Golf Australia – August 2019

Hit tingtheballoutofthesweetspot

is vitallyimportantif youaretohave

any chanceofhit tingyourput tsthe

correctdistance.

Weknowthatif wehitourdriver

out oftheheelortoe,theresultant

shotsrarelytravelthefullordesired

distanceordirection.Thesame

appliestoanoff-centrestrikewith

your putter.

Weallknowweshouldstrikethe

balloutofthesweetspot...butwhen

wasthelasttimeyouactuallypaid

anyAT TENTIONtodoingjustthat?

Strikinga put tsolidlyis notbeyond

mostgolfers,butwhenwebecome

consumedbytechniqueit caneasily

becomeoverlooked.Sonexttime

out,trya simpleshif tinfocustothe

qualit yofyourstrikeoneveryput tyou

hit.Weareconfidentyouwillleave

fewerput tsshortorlow.

Mostgolfersonlyreadtheirput ts

from down-the-line. This tends

to foreshorten the perceived

distance. The chances are

your eyes won’t actually make

contact with the ground until 18

to 24 inches beyond the ball. This

confuses your brain and it starts

to compute the required distance,

MINUS that 18 to 24 inches.

When you think about it logically,

it makes perfect sense that the

resultant put t will probably come

up short.

But when you look at the put t

from the side – especially the

low side – it is like looking at the

same information but in 3D. Stand

far enough back and you can see

both your ball and the hole in your

peripheral vision. You will see the

full length of the put t. You get the

whole picture.

1

2

PLACE YOUR

ATTENTION ON STRIKE

READ PUTTS

FROM THE SIDE

H

oling short putts

is all about face

aim, and ensuring

the blade is square

to your target line

at impact. To train this, narrow

your target. Set up three balls, each

on a high tee peg. From a distance

of no more than two feet, try to

knock each one o in turn. Only a

blade square to your target line can

achieve it. See how many you can

do in a row... then, after missing,

keep trying to beat your best score.

T

his 2018 bookis

theaspirintothe

oftenheadache-

inducingworldof

technicalputting

tuition.Strippingputtingbackto

itsessentials,thebook’sPutting

PerformancePrinciplesremind

usjusthowsimpletheactivity

is...andhowagreaterfocuson

elementslikefocusedattention

andvisualisationcantrumpa

technicalapproach.

“Mostmoderncoachingand

instructionfocusesonwhatthe

golferandtheirputterneedto

do,withverylittlementionof

thegolfball,”saysGary.“Popular

wisdom would have you

believe the stroke creates

the putt. We beg to di er.

Our belief, and that of

thousands of our readers

and students, is that

the putt creates the

stroke. In pretty

much every

endeavour, the

task creates the

technique. So

why should

putting be

any di erent?”

Here are fi ve of

the book’s key

messages:

MAKETHE

ONES YOU HATE

TO MISS

M

Oliver

Morton

56 AUGUST 2019 | golf australia

A Z OF PUTTING

L

LOST ART

OF PUTTING

BY GARY NICOL AND KARL MORRIS