Hi Guys,

I have just been asked about my practice regime off season and on. I have to say that 2009 has been my worst season results wise since 2000. I had a new baby, new teaching job and no money so every hour was spent trying to drum up new lessons and I fitted them in whenever I could.

As I approached the playing season I was finding it difficult to find time for myself to practice and when I eventually started in earnest I struggled. The whole year has been spent searching for my golf swing, I putted poorly and sometimes my short game was off. There was moments of brilliance but I struggled to maintain it for more than 2 or 3 rounds.

This year my good scores were around 4 under but my bad ones were in the high 70,s and that doesn't pay the bills. In 2007/8 my bad scores were still under par and I sometimes won events playing badly, the difference was I put in the work through the winter.

Anyway enough about the sob story let me get to the point. I personally am not going to have another year like that, I play golf to win tournaments not just make up the numbers.

All of my swing work is done in the off season, I will start seeing my coach ( Russell Covey, Bath GC ) in the next few weeks, sit down with him and set myself some goals for next year. I hate it when I tinker with my swing in the golf season as I never get any consistency.

I am not one to hit too many balls in a session because I start to tinker, I will maybe hit 100 - 150 including warm up shots working on swing mechanics. I am very much a tempo guy as opposed to a hitter, so if I get in my groove early I will maybe not hit so many balls. This usually takes 1.5 hrs.

I will then spend another 1 - 2 hours chipping and pitching. I like to mix it up a lot so I ususlly take 12 balls with me and just throw them, I will then chip to 1 or 2 different flags and only count the ones that are within 6 foot of the hole.

My putting practice is done in my garage at home just working on stroke mechanics, I can go out there whenever, I don't practice outside in winter as the greens are not good enough and the more you see the ball miss the lower your confidence will be. Even when I play in the winter we tend to give ourselves putts inside a putter length because we wouldn't normally miss them.

I then go and play either 9 or 18 depending on what i'm working on. And I do this 3 or 4 times per week through the winter.

I also need to get back in the gym and especially back to my Yoga classes, I have struggled with little injuries this year and it's all because of poor flexibility.

By the time the golfing season comes I am usually itching to go. I have a set pre game routine that includes 20 mins stretching in the changing room, then down to the range - 20 pitches with a SW gradually getting longer, 10 7 irons, 10 4 irons working on tempo, 2 or 3 shots with a Driver or until I hit one straightish, few pitches to finish. Then up to putting green, start from 2 ft to see the ball going in, then pace putting to the fringes from varying positions just to get a feel for the greens. All of this will take about 1 hour.

When I am not in a tournament I will work on anything that I feel is a weakness, whether that be slight swing adjustments, the mental game, bunkers. However I will always continue with my short game practice.

I still putt in the garage but on the greens I will tend to putt a straight 4 - 6 footer in between a couple of clubs. The longer putts is done with 1 ball working on pre shot routine.(see my site for free tips)

For me this is a full time job, I need my scores to average 2-3 under par to make a decent living and to do this that is how much work I put in.

You must decide how much time you can devote to practice and structure that time effectively. get yourself a good coach now and feel happy about their methods. If you have limited time work on your chipping and pitching. Putt at home while watching TV. Stretch lots to prevent injuries and increase distance.

If anyone has any questions please feel free to ask.

Steve

Good insight Steve and sadly what you do WE don't!! which explains our lack of skill.

I have started to practise more and with more construction too and I'm feeling the benefits but know I have a way to go, but then Rome wasn't built in a day

Interesting to note your comment "" I am very much a tempo guy as opposed to a hitter"" !!!!! I thought you liked to grip it and rip it

Practising has never been one of my strong points. I found that I would rather just go out and play.

Practice is only of benefit if what you are practicing is correct. One only has to visit a range to see so much wasted effort reproducing a poor swing.

John, do you think if you practiced more you'd have been a better golfer?

Did any amateurs practice in your day? I know until Hogan came about, the pro game didn't really bother with it all that much - half of them didn't even stretch before going out.

Jonny, we will never know the answer to that one.

Not all clubs had a practice area anyway and if they did it meant using ones own balls and having to go and collect then afterwards. Not an enticing thought to me.

I most certainly would have had no interest in undergoing Steves punishing schedule.

I feel that golf in those early days was played with a lot more flair and imagination, which is not easy to practice.

In my opinion a scratch amateur in my day was a much better player than the scratch players of today. One reason being the handicap system was a lot tougher for the low man in those days as any handicap movement was in whole shots, not 0.1 for a poor round.

A scratch amateur could not shoot high seventies and still maintain scratch.

I might add that to win a 36 or 72 hole amateur tournament would require an under par score.

Not all good amateurs have managed the transition to the Pro ranks but I don't think a player can expect to do well if he cannot win as an amateur.

 Thanks Steve, an interesting read and a very good template for us all to try.

You must of practiced really hard at "snooker" to win that lovely trophy though John, I bet Samuel would laugh at that.

In my opinion a scratch amateur in my day was a much better player than the scratch players of today. One reason being the handicap system was a lot tougher for the low man in those days as any handicap movement was in whole shots, not 0.1 for a poor round.

I didn't know this.

Even still, John, it works both ways surely? On that system it would be much easier to get down to scratch in the first place if your coming down by 1 shot each time. These days, a CAT 1 player only comes down 0.1 for each shot he is under his handicap - so actually it sounds a darn site tougher to get to scratch to me?

You must of practiced really hard at "snooker" to win that lovely trophy though John, I bet Samuel would laugh at that.

I always thought that was for the mustache growing world championships?

Jonny it wasn't quite like that, to get from 1 to scratch required five consecutive rounds in Open competition away from ones own course. Now once a player is 0.5 he still needs five rounds to get to scratch. yet will only go up 0.1 for every round over the SSS.

Of course it is difficult to get to scratch, one has to have a natural abiity in my opinion. You will find out how tough it is to knock one shot off your handicap the lower you get.

I just felt that when I was a decent player I never had really bad off days. I peaked when I was 30/31 years of age and at that time I found it difficult to go over 70, such was the level of consistency that I had acquired. In fact I can remember working very hard driving my truck to the Middle East for six months solid, coming back and shooting 68 in the club championship after six months of not picking a club up. This means that I played the game almost from memory.

I know you see me now, having played with me and quite rightly say to yourself, how on earth did this guy play to that standard. It is a confidence in ones own ability, coupled with the flair and imagination that I introduced to my game, as so many other older players of that era did. Now it is very much a mechanical swing game, played, in the most part to courses that are manicured for the pro, greens are receptive to any kind of shot and true, fast greens which enable good scores,

Dave, if Samuel had read that comment he would have turned over in his grave.

Most of the older guys, just needed a warm-up. The swing was there and off they went. Today the young guys don't feel happy if the swing doesn't feel right. To us older guys, it is the score that counted and not how it was achieved.

In the 70's, we were playing courses of under 7000yds so it was easier to score well without hitting the ball well. The winner each week was the guy who holed most putts. You could make a good living, and not be a good putter, you just hit fairways and greens. Today, with longer courses, you need to be a good putter to make money. Just look at guys who are dropping down the Money Lists and it is usually the putting thats the reason behind it.

TheLyth 

Totally agree with you there David

Thats definately what I need to work on this winter, I haven't holed enough 8-12 footers. Tour school qualifying was a prime example, in 72 holes I only made 9 birdies and I was hitting 14 greens per round. I need a bit more Fa na na na na ( great film all you Caddy shack fans )

Steve Dave Pelz says the "golden 8" is what you need, 8 foot from the pin gives you a birdie chance and worst way a par

Steve,

I found that a great help with my putting came from hours of competitive putting. At Roundhay GC in Leeds, each night a group of us would get together and have a 72 hole Putting Tournament, with "cuts" and leaders out last, etc. It was like a real tournament and got us mentally prepared too. It has ment that I could putt with anything and didn't need long shafts, claw grips, and R about L etc.

I watch the guys on Tour and cringe at the way some of them approach some putts.

TheLyth

Probably a daft question ... but ...

What should I be working on when practicing my putting?

Should I be working on getting the ball into the hole (or target) learning to make allowances for my current putting stroke?

Or

Working on getting my putting stroke dead straight?

The reason I ask is because I seem to have a slightly closed stance at address and when I putt from further than, say, 6 feet the ball always starts off to the right and then works its way back to the left, even on a flat carpet. When I align myself sqaure to target, I always pull the ball left.

Every putt is a straight putt either aimed at the hole or to the break in the borrow.

The reason you are pulling the shorter ones is because your wrists are breaking down during the swing when they should be firm throughout. Swing with the shoulders and not the hands is the key.

Myself, I don't hold with the need to have the eyes directly above the ball (Will now get a slating from Dave L) and I also don't believe that the stance should be dead square.

Putting is a game on its own and I tend to stand open, rather like Nicklaus (Who was not a bad putter).

I am fortunate in that I have always had a feel for distance so quickly get the pace of the greens in most cases.

John you have natural ability, but I have to say I'd agree with David L purely because to get a straight putt you need to ensure your shoulders rotate up and down inline, and to do that you need to ensure the point where your neck meets your shoulders is flat and your eyes over the ball, if you stand too tall then your shoulders will still rotate but it will cause your putter to go on an in-to-out-to-in (like a curve) and the chance of always getting the ball in the right position for the putter face to connect with it squarely is limited and also means your using your arms too much, as you know you should have dead hands for putting.

Hi Paul,

Sounds like you have a little loop in your stroke which affects the path and spin on the ball and very diffcult to control especially under pressure.

As it is now winter I suggest you work on fixing it. Firstly you need to determine exactly what the problem is, you can do this in several ways.

1. Draw a line all the way around your ball and hit some putts, the goal is to get the line rolling end over end and if you have a smooth carpet this will be perfect. If the line wobbles your putter face is not square to the target line at impact.

2. Get a couple of thick books and place them down your target line at opposites creating a channel for your putter to go through, you want about half a cm either side of the putter face. Hit some putts as normal and notice where your putter strikes the books.

There is no right or wrong way to putt, at the end of the day you need to get it in the hole in as few as poss. Here are a few good pointers to look for in your stroke:-

1. Have a nice solid base, your lower half should not move at all throughout the stroke.

2. Get your eyes directly over your aimline, and align your bodylines parallel to the aimline.

3. Keep the head still throughout the stroke, most problems occur when you watch the ball off the face as this throws your shoulders out of alignment and you have to make adjustments with the putter face.

4. Hold the follow through and check it's path. The face wants to be square to the target line or slightly closed depending on how you like to putt.

Maybe you could post a video it will be easier to spot any probs.

Hope this helps

Steve 

Good tips Steve and even better idea re video

Paul what make/type putter do you use and what kind of path are you trying do?

John, not a hard and fast rule eyes over the ball, a couple of inches inside not a major problem but never over the outsibe of the ball.

I tried a few putts indoors this afternoon. I marked a line on the ball and set my putter between 2 straight edges.

Setting my stance parallel to target line I noticed 2 things:

First my putter was touching the piece of wood furthest away from me after I had hit the ball.

Secondly, the ball started right of target then went straight with a little left hand side spin ... the line on the ball gave it away.

From this I deduced that although the putter face is square to target line, my swing is definatly in to out. I put this down to an over compensation to keep the swing line straight, i.e. I move my hands away from my body on the through stroke in an attempt to point the putter down the target line.

These two simple aids showed me how far out my swing is.

I use a Wilson Staff mid size mallet and I am aiming for a straight stroke.

This winter really could become make or break time for me. I'm at the point now where I borderline to getting into single figure country. After enduring an agonising 30 months on the course where I couldn't perform when it mattered in the last month I've played some of the best rounds of my life.

I took a 3 month break earlier in the year because I got to the stage where I'd just had enough of the bad scores in competition. I knew I was better then I was scoring but for some reason I just couldn't do it when it mattered.

This year is also the 1st year I've not had any Professional Coaching. I've been pulled around and messed around by 5 coaches in the four years I've been playing and some have certainly done more harm to me then good. Those Golfshake Members that have seen all my videos over time have seen how my swing has worsened from tuition and lost a natural if not technically perfect but productice swing.

This year I haven't practiced as much at the range, when I am at the range I spend most time pitching and hitting shots to targets inside 100 yards as for me thats where I feel I can pick up shots. I certainly got to avoid the pitfalls of hitting my irons then when I get to the longer irons which I hit poorly, spending hours trying to hit the four iron instead of just working on what I'm practicing.

I've tried to work on putting this year. Like you Steve I feel I need more of the Fa na na na na, and thats been the case for 4 years. I've stopped messing around with Long Putters and just stuck pretty much all year to my Newport 1.5. I put consistant with it, eliminated many of the 3 putts or worse. I just feel now I need to start holing a couple of putts so I don't just keep putting 36 shots on my card at the end of the round. My last few weeks scores have been great, but could be so much better with a few putts dropping in. Start converting my Pars into Birdies and Bogeys in Pars.

Got to keep dropping shots of the handicap as I'm not getting younger and my future career prospects depend on that handicap coming down.

Paul it sounds like your shoulders are not parallel, it will feel like your leaning over too much but you won't be, that way it allows the shoulders to rotate better, I have a video on my phone which I'll try and put on here for you to show you what I mean.

I don't know what Steve thinks about this but attitude and mentallity are a big thing with regard to Putting. The number of higher Hcp'ers that I have seen try to lag a putt and leave it half way. I personally think that if you try and hole every putt the results are better than lagging some and having a go at others.

People watch Pro Golf on the box and then take that as normal and if they take more than 30 Putts in a round they think they are losing out. Most Tour Pro's hole everything inside 6ft but that is on perfect greens where the Hole has been cut on the flat. They would also miss as many as us on the greens we play. Putting on "True Greens" is a joy that most on here have not come across.

I keep a check on a Stat which is the total length of Putts that I hole in a round. I aim for a figure under 30ft if I total over 30 Putts. This gives me a good view of how I am putting. I sometimes also keep a record of the total length of Putts in a round.

Christopher says he takes 36 putts most round and wants to hole more to get better scores, but what he doesn't say is how far off the hole are these putts from. Knock it to an average of 30ft and take 36 putts is OK, but if you knock it to an average of 15ft for those 36 putts, your putting does need to improve.

TheLyth

Sorry for it not being upright, I'm a novice at this

Over the years there have been many weird and wonderful actions that make this modern theory just pie in the sky.

Search out Bobby Locke and you will witness everything in his putting stroke is the opposite of what is being taught today, yet he was recognised as one of the worlds best putters throughout history.

Players of that era played with feel, something that is frowned upon today.

The modern mechanical way being taught currently only produces robots.

David, I would think reading your posts I'd need to improve my putting more in 10-20 feet range. I think perhaps I should be holing out more from that distance. Inside 10 feet I'm pretty Good, over 20 feet I'm thinking I'm going to two putt. I guess its the mid-range ones I need to see an improvement in. Instead of being a half inch our this side or that, I should be putting them into the centre of the hole.

The good thing I would say is that although I two putt often, my seconds putts are nevermore then inches, and normally from one side of the hole or the other, not very often short, a few times from past the hole. I feel my distance judging of putts is good, I've just always struggled to read the lines, see the breaks and putt like Tiger.

If anybody is interested.

I have a David Leadbetter Putting System, as new. I won it as a prize, earlier in the year, but have never used it.

Christopher,

A little off topic but something I have been told. Like me, you also wear glasses and the Lens are sorted from us looking straight ahead and not to our left or right. It may be a simple fact that as we look through the side of the lens our vision is distorted. Ever tried putting without glasses?

TheLyth

Yeah I've tried putting without and also whilst wearing contact lenses. The problem probably isn't so much when I'm over the ball as all I focus on is the line on the ball at address. Its probably comes more when I'm behind the ball looking to the hole or behind the hole looking to ball where I struggle to see the breaks or pick up the line.

Wayne, you could have something there. I spent most of the morning practicing my putting stroke. I was trying to eliminate the 'arcing' of my swing. I found that my eyes were not over the ball, my shoulders were not anywhere near square and my hands moved away from me during the follow through. Doh!

With all this in mind I played a round in the afternoon. I concentrated on just rocking my shoulders, standing square to target, and crouching over the ball slightly more than normal. My putting did seem alot more accurate direction wise, just struggled abit with distance control but that improved as the round went on.

So at least I know what to continue practicing now.

Thanks all.

Paul, you may even find your putter needs cutting down if your hands are on the shaft (as I don't know your putter shaft length) rather than on the grip due to the lower hold.

I don't mind missing putts, what I really hate is hitting bad putts!

I use a line on my ball and whenever it wobbles it is a bad putt regardless of whether it goes in or not. This is a great visual to see if you are misreading or whether it is a poor stroke.

If you are taking 34 plus putts the chances are you are not chipping and pitching it close enough. I average 13 greens per round so I need to up and down 5 times to save par. If those pitches are not within 3ft of the hole then my chances of holing are lessened. The PGA Tour average from 8ft is 50%, and this is on the purest surface, so what chance have we got on normal greens.

Ahhhh the "Golden Eight"

Wayne, my hands are still on the grip as I find it more comfortable to bend and set my elbows slightly. The slight tension in my elbows, forearms and wrists help to take any movement out of my hands.

I'm not sure what length putter I have, its in the garage at present. Probably off-the-shelf-standard. It feels comfortable though.

Your elbows should be set slightly Paul so no problem there mate, and if your comfortable then great just concentrate on rocking the shoulders and distance feel will come.

Well I played yesterday at Belton Park, for the 1st time since my good round the other week which knocked a couple of shots of my handicap. Since then I've had 14 straight days in the shop whilst a colleague is off sick so not played or practiced.

Knocked it round in 90 yesterday which is some what off the 82/81 I did when I last played. Admittedly there was a 9 in there on a Par 3 of all holes, which inflated the score somewhat.

Again stats show where its going wrong, 35 putts again yesterday. Probably for the 1st time ever I was actually guilty of reading too much into putts. Guess in the winter time the putts won't move as much, so aiming outside the hole isn't really the smart thing to do.

I'd say the putting stats were bumped up yesterday because I chipped poorly yesterday. Lost my technique a bit I think in the two weeks as I was struggling to get chips to pop up and float onto the green. Nearly all my chips were quite low, with lots of roll upon landing. So spent a good hour and half on the short game area after round trying to re-find it.

I've done a better job today in the shop off the bare carpet actually, to get my confidence back in chipping. I can off the barest lie in the world, get the ball up about 5ft in the air and floating. Hopefully if dry tomorrow I'll take it too the practice green at lunch.

The art of Putting and the ability to read the borrows is something that can take years to master.

There is more Break on faster greens - Nap on greens with longer grass - Different types of Grass react differently - and what time of day it is. All these can effect a Putt.

TheLyth

According to the golf channel tiger woods averages 28.5 putts per round and that's an average Ross Fisher and Adam Scott take over 30 on average so if people are taking 34-35 on a bad day is it really that bad?

These guys have probably put the ball alot closer than me, had a caddie help them pick the line and had the privelege of being able to take a read from 15 different angles without the 4 ball behind losing the plot. Also add to that he's putting on a snooker table and I'm putting over 4 pitch marks and a slug it's not as bad as it seems.

I think sometimes we all beat our selves up over our putting but some times it's not as bad as it seems I know Fisher and Scott are 2 of the worst putters on tour but Id like to see any of us beat them in a putting competition. I don't think many of us would stand a chance and these guys only average 30 puts per round.

And just in case I didn't say it enough in the post above it's not as bad as it seems.

I'm going to have to start reading these things before I post them.

I agree Gary.

The par of a course allows 2 putts for each hole. Would any one really beat themselves up if they took one shot to reach each par 3, two shots to reach each par 4 or 3 shots to reach the par 5s. I doubt it very much. So why beat ourselves for taking 36 putts per round?

I guess I beat myself up because as my professional colleagues always tell me, we can not be expected to hit hit every fairway and every green in regulation. We can't all drive the ball 350+ yards off the tee. However there is no reason why every man, woman, child and dog can't putt as good as the best player in the world. Putting doesn't require size or strength, it doesn't require masses of technology. Putting is the most relatively simple aspect of the game, so we should all be able to master it.

So I feel frustrated that I can't.

If you played on the same putting surfaces as the Pro's then you would find that your putting is not as bad as you think it is, Chris.

If you plonked yourself in the middle of a Snooker table, even with the small pockets you would not miss a putt, why? because the surface is perfectly true.

If you have a negative approach to putting, blame the greens etc then the chances are you will never improve. How many of you have actually had a putting lesson.

I recently did a 3 lesson putting promotion. The first looked at stroke mechanics and body movement, the 2nd was all about green reading and routine, and the 3rd was a follow up a month later to check things were improving.

Everyone who took the package improved their putting, three pupils in the mid 20's hcap range dropped their handicaps by at least 3 strokes.

Rather than buying a new putter if things go wrong which many people do, it would be wise to invest in a series of putting lessons, then if things don't work out you can blame the greens or your coach. But I bet you see a marked improvement.

I have recently purchased the TOMI putting package to aid with my teaching and my own game. I was shocked at how far off my stroke was and since then my practice has had more purpose and my confidence is up. Come on 2010. 

One has to blame the greens because no matter how good a stroke one puts on the ball, if the greens are not true, then holing them is a lottery.

I spent a whole week in the Western counties EGU final at Royal North Devon and did not miss one putt under six foot all week. That is a testament, not to my skill, but the trueness and quality of the putting surface.

This was highly competitive golf against the other five western counties. I represented Somerset.

 John, that may well be the case but you were probably 'in the zone' that week. For a putt to go in, the line and pace is of course the key and for me, the better (dare I say faster) the green brings the inherent  problem of under or over cooking it which I find is only resolved by confidence and trust in your putting action. I can putt as good or as bad whether it's a sheep track or Muirfield (however at Muirfield I thought I putted well but I'm sure I was over 40 putts.