Your
Putting Comfort

Your Putting Comfort should not come at the expense of proper form. This can trick you into setting up to the ball in such a way that you make it more difficult for yourself to sink your putts consistently.

One of the reasons good players strike the ball more solidly than the average weekend golfer is because they get themselves into a good position at the start of each shot.

Jack Nicklaus believes that most of the errors in an errant golf swing occur in your setup before you even draw back the club. The same is true in many ways of the putting stroke.

While there is not one correct way to putt, there is a way to keep the percentages of success on your side.

For a start you should differentiate yourself from the tour professionals who, through dedicated practice, can adopt any which way of putting. Mind you they don't always succeed. Putting slumps are a common occurrence on the Tour.

Naturally it is important to feel comfortable over your putts because if you feel awkward, this will show up in your stroke. However, you need to learn how to be comfortable, and correct.

When you try something different for the first time, it will feel unnatural and outside of your comfort zone. After you have developed a certain way of doing things, changing to something new does not come easily.

Take for example the bad habit of slouching when you sit or walk. Unless you make a committed effort to correct your posture, slouching will become your comfortable way of setting your head and shoulders. Not a smart idea when good posture makes for better health.

So it is the case of the chicken and the egg. Before you even consider comfort, the first fundamental of putting is to get into a good position at setup, one that enhances your chances of success. This may not be the way that you putt at present.

Most of arrive at our putting stroke by observation and trial and error. Since putting is such as simple action compared to the full swing, we underestimate the importance of sound fundamentals. With an ill-fitting putter, and with the belief that any way is a good way, we slip into a comfort zone of mediocrity.

Going back to basics is sometimes the only way that you are going to improve your putting. Remember the saying 'if you start wrongly, everything you do to make it better, only makes it worse'.

As Pat O'Brien, Zach Johnson's putting coach explains - if you are misaligned, if your posture is poor, your putter is not going to go where it should, and you will then have to make compensations.

So when it comes to Your Putting Comfort, the first order of business is to learn a good setup and then practise it until it becomes comfortable.

Image Source
1 = www.paulhurrion.com
2 = Treat Your Own Back – Robin McKenzie