Now that the cooler months are arriving for many of us, it becomes increasingly uncomfortable to get outside to play or to practice. So, the golf clubs get put away and we forget about the game for 2, 3, or 4 months. For some, this time may represent a needed break from the game, but for me and anyone else who want to lower their scores, it represents an opportunity. It’s time to get serious about improving your putting!
Golfers who regularly shoot over 100 typically take more than 40 putts per round. Golfers shooting in the 90s average about 37 putts per round. Golfers in the 80s, about 34 putts per round, and golfers shooting in the 70s, about 31 putts per round. The pros average about 29 putts per round. The lesson is clear — improve your putting and watch your handicap go down.
Most of the game requires a high level of coordination, strength, & athletic ability to play at the highest level — but not putting. Compared to the full swing, there is very little motion that goes into putting, which is exactly why most of us have the capability of becoming excellent putters. We just need to learn how!
Judging slope, reading the grain of the greens, learning how to lag putt, etc. are all important to putting, and are best learned on an actual green. However, none of these skills will do you much good if you do not have a repeatable putting stroke — the foundation of all golfers who putt well. Even if you have a putting stroke that is flawed with the grip, stance, or how you maneuver the club, the ball will still travel basically the same path every time when your stroke is repeatable! Once you are confident that your ball will follow the path you want, getting it to the hole becomes a much more reliable process.
So how do you go about building a repeatable putting stroke? We’ll talk about that in my next post. But I can tell you where right now — it’s not on the golf course or the putting green – it’s on your living room rug or a piece of indoor/outdoor carpeting in your basement. And when? When there’s snow on the ground or you’re waiting for your laundry to dry or watching tv or in the middle of the night when you can’t sleep, in other words — whenever!
Lee ***
The Frugal Golfer
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