| Do you really need special golf putting instructions? | | | | many inexperienced golfers. Every part of your body |
| When you consider that so many golfers only seem | | | | works together. All the bones in your skeleton, all the |
| to pay attention to their swing, you would think that | | | | muscles and tendons and ligaments in your body - all |
| putting is a simple matter. But yet you would be | | | | work in harmony like the intricate clockwork of a |
| wrong. The putt can be a tricky matter, requiring a | | | | Swiss watch. Very few people can just freeze their |
| whole different set of skills to do well. Think about it | | | | head and body and still generate the control and |
| - the putt has its own special club (the putter), and | | | | power to successfully putt the ball into the hole in |
| this putter works differently from your woods and | | | | one stroke. |
| irons. Whereas your woods and irons are designed to | | | | The trick to the putt is to mentally draw a line from |
| lift the ball off the ground, your putter is designed to | | | | your golf ball to the hole. Just take a deep breath |
| roll the ball along the ground. | | | | and mentally draw the line and release your breath |
| When you compare golf to a game of chess, the | | | | and hit the ball. Exactly the same way as shooting a |
| putt is the endgame in chess. The difference | | | | gun. Just relax and let your body move. After all, by |
| between grandmaster and casual player is the | | | | this time you already know how to swing your club. |
| mastery of the chess endgame. The endgame is | | | | Once you relax into the flow and the mental line |
| highly technical. Proper training tends to be boring. It | | | | from your ball to the hole, your arms will |
| looks dull and feels dull. And yet many of the | | | | automatically swing the club in the right way. Your |
| greatest chess grandmasters of history do not | | | | head and body will move together as one unit, yet |
| defeat their opponents in the opening and | | | | seem as if they were actually still. |
| middle-game - instead, they smash apart their | | | | Remember that regardless of whether you are |
| opponents' positions in the end-game to achieve | | | | swinging your driver or iron or putter, you do not |
| victory. This idea also holds true in golf. Make no | | | | want to be stiff. If your body is stiff, you lose both |
| mistake, to play winning golf requires you to think. | | | | power and control. Let your body remain flexible and |
| Mess up your tactics and strategy in golf and you will | | | | limber and your hits will have both the power and |
| lose the game to your opponents. How many times | | | | accuracy you need. Given the choice between stiffly |
| do we read in the newspaper reports of golf | | | | following all the correct body alignments and grip |
| tournaments that a strong local player takes an early | | | | changes versus being more relaxed about my |
| lead, only to break under the pressure of trying to | | | | alignments and grip, I prefer to be more relaxed. |
| keep ahead of the visiting international champions. | | | | Stiffness causes more misses. |
| Not many trainers know how to teach their students | | | | At the end of the day, you just have to practice. Do |
| to putt well. They make do with some | | | | your best to follow along the golf putting instructions, |
| demonstrations and the instruction to keep the head | | | | but do not obsess over it. Just do it, be it as little as |
| and body still. This is one place where the hoary old | | | | 5 minutes or 10 minutes. Eventually, everything will |
| saying - "Those who can do, those who can't teach" | | | | come together smoothly and you will find vindication |
| - is wrong. Keeping your head and body still is easier | | | | on the green. |
| to say than to do, and over-simplifies things for | | | | |