Keep Your Golf Mindset Focused Away From Three Putting!

June 14, 2010 by Parshooters

What will you be doing? In the upcoming months it will be winter time in N.Y. state region again, and many snow birds will be traveling down south to get out of the cold miserable snow. So, enjoy the weather now by playing as much as you can. It’s never to early to start making plans for your next golf vacation trip. That is why you need to be prepared for anything unusual that might happen.

The way the economy is today, you can find many favorable golf packages. Resort areas are hungry for visitors and they’re willing to make deals that combines staying arrangements with tee time packages. Many golf courses are reporting open tee times on their daily starting sheets.

Personally I’ve been to Hilton Head once and want to get back there. The entire southeast coast is the golfing mecca for any challenges to your golf game that you want to test. Warning! Bring plenty of golf balls with you because there is nothing but water and sand.

Last time I mentioned that I played a course in Vicksburg, Mississippi. I also mentioned my wife’s cousin, Bob who had recently taken up golfing. He definitely had got bitten by the golfing bug, and his golf mindset was to play as often as possible. The back story here is somewhat entertaining so here’s how it went down.

Yes, I got to go golfing on that trip!! I went out golfing with Bob and his two sons making it a foursome. Down in the southern states, most golf courses have plenty of lakes. The point of the story is that it was Bob who would introduce me to snakes in the golfing world. Water moccasins that were all entangled into a round black ball. There was so many of them, that they literally were skimming on top of the water coming towards my golf ball. I didn’t bother going near my golf ball for fear of being attacked.

Snakes on the Loose…

When adding snakes to your skins game you must pay close attention to three putts. Whenever anyone in the game three putts, they are considered to have been bitten by the snake. The last person to three putt has to pay each opponent one skin for each of the total number of three putts that occurred by all players during the game. So, you can see that it’s most important not to be the last person to three putt.

The Problem – I’m a Three Putting Fool.

I have no problems getting near GIR’s. Like I said in my last post, more GIR’s gives you more birdie opportunities. You should see an increase in birdies with more GIR’s. The bad news is that more GIR’s also provides more three putt opportunities, and worse still is that my three putt stats have gotten worse. I had a couple rounds where I three putted seven times over eighteen holes. Ouch! The snake factor adds considerable amount of pressure, and it does shine a spotlight on whoever three putts. Now in our skins game, you win a skin if you win a hole. If you get a GIR you get a skin, but only if you make par. Now think about the momentum and emotional swings that happens when you go from being closest to the pin to three putting. You not only lose the greenie skin and possibly the hole, but you now have the snake and the snake grows each time it bites. Confidence is the first thing to run from the snake. Time to work on the mental part of the game.

The Solution – So Far So Good…

I have really tightened up my lag putting by making some practice strokes from a point between my ball and the cup. Here’s what I do:

I walk along the line from the ball to the cup to survey the shot. I look at the line from the cup back to my ball. These two steps are just to gather information about the line, the green conditions, the slopes and undulations. Then as I walk back to the ball from the cup, I stop and take some practice strokes from some intermediate points on the line. These points could be an apex of the break or just a halfway point. On really long putts, I may do this as many as three points. I don’t take a lot of time, I’m just feeling out how much pace I need to hit with at each point as I work back towards the ball.

This putting routine obviously gives me a good feel for the line and the speed of the putt, but more importantly, it gives me confidence. After several weeks of three putting as many times that I have, what I really need is some confidence boosting. I need to stand over the golf ball and be confident that I can get down in two on long putts.The results have been outstanding. I have not three putted once since I started using this technique. My current streak is 38 holes without a three putt. Yes, you need to change your habits on the greens, and do something different if your struggling with your putter. Having a vision of what your going to do, and the golf mindset to put into action what needs to be done is crucial to not only scoring, but staying out of your wallet.

“A strange contraption I found in a garbage can twenty years ago will have you putting like a pro in just 30 days or your money back.”

Dear Fellow Golfer,

I’m a golf instructor; not a salesman.

So I’m not going to try and sell you anything. Instead I want to recommend something to you that will have you sinking more putts instantly.

Now, you probably know enough about me to know that I’d never recommend anything I wouldn’t use myself or something that would make you look like an idiot when you do. So when I tell you that I use this when I play with my buddies. When my putting is a little off and I need to work on it, or any time I’m not in a competitive round, you can take that as a fact.

What is the contraption? Well, it’s called the Putting Connection and its designed to fix the biggest problem in putting: keeping the putter on a straight line on the backswing and the downswing.

The Putting Connection Training Aid

Let me try to explain why the Putting Connection works so well. How this simple piece of plastic straightens out your swing. In order to swing the putter on a straight line, your right shoulder has to tilt up in the back swing. If your shoulders turn, your putter will swing inside your target line. And as the putter begins to swing back towards the ball in the downswing, it must continue on a straight line. After impact, the left shoulder has to tilt up in the follow through. Now, as you well know, that’s hard to do. That’s where the Putting Connection comes in.

The Putting Connection forces the right shoulder to tilt up in the backswing and the left shoulder to tilt up in the follow through. In other words, the Putting Connection puts you in the putting stroke favored by the PGA Tour. Better still, it trains you to automatically adopt this stroke every time you putt. Why is that important? Well, by forcing your putting stroke into this pattern, you’ll be using your big muscles, your shoulders, chest, back and not just the wrist.

The end result? Your stroke is more consistent, more controlled, and your ball goes in the hole more often.

I personally believe that relying on the small wrist, hand and finger muscles in putts is a big cause of the yips. The Putting Connection forces you to use your bigger, stronger muscles and that helps you avoid the thing every golfer fears.

One size does fit all.

Left-handed… right-handed… it makes no difference whatsoever. The Putting Connection is completely adjustable and fits everybody.

I’ve found the Putting Connection to be one of the best training aids I ever used. I literally found it in a garbage can of a club where I was playing. Now, I don’t ordinarily go through garbage. However, when I saw this thing sticking out of the can, I was fascinated. I figured out what it was, cleaned it off, gave it a try and have been using it ever since.

I can’t imagine anybody throwing something so valuable into the trash. The only thing I can figure is that the owner was one of those unfortunate golfers no training aid could help. Remember, you can’t score well if you can’t putt well. The Putting Connection will help you do precisely that or your money back.

What would you pay to putt like a pro?

Hundreds of dollars, if you took golf lessons. And believe me, it’ll take more than one. And the average golf lesson costs around $150 an hour. Some places, a lot more. But the Putting Connection can be yours for just….

There are many different training aids for everything related to your golf swing mechanics. This is a special pressurized training aid for improving your hands, wrists and forearms for chipping and putting. Click on the following link for more information about this tool. Training Aid To Improve Your Putting!