The assumed answer to this one is obvious …
Routine.
Everybody has one on the putting green:
- James Conrad flips his ponytail a few times.
- Paul McBeth digs his back toe into the ground.
- Nate Sexton spins the disc between both hands.
And it makes sense: Good putting is a matter of painstaking repetition – routines help with this. More specifically, however, with practice swings a part of the process, there’s more to it …
But first, a question for YOU – the reader.
Have you ever found yourself in a buttery rhythm with your practice basket?
You know the drill …
In your off-hand, you’ve got three or four – even five putters. And in the basket, one after the other, each of ‘em successfully comes to rest in the bottom of the tray: chains, chains, chains, etc.
Kobe.
If you’ve ever found this kind of groove before, you know there’s not much downtime between putts. It’s putt, reach and putt again – over and over. If that kind of flow state can be achieved in the backyard with a fat stack of putters, why not during a tournament when things matter?
THIS is the value of practice swings on putting greens.
They help fine-tune a putting stroke – without actually fine-tuning a putting stroke. It’s the imitation of the process that tricks the brain (and body) into thinking it’s been putting all day …
And well, at that.
This is why, even after a missed putt, it’s not uncommon to see Pro Tour golfers stand over their lies and mime a few putts in quick succession to try to get things right before the next hole.
* Note: This methodology gets beyond practice swings, too. Click here for more information.
Have you ever watched a Scripps National Spelling Bee on ESPN before? Not every speller does it, but many of the mini geniuses on stage will physically write out the words they’ve been given with their fingertips on the back of the name cards hanging around their necks while thinking.
Here’s a kid doing just that on his hand:
It’s the same logic …
Imitation before execution.
No, you don’t have to add any pre- or post-putt practice swings to your game. But if you’re Ricky Wysocki in the backyard and Eveliina Salonen come tourney time, think about it …
It couldn’t hurt.
Have anything to add? Take to Twitter to let us know – we’ll actually (for real) get back to you.
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