This week's Question:

When you have an 18 foot putt, where should you be focused on putting your ball?

Sorry that is INCORRECT. The CORRECT answer is:

ANSWER: C - Into a 2 foot box beyond the hole

Most Golfers average over 36 putts and into the 40’s because they experience too many 3 putts, along with 2 putts (that should’ve been 1 putts). These 2 and 3 putts happen 99% of the time because your distance control isn’t skilled enough to make the 1st putt or get it close enough to the hole to make your next one.

Most Golfers are focused on the hole – which might be the worst place to focus because if you hit the ball what you feel is hard enough to just get to the hole – it won’t get there most of the time. And many times, you’ll be well short. This is because of two primary factors: the imperfections on the green and Centerness of Hit with your putter.

Green imperfections are just what it sounds like – greens aren’t perfect – then add that each golf group that plays ahead of you adds upwards of 500 steps on every green. With the steps getting more concentrated the closer to the hole you get. So by the time you play at 10:00 – there might be thousands of footprints surrounding the hole causing your ball to bump along and slow down. Also, through our testing – we have found that if you miss the center of your putter by a ½” from 18 feet – your ball will come up 6 feet short. And trust me – most people miss the center by more than a ½” 8 out of 10 times. We have done the testing.

One of the most common tips we hear from the so called Gurus of Golf is to draw a 3 foot circle around the hole. Sounds good – doesn’t work! Why doesn’t it work? One: this technique makes you a defensive putter where your focus isn’t on making putts – thus you end up 2 putting just about everything except when you make a bad stroke or bad read and end up 3 putting. Forcing you into a life of always averaging over 36 putts per round. Two: Defensive putters start to become decelerating putters. Three: Decelerating putters develop the yips. Four: if you’re trying to just get it into the circle – you never 1 putt!

Through testing (or in-other-words - a Results Based Approach), we have found that Golfers experience less 3 putts and more 1 putts when focusing on getting the golf ball into the Box behind the hole. One: it allows you to overcome imperfect greens. Two: if you do miss the center of the putter, you’ll only be 3 feet short as opposed to the Golfer above that misses the center and ends up 6 feet short. Three: you’re going to get the golf ball to the hole more often increasing your 1 putts. Four: If you miss the hole, you’ll only be going 2 feet past the hole!

The majority of Golfers that focus on the hole or the circle are constantly coming up short of the hole and missing opportunity after opportunity to make Birdie or Par because of missed 1 putts or 3 putts. The Golfer focused on the Box increases their 1 putts and minimizes their 3 putts. Practice using the Box and you’ll see dramatic improvement on the golf course.

To see how your answer compared to others who took the Golfer Knowledge Poll - make sure to look for next week's Golf Improvement Weekly

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