I Think I've Got an Attitude Problem

I've been focussing lately on my putting.  I have come realize, after an honest appraisal of my game, that I'm never going to improve unless I become a better, more consistent, putter.  But, it seems, when it comes to putting, I've got an attitude problem.

In his book Bobby Jones on Golf, Bobby addressed the all-important subject of attitude when it comes to putting.  He wrote:

"Someone told me a story about an experienced professional who regained his putting confidence by rather drastic measures in the middle of a round.  Playing well otherwise, he suddenly lost all ability to hole a short putt.  After missing several, he was left, at one hole, with a mean one of about four feet.  This time he walked quickly up to the ball, closed his eyes, and rapped the recalcitrant sphere straight into the middle of the cup.  He holed the next one or two in the normal way and thereafter pursued his way rejoicing.

I should never attempt nor recommend the method employed here, but there can be no question that anxiety and too much care cause most short putts to go astray.  When you see a man obviously trying to guide the short putt, or hitting quickly with a short, stabbing stroke, even though he may hole a few, it will not be long before he meets trouble.  A short putt, even as a long one, must be struck with a smooth, unhurried, and confident stroke.  The best way to accomplish this is to decide upon a line and to determine to hit the ball on that line and let it go hang if it wants to.  I have never had any better advice in golf, from tee to green, than was contained in a telegram sent me by Stewart Maiden in 1919.  It read: 'Hit 'em hard.  They'll land somewhere.'  You must not apply this advice literally to putting, but its application is obvious.  Hit the putt as well as you can and do not allow worry over the outcome to spoil the stroke.

It is worthy of observation that nearly everyone finds it easier to stroke properly putts of twelve to fifteen feet than those from less or greater distances.  There is a very good reason why this should be true.  The player fears he will miss a shorter putt, and fears he may fail to lay a longer one dead, but when he is putting from middle distances, he merely hopes he may hole out, without feeling that he must guide the ball into the hole--and he knows that he will not likely take three putts.

We would all profit greatly if we could cultivate this attitude toward putts of all lengths; it ought to be easy, too, for we all know, or should know by this time, that worry does very little good.  If we must be wrong, we may as well make our mistakes gracefully by choosing the wrong line as by allowing a nervous, overcareful stroke to pull the ball off direction."

Bobby went on to talk about putting as a kid in the moonlight with his friend and how they actually putted better when holing out on the putts up to eight or ten feet.  He concluded:

"There must be something learned from that moonlight putting.  I believe it to be this--the men who putt well on greens good and bad must have schooled themselves to see a putting green as we used to see it in the moonlight.  Let me say here that I do not believe any man can be so accurate in striking a golf ball, or so uncannily precise in his judgement of speed, borrow, roll, and all the other things that go to make a perfect putt, that he can propel a golf ball over ten yards of uneven turf with such unerring certainty that it will find a spot the size of the hole.  There are so many factors to be taken into account that the skill required is simply beyond me.

I wonder how many putts that are holed follow exactly the path laid out for them in the player's mind.  I should say that as many of those that go down deviate from that path as follow it.  It appears to me that the good putter is simply the man who can keep coming close--who gets more times within one-foot radius--and that such a man holes more putts because of the greater number that come close, a greater number more likely will go in.

Working on this idea, it must appear that we should concern ourselves mainly with the more general contours of a slope rather than to try to account for every little hop or roll the ball is likely to take.  This does not mean that we should be taking a haphazard shot at the hole, but only that we should determine upon a line upon which we want the ball to start and hit firmly upon that line.

Worrying about rough spots in the green has no effect except to make the stroke indecisive, and I believe that bad putting is due more to the effect the green has upon the player than to that it has upon the action of the ball."

Reading this again, I was reminded of when I started golf as a youngster.  A buddy and I would ride our bikes out to the course in the morning and often still be on the putting green at dark, putting for dimes, after we'd gone round and round the nine hole course.  We could putt like demons in the growing dusk or dark; or at least we thought we could.  We had a great attitude in those days.  We tried to make every putt, rather than trying not to miss them.

Somewhere along the way, I got worried and careful with my putting.  I developed a bad attitude.  I need to get back to putting like that kid in the moonlight.

Putting Won't Kill You

Putting can really mess with your mind. There are times when putting has just about driven me crazy. However, it may have driven me to distraction and even despair, but it hasn't killed me, or any of my playing partners. At least not yet.

I can vividly remember, after a stretch of particularly poor putting, I missed a two footer for eagle. I was absolutely livid, and took the ball and hit it like a baseball with my putter, the ball glancing off the cheek of my buddy who stood nearby. I could have killed him. It was one of my most embarrassing moments on the golf course, and I still shudder when I think about how close I came to seriously injuring, or even killing him in that moment of absolute madness. It was not my proudest moment, but it actually changed my golfing life. I will never let putting do that to me again. 

One of my golfing buddies is currently in the grip of the putting yips. It may not actually be the yips, but it's bad. He hits it great, at least until his putting woes cause him to totally lose it. If he didn't struggle on the greens, he'd be a solid four or five handicap the way he hits it. Lately, his putting is so bad it infects the rest of his game and he has trouble breaking 90. He's getting a bit long in the tooth, so he doesn't hit it as long as he once did, but he still hits it solid. However, give him a two footer to save his life and, better call the coroner, because he's gonna miss it. Then again, give me a two footer to save my life, and I'll probably miss it as well. 

That's really the problem with putting. If you've played good golf, and you've played long enough, you know just how easy it is to miss short putts. It's the short putts that really get to you, because you think you should make them all, and you don't. Everyone misses a short one now and again. That's golf. But my pal misses almost all of them when they count. He just can't shake them in to save his life. And yet, often times he'll sweep the putt back and knock it in after he's missed. 

Yesterday, he said to me, " I can make them when they don't count."

I replied, "That's just the point. You have to convince yourself that it just doesn't matter, that they don't count."

The attitude you seem to need to have when putting is that the outcome doesn't really matter. Naturally, this is difficult, because in reality it does matter. You don't want to miss short putts, but the more you want to make them, the harder they become. Give yourself a three footer to shoot your lowest round ever and see what happens. The reality is, all you can do is read the putt, pick your line, and make your best stroke. After that, it's in the lap of the golfing gods whether it goes in or not. You can hit a perfect putt and miss because of a spike mark, or a heel print, or some other imperfection in the green you couldn't even see. Greens are imperfect, so you can miss and it might not be your fault. It's just golf. Nobody ever said it would be fair, or easy.

However, if you can treat those two imposters, success and failure, just the same, and realize that neither outcome will cure or kill you, putting becomes easier. Putting may never be easy, but it will be easier if you can keep your perspective. You really can't will the ball into the hole, even though it seemed Jack Nicklaus could. You just have to make your best stroke and accept the outcome, knowing a miss won't kill you, unless of course you're playing a guy with no neck for more money than you can afford to pay if you lose.

Everybody misses a two footer at one time or another. But I've never heard of it killing anybody. These days, I try to just step up there, pick my line, try to make a good stroke, and let it be. I figure, if I do that, I've done my part. The rest is up to the golfing gods. I've missed more short putts than I care to remember, but it's never killed me, and so long as I never have to make one to save my life, I guess I'll be okay.