Stare Those Putts into the Hole

This is a really simple drill that works really well. You can put it into game straight away and it takes very little practice to be effective. What more can I offer?!

Okay, here’s a little exercise you can try to understand the importance of this drill. Stand up looking straight ahead. Notice your body position. Now try looking at various points around you. What happened to your body position? Chances are, as your eyes moved towards your new focal point your head followed; perhaps your shoulders followed as well; maybe your hips followed your shoulders round too. Your whole body position has probably changed and followed your eyes around the room.

To put that in golfing terms, think about when you putt. Do you look at where the ball is going after you hit it? If you do you might actually upset your putting stroke by doing this. If your head turns to face the hole, your shoulders might open up, maybe your hips as well … hope you enjoyed watching that putt miss left?

Try this drill next time you’re on the putting green. Set yourself up some short putts. Start at 2 feet and work up to 10 feet. Really focus on what your eyes are doing. Look at the ball before your stroke and during. After you hit the ball, keep focusing on the point on the green where the ball was. You can hear the ball drop in the cup (you will probably hear that sound a lot more often!).

There you go, really simple and a great habit to bring into your game. Try it out!

Photo Credit: Photo by Kevin Dooley at Flickr Creative Commons (License).