I promise you this will work if you can show some discipline with it. Being a great putter is one thing that you are or you aren’t.
However, you can become a competent putter for your skill level by simplifying your approach.
Stop trying to make putts.
I know, I know, ridiculous.
Read the putt, line up to the line you read and forget about anything but hitting it solid and the right speed. Outside of 18 inches you have very little control of whether a putt goes in or not. You try and hit it solid with the right speed and it will go in or it won’t.
Almost every bad putter I have ever seen gets too line conscious, or hole conscious, steers the ball and doesn’t hit it solid.
Putts not hit solid bounce more and/or lose speed when they get to the hole and miss on the low side or short.
Remember Doug Sanders.
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Using that philosophy I think anyone can average 28-32 putts per round (on their home course). When you play new or unfamiliar courses it won’t be quite as good unless you prepare like a pro in practice rounds, but you still can get around in 36 putts.
Once you decide how hard to hit it and pick a line forget the hole and just start it on a six inch line with good contact.
Hey Monte,
what do you think of Stan Utley?
Probably the best putter I ever played with.
I totally agree. I was so fed up with putting mechanics and dreadful putting that I started to just pick the line and try to hit through the equator of the ball with the dead centre of the putter. My putting was improved 100%. Bob Rotella’s ‘Putting out of your Mind’ started me thinking this way.
Monte
This is your best post. Pick your line, don’t fart around strike the ball firmly, the rest is all physics.
Always thought of every putt as straight. Gravity is the only thing that makes it turn… NEVER me.
I still use the thoughts from a post a few months ago, “Head steady and hit it solid” before all my putts. It’s scary stupid how well I putt sometimes.