Putting - The Feel Factor By BQ Browning At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

It has long been said that Putting is all about 'feel' but how do you explain what that is - and how do you get it? To answer that, and to achieve that magic 'feel' you have to be able to block out all distractions and get to know your putter so that it becomes an extension of your arms and shoulders. Like most things, there is a trick to it, and that trick can be learned.

Read this sentence and then try the exercise - Pick something to focus on in your mind, then close your eyes for a few moments and see how much easier it is to focus. The simple process of closing your eyes will remove well over half the distractions that we come across and that are continually impinging on our consciousness.

Imagine playing golf with your eyes firmly shut. It may sound crazy but this is an excellent way to hone your putting skills by getting the right 'feel'. To begin with you won't need the ball, just your putter. Standing on the practice green and move into your normal putting position. Visualize the ball on the green and line it up with the hole, just as if you were doing it for real. Swing your putter, exactly as you would if you were going to hit the ball. Close your eyes and repeat the stroke with your eyes closed. How does it feel? Make yourself aware of the pressure of your hands on the grip. How does it feel? Let your hands grip the club just firmly enough to stop it dropping out of your hands, sense the weight of the putter hanging in your hands. How does it feel? Store those sensations in your mind and keep practicing til you can recreate that feeling at will.

Move on and start to swing your putter gently, how does the club feel as it skims the grass on the green. Try and feel the pressure of the grass pulling gently on your putter. Continue to swing backwards and forwards in a smooth pendulum motion making small adjustments to eliminate the pull on your putter. More important still, you should be able to sense the delicacy of the grip you need on your putter. This is the most important part of the whole exercise. This allows you to swing your putter whilst maintaining the same delicate grip throughout the movement . You should never end up squeezing harder on the club at any point during your shot.

Practice this with your eyes closed and don't even attempt to put a ball down until you are really comfortable with the feel of your club in your hands. Then do it without your eyes closed until it is second nature. Only now should you place a ball on the ground and you should be able to concentrate more on the 'feel' of the club in your hands than the ball you are hitting.

This is also a useful exercise to do when buying a new putter. It caused vast hilarity amongst the staff where I was buying my last Putter as I stood there, eyes closed, swinging Putter after Putter backwards and forwards until I found the one that felt just right. It took hours but at the end of it I had a putter I felt was right for me and which I trust implicitly to get me round the course.

You can use this exercise in many ways - it is also excellent training for hitting the ball the right distance when you are on the green. As your familiarity with your club grows you will begin to have a better feel for what you can achieve with your putter and you should get some consistent results.

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