Negotiating Slow Greens

Sometimes – usually early during a round – it will dawn on you that the greens you are playing on are S-L-O-W, slow. Putts are coming up way short, even if you strike them firmly. You may then want to consider the “Five feet past” rule. Since your normal putting stroke has been leaving you five feet short all day, hit those long lag putts firm enough to go about five feet past. The drag on those slow, uncut greens will slow the ball down right around the hole.

Know the course

If you’re playing a course for the first time – or even if you've played it before, but never stopped to notice – stop to take a look at the topographical layout of the land. Find out where the high point and the low point of the course is located. Chances are practically all putts will want to break toward that low point on the course … even the ones that look straight or like they're going in the opposite direction. Additionally, most putts will break downhill from the high point of the golf course – even the ones with an optical illusion that makes them look like they're going the other way. For other areas within the course, pay attention to holes near lakes and sides of hills. Most contours will cause shots to break away from hills and toward lakes. When in doubt on a putt, hit it straight. But on a course where you know the high point-low point, when in doubt, trust gravity.

Try the five-star plan

Next time you're on a practice putting green, try this drill: Pick a hole that's got some slope and some break. Then get out five balls and place them all about three feet from the hole, as if they were the points of a star. This will give you every type of putt you'll encounter – left-to-right, right-to-left, uphill, downhill. Once you can make all five, move back to four feet and so on until you believe you can make everything.

A walk in the park

Ever watch the pro golfers on TV and how they walk? If so, you’ll notice they are fluid, balanced and in rhythm. Why? It's because they’re trying to go through the whole round in balance. They don't want a herky-jerky walk, which may cause a herky-jerky swing. Their swing pace begins with their walking pace. Nobody is laboring or trudging as they walk. A point could be made that each golfer is setting up their shot hundreds of yards down the fairway as they establish a graceful rhythm with a graceful walking pace, and maintain that pace right through their shots. Then they walk calmly to the next hole, and do it again. Smooth walking pace. Smooth shots. Something to think about.

You can't miss

If you strike a putt the proper speed – and it’s aimed at the center of the hole – it's going to go in. Period. It sounds simple, because it is. A firmly hit downhill 3-footer that might go 10 feet past the hole if missed, won’t. Why? Because it hit center cup. Putting is not that complicated. Determine the line and aim accordingly. Then hit the putt with the correct speed, and if it’s aimed properly, it'll go in. Do this often enough and you'll be a great putter.

Best chipping day ever

Have you ever broken down the best day you ever had driving the ball? Or putting it? Chipping it? Try it some time. Think about what factors were present those days to cause those to be the best chipping/putting/irons days you ever had. Identify them. You'll probably find similar thoughts were there during all of these ‘best’ days. You were relaxed that day. You tried to swing it with more rhythm that day. You concentrated on staying down and through your shots more that day. Once you realize what you need to think to hit your best shots, focus on thinking those thoughts during the next round you play. It’s not coincidence you had those good days, so find out what caused it and make it part of your routine. Every day could be your ‘best’ day.

Gripping the putter

Everyone has differing methods to grip the putter. But how hard should you be gripping it? Many teaching pros advise to grip it as softly, mildly and easily as is humanly possible, while still allowing you to be able to control it. Though you have to hold it firm enough to not be collapsing at impact, the softer you grip it throughout the stroke, the less likely you will put that extra push on the ball at impact and send it flying eight feet past every time. Be firm enough to accelerate through the ball at impact, but grip softly at the same time. Do this, and you’ll master that thing called ‘putting touch.’

Chipping over obstacles

Whenever possible, make your chipping practice into sessions that translate into something you can use on the golf course. Try plopping pitch shots over the practice bunker as a drill to get you used to concentrating on making good contact and helping to remove the fear of obstacles. If you have a pool at home – even a small, plastic one – try hitting over the water and landing shots just beyond the water's edge to get used to pressure shots over lakes. The goal is to get a stroke you can trust on the course when the going gets tough.

Parallel universe

One of the reasons a shot ends up going crooked is because your body alignment – where your body is actually aiming – and the projected target line through the ball – where you think you are aiming – are not going in the same direction. Since your swing path tends to follow the body's alignment, alignment is incredibly important. Body alignment consists of not only your feet and shoulders, but also your hips and knees. All four should periodically be checked to see if they are all aiming where you think they’re aiming. A club lined up against all four areas should be pointing at the target. Further, a line from behind the ball, through the ball and to where you are aiming should also be at the target. These two lines should be parallel to each other, like a railroad track. Make sure your alignment is “on track” from you to the target, and you’ll hit straighter shots to that target.

Become a machine

If you've ever watched a touring pro hit about fifty straight, perfectly struck, bombed drives, you would feel like you were watching a machine. And in a sense, you are watching a machine. The great golfer has refined his swing to be machine-like in its efficiency. The machine-like pro has incorporated such things as near-perfect swing planes and near-perfect launch angles with perfectly-timed swings that produce optimum clubhead speeds and ball flights. Great swing fundamentals can be learned from good teaching pros. Learn them. Then, start to think like that machine-like pro. Become a machine. Just plug yourself in to the concept of you, the golfer, becoming a swinging machine, and allow the “machine” to hit your shots through your body.