By Paul Myers:
Would you like to be a great putter? Of course you would – that point is not even up for debate. The ability to make putts is the great equalizer on the golf course, as you can make up for plenty of bad swings just by holing putts. While it is important to have solid fundamentals when hitting your putts, it is just as important to have the right mindset on the greens. If you think like a great putter, there is a much better chance that you will actually be one.
With that in mind, the following three mental points are important if you are going to be able to identify yourself as one of the best putters at your club.
#1 – Make or Miss
Great putters know that there are only two potential outcomes for each putt – make or miss. While that might seem like an obvious point, it is important that you keep this in mind at all times. Once you accept the fact that you could make any putt, and you could miss any putt, your mind will relax and you will be left to simply give it your best effort. Everyone misses putts, so there is absolutely no shame in hitting a putt that stays out of the hole. You might think that great putters will only accept success, but that isn’t the case at all. The best putters know they could miss, so they relax and let it go.
#2 – Always Focused on Speed
Bad putters only think about line, while good putters focus their efforts on determining the right speed. Line is still important, of course, but you will be well served to think first about getting the speed correct. As you are reading your putt, think about factors like the speed of the green and the slope up or down to the hole. When you stand over the ball, you should have already selected your line and aimed your putter accordingly, so your entire focus at that point can be centered on the speed of the putt.
#3 – Ignore the Chaos
When you walk onto the green, you are likely to see plenty of marks and bumps on the putting surface that could effect your ball. If you are mentally weak when it comes to your putting, it would be easy to let these issues get into your head. However, there is nothing you can do about these issues, so you should just set them aside and do what you can do to strike a great putt. You might be surprised at how many times a well-struck putt will find the bottom of the hole even if your ball has to travel across some rough terrain on the way. Don’t let poor conditions get in your head before the ball has even left the blade of your putter – give every putt your complete focus and best effort, and the results will come out in your favor more often than not.