Page 35 - Golf World (February 2020)

★ MENTAL GAME ★ SWING STUDY ★ PUTTING
L E A R N

STATS AT A GLANCE
Putting
HOT BIRDIE AVG: 4.35 (6th) PURE STRIKE ROLLS
STROKE AVG: 69.62 (6th)

DRIVING DIST: 305.6 (20th)
GREENS IN REG%: 69.04 (29th) HIT THAT SWEETSPOT TO CONTROL LINE AND SPEED
COLD SAND SAVES%: 52.8 (69th) Much is made of the importance of hitting the sweetspot with your

WORLD RANKING: 3rd (146th)
driver and irons, but it’s just as important for putting. And for two
reasons. First, speed and distance control are the secrets to avoiding
those frustrating three-putts from medium-to-long range. You
can’t roll the ball dead weight from different distances if your
control of speed is inconsistent from putt to putt. You just can’t achieve that
consistency if your strike pattern is out of the centre of the face on one strike then
near the heel or toe the next. Second, those putts hit towards the toe or heel of the
face will not only come up short, they’ll also veer off line because the putter face
will twist either open or closed at impact. Focus on these three pointers to hit the
ball solidly every time.

1 Keep your head still If your head moves, the whole of your upper body will move
with it and knock everything out of sync. It will make delivering the putter head
back to the ball along the same path each time extremely difficult to achieve.

2 Keep your stroke compact The longer your stroke, the more chance the putter
head has to stray off line. The good news here is that most people take the putter
too far back and then decelerate into impact. Shortening your stroke will likely
help you develop a little more speed and get the ball to the hole more frequently.

3 Stay down until the ball is on its way Especially important on shorter putts,
looking up too early to see if you’ve holed out or not will knock your shoulders off
line and very often cause you to drag putts left. It requires a little discipline to stay
down but the results are worth it. And if you can’t resist peeking early to see where
the ball has gone, make sure you swivel your head to do so, instead of lifting it.
– Chris Jenkins is an England Golf coach. www.chrisjenkinsgolf.com

PLAYING TIP
HIT THE DIMPLE

FOR PURE STRIKES

To hone your strike, colour in one dimple
on a golf ball. Align the putter face with
that dimple and focus purely on
striking the coloured dot on the
ball. It’s great for your
concentration, too.

IMPACT

And, wow, look how open
Rahm’s hips are here, the belt
buckle literally facing the target.
Here’s the reason for the bowed
left wrist – to hold the face
square through impact. If he
released the club normally, the
ball is flying right every time.

golfworldtop100.com | February 2020 Golf World 35