How to train your brain to make more putts

Everything in golf takes focus, especially putting. But nobody ever trains for it. Here’s a drill to build up the endurance you need to concentrate on getting the ball in the hole, one I’ve used with every Tour player I’ve ever worked with. It’s simple.

Find, say, a 30-foot putt. Place a water bottle about halfway from the ball to the hole. As you settle into your address, visualize the ball rolling on the line you’ve chosen, past the bottle and, eventually, into or near the cup. Once you have it, turn your gaze to the ball, keeping your visual intact. Now putt.

Here’s the trick: Keep your focus where the ball was even after you make the strike, until the point where your mind tells you that it’s reached the bottle.

Now look. Too soon? Too late? Doesn’t matter. You’re training here.

Keep doing the drill until you get good at holding your focus on each ball until you feel it reaches the bottle. Over time, the better you are at holding the picture of the putt you’re facing, the better you’ll get at putting to the picture instinctively. This, GOLF reader, is the secret sauce to putting like a pro.

James Sieckmann is a GOLF Top 100 Teacher and was the 2018 PGA Teacher of the Year.

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