Learning How To Putt Requires Having Quality Golfing Habits by Tim Adami

Why so many 3-putts occur when a warm up routine of hitting a few golf balls, putt a couple then off to the first tee surprises me. These are the same players that complain about their scores afterwards. To be a quality putter, it is necessary to practice putting and incorporating a pre-putting routine. These are even necessary to practice mentally to know what the "feeling" is before any pressure situation occurs.

By practicing your routine and then your putting stroke, you prepare your mind and body to produce a quality putting stroke and instill quality golf habits.
Is your desire to break 100, or 90 consistently? How about 80? Are you incorporating putting techniques that assist in making putts or lagging close enough for an easy 2-putt? Or because you don't shoot those scores, you don't care how well you putt?

Putting techniques begin in the mind and taken to a practice putting green to ingrain the feeling of a putting stroke. Practicing every element of the putting stroke begins the process of constructing one of quality that is repeatable. This includes your pre-putt routine.

Putting is a "feel" exercise which begins in your mind. Your sense of feeling the stroke, seeing how the putter travels and knowing the amount of force to connect with the golf ball achieves the ultimate goal; getting the ball in the cup.
Picturing in your mind the path the golf ball shall take starts by standing or kneeling behind the ball and seeing the breaks. Seeing the apex of the arc in a putt and then extending that to the hole tells you how much break there is. Then anticipating how much swing of the putter is required to make the golf ball travel to the hole is critical. Speed is the major factor in all successful putting.

If your putting stroke is consistent, speed should be the only element that a good putter needs to determine. There are many factors that are practiced and learned, then you're able to work on speed, reducing all the pressure that any putt can have. The factors of a quality putting stroke consist of; * Posture that is comfortable * Balanced on the balls of your feet * Ball placement slightly ahead of center * Hanging of your arms from the shoulders * Firm wrists that don't break * Maintaining of the "Y" by utilizing the shoulder blades * Extending the "Directional Point" parallel to the intended putting line

When setting up to the golf ball for a putt, you need to have a comfortable posture that is well balanced and one that can hold up for the entire round. Your arms should hang down from the shoulders with your wrists remaining firm throughout the stroke.

The eyes are over or just inside the golf ball with your shoulders, forearms, hips, knees and toes parallel to the intended line the ball travels. The putting stroke is controlled by the rotation of the shoulder blades, which moves the arms, wrists and putter shaft as a unit. This is what creates a quality putting stroke.
When you have spent the time developing this quality putting stroke, it becomes second nature. The path of the putter head remains similar; the setup feels comfortable; it is done as a unit. Good putting habits are critical to performing when it is necessary to scoring low. The putter is used more than any other club in your bag, so make it the best club you use.

A quality putting stroke must have the mental element incorporated. Your mind controls and training it first then repeating these memories at the practice putting green, ingrains the feeling of the putting stroke. When these are repeatable and the confidence has been found, you will find that your scores are lower and you are reaching those goals of breaking 100, 90 and even 80.

About the Author

The Entirely Golf Staff welcomes your visit to our site for further information on improving your putting stroke. Pick up our eBook "Looking For Putting Help? Learn To Putt" to learn the finer points and expanding on the information discussed here. You won't be disappointed with the information presented at http://www.entirelygolf.net/lookingforputtinghelp.php