By Geoff Mangum
As a continuation from last month’s practice exercises for touch and line, the following exercises for reading and aiming are also used in “deliberate practice” to learn and hone the four putting skills. Golfers should separately build independent skills and then periodically test integrating the skills in “one ball, one read, one putt” situations testing long lag putts and short (under 10 feet or 3 meters) breaking putts.
As a constant “practice mindset”, golfers should always or nearly always monitor and diagnose the correctness or error of a putt in read, aim, stroke for line, or stroke for distance, so as to fix and improve the next putt by applying knowledge of how the skill is performed correctly with body perception and movement processes.
Drills for Reading
- Putt 6-8 balls past the hole from 6-8 feet away, stopping the balls nicely past the hole only 2-3 rolls, with the normal tempo to make sure the rhythm is same-same and “athletic” and cow-stupid, while watching the arrival and go-by speed and stopping of the balls safely in the stopping area past the hole, to install confidence that with good stopping intentionality, rhythm is always safe and never short.
- Once the rhythm is set and the arrival speed of the ball has been witnessed and become accepted and familiar, then read breaking putts from 6-8 feet out by first seeing the correct centercut entry…
Read the rest of what Geoff has to say about PuttingZone Practice Exercises for Reading & Aiming in the February 2016 Monthly Handicap Improver here:
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