Putting - Negative Thoughts

[pwace]

A former world number one said:

"You must always look forward to the challenge…of the next putt.

Putts can miss for a lot of reasons…so you have to set other standards for great putting – following your routine, observing your practice habits, maintaining your attitude."

Even Tiger has spoken about just 'putting a good roll on the ball' as his goal and then just seeing whether the ball goes in or not.

Take care to define positive and negative in these terms and you'll no doubt have a lot less scar tissue.

[TitleistMike]

Lot of layers to this. I will stick with mental as much as possible. I won't dwell on why you miss (speed or read or stroke mechanics) or if your misses are big or small.

Start with reasonable expectations and build with positive visualizations. Might take a couple months to retrain your brain and a couple years to fully be there.

I can make a good putting stroke. I can improve my putting results.

 

All below stats are rounded for simplicity....

If you make 6 of 8 @ 4ft, you are normal. You are not a pro.who makes 7.

If you make 2 of 8 @ 8-10ft you are actually good. Pros only make 3 of 8.

Beyond 12-15ft, 1 is normal. Pros only make 2 of 10.

https://golf.com/instruction/putting/pga-tour-putting-make-percentages-distance/

[officedog]

Get fitted. Use a putting mirror aid for short putt training. Visualize the line, and follow through on all putts. Make sure you know your ideal ball set up. Put a tee on the ground on the putting green on a straight, flat 10 foot putt. Without looking up, hit 10 putts. Where do they go? Left of the line, right of the line? If they tend to go left or right, then reposition the ball in your setup to adjust for your visual imperfection. It works. And other comments here about the process and not the outcome are spot on. Lots of good putts just don't go in.

[DukeStKing]

Yesterday I spent almost 2 hours on the practice green and the biggest revelation was that I must have been peeking on short putts, leading to my frustration of late. So, once I kept my head down and just listened for the ball and I go in, I made almost all of them. 
… key word: almost. 

[Stuka44]

On 8/5/2022 at 2:01 PM, Emmitsburg said:

At the end of the round I come up with easily 2-4 strokes lost due to putting. Any suggestions of how to get 40+ years of demons out of my head?!?!?

I will just add my two cents.  Many good comments.  Dave P  is right pros 50/50 distance is 8'.  By the time we get to 20 feet make percentage is less than 10 %.  My one putt percentage is less than 10% on everything over 13 feet.  So don't put too much pressure on yourself about what you, "should" or "expect" to make.  Get a putting mat and practice with it as much as you can.  I began to practice with mine late last year.  It will help greatly with grooving a putting stroke on putts, ones you can actually make more of, those in the less than 8 foot range. I have 6 balls on mine.  I practice 6 putts from each distance from 3'-11', 48 putts takes me about 15 minutes to complete, I try to do it 3-5 times a week (especially in the winter her in Ohio). (Speed of greens/ or mat is just always something you have to adjust to)

Lastly I began to QUICKLY pace off the distance of my putts.  I believe it helps me to with a little more instinct know how hard to swing if I know that the putt is 15' and not 18 feet.  I equated my putting to basketball.  How did I know how much much momentum to put behind my jump shot, the lines on the basketball court gave me an instant visual reference, for how long of a jump shot I was attempting, and the amount of force necessary was calculated, instinctively based on these visual cues.  There are no visual cues on a putting green.  I have found that my distance control has improved greatly knowing the distance of my putts.  Now even though I DON'T EXPECT TO MAKE MANY OVER 10 FEET.   My mindset on these is going to change, after reading a post on another thread.   I'm no longer going to think, JUST DON'T 3 PUTT.   I'm going to think, I am a good enough putter not to 3 putt, I'm going to try and make them, and not just lag  17 footers to avoid 3 putting, but comforable with the knowledge that realistically not many are going to go in.  But maybe the more positive outlook will help me make a few more in the 10-20 foots.

Just some things that have helped me be a better putter, from a similar handicap

[Grasmere5]

On 8/29/2022 at 11:29 PM, Emmitsburg said:

No more negative putting thoughts! I have broken down my putts into 3 categories. Poor line, poor pace or good putt. In all cases walking off the green I feel good knowing I can fix the line or pace. And even if the putt stops on the lip, it was a good putt. No longer keeping track of the lost opportunities on the greens!

Well done, some great tips on here, I thought on your opening post that you are/were being far too hard on yourself.

even some pro’s are not great putters, and the difference between amateurs and pros is the smallest in the whole game.

My tip is to not take putting so seriously, try a round where you loosely but deliberately just tap your putts to the hole, you’ll probably find your putting is not much different to your normal and could even be better  

If your putts are under 36, well done, if they are over 36 you need to chip it closer 

[Emmitsburg]

I appreciate all the posts/advice. Had no idea my putting woes would generate such response.  Guess I am in good company. Since initiating this post I was finally able to get a handle on my negative approach. My new approach narrows my putting into two. Ones that go in and ones that do not.  For those that do not there are two causes. Bad alignment or bad speed. Even lip outs do not bother me anymore. After a bad putting round I assess the misses and either practice pace or alignment. In the past few months my 3 putts are down considerably, birdies are more frequent and putting has become much more enjoyable. 

[Tom the Golf Nut]

I had a portion of this season with putting woes. I have always been a good putter, but this season was getting to me. What changed? Well, my trusty putters grip was finally toast. I knew what I wanted but it was not in stock. My local golf store had the Superstroke Flatso in stock. I wanted just the Superstroke 3.0. I thought the Flatso would be fine. The size was correct, but it just had the wider flat. I missed so many short putts I couldn't even count them. I had confidence in my putting, I know my putter was working fine before the change.  I finally gave up on trying to get this sorted out and cut the grip off and installed the 3.0. Freaking miracle, everything was working as it should. I wasted about 3 months. I put a laser on it, digital protractor that had .01 degrees accuracy. Way better than any factory installation. It created doubt on anything inside 4 feet which was always a no brainer. In the end it was just my hand to grip fit that was off. I even tried to change my putting for short putts, arm lock, claw etc. I really didn't think that the putters grip would impact my putting so much. 

Confidence is back, Game on!  

[Sp4cetime]

On 8/7/2022 at 1:22 PM, alfriday101 said:

The book "The Lost Art of Putting" should move to the top of your reading list.  It spot on dresses the very issue you bring up.  

 

The first part of the book addresses the concept of "changing your story."  You gave us your story in the post, you've been a bad putter for 40 years.  Positive thoughts alone won't work; after all, you start out with optimism and a positive attitude.  I you don't change your story, you won't improve.  Sorry.  Read the book. It has a lot of good advice.  it is not a "how to" or technical book. 

 

 

 

This guy was on the Sweet Spot Golf podcast recently. I would also recommend tracking strokes gained to get a better expectation of what good putters do. Also the speed drill from Decade golf is great. I wish I did that drill more often before rounds.