{"id":440,"date":"2022-09-27T18:33:01","date_gmt":"2022-09-27T08:33:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/apgolf.net\/putt\/?page_id=440"},"modified":"2022-10-16T12:42:41","modified_gmt":"2022-10-16T02:42:41","slug":"teds-story-what-to-focus-on-for-consistent-27-32-putts-round-putting","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/apgolf.net\/putt\/teds-story-what-to-focus-on-for-consistent-27-32-putts-round-putting\/","title":{"rendered":"What To Focus On For Consistent 27-32 Putts\/Round Putting"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ted\u2019s story\u2026A warning to all club-golfers. And, putting tips from two of golf\u2019s greats<\/h3>\n

Common club-golfer mistake:<\/strong> trying to keep your hands quiet while trying to make a perfect stroke.<\/p>\n

Trying to make a perfect stroke sabotages all feel and any chance of getting really hot with the putter and leads to the yips.<\/p>\n

I see this happen all the time at local golf clubs.
\nThe following is a warning (and can be liberating) to all who are focused too much on the perfect putting stroke.<\/em><\/p>\n

Ted<\/h3>\n

Ted, a club-golfer I know, retired at age 63 back in the 1990\u2019s. At the time he played off a 15 handicap and would come down to 12 in the following year or two.<\/p>\n

His putting stroke was an ugly duckling. He aimed left, took the putter outside the line going back then looped it back inside on the way through – with substantial body-action thrown in for good measure!<\/p>\n

He didn’t spend time practicing before he retired. And his play was a weekend club-competition 18 holes and he a mid-week 9 holes after work in summer months with his sons.<\/p>\n

He’s putting was fine. It worked because Ted had good feel, vision and tempo and he was orientated to the target.<\/em><\/p>\n

When he retired he started playing 3 x 18 holes per week \u2013 and did so for 25 years.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Billy Mayfair
Credit: http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/jrpfeifler\/3337182535\/<\/p><\/div>\n

His mates down at the golf club started calling him \u201cBilly\u201d as in Billy Mayfair, the 5-time P.G.A tour winner and only player to beat Tiger in a P.G.A tournament playoff (The 1998 Nissan Open).<\/p>\n

Billy was at his prime during the mid-late 90\u2019s.
\nBilly took the putter head outside and cut his putts.
\nBilly said in 2003 this about changing his putting style:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only change I\u2019ve made in my putting is my putter,\u201d said Mayfair, 36, who\u2019s three shots off the lead. \u201cAs for changing [the stroke], I tried to do that back in \u201991 and got the yips really bad from doing it.\u201d<\/em>
\n[Reference: http:\/\/articles.sun-sentinel.com\/2003-03-09\/sports\/0303090138_1_faldo-foldo-stroke-six-consecutive-birdies.]<\/p>\n

And this is exactly what happened to Ted.
\nAnd sadly, he never recovered. He could have recovered if he did what Joan did (explained here<\/a>) and switched his mechanical, self conscious guiding-stroke, to the\u00a0 essential principles of putting: reading the line and speed to the target then reacting to it with the built-up feel.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"

Demonstrating what I’m explaining – in the TAP Training Course<\/p><\/div>\n

Why did it go bad for Ted?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Because he started practicing his putting-stroke to make it look prettier.
\nHis peers had seen something different (his stroke) and they told him so.
\nHe practiced on the carpet at his home most days and nights \u2013 as he was retired and had ample spare time.<\/p>\n

(Note: practice without solid objectives is worse than no practice at all.)<\/p>\n

His stroke started looking more straight-back-and-through<\/em> when practicing, but not when placed under club-competition pressure.
\nUnfortunately, his preoccupation with what his stroke was doing gave way to the yips.
\nHe placed so much pressure on himself. He had developed paralysis by analysis.<\/em>
\nIn other words, his brain was far too conscious of what should be a subconscious, habitual action (stroke). When you focus too much on mechanics you short-circuit the part of the brain that is responsible for action.
\nAdded to this is, a growing anxiety about the outcome of the putt, a lack of confidence, and a never ending, fruitless search for the secret.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Note: most golfers look in the wrong spot for the secret: a new putter, a new grip-style, a new gadget. Again, these quick-fixes take the golfer’s focus off the things that matter<\/em>: reading the line and speed to the target then reacting to it with the built-up feel. Nothing game-changing, no improvement or understanding of putting systems\/processes based on principles that great putters use to put well month after month, year after year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Back to Ted\u2026<\/strong>
\nHe was brainwashed into thinking that he had to have a conventional looking<\/em> putting stroke – even though the old one worked fine. (Reminder: The main objective of golf is to hit the ball into the hole in as few shots as possible. If what you do consistently works, don\u2019t change. You will see throughout this site I talk ad nauseam about the essentials of Putting: Reading, Routine, Reacting freely to what you have read, and reviewing the first 3 R s\u00a0 ).<\/em><\/p>\n

This should be a warning to all golfers,<\/strong> you might not develop the yips, but if you are currently thinking about your stroke and hands while putting, you are needlessly adding many shots to every round and to the pressure you feel.<\/p>\n

Below, a video review I created years ago on an Ernie Els and Gary Player Putting video. They talk about The Truth About Great Putting.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n