Putting

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"Oh Yeah, Putting!"

These famous words were uttered by Adam Sandler playing Happy Gilmore. Best line in the movie, BTW!

There are as many ways to putt as there are golfers.

There is however, a relatively short list of similarities that the best putters share, regarding both physical technique and visualization of the task at hand. 

"Putting is the most important part of the game".  We have all heard this old saw time and time again. Very few players will argue the point. Yet in my many years of teaching, I am continually amazed at how many golfers buy a large bucket of practice balls,  then walk right past the putting and chipping greens located ON THE WAY to the driving range! They proceed to hit a few iron shots then grab their driver and hit literally 75 driver shots in a row. Frustrated and worn out, they walk right past the chipping and putting green back to their car.

If you can relate in any way to this exercise, you are NOT alone. I can help you immeasurably in a short period of time! 

We play golf from the green back to the tee. The average 100 shooter has 36 or more putts and up to 20 chip shots per round. That adds up to more than HALF of their shots. So logic would dictate they should practice chipping and putting more than half the time they devote to practice.

To quote Bobby Jones, "Anyone who hopes to reduce putting—or any other department of the game of golf for that matter—to an exact science, is in for a serious disappointment, and will only suffer from the attempt".

My 39 years of teaching golf has proved over and over that building muscular controls into our games, which we can perform without concern of state of mind, is the most productive path to becoming a better ball striker, putter and player. 

Engaging our mind in visualization and attention to feedback from our bodies, rather than a long list of things to "do" correctly each time we endeavor to move the ball, is a worthy exercise. This is proved when we sometimes surprise ourselves with an exceptionally pure shot and wonder, out loud, "what did I just do there, and why don't I repeat it"?
Join me to help you unlock your existing inner ability and begin playing a different, far more relaxing and rewarding game of golf.

I specialize in putting instruction! You will be shocked at how easy putting can be when we change the way we think with a putter in our hands...

Please go to the top of this page and "Book a Lesson Now"!

The Six Essentials of the modern golf swing

From the seminal work of Percy Boomer's "On Learning Golf".  first printing 1942

Percy Boomer was decades ahead of his time. His book has been the inspiration for hundreds of Golf Instructors including me!

It is important to know that Percy did not teach a "method"  for learning golf. He believed as I do, that everyone has a unique swing because everyone has a unique physical and mental make-up. 

1. It is essential to turn the body round to the right and then back and round to the left, without moving either way. In other words this turning movement must be from a fixed pivot. 

2. It is essential to keep the arms at full stretch throughout the swing—through the turn back, the transition to the forward tun, and the follow through to a beautifully balanced finish. 

3. It is essential to allow the wrists to break fully back at the top of the turn back. (much more on this when we get together)!

4. It is essential to delay the actual contact with the ball until as late in the swing as possible. 

5. It is essential not to tighten any muscle concerned in the reactive part of the swing (movement above the waist). 

6. It is essential to feel and control the swing as a whole and not to concentrate upon any single
movement.

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The swing as a whole...there is no back-swing or down-swing...there is just the swing, one and indivisible.

Chain reaction of torque starting with "active" feet, knees, and hips followed by the inevitable, "passive" re-action of the shoulders, arms, hands, and finally the club head.

The Force Center

Centripetal Force produced by the Pivot is what generates club head speed as opposed to upper body strength.
Pivot...
"Active" lower body - proved by the spikes on the bottom of our shoes.
"Passive" upper body - Club head speed is delayed by the passivity of the muscles in the back, shoulders, arms, and hands, unleashing tremendous speed through the impact zone as the club whirls around our anchored "Force Center" gathering up and dispatching the ball with uncontrollable fury, terminating in a relaxed, balanced, inevitable finish position.

Subsequent full swing lessons...
The swing is further developed by instilling in the student, the proper "controls" necessary for building a swing based upon the six  proven principles, (above), that are simple, powerful, and dependable, with no concern regarding state of mind.

The "Concentration" fallacy...
Building "controls" rather than concentration. Engaging the mind in matters not concerned with the swing allows our bodies to perform as trained. Relaxed, target-visualization brings the desired result of a satisfactory golf shot by a matter of course, rather than intense, focused concentration.

Learning to play shots by feel...
As the student builds "controls", producing the desired shot is made simple due to the increased confidence in the basic principles of the golf motion. 

Putting, chipping and pitching...
We putt as we drive...
Pitching and chipping are simply shorter versions of the full swing with the same principals of the pivot producing the power and feel through body rotation rather than hitting with the shoulders, arms and hands.