doing it.

So as you build up your pre-shot routine, it would normally start from behind the whole looking down the line of the golf ball towards the hole here, getting down nice and low to read the breaks. Maybe even have a look from the side-on so you can see the length of the putt and if there's any uphill or downhill variation in break.

Then as we move to in towards the side of the hole here–sorry, the side of the ball here, we've decided on the line of the putt. We now need to just have a little feel for the speed of the putt. A couple of little practice swings; just feeling how far I want to rock my shoulders. Now, this stage, I quite like to look at the hole as well just to get a gauge and the feel for whether I think my stroke is acceptable to get the ball to the hole. If I'm making a very short, jerky, stubby stroke, I got a feeling that's not going to work. But, likewise, I'm not going to practice a swing that's perfectly or easily seeable, that's too long, that's much too aggressive to hit it that distance. I want to get a putting stroke that's perfectly weighted just to roll the ball down to the hole side.

And as I'm making this practice stroke, I'm actually visualizing how the ball would roll to the ball, actually visualizing it dropping into the hole so I get the confidence that this ball is a makeable putt. Then I would step up to the ball, settle myself, a little look at the hole, down at the ball, look at the hole–ball, and then pull the trigger. Now, if I can do that routine for you in real time actually without talking just so you can how long that's going to take me, it won't actually take too long. So if I had a good look at the putt from here and then into my routine.

And that routine might have taken maybe 10 seconds, which I think is an acceptable amount of time for you to take over each putt. Try and be careful that you read the putt fairly briefly and you got a good opportunity to read it. If somebody else is reading that putt as well, you don't take too long over the ball. But make sure you have a pretty short routine that's the same every single time; long putts and short putts the same.