Played this weekend and really did not putt well. I just could not get any flow/rythym to my stroke. Still thinking too much about the mechanics and steering it instead of letting it go. Any advice on how to get away from the mechanics to trusting it?

Dear bgolfing,

The reason you worry about mechanics and steer putts is that "you" do not really "believe" the non-conscious instincts are all that good at "controlling" the stroke for line and distance. The cure for this is to "teach" your conscious mind that it's not the GREAT PUTTER it thinks it is.

What I do is stand over a 5-10 foot putt with good aim for the break or the straight putt and just pull the trigger to make the backstroke ONLY and then witness silently what actually happens for line and distance. Your initial tendency will be to miss to the outside and perhaps a bit short, but that is simply the lingering presence of your controlling conscious mind's greedy grab-hold of the steering wheel. In other words, you're chicken.



Chickens need to try things out in private. Just ask "Poor Petie Pinger":

"Poor Petey Pinger couldn't putt a lick --
He went to see the doctor
And fessed up he was sick.
The doctor told him "Sonny, use a longer stick."
But Poor Petey Pinger thought it was a trick!
He knew the big boys on the green
Would laugh and call him "weenie" --
So he just stuck with what he knew
Inside his little beanie."

If you first get great distance control by instinct, then lock that down as an "instinctive, non-conscious process" so you actually believe that counting the backstroke is more effective than "trying" to get the "hit" just right" with "feel" or some other mythological creature of the conscious mind. Then do only that, consciously -- count the backstroke with good tempo and you're done. experiment this way until you stop interfering, as this always spoils things.

So experiment in private until your conscious mind relents and believes in the superiority of the NON-conscious instincts.

If you can get that far, then trusting the backstroke-only-do-nothing-but-stand-still-downstroke instinctive stroke for line will come along as well soon enough. So work in private until your mind accepts things, and use whatever you want when you play while this situation develops.

Cheers!

Geoff Mangum
Putting Coach and Theorist
PuttingZone.com
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Oh Geoff ... you very well know that the insecure conscious mind is only a manifestation of the guilt felt due to lack of putting practice. Confidence only comes from a massive amount of practice, just as a classical musician performs a 20 minute concerto from memory and result in a artistic performance. What most are asking on this forum is "tell me how to do it", and then expecting they can do it with their powerful adult bodies and magnificent minds. They are childish in their beliefs.

"Everybody wants to know, but few are willing to pay the price." (Who said that??)

who think they can "buy" a game without practice and without lessons simply by forking out more and more money on the newest driver, gadget, gizmo, or putter. The equipment manufactures know this and cater to these types of people because they will spend tons of money to buy a golf game for a couple of strokes of improvement advantage IF they are lucky at best.

now don't get me wrong, i do think having good equipment is essential, and sometimes you have to change from one type of equipment to a different type to investigate a person's performance habits, such as going from a heel shafted putter to a center shafted putter or to change from a blade to a mallet (like Dave Stockton recommends for some) or vice versa, or to use a music analogy to switch from a Steinway Grand Piano to a Bosendorfer (different in many ways), or from a Bach Stradivarius Trumpet to a Monette (I'm a trumpeter/musician by profession), and I do know how important the PRACTICE is in all of this because regardless of what equipment you use, PRACTICE is the key to success whether it is golf or music. I need a good instrument but a good instrument will not do me any good if I don't practice regularly!!! The exact same thing is true with golf. I see little or no difference between the two.

And in golf the "tools" of the trade do different things. wedges, hybrids, woods, irons, various putters.... tools that do different things and have different purposes. I would not hire a carpenter who only showed up for a job at my house with only a hammer and a bag of nails ... he couldn't really do the job. So, in golf you have to have a complete arsenal of "tools" in your bag AND you must also develop the skills to use your arsenal of tools to the best of your ability.

We just saw pros at the US Open struggle with their choices of "tools" out on the course. So, the mental part and the knowledge part of the game comes thru practice and repetition and not by buying a game.

And that's why we have guys like Geoff and others who can instruct us, and guide us to use our equipment better. Didn't Harvey Penick once say he wasn't a teacher but simply one to "guide his students to becoming better" ??? or something to that effect??

ok, getting off my soap box now, i hear the snoring already.

TonyWho

In his Little Red Book, page 74 H. Penick believed this: The golfing area of the brain is a fragile thing that is terribly susceptible to suggestion. Golfers are gullible. .... Playing golf you learn a form of meditation.

Penick's insights were crude but accurate. Most who attempt to play golf actually think they can beat the game -- they can't. The statistics for putting distances is stacked against even the best, and this suggests that chaos has a greater influence on putting than does the equipment. Even the puny putting stroke requires massive practice to achieve consistency and control, and the pros confirm that too.

As for "practice", most non-athletic adults who try golf have no concept of what it takes to master the game. I too have an early classical music background as well as high school and college-level athletics. Practicing becomes a non-social, obsessive compulsion for those who commit themselves to improvement and mastery of a sport or musical instrument. We try to improve ourselves before we present ourselves to others. Meanwhile the others only play for "fun" and revel in their clownishness.

The golfing masses mostly function on the Pleasure Principle, even those who want to learn but are not committed to the necessary amount of solitary practice. Practice is just not "fun" .. unless you are obsessed with practice as you were trained from childhood.

"Bach Stradivarius Trumpet" ... does it come with a bow .... ???!!!!

nope,a bow is not needed only a good set of lips and a healthy pair of lungs! Vincent Bach's trumpet was so good back then (compared to what most people were using) he proclaimed his trumpet a "Stradivarius"

He was one of the finest trumpeters of his day AND happened to also possess an advanced degree in engineering. Voila! Sorta like putting chocolate and peanut butter together and getting a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup

Sorry Geoff for the off topic "rant" here

TonyWho

Trained musicians if fit, can become rather good golfers ... because they possess good "rhythm and tempo" ...

Seriously, what musicians and good athletes have in common is both are obsessed with practice to perfection. They are able to accept instruction or absorb knowledge and then practice prodigiously and properly. Musical performance can be athletic too !!!

There are supposed to be 50 million golfers worldwide, and apparently 90% of them cannot honestly break 100 .. and coincidently 90% of all golfers slice with their driver. The golfing masses reflect the characteristics of the general population, because only a small percentage will seriously commit themselves to improvemement through practice. (Also "Golfers are gullible." - H. Penick)

Nevertheless, I don't begrudge the masses their "fun", because without them the game of golf as we know it would collapse. The masses desperately need their "heroes" so they can buy the same equipment to experience the same "feel" and thus confirm their "love" of the game.

Driver prestissimo e putter lento ...

that musical performance can be athletic. The practice, the hours of preparation, the countless repetitions in going over something to get as close to perfection as possible is something that serious musicians do. Being a professional trumpeter for 40 years, my playing is extremely physical. I have to practice excercises, techniques, etc, to build up muscles for endurance and stamina, as well as flexibility so I can be absolutely certain my playing will be effortless so I can concentrate upon the musical nuances. Of course, now it's getting to be a little more difficult as the years click on by. My years of serious study with a couple of great musicians/teachers has prepared me well. I see no difference with that and golf, so I am prepared to devote what I can to do the right thing. Golf like music has so many levels of proficiency and "layers" upon layers of complexity.

TonyWho