Let’s talk about “releasing” the putter head. It’s discussed a lot among golf instructors, letting that head “pass” the hands as it goes through the impact zone, but is that what you really want to do? Putt like Jack Nicklaus, that’s what. Nicklaus, perhaps the greatest golfer, and putter, of all time, looked at and Read more…
As golf science advances and evolves we’ve become more dependent and focused upon what technically should happen throughout any shot in golf. It seems we consume ourselves with the ideal that if our effort to swing any club within a technologically “perfect” condition(s), we worry about how off target any shot will be. Putting is Read more…
Touring pros work endlessly on distance control when putting. To putt like a pro, the two most important aspects of distance control are: Hitting your putt consistently in the center of the club. Maintaining the sense of even tempo back and through and matching the distance you take the putter back with the distance you Read more…
At TP Golf Schools in Naples, Florida, every day I go to the lesson tee I will try — in an admittedly pre-meditated manner — to encourage my students to spend time with me on the putting green to work on speed control. Some will take the bait. Sadly, most will not. It is amazing Read more…
If you look around the putting green at your local course on a Saturday morning you’ll see an unlimited number of different styles, preferences and philosophies when it comes to putting. Even on the PGA Tour you see a plethora of different grips, stances, and putter shapes. It makes you wonder if there is a Read more…
Today’s super-manicured and scientifically calibrated putting surfaces make the game of golf more challenging than ever. Fast greens like those we offer on the three nines at Champions Retreat — one designed by Gary Player, one by Jack Nicklaus and one by the late Arnold Palmer — can cause your approach shots or chips to Read more…
I’m going to let you in on one of my favorite putting secrets. In 1981, when my Florida Southern team arrived at Hop Meadow in Simsbury, Connecticut just outside Hartford, we encountered a long, tight course with deep rough and fast, undulated putting surfaces. At our team dinner after our first practice round one of Read more…
Even after crouching, staring and “foot-feeling,” the best players in the world still misread greens. There’s proof every week on Tour. Pros do not always see the correct break, and like the rest of us live in a World of Optical Illusions (WOI). Misreads are caused by optical illusions, period. Even grain can be an Read more…
Great putting starts with a great imagination. Reading putts is an exercise of that imagination. The player must imagine the effect of the terrain upon the travel of the ball. You’ll See It When You Believe It is the title of one of Dr. Wayne Dyer’s many books. I suggest to students that they have to practice Read more…
Ask any good putter what separates him or her from the crowd, and they’ll most likely say, “My ability to bury the short ones, inside three feet, almost all the time.” Sure, crazy lipouts or spike marks happen, but if you really want to shave strokes off your card and be a master of the Read more…
