My “No Grind” Putting Practice Station
5 Minutes A Day To Putting Improvement:
My "No Grind" Putting Practice Station!
One of the easiest ways for me to improve my putting stats is to improve putts made from 3 to 5 feet. I know I get sloppy with setup, aim, and my overall "focus" (more on that later) during these putts. So – I thought I would share with you what I now do 5 minutes a day at home to improve my putting mechanics for these important putts – maybe doing some things differently than you might expect!
- The FIRST thing that I do before any actual putting practice is to put on my FocusBand and link it to my iPhone app. I spend a few minutes achieving a "Mushin" state and strive to be in this relaxed state during the entire time that I am practicing my putting. Not a hard attention – but soft and gentle.
- I have three basic practice stations I use for my indoor putting practice. The first is the small blue mirror in the upper right hand portion of the picture. This is a small puttting setup mirror that my friend Glen Coombe "The Putting Doctor" sells and that I give to everyone I help with putting improvement. I use this to check my initial setup – eyes either just inside or over the ball, shoulders and hips (especially!) square to target line, aim square to the end of the mirror. I do this about 5 times.
- Then I move to practicing with the Harold Swash "18 Arc" Mi Putting Template – the white template shown in the middle of the picture above. The 18 Arc represents a good approximation to my natural arc in my putting stroke. If you look at the picture, I put two index cards on the template – to practice a short stroke for 3 to 5 foot putts – with the forward stroke a little longer than the back stroke. I do about 10 practice strokes on the Template.
- Finally, I bought the black plastic strip (on line) – it is 4-1/2 inches wide and 5 feet long. In the past I have practiced with 5 foot rulers, either 1 inch or 2 inches wide. I am using this wider strip – close to the 41/4 inch wide of a golf cup – to "soften" my focus on hitting straight putts. I know that inside of my brain I desire to hit straight putts – but I wonder if that very narrow focus is really the best way to practice these. So my goal is to hit 4 straight putts – 2, 3, 4, and 5 feet. If I accomplish this, I am finished – if I do not, I start over until I successfully hit 4 straight putts.
So there you go! 5 minutes a day – soft attention to setup and putting performance. This is an experiment for me – particularly my use of the FocusBand and desire to not "grind" as I practice. But I believe practicing both mechanics and practicing allowing my subconscious to be active when I am practicing will pay dividends on the golf course.
LOVE to hear any comments from readers on this approach – and your ideas for improving it!
Taking YOUR Game To New Heights!
Tony
