Putting - The KISS way
By Kim Metsgar
June 12, 2007
There is an old adage known as "KISS," which is translated as 'keep it simple stupid' (not to imply that any of us are stupid, it's only an acronym.
I am big on keeping things simple on the golf course.
Golf is a hard game, and when you make it more complicated by thinking too much and trying to do too much, you only make it more difficult.
I've had a horrible time putting this year, so I decided to break it down to the "KISS" principle and fix it.
To do this I started with a couple of basics which are now what I am focusing on each time I make a trip to the golf course. I had to make myself stop thinking about par, birdie or bogey and the horrible 3-putts, since that only made things worse.
Instead, I decided to concentrate on making a repeatable and consistent putting stroke - straight back and straight forward just like a pendulum, and to keep it smooth.
The other point I concentrated on was the speed of the putt. I've tried this for about 10 days worth of practice, and this past weekend it paid off big-time.
The scoring just started taking care of itself when I only thought about those two things. That allowed me to enjoy my round of golf a whole lot more than being frustrated with my performance.
Yes, I know I have to be able to read the greens and recognize the slope and undulations and see the line, but I know that if I can just get that first putt close to the hole, then I should be able to get a par, which will lower my scores by doing away with bogeys and 3-putts.
Since the majority of our scoring is based on what we do on the green, it is a good thing to work on this aspect of our games.
And it did lower my score!
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