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A Ten-Step Solution to Making More Putts
By Brendon Elliott, PGA
Published on
Lilia Vu led the field in Strokes Gained: Putting at the Honda LPGA Thailand, picking up 2.99 strokes per round on the greens.Getty Images
“I just tried to play one shot at a time and have fun. It sounds so cliché; they tell you this all the time; to go have fun, but that’s really what I’m doing.”
That was part of Lilia Vu’s comments after her win at the recent Honda LPGA Thailand. She closed with a final round 64 on the Siam Country Club’s Pattaya Old Course.
We all know how finicky golf is. To play to our potential requires us to control our emotions. To play amazing, and better than we normally do, requires something more. It requires a mindset that is narrowly focused on the positive. One that kicks away the negative thoughts as they try to creep in.
Lilia Vu won for the first time on the LPGA Tour with a one-stroke victory in Thailand on Feb. 26. (Getty Images)
I preach constantly to my students the importance of building routines — as they practice, prepare for events, get ready to hit shots and, especially, as they prepare to putt.
Positive thoughts are part of any good routine. Not only do you need to visualize the outcome, but you must also believe that it will happen.
There’s no place more important than on the putting green for that idea. Mindset, and channeling positive thoughts, is the secret sauce for the champions, like Vu, on the professional tours.
Here’s a great ten-step solution to try the next time you’re out playing or practicing:
- As you hit your approach, or chip/pitch onto the green, continue to pay attention to how the ball reacts. Watch how it rolls until it comes to a stop.
- Look at your putt from the down-the-line view, or from behind your ball toward the hole. You are looking for the line the ball will move on its way to the hole after you hit it. Visualize the ball going in.
- After you look at the down-the-line view, from behind the ball, start to circle the hole in a counter-clockwise manner. As you hit the 3 o’clock position, stop and look carefully at the line from that angle. Visualize the ball going in.
- Continue your trip to the 12 o’clock position, or the opposite side of the hole from your ball. Stop there and examine. Visualize the ball going in.
- Continue to the 9 o’clock position. Stop there and examine. Visualize the ball going in.
- As you get back to your ball, make one more look from down the line. Then, position your aim line (you can use markings on the ball, or draw your own aim line with a sharpie) to the apex point on the line you have decided on. Visualize the ball going in.
- Make 2-3 practice strokes behind the ball and on your line. You are looking to make a practice stroke that will mirror the one needed to get the ball into the hole. Visualize the ball going in.
- As you make those practice strokes, all you are visualizing is the ball going into hole.
- As you get set over the ball to stroke your putt, say to yourself three times, “I am going to make this putt. I am going to make this putt. I am going to make this putt.”
- Stroke the putt. Listen for it to go in before you look.
While there are several steps to this suggested routine, do not spend any more than two minutes in the entire process.
As Lilia Vu said, and it sounds cliché, but the difference between those that find success in golf and those that do not is the idea of being positive and enjoying what you are doing.
Vu, in her first win on Sunday, took only 21 putts in that final round 64. She confirmed in her post-round press conference that her new outlook this year was to have a better mindset.
Mission accomplished, Lilia!
