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 a victim of this phenomenon too. Don’t get me wrong, I have all the technological tools and systems, and use them regularly. However, does that mean as a coach, I’m conveying exactly what all my clients need to “feel” any stroke, from putting to driver? Technical perfection is something to strive for. But nothing beats “feeling” the execution of any shot. That’s why I embrace feel putting. It’s feel that the brain relies on to repeat your desired swing or stroke.
There is no more important place on the golf course to have great feel for your stroke then on the green. Ask any elite golfer about “feel” and they’ll all tell you that feel is the last component of their game to truly develop and it comes with consistent and repeated efforts to not only gain feel but maintain feel. And feel is also the first thing to leave your game, especially if your time practicing and playing diminishes.
Let’s explore how to develop both short- and long-term feel your putting stroke that will improve your putting. For the remainder of this article, we’ll define “feel” as what you experience as you make each stroke — not feeling the green under foot.
