Archive for the ‘Improve your Putting’ Category

Your putting yips may be easier to fix than you think. Take a look at these 3 common culprits and ask yourself whether or not they are getting in your way of a successful putt:

Over-analysis: You may get so caught up in the mechanics of your stroke that you paralyze your natural movement. You become so self-conscious of your body position, putting stroke, and movements, they can barely take the putter back in any simple, straight fashion, along the target line. You may find yourself watching the putterhead go back and come through the ball or looking up to see how the ball rolls.

Steering: Instead of letting the putterhead freely swing through the ball and propel it toward the hole, you may find yourself trying to steer the ball into the hole. Steering is typically a tension filled attempt to guide the ball into the hole due to a lack of confidence in the putting stroke. Tension can cause you to push the putterhead toward the hole and mistakenly get your wrists or legs into the act.

Insecurity: Getting nervous and insecure over a putt, especially a short one, is a sure way to miss it. Without confidence, you allow all manner of negative thoughts to enter your head and your play. What can you do to make the putt? Will it go in? Can you lose the hole or the match by missing it? Will you feel embarrassed in front of the other players by missing it?

A crucial part of getting the right putt is to:

a) Obtain the ideal ball position.

b) Have both your eye line and shoulder line parallel to the path that you want the ball to travel on.

To easily check that both of these elements are being properly maintained:

1) Take the putter and hold the shaft along the top part of your chest, with the line of the shaft matching the target line (this will help your stroke to be perfectly in line with the hole).

2) Now hold the shaft right along your eye line. Check to see that it corresponds with your target line. When it does, this helps you to better visualize the correct path needed for the ball to make its way towards the hole.

What exactly causes the yips? Sadly it is not a condition for which we can just go and buy a pill that makes it disappear.

Anxiety: Your yips may be caused by anxiety over making a putt. If you look up too quickly to see the ball falling into the hole, you may not complete the stroke properly, pulling or pushing with your hands. Your hands may even shake and wobble.

Wrist Breakdown: A breakdown in your right wrist (for right-handed golfers) can result in the yips. Often, a breakdown or flick of the wrist happens just before impact. This is a mechanical flaw that can send the putt off-line.

Alignment: If you line up improperly before you hit the putt, and you misalign on your putterhead, your body may subconsciously cause you to alter the swing path in mid stroke in an attempt to make a correction. Attempting to correct the path of your putter in mid stroke is immensely difficult and likely to result in a push or pull, or the putter head may cut across the ball and cause it to spin.

If you are struggling with the yips check and see if any of the above are causes.

After you read the break of the green, find your target line, choose a spot, and get your eyes over the line, you need to concentrate on swinging the putter back and forward along the line, always keeping the following three fundamentals in the back of your mind:

1) Throughout its entire movement, keep the putterhead exactly on the target line. The putter needs to travel straight back on the target line and then straight forward on the target line, never going off the mark.

Note: To help your stroke stay on the line, keep your head, shoulders and legs as still as possible. This will help you swing the putter with mostly your arms and hands.

2) The putterhead must be kept square and aimed directly at the target. The face of the blade should be kept perpendicular to the target and stay that way throughout the entire stroke.

Note: The blade face should not wobble. It should remain true to the arc of the putterhead. (You can help maintain the direction of the putterhead by keeping your wrists solid).

3) During the swing, never decelerate the putter. As you often hear in golf: “Deceleration kills”. Doing so will kill your putting stroke and ultimately your score. Keep the same acceleration as you use on the backswing.

Ever suffered from the yips? If you have, you’re not alone and it is not unusual. Anywhere between a third and a half of golfers suffer from the yips including leading professionsls e.g. Bernard Langer, Ben Hogan and Harry Vardon.

So what can you do about it? Head to the pracitce green and try these drills:

1. Try hitting some putts with your eyes closed.

2. Test different putting grips. Include the cross handed grip.

3. Hit a few putts with your eyes focused on the hole.

4. Hit some putts while keeping your wrists, hands, arms, and shoulders all moving as one unit, stiff like a robot.

5. Ram several putts into the hole with some extra speed and power.

6. Try hitting some putts with only the grip of your leading hand. Totally neutralize your other hand by tucking it in your pocket. You may find that you putt more solid this way. If so then this learning experience may tell you that when your back hand is gripping the putter, the back wrist may be flipping before impact.