Many of us have a lot of negativity over our putting and, if there is one area of the game where we can get very down on ourselves, it is this side of it.
We all watch golf on TV and we see a lot of putts dropping but this is not a true representation of what actually happens on the greens.
An interesting stat always is that a PGA Tour player is more likely to miss an 8-footer than make it, yet it feels like they’re holing everything and shooting 67 every round.
Mental performance coach Duncan McCarthy explains how you can get more out of your putter.
More freedom
One of the reasons why certain people are good putters is they have a bit of a freedom from the outcome. Their self-worth and their confidence isn’t driven by whether the ball goes in the hole or not.
If it goes in, obviously it’s going to help but they’re not dented by a missed putt as much as other people.
They won’t dwell on the miss as they’ve placed less importance on the outcome of the putt and more importance on, it might be, the enjoyment of the opportunity of holing it.
It might be on more focus on the line that they want to roll the ball down or they might just want to roll this dead weight. The focus is the happiness and contentment. It’s not hinged on does the ball go in or not.
The process
It will help you to focus on how you can do your job well – so the steps and the process part. If you don’t love your putter, it’s probably because you’re not holing enough putts. But you’re probably not holing enough putts because you’re desperate to hole more putts, if that makes sense.
It’s about letting go of the outcome – you want to hole the putt, but you don’t need to hole the putt. There’s a big difference between that. A bad putter needs to hole the putt to feel a little bit better in the moment. A good putter doesn’t need to hole it to feel better.
We can all putt. Everybody will have had a good day with the putter. For some people, it might be last week. For others, it might be a year ago but we will all have had good days with the putter.
The memory
Most humans have got half a decent memory, and we are able to pluck a good memory with the putting, the best putt that we holed, the course it was on, who we were playing with and where it was. We don’t spend enough time looking at our old favourite memories and just recalling those moments when you performed well.
So be more selective with your memories. Remember the ones that you do hole and, if you miss it, let it go. It’s a putt. It’s not going to change the direction that your life’s going in.
Have a think, what is it that’s holding you back? The reason you don’t love your putter is probably because you’re so hinged on having to hole the putt as opposed to the other bits, like the process, the thinking, the read and the stroke.
The four-footers
Try and get into the task more and have some clarity over that. People struggle with short putts simply because if you miss that short putt, you can’t make up for it. And at a subconscious level, people know that. And for most people, it’s for par or bogey and they start to apply pressure to that.
So you become more focused on the result, the closer you get to the hole and then the harder it actually becomes.
The finish line’s in sight, the hole’s four foot in front of you and then you hit the final hurdle because you forgot about the task.
You’re nearly there but you’ve got a job to do first. What’s the line? What’s the pace you want to roll it at? Just pick that spot in the back of the hole where you want to roll the ball into, or the front bit where you want the ball to roll over. Then eyes back on the ball and go.
That keeps us away from the future and more in the present in the task. And I think people can get better at that, a lot better.
Visualisation
It’s good to pick a spot to roll the ball over as that helps to take our focus away from trying to hole it. So you can pick a spot in front of the ball, which is good for alignment, or you can pick a spot like two thirds of the way to the hole.
I like to recommend the latter when faced with a 20-footer as you are just focusing on rolling it over that. It might be the apex of the break, and if you can do this, then you’ve done your bit.
About Duncan McCarthy
Duncan is a mental performance coach who has worked with golfers across all the main tours.
He’s helped Erik van Rooyen to his two wins on the PGA Tour, likewise Marcus Armitage on the DP World Tour and in 2022 he helped Ashleigh Buhai capture the Women’s Open at Muirfield.
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Article Link: Pro performance coach shares visualisation secret to the perfect putt