Bob Charles is the best putter I have seen in person. He said “putting is a matter of hand eye co-ordination – and the idea of hitting the ball in the hole.”

Anyone who has not simplified it to that degree would not concur. Anyone who cannot putt well (or for that matter do any thing well) would argue to the death that it is far more complex than that and it is not my fault – it is the green.

What they are really telling us is they have not gained the required skills. The first time a putt or a short shot is attempted a player’s force is overdone and direction will be way off. They lack judgement. It is their first time. They do not know what they are doing as there is no information in their head to compare the experience to as yet.

To improve, all a player has to do is notice what he did and go again and again until he gets as good as he can, enjoying the learning process as fast or as slow as it may be. If in time he starts to think he is no good, that is what he is. If he thinks he is good, that is what he is.

How Good Can You Get?

Set up a small target between fifteen and sixty feet away, a soft drink bottle or a small bucket. This is best done on a flat green to begin with as shown in Figure 1.

Putt or pitch at it noticing just how precise you can be. Hit the ball as hard as you like to make sure you get a hit. At this stage you are only trying for direction. You soon learn a hit depends mainly on how you turn the clubface through the ball and the swing direction. Do not try to hold the club face square. Let it turn naturally. It is much easier moving the club into the correct alignment than to hold it there. The real lesson to learn is that anyone can be accurate to within half a degree. You can be accurate to one quarter of one degree, provided you have your wits about you with a clear idea of what you are doing.

That is good enough to hit the hole at twenty feet every time, if the hole were sticking out of the ground, like a flagpole. The hole being in the ground means a lot more skills are required and of course on a real course the greens will have contours which need to be studied looking across the line of putt as illustrated in Fig 2.

Correct speed for the ball to drop means good contact and reading the green for pace and turn. Speed is all important for longer shots and line can all but guarantee a short putt. The factors for speed and slope are obvious when you think about them. If not, simple things like the grass texture, moisture content and slope seem to confound the casual player. Setting up a two rope station as in Fig 3 allows you to get a feel for length on its own.

Studies have shown that even the best underestimate slope, the best read is from below the hole and the first read is better than a second guess. The plan is to allow more than you can see until your judgment becomes sharp. That means you miss as many left as right, you are long as much as you are short, never up never in is not wise over 12 feet. That word judgement, you will soon see, is what makes the difference. The best putters have widely varying styles but have deep similarities to the rest of their game. If you are building a short game or adjusting it, it makes sense to adopt the workable principles from the rest of your game.

Putting could be a miniature version of the full swing. Grip usually sees all the right hand on the putter turned half up with the left in similar shape whether it overlaps or not. Thumbs are generally both down the shaft. Elbows should be bent and resting on the ribs for stability as shown in sequence in Figures 4, 5 and 6. Eyes should generally be over the ball although as many are inside or outside the ball.

It is fun and useful to be flexible with variations of wrist, arm and shoulder putting. These strokes may suit slower greens or longer shots. Nicklaus said he could be a chameleon on the green. I do like his active right elbow and left shoulder centre because this movement is the closest to other shots. What amazed me was the technique Bob Charles used. With a wider than usual stance, he would use the same length swing back to his left toe for every putt and simply change the pace. This meant he had only one variable for all putts. Changing the speed of every length putt would give you a wonderful feel for the club. Now that I see that, I will try it myself.

How Do You Get Better?

Practice, practice, practice! But what and how should we practice, with so little time? Anything that makes it easier and simpler will help. Doing anything from simply touching the putter as you pass it in the hallway, to the other extreme of hitting 100 putts from 6 inches, 100 putts from 12 inches and so on, will do the job. The plan that sustained my putting at top level while working and raising a family was10 in a row over a small coin from 4 feet every night before bed. The same plan worked with a sand wedge and the TV Times. That is practice to sustain a skill. To practice putting for the golf course, you must take one ball and play a different shot each time. A better plan still is to pitch and putt one at a time.

For those of you who like to practice on the greens, set yourself up some games to keep yourself mentally stimulated and keep score of your progress. First up, simply take a set number of balls 3 feet from a hole and knock them ALL in, as I show in Fig 7. Then once warmed up set up stations as shown in Fig 8 and test your direction and as you move outwards your distance control.

For those of you who are not sure which hand is dominating life on the greens you can try putting with your right hand only on the shaft as illustrated in Fig 9. If you are using the power of the straightening right arm you will gain confidence quickly once the idea that the wrist bend angle must remain the same throughout the stroke.

How Do You Become Excellent?

We will call excellent 80% and perfect 100%. Do not entertain perfectionism unless you can become detached from the result.

Earlier I mentioned wits, a clear idea and judgement. If I add persistence, we have the real fundamentals to doing anything well.

The cycle goes like this: you have to have your wits about you like a prize fighter slightly over matched. If he can get in one good hit the fight might be on even terms. You could also have your wits about you lying on the beach with your eyes closed. I have heard it called being present, in the now or just being fully aware. Any time I really had to play it felt like my first street fight and I got hit first.

Playing these days it is more like you are on the beach. It is much more pleasurable. If we are playing for money, then a different emotion takes over. Good players must learn to handle all emotions, even fear requires a stiff punch shot because the muscles are so choked up. Ben Hogan said “the difference between amateur and professional golf was like the difference between tennis and ice hockey”.

Once the wits are about, you can get a clear idea of what you want to happen so the hands and body get the message. Any mixed idea, doubt or apprehension, are just small volume fear, anxiety, the golfers enemy. The muscles do not know what to do and the jerky effort is obvious to all. With wits and a clear mind harmony and rhythm are obvious even to the extent of artistry.

Stop means that after the previous shot and debriefing, no further mental conversation takes place least it compromises the first step. Wits can not be left in the last shot.

Persistence means that if these first three steps are done on and on, a depth of understanding grows to confidence in that what you are doing is right and you can smell if something is wrong.

Judgement tells you whether to pull the trigger or reconsider. All the above done successfully increase your wits, clarity, stopping and persistence therefore judgement. Judgement is the difference between winning and losing.

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