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How important is putting? Since it is half the strokes in a round it is extremely important. Think about the all great putters in golf, Bobby Locke, Bobby Jones, Horton Smith, Sam Snead, Ben Hogan, Ben Crenshaw, Byron Nelson, Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino,Tiger Woods, Dave Stockton, Arnold Palmer, Tom Watson and of course YOU. (soon) You might say that some of these were not well known for their putting ability. Take for instance Ben Hogan, he wasn’t known for his putting ability. Well, let’s just take his round in his last Masters, he shot 30 on one nine. He hit 17 out of 18 greens. Had he two putted every green he would have shot 73 instead of 66. I don’t care how perfect you hit the ball you are NOT going to hit a 5 or 6 iron consistently 4 feet from the cup. You must be a great, not good, putter to play great golf. Sam Snead won over 100 tournaments don’t you think he could putt. Take the current example of a great putter, Tiger Woods. How many times have you seen him knock in a clutch putt? Too many times to count. So what exactly do great putters have in common? They take the putter inside, straight back, keep it low, hit the ball on the center of the putter, make the ball go fourteen to twenty inches past the hole yadaa, yadda, do. Garbage all of it. They sink putts. That’s what they do differently. Why? Keep reading you’ll improve your putting a lot.Do you think you could beat Kobe Bryant in basketball. How about Peyton Manning in football? Or take something easy, could you beat the current dart champion in darts? You could easily beat them all with one stipulation. They must look at the ball or dart not the target! Can you hear Kobe or Peyton after missing a basket or pass? “Gee, I took the ball outside the line, I didn’t keep my arms in toward my body, my grip on the ball was wrong… yadda, yadda, do! If they thought like that they would be spastic. They look at the target and fire. They have 3 or 4 humongous people running at them trying to stuff the ball down their throat, yet they still perform and make the basket or pass. So the very first thing you must learn to be a great putter. Focus completely and perfectly on the target. If you throw a ball, softball, hardball, snowball don’t you focus on the target? Elementary you say. Keep reading you will improve.

Do all great putters look the same when they putt? I remember driving three hundred miles just to watch Bobby Locke putt. He looked like a 4×8 sheet of plywood with a stick in his hand. Not at all the smooth flowing stroke you might think he would have. He moved his whole right shoulder when he putted. Yet he is considered to be the best putter ever. How about Jack Nicklaus? He is croutched down like a lion ready to spring. Palmer with his broken knees. Horton like a painted mime. How about the long putters? Short putters? Side saddle? Left hand low? What do they all do the same? You guessed it. They sink putts. So #2. Get comfortable in your own stance and setup.

I am basically a modeler and NeuroLinguistic advocate. Which means that I believe that if another human being can do something, putt, learn, swing, pass, etc that I can learn to do the same thing. I may not be able to hit the ball as far as Tiger, but I can copy his swing or anyones swing. You may not believe that, but you have never seen Mac O’Grady swing like Snead, Hogan or Woods. Movement can be copied almost precisely. Size, physical attributes such as seeing, feeling, etc. cannot be copied. If you are 50 years old and 5′8″, after copying Michelsons’ swing you are not going to be 35 and 6′ tall. That basically is modeling. Modeling is copying.

Neuro Linguistic Programming is the study of subjective experience. For example, if I ask you to close your eyes and visualize a green monster. You will have visualized your monster. If I tell you to visualize the monster coming at you ferociously your pulse will increase and breathing intensify. That basically is what NLP does. So when you watch You Tube and Tiger explains how he putts: ” I look at the putt from three sides and have a picture of the successful putt from each side, then I putt to the picture. That’s how my dad taught me.” That is NLP! It is subjective experience. So what happens if Woods putts poorly? He just needs to check his internal picture and make sure it is the same as when he putted well. What about the greatest putter ever, Bobby Locke ? Did he use NLP? Here is what he said in his book. 1) I sum up the putt. 2) I walk to the hole examining the line of the putt concentrating especially the 3′ around the hole. 3)I walk back checking the speed of the putt. 4) From behind the ball I examine the contour and how the ball will roll into the cup. 5) I NEVER change my mind over the putt. Do you think he used pictures to putt? What precisely did he never change his mind about? How about Jack Nicklaus? He said he never hit a shot without visualizing in color, a movie of exactly what he wanted to do. As Bobby Jones so eloquently said, “the hardest thing to do in golf is to conqueror the 4 ½ inches between your ears.”Your mind and body work together best if they have a pattern or sequence. That is why routine is discussed so much in golf and other sports. You are preparing yourself for a certain outcome, namely to sink a putt, hit a shot. But have you ever walked up to shot and gone through your routine perfectly and hit a terrible shot? Why? Because you did not have the #1 prerequisite – Belief. You went through the routine precisely but failed to have the belief of certainty about the outcome. We all have done the same thing. Do you think when Kobe Bryant or Peyton or the dart champion prepares to perform they think, ” well I’ll try to make this or throw this pass, but I don’t know.” Absolutely not! It is not confidence, it is a belief that they will reach their target. If you don’t think so try this. Have a friend stand aside of you on the putting green, close your eyes, and let him describe how hard a putt you have. It is fast, slick, breaks a foot and a half, super hard putt. Open your eyes and look at the putt and describe to yourself what you are thinking. Now have your friend drop the ball about the same distance for another putt and close your eyes and let him describe how simple a putt you have. It is such an easy putt it should be a gimme. Now open your eyes and describe to yourself what you see. The belief is paramount. I remember a friend practicing putting. He sunk 56,000 six foot putts. He practiced taking the putter straight back and through 125,00 times. He practiced hitting the ball within 1/64th of an inch on the putter face 40,000 times. Guess how much his putting improved. Nada, none, nothing. He really improved his ability to take the putter straight back, hit 6 foot putts, and hit the ball in the center. Unfortunately his putting did not improve at all. Why? He forgot the 4 ½ inches he needed to work on. I’m sure you’ve read in one of the golf magazine how so and so helped the great professional improve his ball striking or putting or whatever. Have you noticed how short lived his improvement has become. Why? You must improve you belief system first. If you have a strong belief system along with a simple routine then you will find that ball striking, putting improve dramatically. So let’s get down to golden tacks. Here is a sample system I would like you to try for you putting.

No.1

Walking up to the putt I want you to say to yourself, “this is an easy putt, I am positive I will make this.”

No.2

Croutching behind the ball, “I am absolutely 100% certain I can make this putt.

No.3

Walking toward hole, “describe to yourself the path the putt will take and how and where it will enter the hole exactly.”

No.4

From behind the ball croutching pick the exact spot on the hole and watch the ball roll and go in exactly there.

No. 5

From over the ball, set the putter EXACTLY perfect to your line and look at the specific spot (target) you picked on the cup.

No.6

Get your setup, posture (physiology) completely in sync. In other words setup to the ball like you are 1000% sure that you are going to make the putt.

No.7

Look at the spot on the cup and focus on the spot, look at the ball and hit ball into hole.

Time

: About 50 – 55 seconds. You can use a spot if you prefer, but is not essential. Your mind knows where you want your pass, dart, basketball, baseball or putt to go.As Tony Robbins said, “Whether you think you can or think you cannot,you are right.”

Like father like son? The apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree. Cliches really don’t explain the actions of Tiger Woods. But the influence of his father in his life is another story. Most psychologists agree that the biggest influence in a person’s life are the parents and his peers. Tiger did not have peers. He was a 24 hour golfer. Earl Woods activities while Tiger was growing up certainly influenced Tiger. The calls Tiger made to his high school girlfriend about the affairs his father was having with other women were traumatic. The General’s (Earl Sr.) treatment of Private Eldridge throughout his life as a soldier in his private army is another example. Earl ruled Tiger’s life to some extent until he died. Tiger’s quote on 60 Minutes, “I am cheap.” Now who do you think influenced his values? I don’t think that he woke up one day and said, “Well, I think I’ll be a cheapo.” No, those are the direct influences of Papa Woods. Tiger’s aloofness and arrogant attitude are the result of a fairy godmother? Not quite. They are the direct result of Earl and also Tiger himself knowing that he is the best golfer that has ever been. His supreme confidence that “I can do what no one else can do.” He proves it in every tournament he plays. Unfortunately he has little respect for other people. Stories are plentiful here in Las Vegas about his exploits. Most of us would not like to be thought as arrogant and cheap as he. But then, we can’t do what he can do. There are so many stories about the Demarets, Sneads etc. from the past when they were king of the hills. I remember hearing stories when I was young about some of them and I would blush and wonder how they could act that way. They could get away with their transgressions because people only wanted to see them play golf. People didn’t care if the players were cavorting after golf. Tiger on the other hand has set himself up as a shining light, a ray of sunshine for all the young and old who think, “I’d give anything to do what he can do.” I think that the two main reasons that he is trying to get back to Elin Nordegren and his kids is: 1) He does not like to loose. and 2) He is cheap and doesn’t want to pay.

What we will have to do is just take Tiger for what he is…..the best golfer ever. He doesn’t have class like Elvis, who would give away a car, or Sinatra who would help people and not tell anyone or Mr. Class, Charles Barkley, a genuine gentleman and class act. No Tiger has no class, just look at his loyalty to his many girls, they probably paid for the room. No don’t be loyal to Woods. Watch him though. Watch him take his putter and wield it like he stole Harry Potter’s magic wand. Magic in action. When will Tiger be out of the Woods? Probably never. You might love to watch him play. But never invite him home to meet your daughter.