Dear Mark,
I am responding to two questions:
1. What to think about when making the stroke
2. How to make good practice putting transfer to the course
THINKING
Thinking happens in different ways during the course of executing the putting ritual. Hopefully, all thinking (defined as analysis and problem-solving for reading the putt and picking a target to putt at and to, or some other manner of planning the putt) is concluded while still sighting the putt from behind the ball and before starting to walk into the ball to place the putter and aim the putter face. From this point forward, execution should be all physical.
However, this simplifies matters a little too much. Thinking also means "the little voice inside your head," and obviously this little voice keeps on running its trap during the ritual, even after the planning is complete.
The Zen approach to the little voice is to disconnect from it, simply leave it alone and observe it from a distance silently, not really caring what the voice is saying, but regarding it as the natural noise of the brain. You cannot calm the waters of the mind by stirring, in an attempt to flatten out the ripples on the surface.
The standard golf psychology approach to this little voice is usually positive self-talk, such as "make a good stroke" or "commit to your read" or "last thought: touch" -- typical positive swing thoughts to override the random worries or distractions of the little voice.
The post-modern psychological approach to this little voice is more along the lines of self-hypnotism, as in Nuero-Linguistic Programming's "swish" or touch the glove snap to invoke a beneficial mind state.
The neurophysiological approach uses physical tricks to still the conscious mind, such as parking the tongue half-back inside the oral cavity to check the subvocalizations that accompany the inner voice, or focusing attention simply on the perception of the grass or ball to fence the mind into simply being in the here and now without thought (I prefer this one).
My friend Tony Piparo uses a technique he calls "read the label," in which the golfer actually reads the label on the golf ball while executing the stroke (use the inner voice to say inside "Titleist" as the stroke is made.)
All of these techniques are quieting the conscious mind in favor of something better -- the non-conscious processes of the brain vital to accurate and consistent stroke-movement execution (e.g., the cerebellum, the right brain, the instincts, etc.) The basic idea is that at this point, where movement is the main show, conscious thought of any sort does not help the movement execution and only hurts -- by taking away vital brain resources for thought needed instead for movement, and by broadcasting irrelevant noise that interferes with the brain's movement processes, and by invoking the ghostly emotional disturbances that often accompany thoughts of the wrong sort with the result that emotional forces interfere with the stroke movement.
However, that also is too simple. The idea that the golfer can literally turn off the conscious or even emotional brain once the putt is planned, or even shut off the inner voice completely, just isn't what really happens. Even top putters have some thought or idea walking into the putt and just prior to executing the stroke, such as "use the perfect technique" or "start the stroke with the shoulder, not the hands" or "don't baby this putt." Many golf psychs teach that during play on course, the last thing the golfer wants is a thought about technique. Frankly, I don't agree. I think technique thoughts are a natural occurence to a great putter, and are not viewed as cause for alarm, but as normal and helpful. I believe that putting without vigilant memory of excellent technique promotes casual mistakes. If technique thoughts crop up during my routine, that's fine with me. (My techniques are designed to give full control to instinct anyway.) So I welcome the RIGHT technique concerns at any point during the putt, right up to actually pulling the trigger.
Once the trigger is about to be pulled, however, all bets are off and the conscious mind needs to "go on vacation," as I tell my students. At this point, the putter face is aimed and you have committed to making a straight putt with perfect touch, and there is nothing anyone can do to stop the process from going forward. This is where the danger really resides in thinking while putting.
If you have not really finished aiming the putter face and have not really committed to a straight putt with a definite touch (or whatever plan you have to sink the putt) in your setup and feelings of the coming stroke motion, then pulling the trigger will invoke "doubt" and "second guessing" about the plan and / or motion.This is a form of emotional "thinking" in which unresolved conflicts between the body's forthcoming action and the planned action call in question the planned motor action by generating emotional impulses (sort of "body disquiet"), and these emotional impulses provoke something clothed in verbal form -- even if the verbal form makes no sense. It is more an emotional hiccup than a rational thought, but it masquerades as a thought. Your "intuition" senses trouble and communicates this to the planning conscious mind like a faint warning bell, and the conscious mind reflects this warning with a hastily assembled thought in verbal form (since that's how the conscious mind usually expresses itself).
Because of this, part of my resolution to commit to a straight putt at a definite target with good touch is to innoculate myself to the late-coming influence of an emotional doubt wearing thought's clothing. First, I make sure I commit. Second, in the setup and aiming, I monitor my body for faint warning signals that something is awry, so I can respond in advance of pulling the trigger to clear these issues up. And third, once I initiate the putt, nothing on earth can stop me from completing the stroke as planned -- I don't care if a runaway train barrels down on me while putting, and I even don't care if I suddenly KNOW the stroke I'm executing will unquestionably miss. I am just committed to missing the putt, then, and nothing less than a straight putt with good touch is allowed. Nothing! Nothing! can stop the stroke once I start it. This is a great liberator of the mind, as every putt (from a conscious point of view) is exactly the same movement -- back and thru -- with instinctive backstroke length being the only difference between putts. I can just start the stroke, and then watch what happens, "trusting" my expertise to deliver.
To help this third matter along, I FREEZE my vision just before I putt on a blade of grass immediately in front of the putter's sweetspot, intent on focusing solely on this blade of grass as the putter moves back and then falls forward, crossing the watched blade of grass, and then moves to the finish while I still keep watching the blade of grass. (I don't stare intently at the blade of grass, but I do not pernit my gaze to wander off it, and just look at it with some casual curiosity.) When making the stroke, vision is the ENEMY. There's no new information that can possibly help, and the visual system is the King and Queen of serving up something new as if it is important for what you are engaged in doing. Too late for that, now! Active eyes generating new visual information lead to confused body signals, thoughts, emotions, second doubts, and mid-stroke movement such as peeking or some special reaction to anticipated putter-ball impact (e.g., lifting or guiding the putter). KILL YOUR EYES before pulling the trigger by simply looking at the grass blade. This gives the mind a transparent quality about the same as looking at a glass of water.
TRANSFER
The big difficulty in transferring good putting practice to on-course performance appears to be the consequences-free style of practice. That is, using three balls from the same spot to practice a ten-foot putt just doesn't present the same consequences the golfer faces when playing one ball for score. The more general point is that practice conditions should present a realistic simulation of conditions actually faced during play, but this business of "consequences" probably captures the idea in a more meaningful / useful way.
While some aspects of practice focus on isolated skills like tempo and touch or stroke without regard to whether the putted ball actually falls in a hole somewhere, practice should also include a healthy dose of "consequential" practice.
Consequential practice needs to include some very realistic challenges with real consequences for failing to execute as well as you are able. Use one ball only and don't repeat putts from a single spot. Mix up distances and breaks. Toss a ball randomly onto the practice green and then try your best to one-putt to a difficult hole. Include putting out the leaves while lag putting. Go around the practice green's different holes and keep score for the total of one-putts, 2-putts, etc. Make up psychological pressure. Use drills that include must-make pressure.
Part of the problem of trasfer is simply context. The look and feel of the practice green never really changes (same old oak tree nearby, same traffic of golfers in and out of the area, etc.), while on course, each hole and each putt looks and feels entirely different. The skills practiced on the practice green tend to get embedded in the look and feel of the context, and calling upon these skills on course gets troubled by the different look and feel -- you just don't feel at home at the black-tie dinner wearing the surfer shirt. There are some additional approaches that help with this.
First, "like" the course you're playing. Lee Trevino once said that the golfer ought to feel that any tournament course is his home course. This is brilliant, and means the golfer wants a feeling of comfort and familiarity on the course working to his sole advantage as against the rest of the field, regardless of his actual familiarity with the course. Regarding the course as YOUR home course, with only you in the field feeling that way, can only work to your advantage. So, during practice rounds or even a once-over visit around the holes, bring the course psychologically into the status of being your home course. Similarly, Gary Player always "loved" the greens of every course he played as his "favorite" greens, regardless of whether the greens were slick Bent or trouble-riddled Bermuda. This is the same idea coming out in a different form.
Second, get a handle on the on-course greens from a variety of perspectives. The brain memorizes the look of a place based on the perspective from which the place was initially or predominantely viewed. The richer the perspective mix, the more thoroughly the place is known, and unusual perspectives during play don't cause problems. For example, if you view a green almost exclusively from the front approach, you will usually get a look up into a green sloping away from you, like reading a book. But if in play your approach shot races to the back of the green, you will be "facing" an unfamiliar and troubling looking putt downhill. So during practice rounds, take time to stand at the key cardinal fringes of the green (front, back, left, right) and soak in the view, and also scope out the scene from the center. Note each separate lobe or level of the green. Pre-plan good approach shots to anticipated pin positions and then practice the resulting 20-footers. Look for spots where missed putts are likely to come to rest past the hole, and problem-solve these likely comebackers. Get familiar with grain patterns, if present. Take a look at bunkers and any mounding designed to keep water flow out, as these humps tend to influence break well inward on the green. Hit lags from one fringe to the other across the longest dimension of the green with the thought that any OTHER putt the green can dish out is within your comfort zone. Basically, learn the greens like they are your favorite, home greens.
Third, putt with the same assurance you have on the practice green. While it helps to treat putting on the practice green more like putting on the course, that's no reason not to treat putting on the course more like putting on the practice green. When there is a long lag to a pin position perched on a dome beyond which lies hell itself, treat the challenge as no different than a routine lag on the practice green. And treat a testy knee-knocker on the 18th for the championship as the same as you usual perfect short putt on the practice green.
Cheers!
Geoff Mangum
Putting Theorist and Instructor
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