A Great Putter Is Made Not Born

A great putter is not born, but is made -- made through conscious effort to improve not only the putting techniques but also the self-image. A positive self-perception immunizes you from doubts and fears about your putting techniques -- doubts and fears are stumbling blocks in golfing success.

Of course, changing the way you perceive yourself as a putter requires practice and perseverance.

First, practice mental visualization of the good putts you have made.

Garry Player once said: "On every putt, see the ball going into the hole with your mind's eye."

Mental visualization is important to golfing success. In your mind's eye, you already see your success, and seeing is believing.

Tiger Woods' father was said to have trained his son while he was still a very young kid to roll a ball to a hole, and then roll it to the hole again with his eyes closed. That was how Tiger Woods received his training in developing his mental golf.

Practice to relive the perfect putts you have made. Visualize the puts in your next round of golf, and see them going in the hole.

Stop complaining in the way your converse about your own putting. Stop moaning about the mistakes you made. Complaining only reinforces the negative image, and may well become self-fulfilling prophecy.

Confidence means the ability to control the mind by focusing on something small and simple.

In good putting, you clear all the clutters in your mind by narrowing your mental focus as much as possible. Learn to empty your mind of instructional thoughts from books, fellow golfers, or your coach. Just let your subconscious mind take over your strokes. It is like a runner on the track would let the subconscious mind take over the breathing to increase the oxygen intake; a runner does not have to consciously breathe harder in order to get more oxygen into the lungs to win the race.

So neither should you consciously focus on your strokes. Instead, just focus on the target.

In your mind's eye, you should see only a mental picture of the hole or your target. A good putter not only focuses on the target, but also narrows down the target. Therefore, a good putter's target may not simply be the hole. Remember, the smaller the target is, the better control your brain and your body may have in getting the ball to the target of your choice. Learn to select a smaller target, such as a broken blade of grass, or a tiny edge of the hole. Your brain works better when the target is smaller, and your brain subconsciously has better control of your body's functions, especially your muscles and reflexes.

You may have one of the best strokes of your life when you see the target, and your mind simply reacts to it with little interference from your conscious thought.

Confidence means getting control of the present situation, and the past is insignificant and irrelevant.

In any sport, gaining control of the present situation is important. Some people believe that you must try the hardest in order to control the present situation. However, in putting, trying your hardest may not be equivalent to doing your best.

Why is that so? 

This is because putting requires spontaneity, and spontaneity is controlling the mind and hence the response, but without striving your hardest to control the resulting action. Essentially, spontaneity is focusing on the process, and never on the outcome. In this way, your efforts may become "natural" and "effortless." As a result, your strokes may become more confident, free from doubt or hesitation.

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau