Let Your Mind Do The Putting

We hear Johnny Miller talk about golf being a mental game all the time on TV, but what does that really mean? I have come to believe it means that once we have "grooved" our swing, we need to let our mind take over and do what we have trained it to do - hit the ball to the target. If I start talking about golf to myself while I'm putting - you know, saying things in my mind like "I've got to hit it hard" or "Take it easy, don't hit it past the hole" - that's trying to direct the ball to act a specific way. The result is never very good.

My buddy, Jack Challender, and I are always either playing golf or talking about golf. Jack is a Natural Golf Certified Instructor, and he is a member of the Natural Golf Hall of Fame. We play a lot at our home course, Mountain Brook Golf Club in Gold Canyon, Arizona, and Jack is the guy that everyone likes to watch tee it up. You should see the looks on the young guys' faces when a guy old enough to be their grandfather hits a drive almost out of sight somewhere past the 250 yard mark. It really ticks 'em when he knocks it 50 or 75 yards past their balls - right where he was aiming. Talk about fun to watch!

Like that old expression "Drive for show, Putt for dough", Jack's short game is just as astounding. Even when he does hit an errant shot, he almost always chips and pitches within putting distance of the hole. Then, he putts in more than any player I've ever been around. Unfortunately, I can't say the same about my putting game, so I grabbed the opportunity when he offered some coaching on my putting technique.

On the practice green, I was all set to start drilling some balls at the hole. Jack, however, asked me to lay down three balls, then pick out a spot or mark on the green - not a hole - to putt the first ball to. He said the first thing I need to do is determine the speed of the green. As I addressed the ball, he said to just make a "pendulum" type of swing: drawing the putter back about eight or ten inches, then swing the club past the ball the same distance by rocking my shoulders and keeping the triangle formed by my arms and hands stable - no wrist action or arm folds. He said: "Just allow the ball to get in the way of the putter". When the first ball stopped, it would then become the target for the second and third putts. That really helped me get a "sense" or "feel" for the speed of the green that day, how far the ball was going to roll with a measured swing.

Next, Jack instructed me to putt one ball to each hole around the practice green. The objective was to no more than two-putt each hole. He said to address the ball with my head bent over, look directly down on the ball with the putter soled behind the ball. Then, he said to turn my head and look down the line directly at the hole and focus on one particular spot on the back rim of the hole, such as a blade of grass or a mark on the cup - holding my focus on that spot for two or three seconds. Once the spot - the target - was impressed on my mind, he said to turn my head back to the ball, while following the line from that spot on the hole to the ball with my eyes. "Now", he said, "do not think, just grip the club lightly, rock your shoulders and allow the club to swing through the ball."

The first ball went straight for the center of the cup and...stopped... about 5 inches from the lip. The tap-in gave me a two-putt for the hole, and I just looked at Jack at smiled. I two-putted or aced each of the other 5 holes on the green - without consciously thinking about how many feet to the hole or how hard to hit the ball. Just step up, look at the spot on the hole, look back to the ball, rock my shoulders and watch the club go through the ball.

Jack pointed out that when we are talking about playing golf, we really should be talking about the mental process we employ when we are playing. What I have learned from him is that once I focus on the target, I need to consciously get out of the way and let my sub-conscious mind take over. In other words, I need to stop mentally talking to myself about golf and just play it. Try it. You'll love it!

If you would like to talk about golf and life, visit my Talking About Golf blog at http://golf-talking.blogspot.com/

Here's to hitting 'em long, straight and often!

About the Author

As you will see, I came back to golf late in my life. I've been actively playing since sort of retiring from an interesting - and sometimes exciting - career in film, television and the financial industries. I'm now dedicated to the Natural Golf swing program, live in golf heaven (Gold Canyon, Arizona) and, to use my good friend Dick's words, "I only play golf on days that end in Y".