Make The Turn Weekly Challenge #42: Perfect Putting Performance

Coaching has become a very high-tech industry these days and the vast array of tools now available to teachers and students can create a "fast track" toward improvement. As it relates to putting and "green reading," there are various technologies and systems of learning that have really taken the art and science of rolling your ball to the next level.

Many golfers who may not have instant access to such resources can quickly learn and improve their game though simple exercises in awareness. Everyone in golf exhibits a series of patterns. Patterns can also be categorized as "behaviors" and in the case of putting may include but not be limited to such variables as movement, contact and perception. Reading a green is simply a "judgment" call based upon knowledge of various characteristics within the putting surface and surrounding environment, coupled with an intended "pace" at which the player deems most appropriate for a given putt. The more knowledge you have and the better you are at producing an accurate pace and line, the more putts you'll make.

So let's say you're about to hit the course and want to learn something about your putting tendencies "right now" that can quickly improve your success rate?

As shown in the video below, the first step in getting better is all about "pattern" recognition. Once an awareness of a pattern is understood, a simple "adjustment" in approach can quickly deliver big results.

I learned this technique in awareness from my time coaching at the Dave Pelz Short Game School and its been a simple exercise I still use it with my clients to this day. In green reading, many players will find that their tendency is to miss putts consistently on one side of the hole. If a pattern is heavily weighted one way or the other, a simple adjustment would be to add or subtract a little from your normal "judgment" call until you learn the techniques associated with perhaps scientifically seeing each putt more effectively.

In world driven by technology, sometimes the most effective remedy is the simplest one. Commit to elevating your pattern awareness for just one day on the greens and you can count this week's challenge as complete.

BENEFITS

Pattern Awareness

Fast Implementation

Make More Putts

Jeff Ritter is the CEO/Founder of__ MTT Performance__. The program operates out of Poppy Hills Golf Course in Pebble Beach, Calif. Follow him on Twitter at @mttgolf*