Golf Australia – August 2019

Whichismoreimportantinputting?Think

carefullyaboutyouranswer

WORDSGARYNICOL&KARLMORRIS

T

hemajorityofcoaching,instruction

andtrainingaids,devicesandgadgets

tendtofocusonorobsessabouttwo

things:Whatweasgolfersneedtodowith

our bodyandwithourputter.

Aim andstartline.Wehavetogetthestartline

right. Wemustgettheballstartingonline.

We’renotsayingthisiswrong.Well,not

entirelyanyway.

Yes, youstillneedtobeawareofwherethe

putter isaimingataddressandfacingatthepoint

of contact.Goodalignmentisanessentialaspect

of becomingagreatputter.

We aremerelysuggestingthatifyouhave

read all theinstructionarticlesandmanuals,

tried allofthesetrainingaids,watchedallofthe

video tutorialsandyoustilldon’tputtaswellas

you thinkorbelieveyoucan,let’slookatputting

slightly di
erently,let’sopenourmindstoa

di
 erentconcept.

You’llbeamazedthatbyfocusingonpace,your

brain andbodywillorganisewhattheyneedtodo

to get thestartlinebetteranyway.

This isoneofthoseanomalieswhereyou

get betteratsomethingbyNOTfocusingonit.

Strangebuttrue.

We haveallreadthebooks,seenthevideos,

used thetechnologyandtriedthetrainingaids

and gadgets.

Theyallfocusononeendoftheputt:thestart;

the end wherewearefocusingonourputter,

trying outyetanothergadget,athinnergrip,a

thicker grip,adi
erentwayofholdingtheputter

• and that’sbeforeweevengettoournumerous
  “stroke thoughts”.
  We believeyouneedtopaymoreattentionto
  the otherendoftheputt.Thepartwherethehole
  is. Afterall,that’swherewewanttheballtogo.
  Our intentionisultimatelytogettheballtogoin
  the hole.
  Gary remembersbeingintroducedtothe
  conceptthatpacewasmoreimportantthanline
  at a veryearlystageinhisgolfinglifewhenhis
  late fathersuggestedheconcentrateabitmore
  on tryingtogetthedistancebetterwithhis
  putts afterthree-puttingforthefourthtimeone
  Sundaymorning.
  The frustratingthree-puttswereduealmost

entirelytohittinghisfirstputtsfourfeetpastor

leavingthemsixfeetshort.

Hewasonly 10 yearsoldatthetimeandwhile

hedidn’treallyunderstandtheconceptofpace

determiningtheline,hedidstopthree-putting

asfrequently!

Hittingtheballoutofthesweetspotisvitally

importantifyouaretohaveanychanceofhitting

yourputtsthecorrectdistance.

Mostmodernputtershaveabuilt-inalignment

aidinoneformoranotherbutmostgolferswe

seetendtousethemforensuringtheputteris

“square”totheirintendedtargetorstartline.

Nothingwrongwiththatwhatsoeverbutthat

alignmentaidshouldalsobeusedtomakesurewe

havethemiddleoftheputterandthemiddleofthe

ballmatchedupinordertogiveyouthegreatest

chanceofhittingtheballthecorrectdistance–or

basicallygettingthepaceright.

Weknowthatifwehitourdriveroutoftheheel

ortoe,theresultantshotsrarelytravelthefullor

desireddistanceordirection.Thesameappliesto

ano
-centrestrikewithyourputter.

Aheelortoestrikeona10-footputtcanresult

intheballtravelinglessthan 80 percentofthe

intendeddistance.

Weallknowweshouldstriketheballoutof

thesweetspotbutwhenwasthelasttimeyou

actuallypaidanyATTENTIONtodoingjust

that?Somethingworthlookingat?Wecertainly

believeso.

Fromwhatwehavewitnessedascoachesover

theyears,themajorityofgolferstendtoaddress

theballslightlytoe-sideofcentre.Asaresult,the

majorityoftheirputtscomeupshort.Didthey

makebadstrokes?Generallynot.Didtheymis-

strikethemormissthesweetspot?Generallyyes.

Withthatinmind,ratherthantryingtocreate

aperfectstroke,whateverthatlookslike,we’dlike

youtofocusontheconceptofcreatingaputt.

heLostArtofPuttingbyGary

icolandKarlMorrisisavailable

owonAmazoninhardbackand

indleformats.

THE LOST ART OF PUTTING – PART IV

LINE & PACE

golf australia | AUGUST 2019 77