Product Guide

SITE

SEARCH

GOLF COURSE SEARCH:

GOLF CALENDAR

submit your event here
February 2012
SuMoTuWeThFrSa
2930311234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
26272829123
45678910

No Mulligans

Untitled Page

Building blocks

Great putting begins with several key factors.

By Jamie Mulligan, PGA, with Greg FloresPublished: March, 2010

Steve Stricker used superb putting fundamentals en route to his Northern Trust Open win (PHOTO: Mark Susson).
Imagine walking up to a wall with your feet, knees, hips and head being an equal distance from that wall. We call that neutrality of the body. No one part is closer to a given point than another. It’s also one of the pillars of putting that we preach to all of our players. These pillars are the building blocks of what makes a great putter. They include body neutrality, routine, green reading, the eyes, elimination of excess movement and belief.
   
Everyone putts out of routine. A solid routine must be consistently executable. It’s how you sync your heart and your body up to the way you athletically perform at your highest level. Green reading is the understanding of topography and knowing how it will influence your ball.
   
The eyes are an underutilized tool. Understanding that you putt with your eyes — not your stroke — is a significant hurdle for some. Elimination of the unnecessary movements in your stroke will improve your efficiency.

The last piece of this puzzle is how you blend it all together, and we call this belief.
   
On the practice putting green at Riviera Country Club prior to the start of last month’s Northern Trust Open, we had the opportunity to watch Steve Stricker putt. Normally, we wouldn’t take our Tour players out of their routine to watch another player, but Stricker was executing on a different level.
   
His body was in total neutrality. His routine was insanely similar each time. I pulled out my watch to time him and each stroke took virtually the same amount of time. His pace on each putt showed he had a confident understanding of the terrain as each ball rolled perfectly to its mark. In simple terms, he was locked in. I told our guys I always want them to win, but if Stricker could maintain that stroke, I wouldn’t be surprised if he won. He ended up winning by two strokes.
   
If you trust that these elements work harmoniously to create a better stroke, you will improve.

Jamie Mulligan is chief operating officer and an award-winning PGA professional at Long Beach’s Virginia Country Club.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

* First Name
* Last Name
* Email
Comments

Readers Feedback:

So eixcted I found this article as it made things much quicker!
Comment at 7/6/2011
Thanks for sharing. Always good to find a real exeprt.
Comment at 7/8/2011
Going to put this atrclie to good use now.
Comment at 7/9/2011
OQi5DF , [url=http://raracxyioxmm.com/]raracxyioxmm[/url], [link=http://rschxtoljtgf.com/]rschxtoljtgf[/link], http://jfierszcfpib.com/
Comment at 7/10/2011
yDY5N6 , [url=http://bkhppxgrgvhn.com/]bkhppxgrgvhn[/url], [link=http://mvmymeykavio.com/]mvmymeykavio[/link], http://adwcajsxfxhu.com/
Comment at 7/11/2011