In Putting one of the recurring problems is to correctly evaluate energy management. Think about it for a moment, how many times do you pass the hole in medium and long distance putts with a certain constancy ?
If you have a local mind and belong to the category of players who make more than 80 shots per round, let's say that you could do it 2/3 times out of 10. This fact makes us understand one thing, that par and birdies are often tiring. Managing the energy or rather having the right touch has to do with a fundamental factor, taking the ball in the center of the putt, in the sweet spot.
To do it correctly your gesture requires a certain precision, especially linked to reducing unnecessary movements. Moving your hands during impact, swinging too much from right to left, looking at the hole without having respected the sequence of the shot, using your wrists too much, are all quite common errors that are seen quite often on greens.
Errors that affect the accuracy and especially change the point of contact with the ball continuously. Then ask yourself if at impact you always have the same feeling, if the sound you hear is always the same?
An interesting exercise that you can do on your own is to put at about 4/5 meters from the hole, with your eyes (once you have taken aim) looking at the hole and not the ball. Watch what your ball does, watch how it rolls, do some and see if the ball behaves the same way.
If you notice that the roll is always different, if you see that the ball sometimes jumps, if you see that despite several attempts the result is quite swinging, you have contact problems!
There are many ways to improve this aspect, a good coach could help you, a good understanding of the technique that you could deepen reading some books on the subject, use a tool that takes you immediately in all this taking an effective shortcut, for us this shortcut is called JollyGolf. But it is not just any shortcut, it certainly helps you to improve, but above all to understand what you should do. It educates you to follow the routine or rituality with which you tackle every shot in golf and precisely for this reason we believe that our help has a value that places it in the category of useful tools.
The rituality in the shot is called GASP and as far as putting is concerned we have described it in this way:
PUTTING G.A.S.P
GRIP
We start with a classic grip, first the left hand and then the right. You can also reverse them if you prefer, the JollyGolf allows it. The wrists can be more or less perpendicular to the ground. This is a player's preference and also depends on what is the lie of the stick relative to the ground. It is important to manage pressure and that the palms of the hands tend to be opposed. Pencil grip possible.
ALIGNMENT
For a successful shot it is important that above all the putter face targets to the desired point and that the shoulders are parallel to the shooting line and that the eyes fall above this line. A recurring feature among good players is that the ball is placed under the left eye. This places the lowest point of the arc of the movement in the path of the putter's head at the optimum time. Exactly a fraction before the ball, in the slight ascent of the putter's head. This makes the roll more even and controllable.
STANCE
It depends very much on your preferences, wide or narrow doesn't make much difference, it is more important that you don't have too much weight on your left leg because it would greatly alter the trajectory of the head of the stick making it come too high with the consequence of making the ball jump off the ground! The weight should be distributed on both feet, say 50% per foot. Correct control of the action of the hands and wrists. In the case of the putter hands and head travel at the same speed even if the hands are slightly in front of the stick's head throughout the execution.
POSTURE
There are many different postures in Putter nowadays, so we do not want to give too restrictive and rigid guidelines in this area. However, there are a number of things that can help. The inclination of the back, the arms rather relaxed, the head correctly positioned not too inclined to the right or left, the shoulders tending almost horizontal to the ground, the legs slightly bent and very stable. Conceptually you should be "toned" with the lower part and "softer" with the upper part in order to move the putter smoothly and with little tension.
EXERCISES
Session n.1 (20mins)
Goal : Long putts and energy control
True cause of the 3 putts. Plant a tee on the green, count 10 steps and plant another one. Use 3 balls and proceed in this exercise whose goal is to put 3 balls consecutively within the distance of a shaft from the tee. Go from one tee to another, possibly choose a slight slope for more variables. If you succeed easily and want to test your feeling, try to put three balls consecutively within one grip distance. A parameter that elite players use as a reference. Do not leave the green until you have reached at least 5 times the target of the 3 balls within the distance of the shaft.
Session No.2 (20 Mins)
Goal: to improve width management and control of the club face.
Place a tee within 3 shafts of the hole. Use only the right hand, left hand if you are left-handed. Always use JollyGolf and help yourself with a training stick. Try to crash and give it enough energy to get over the hole. The use of the dominant arm will help you understand your best pace and amplitude. A good standard is to be able to crash at least 3 out of 10 balls.
Session No.3 (20 Mins)
Goal: GASP check every shot to create the right habits
Very high mental part and focus. Distance 1 m. from the holeUse the alignment sticks and carefully evaluate the slopes. The green should be flat enough. We are in the most delicate distance in some ways, to which many of us are sensitive. With every shot you check all the parameters very carefully, and you do it to crash as much as possible. 10 consecutive putts are the target. Of course, the more consecutive series you reach the better your skill will be.
Session No.4 (20 Mins)
Goal : Tension control and roll evaluation. We are in neuroscience!
Distance 5/10/15 meters. Use tees as a reference and practice with 3 balls.
Practice always looking at the hole, after following the usual routine, take your eyes to the target, look at the roll of your shot, if you see a roll, irregular and the ball makes small jumps, try to remove tension from your hands and soften your shoulders.
Session n. 5 (20 Mins)
Goal : Circuit to assess your competitiveness
Use a ball and create a 9-hole circuit on the green.
3 easy holes ( 1.50 m<)
3 medium holes (3.50 m <)
3 difficult holes ( 10m <)
The exercise can be particularly stimulating, if you take 18 shots in the first round, you are on the right track. You should do the circuit at least 3 times, but improve your score by at least one shot per lap. Ex. First round 18 putts, second round 17, third round 16
It's a fantastic challenge with yourself that forces you to never give up your attention.
Session No. 6 (20 Mins)
Goal: to improve the quality of the impact.
Distance of your choice, from 3 m. upwards, use n.3 balls. Do three slightly different executions, towards the same hole.
The first one looking at the hole and not at the ball after you have addressed it.
The second with eyes closed
The third in the usual way.
You will have very different feelings, but if you manage to have similar results in terms of distance it means that your skills are evolving.