Putting by David Lee in Orlando Florida

These blog pieces are intended to stimulate thinking and conversation among golfers who are interested in advancing their understanding of the golf swing and their technique for learning it in the best and easiest manner.

It is not my intent to write a chapter from my new book in each of these blogs, where all of this will be discussed in nauseating detail, but to address some area of the intended topic. The usual problem, is that the discussion of one point, triggers thought about another one, etc., etc., etc.

Putting is one facet of golf wherein the subtleties are absolutely enormous. The difference between knocking a 20 foot putt in the hole or over the edge, is not only difficult to see, but very difficult to feel. To give an example, I'll give a list of some possibilities for having missed that 20 footer:

alignment was off
putt was mis-read
something on the green affected the putt
the grip was off
the proper speed for the amount of break was mis-calculated
posture was incorrect for the allowance of proper power application
energy was internalized through improper power application, causing a change in swing-path
ball was slightly out of round and not polarized properly when set on the green, causing it to deviate from path
the effect of the grain was miscalculated
the moon-phase put extra tension into your body (that was a joke but could probably happen)

Enough already? There are many more items that could be added to this list, but hopefully you're beginning to get the picture. Is there a solution to any of this that can allow us to find the root culprit(s) when something is going wrong? Absolutely there is - and learning to practice properly is the key. Here is my suggestion: find the biggest green that you can - preferably more than 150 feet across - and practice three-mode drills. Putt a right-hander, then a left-hander, then a two-hander from the greatest possible distance - then start over. You will actually be trying to make these putts. Putting from this distance, magnifies all your sensations to the point that it becomes possible to identify perfect power application. Attempting to learn putting from any distance inside 10 feet is a nightmare in subtlety. There are countless ways to power the ball to the hole from a very short distance, and the identification of ideal technique becomes next-to-impossible. To knock the ball into the hole from 200 feet away requires perfect power application - and believe it or not, the brain can identify and learn to feel exactly what that recipe involves - even if you are unaware that it is doing so. Once you can make the balls roll smoothly from each mode (right-handed,left-handed, and two-handed) and put all of them in a small circle around the hole from a great distance, it is time to start shortening the putts. Cut the distance by 20%, get deadly at that distance, cut it by 20% more, get deadly again, etc. The last putts you want to work on, are the three footers. The technique that your brain has trained into you from practicing the longer putts, will automatically transfer to the shorter, more subtle ones, and the technique will be perfect.

Training in this manner will cause you to develop perfect putting mechanics, and in all likelihood, you will be totally unaware of how your brain accomplished it. Practicing the three-mode-drills from a great distance prevents your brain from making subconscious compensations to inferior technique without your knowledge. Subconscious compensations are the villains that keep us from advancing in every facet of the game.

Try this for yourself and discover that even you can learn to putt as well as Ben Crenshaw or the great Bobby Locke.

David Lee
President, Gravity Golf, Inc.

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