Tag Archives: golf putting

Falling Victim To The Putting Illusion?

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As Bobby said in the video the importance of proper putting cannot be ignored if you want to shoot low scores. I’ll admit putting isn’t the most fun thing to talk about, but let’s face it consistently dropping 6 footers will take a serious bite out of your score (plus it will drive your golf buddies nuts).

Golf is a mental game and putting relies even more heavily on your mental state and confidence level. That’s why overcoming the illusion Bobby talked about is so important if you want to become a consistent putter.

Focusing on keeping the putter face perpendicular to the target line through your whole stroke will drive you nuts, force you to do some funny things, and cause you to lose confidence on the green.

To eliminate many of those problems all you need to do is understand that the putter face will open and close naturally through your putter stroke.

Some guys intuitively understand this or simply go with what work, and through chance and luck they figure it out. Others guys (like me) need to understand this phenomenon conceptually before our brains will let us trust the putter stroke.

This video and the inclined plane tool should prove to you that taking the putter straight back on the inclined plane results in the putter face opening up. The same rules of geometry that caused it to open up will cause it to be square when it hits the ball. So as long as you take the putter straight back you don’t need to worry about getting or keeping the putter face square at impact.

All it really comes down to is accepting that this is fact of golf. It will allow you to focus on much more important things while putting, such as your speed, follow-through, break, and the speed of the greens that day.

You probably don’t have an inclined plane at home so use a score card like Bobby showed in the video if you need to prove it to yourself. The score card will also help you ensure that you are bringing the putter straight back.

For more putting tips and tricks from Bobby Schaeffer check out his Hot Touch DVD Package. This stuff will shave some serous strokes off your score.

For Better Golf,
Doc O’Leary
Head Golf Nut, OHP

Easiest Way To Start Sinking 8 ft. Putts: And Banish 3 Putts From Your Golf Game Forever

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Checkout this cool tip from Golf Pro and OHP Golf Instructor Marc Minier:

Putting is all about seeing the right line. Putts are rarely missed because of a poor stroke. The real challenge is aiming properly. You can have the steadiest and most controlled putting game on the course, like a perfect pendulum, and still miss the hole if you aren’t aiming to the right spot.

Luckily there is an easy (and legal) way to fix this problem. You have probably seen guys who mark their golf ball with a line. They do this so that they can line up the mark on the golf ball with the line they are choosing to putt to (accounting for break etc).

This is really important and often underestimated. It is really hard to know if your putter and ball are perfectly lined up with the target line you have chosen to putt on, especially since you are standing over five feet above and to the side of the ball. A simple line on your golf ball allows you to first line the ball up with the roll line you have read on the green. Then aline your putter with the marker line on your golf ball. This is a great way to take all the guess work out of lining up your putts.

When you do this you don’t even have to think about the imaginary roll line on the green, you can look at the easy to see line on the ball.

Of course they make all kinds of ball marking devices and fancy markers. These are pretty cool and fun to play with, but to be honest they are a waste of money. All you need is the plastic ring that holds the cap onto a Gatorade bottle. Buying a bottle of Gatorade will be much cheaper than any ball marking tool, plus you get to drink the Gatorade (sounds like a good deal to me). I actually keep a hand full of these things rings in my golf bag to give guys I meet on the course…they all love this little trick.

To mark the ball I like to use a sharpie marker. Keep a couple different colors (in case your buddy decides to use the same one) or pick a really funky color that nobody else would use that way you always know which ball is yours. They even make mini-sharpies that come on a key ring that I like to keep clipped to the towel ring on my bag (convenience is king…no more digging through tees to find the marker.

You can usually find those mini-sharpies by the register at places like office depot if they don’t sell them at your golf course.

For Better Golf,
Doc O’Leary
Head Golf Nut- OHP Golf