LETTER FROM THE TEACHING PROFESSIONAL MAKE MORE PUTTS = LOWER SCORES
Hello once again Eaglebrooke ,
I sure hope everyone had a great February , and hopefully you all are on track to shoot lower scores . I ’ m sure many of you have heard the old golf cliché that if you want to shoot lower scores , work on your putting . Well this holds true for many reasons , but more specifically I would say being confident with your putter will help lower scores .
What is necessary to become a confident putter ? Glad you asked because that ’ s exactly what we are going to get into this month ! Let ’ s start with the definition of confidence . Confidence is a feeling self-assurance arising from ones appreciation of one ’ s own abilities . Becoming confident on the putting green doesn ’ t just happen overnight , it takes some work to get to the point of becoming confident in your skills and abilities .
On the other hand , the opposite of confidence is being indecisive . I hear a lot of golfers tell me that they are terrible at reading greens , when in fact they can read greens and see the slopes , they just are very poor at controlling distance , giving them doubting thoughts every time they stand over a putt . By working on skills and drills to become a better , you are also building confidence in your abilities and skills .
Once we start to become confident in our processes of collecting and analyzing information on the putting green , and going through a pre shot process , we start to get into being state of confidence standing over the putt , with a thought that I am going to make this putt , even if the result is not produced , we still had a sense of confidence over the ball .
There was a great book written by a famous sports psychologist named Dr . Bob Rotella called “ Putting out of your Mind ” and is a great read for anyone looking to understand the mind state of a good putter . The book never goes into mechanics or how to ’ s , it solely focuses on the way the mind works in a champion caliber putter .
The obvious answer is to get out on the putting green and start to work on your skills to build some more confidence . Putting drills can often become dull , but challenge yourself , and make some time-oriented goals to start improving your score on the putting green . Take 10 minutes and work on short putts , sometime just seeing the ball go in the hole a few times can make the world of difference .
When doing your short drills , put a 5 second focus window on your routine to make a putt . Try going through the same routine each putt you take for 5 seconds regardless of result . Then at the end of the session take a little time and reflect and ask yourself , did I go through each routine the same way ? Did I focus over the ball when putting or was I lost in thoughts ? Did I feel as I ready to make the putt ? Once we start to answer yes to these questions , that is when you will truly find a confidence that may have not been there .
I hope you all have a great March and hope you all get to pick more balls out of the bottom of the cup !
Ben Johnson
PGA , Teaching Professional
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