Drive for Show – Putt for Dough

admin — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 04:13:14 +0000

Everyone who’s ever picked up a golf club dreams of smashing those long drives off the tee a la Tiger Woods. We salivate at the thought of that ball sailing true, 300 yards down the fairway.

But, while getting off the tee and hopefully in the fairway is significant, the key to a low-scoring round of golf is in the short game; from about 125 yards in from the green. That’s where the real scoring takes site, and the most indispensable fragment of the short game is putting.

A massive drive on a par 4 can be undone with a mishit approach shot, and even if you make the green in regulation, screw up with the putter and your game goes down the tubes. Despite this, most beginners spend more time on the driving range than on the practice green. But, if you do the math, you’ll realize this is backwards.

You have 18 tee shots in a game, and for par 4 and 5 holes, if you’ve hit the drive well, one to two fairway shots. You then have two putts to make par. That makes 18 opportunities with the driver, 18 to 36 shots with the other clubs, and 36 with the putter; on each and every hole. Do the math; where are most of your strokes?

Learning to putt well is like learning to ride a bike. You fair withhold practicing until you no longer fall off. Here are some tips to serve improve your putting game, and hopefully take a lot of strokes off your scorecard.

The first thing to remember about putting is that “distance is more important than direction.” Assuming you’re not wildly off line (and if you are consistently, you probably need your eyes checked), a putt that is off line, but struck the correct distance will probably leave you close enough to sink the next one. This is true on most greens except those designed by sadists – the kind with multiple levels and contours like the Alps.

Developing a feel for how far to putt the ball comes with practice. That’s why time on the practice green is so valuable. To polish your putting skills, exhaust time practicing from 20 feet or more from the hole. This gives you a feel for the stroke you need for a particular distance, and since practice greens are usually similar to the rest of the course, gives you a feel for the speed of the real greens.

The next thing is developing a smooth stroke. When putting, address the ball with it centered between your feet when they are a comfortable distance apart. Keep your eyes on the ball, or on the spot where the ball lies, from takeaway through contact; avoiding the temptation to track the path of the ball after it is hit. Keep your body still and swing the putter straight back, using only your arms, then execute a forward stroke along the same plane, the same distance forward as support.

Practice this enough until it comes a smooth movement, and you’ll find yourself sinking more one and two putts than you ever thought possible. A reliable spend, which I call Horse Golf, is to start about 35 feet from the cup and putt five or six balls, trying to collect them all within a two foot circle centered on the hole. Keep at this until you earn all balls within the circle, then disappear to a new distance and initiate over again.

When you’re on the course, keep track of your putts. Whenever you three or four putt, make a note of what you think you did cross, and work on that the next time on the practice green.

Drive for show, but putt for dough. Your putter should be the friendliest club in your bag, for it is certainly the one that will help you improve your score. Hitting a great drive is thrilling, but it is nothing compared to the sound of a 35 foot putt plopping into the cup.

References:

http://www.golf.com/instruction/article/0,28136,1565186,00.html/

http://www.golf-information.info/putting.html/

http://www.videojug.com/film/golf-ho-to-improve-your-putting-with-practice-drills/

http://golf.about.com/cs/2003seniortour/ht/puttingdrills.htm/

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Classic Golf Swing » Drive for Show – Putt for Dough

Drive for Show – Putt for Dough

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