Now to putting?

Question
John,
I went to the driving range and followed your suggestions about my swing and it worked great. Then I began to notice the best hitters, even if they were short and chubby, all did the same thing and had good weight shift. Can you give me a little advice about putting? I have gone through three types of putters but I still cant hit the broad side of a barn. Very frustrating because I am deadly accurate in my living room with my putt returner! Thanks again!

Answer
Hi again Bud. Glad things went well at the range.  Putting can be a real chore but there are a few basics you'll want to employ.

1.  Stand so that your eyes are directly over the putting line.
2.  Place your hands on the putter so that they compliment one another.  For instance, if the back of your leading hand is square to the target, your trailing hand should be as well.
3.  The putter should be accelerating when it reaches the ball.

Carpet putting lacks two important aspects; speed and contour.  I would encourage you to visualize your putts rolling to and going in the hole. Set yourself to start the ball on the visualized path and putt the ball without a lot of thought as to how hard to hit it.

Some like to spot putt:  picking a spot they want the ball to roll over near the hole. The problem with that many times is that they've introduced a second target into the situation and often end up closer to the spot than the hole. (Same is true with chipping.)

Learn to trust that you have the capacity to recognize all the aspects of a shot through visualization and you don't need to talk yourself through anything. For instance, when you have an uphill putt and tell yourself to hit it harder, you've increased the chances you'll hit it much too hard.

I hope this helps as well!

Fairways and greens,

John