What makes Tiger Woods so good? One thing is his "make-range" average. He has a wider make range than his opponents. Simply put, Tiger's ADPM—average of the total distance of holed putts—is about six feet longer than the Tour average. That means Tiger sinks more putts on average from further away than the field—a decided advantage. Put another way, Tiger makes the long ones others miss and rarely misses the short ones. This combination is hard to beat no matter how good your golf handicap.
You may not be able to beat Tiger Woods, but can take a golf lesson from him. Since good putting lowers scores, you should work on widening your make range. The wider it is, the more strokes you'll slash from your scores. The more strokes you slash from your scores, the lower your golf handicap. It's that simple. Among the best ways to widen your make range is to drain those 12 to 15 footers that often plague you. Sink more of these and you'll quickly cut your handicap down to size.
Control Putterhead Speed
The key to draining these 12 to 15 footers—or any putt for that matter—is your ability to control putterhead speed. It determines your ability to control ball speed. Most experts agree that ball speed is one of the most important factors in putting, if not the most important. If your ball speed is off, you'll miss a lot of putts—short or long. Learn to control ball speed and you'll sink your fair share of 12 to 15 footers. But you first need to know how to control putterhead speed.
You have three ways to control putterhead speed:
* Spot aiming
* Roll visualization,
* Feel focusing.
Some people are better at spot aiming than roll visualization and feel focusing. Others are better at roll visualization than spot aiming or feel focusing. Then there are those better at feel focusing than spot aiming or roll visualization. Each method uses the eyes to send signals to the brain to apply the necessary energy for the putt. You must find out which method allows you to control putterhead speed best.
Fine-Tuning Your Stroke
A two-part drill tells you which method allows you to control putterhead speed best. Drop a coin on the practice green. Then place a ball about 10 feet from the coin. Now survey the green just as is often discussed in my golf tips. Note if the putt is uphill or downhill, breaks to the right or to the left, and so on. Develop a mental picture of it.
Your job is to roll three putts from the same distance and stop all three within the space of a putterhead behind the coin. You can place a second coin behind the first to get the idea of how far to get the ball to stop no further than one putterhead-length past the coin.
Before hitting the first putt, adopt a plan that will ensure the accuracy of the golf ball's roll using one of the three methods. For example, if the putt is uphill you may want to adjust your focal point beyond the last coin to account for the terrain. Or, you may want to ingrain a picture of the last four feet of roll. Or, you my just want to focus on feel when trying to make the putt.
Sink Three Than Move Back
Use one ball for the drill. If successful, retrieve it and putt from the same spot. Keep putting until you hit three straight putts from the same distance. If you don't, start over. Keep doing the drill until you find the best method—spot aiming, roll visualization, feel focusing—to do the job. Having done this, add a foot to the putt's length. After each successful attempt, add another foot. After a while, you should know which method offers you the best result. Use that method in practice.
Take a golf lesson from Tiger. Widening your make range by determining the putting method that helps you sink more long distance putts. It's. The wider your make range, the greater your chances of sinking 12 to 15 foot putts than before. This in turn will help chop strokes off your scores and your golf handicap. Your make range may never be as wide as Tiger Wood's or even the average pro's. But the wider it is, the lower you're golf handicap will be.
Jack Moorehouse is the author of the best-selling book "How To Break 80 And Shoot Like The Pros." He is NOT a golf pro, rather a working man that has helped thousands of golfers from all seven continents lower their handicap immediately. He has a free weekly newsletter with the latest golf tips, golf lessons and golf instruction.
