Gary Nicol
Gary Nicol, European Tour coach and The Lost Art of Putting co author discusses all things putting, to help you master the greens this season
NCG have teamed up with the Amazon bestselling book The Lost Art of Putting and Callaway and Odyssey’s Triple Track ball and putter technology to create this special series of putting videos.
Using techniques from the book, explained by co-author and renowned coach , we’ll help you to look at putting in a completely new way. Whether you need help fine tuning your stroke or mastering the art of the mental game, we have it covered.
Filmed at Archerfield Links, in Gullane, these videos are guaranteed to give new and experienced golfers alike a whole new perspective on the greens.
Putting has a series of principles which when followed help a player putt successfully. Gary has narrowed it down to 6 putting performance principles which include:
1. Your Story
How do you speak about your putting and yourself as a putter? If you speak negatively about your ability you’re starting off on the wrong foot. This is something that you can change.
2. Attention
Where is your attention focused? Is it directed in the correct place, i.e focussing on the golf ball rather than what you as a golfer must do. This will help with freedom and release tension in the stroke.
3. Questions
Asking questions helps to create awareness and understanding. When it comes to putting, a player needs to ask questions regarding the putt to gather information. Such as which way does the green slope.
4. Line and Pace
These are two crucial factors when it comes to putting. They both impact each other and so you can’t consider one without the other.
5. Visualisation
How is the ball going to go in the hole? Drawing a mental path to the hole helps to mentally show a player how the ball will roll to the hole.
A lot of golfers think that the start line is the first thing that should be an established when approaching a putt. This isn’t the case. A start line is actually one of the last part of a putt as it’s the result of information gathered on length and break.
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When making a decision on a start line the finish line should also be considered. Or, in other words how will the ball travel to and enter the hole. Doing this helps to create a line of the balls journey to the hole.
What does the ball need to do to go in the hole? Imagining how the ball needs to travel to drop in the hole helps a golfer pave a mental track to the hole. If you’ve ever seen Hawkeye used on TV when the pros are putting it illustrates a path to the hole, using a graphic. Whilst this isn’t possible to do when you’re out on the course, it is a mental skill being able to create that image in your head.
A visual line doesn’t have to be a thin single line, there can be a wider margin. This can help increase a players confidence when stood over the putt. A lot of players draw thin lines on the ball that they use as an alignment aid. Whilst this is a great way of narrowing the target, it can also make it hard to perform a good putt.
Why? Well, the small single line pinpoints a small part of the hole. A golf ball can fall into the hole at any point and so it’s harder to pinpoint an exact entry point.
Asking good questions is a big part of visualisation in putting. What does a good putt look like? Ultimately, this would a putt that has the perfect line and drops into a hole at the perfect pace. Can the ball go in the hole? Yes! The ball has every chance of going in the hole and so then you need to figure out, what it needs to do, to go in?
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This is where you question the break, surface, weather etc to gather all the information needed to make a decision on what line and pace you’re going to use.
Every putt is unique, meaning that on a course you only get one attempt at a putt, so why should that change when practicing. A lot of players practice with multiple balls. This means that attention can dip on the first putt as they have more attempts. This will help with adding realism to practice and working on predicting what the ball will do and executing with your one attempt.
Start slow, with the first few putts at a close range. Increase the distance with each putt, rather than always working from the length.
A putt is dependant on two main factors, the line and the pace. But, which is the most important?
Well, the first thing you have to figure out is how hard you’re going to hit the ball. This is a determined by the read of the putt. So, which way will it break, is it up or down hill and how fast are the greens.
Rather than just looking from behind the ball, it’s important to so to the low so and stand so that you can see all of the distance between the ball and hole. This helps to provide a full view of the whole putt. You wouldn’t hit a shot into a green without knowing how far you had and this applies to putting too.
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Once you have information on all of these factors, you can make a decision on what line is it best to start the ball on. An example would be a putt with a left to right downhill break. Downhill means that it is going to be faster, and so you will need to aim further left as the ball will break faster than an up hill putt would. Uphill would mean the putt is hit harder and so has less time to be affected by the surface.
It’s important to not stress over line or pace. This can create tension in your stroke which can lead to mistrikes than can impact the outcome of the putts. A putt can enter a hole at any point from any speed that reaches the hole and so there isn’t one perfect formula.
This is a pace putting drill that is designed to teach pace. Even if a player doesn’t hole a putt as long as they’re within the semi circle, it is acceptable. This highlights the importance of pace and getting the ball closer to the hole, to eliminate three putts.
This exercise helps players create an awareness around their pace control. By hitting a random first putt, the second putt is designed to replicate the first putt with a slight pace increase.
A poor putting stroke can affect the speed control that you have. Hitting a putt out of then toe much like with a driver it will reduce how far it goes. Therefore, a solid putting technique is critical when working on line and pace.
Callaway’s Triple Track technology is designed to improve players putting performance by making the visual alignment easier.
When you think about Trackman it’s often to do with swing data. SAM Putt Lab software is more commonly used when it comes to putting. However, Trackman does have the facilities to track the ball and so it works well when it comes to putting.
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Things Trackman measures with putting includes speed, skidding, true roll, roll percentage and how far the ball travels. Each of these components influences what makes a good putt.
So, a low skid distance with a high roll percentage. The surface will play a big part in this which is often out of your control.
Much like getting a new driver, you’d want data to back up if it works. Trackman can provide this information when it comes to putter lessons and fittings too.
There is a few things to consider when it comes to getting a new putter such as feel, length, dynamic lie and loft etc. Trackman measures seventeen different areas but three or four units of measurement helps to not over complicate things.
Many golfer’s might not believe a putter fitting isn’t worth it. However, a putter is one of the mosted used clubs in a golfer’s bag being used on every hole. Having something best suited to you can help save those much needed shots.
Renowned European Tour coach, TrackMan Master and Certified Mind Factor coach Gary Nicol is available for private coaching at Archerfield Links. Gary has successfully coached golfers of all abilities over a 25 year period and spent 16 years traveling around the world. He has worked with over 30 Tour Pros including numerous tournament winners and Ryder Cup players. Gary offers a range of private coaching programmes including – individual one hour lessons, playing lessons, video lessons and analysis. All this is delivered to your email address and smartphone for you to watch and learn from, wherever and whenever you want.
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Gary is the co author of The Lost Art of Putting book, where all of the above information and much more can be found. It is one of three books in the series.
You can purchase the book through the below link.
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