WHY QUESTIONS HOLD THE KEY TO PUTTING IMPROVEMENT
While we can't promise 12 hours of glorious sunshine every day, we can deliver a tried and tested approach to improve your putting.
Over the last few years, we have seen hundreds of golfers who have attended our Putting Performance Principles Schools and Masterclasses at Archerfield Links hole more putts, shoot lower scores and ultimately have more fun on the golf course by applying the following simple principles.
What separates the great from the good and the good from the average when it comes to holing putts? From our combined experience, which amounts to more than 60 years of coaching players of all standards from weekend golfers to winners of Major Championships, we have discovered one simple truth: great putters ask great questions!
Questions, good or bad, focus the mind. As the world-famous motivational speaker Tony Robbins once said, “The quality of your questions will determine the quality of your life.” We believe the very same applies to putting.
However, the majority of golfers we see and speak to tend to ask terrible questions. “When will I ever hole a putt?” “Why can't I get the pace of these greens?” “What will happen on my next putt if I run this one three feet past?” “Why can't I ever seem to read a putt well?” Sound familiar?
So let us introduce you to some really great questions that you can ask yourself on each and every putt you create from now on. We're not suggesting you ask all the following questions all the time; but please try them all at some point and find out which ones work best for you.
‘WHERE IS MY ATTENTION?’
Are you focused on trying to hole the putt, or are you focused on trying not to miss the putt because you just missed a putt of similar length on the previous hole? Trying to hole a putt and trying not to miss a putt may sound fairly similar but, believe us, they are worlds apart.
‘IS IT POSSIBLE FOR THE BALL TO GO IN?’
If you are on the putting surface and there are no major obstacles in your way, then the answer will always be yes. Of course it's possible. We can't guarantee the ball will
definitely go in the hole, but it's definitely possible… and your acknowledgement of that starts the important process of visualising a successful outcome.
‘WHAT DOES THE BALL NEED TO DO TO GO IN?’
It needs to travel at the appropriate pace for the line you have chosen. That line will vary according to the pace you choose as pace determines line. By answering this question, you will form a very clear image in your mind of what the ball needs to do; you will see it travelling towards the hole and disappearing at just the right pace. Answering this question will also allow the brain to create a ‘map of movement' which directs the body to complete the task at hand.
‘WHAT DOES A GOOD PUTT LOOK LIKE?’
A wise man once said: “We create what we see.” Essentially, if you can't see what you are trying to create, then all we can do is wish you good luck.
‘DOES A STROKE CREATE A PUTT OR VICE VERSA?’
Think about that for a minute. As each putt we face is unique, we will need to create a unique amount of force in order for the ball to reach its intended target. Therefore, the putt you are about to create at a unique moment in time will require a slightly different length of stroke. We're not saying your technique should change according to the length of putt, but the length of the stroke you make will… therefore the putt creates the stroke.
‘AM I ABOUT TO CREATE A STROKE OR A PUTT?”
Hopefully, by now you will understand that you are about to create a putt. Ultimately, great putters find their way rather than the way to get the ball to go into the hole. When Rory Mcilroy won the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill in March, he talked a lot about “freeing things up mentally. Focusing less on mechanics and using a lot of visualisation and reacting to targets.” If you can think in terms of creating a putt – and not a putting stroke – you can find the assured rhythm that helped Rory birdie five of the last six holes and seal a thrilling three-shot victory.