There is only one part of my game that hasn't improved, putting. I'm striking the ball and chipping and pitching better than ever, but my average number of putts per round hasn't gone down one bit in two years.


The final putt by Kevin Day at flickr.com

Over the past half-dozen rounds, I've tallied more than 20 putts for 9 holes twice. I've had more 3-putts than I care to admit. I even had another 4-putt yesterday. And what's frustrating me most is the number of 2-3 footers that I continue to miss - up to 4 a round. Although the course I regularly play has the most difficult greens I've faced, I've played them enough that there's no excuse for such poor performance.

My growing frustration and lack of confidence putting has reached a point where I have to take action. Yesterday, I shot a 78 with 21 putts on the front nine! Over the weekend, I shot a 73 with 4 missed putts within 3 feet. During a few rounds lately, my poor performance putting crept in to the rest of my game and I shot rounds of 84 and 87, among my worst in 6 months.

My first inclination is too seek help from a pro. However, I'm confident I can fix this the same way I've fixed problems with my swing - by looking inward and increasing awareness. I'll determine why I invite fear and doubt into the moment when I putt.

Fred Shoemaker asks us in Extraordinary Putting, “where do expectations, embarrassment, frustration, and doubt come from? The past? The present? The future? Obviously, they are historically based, from the past. At the moment you miss a shot, your mind goes into the past and recalls similar past events and projects those memories, in that moment, into a future (it will happen again). These past memories, now misplaced into the future (and believed to be the real future), create an upset. And the upset will last until we put something in the future that gives us new possibilities, ones other than endless repetition of an upsetting past. We put the past back in the past (where it belongs) and create a new future where anything is possible. We have the power to choose."

I've integrated this logic into the rest of my game and have learned to leave a bad shot behind me, in the past, and create a new future, but I've apparently chosen to project my past failures putting into the future.

Yes, I'm aware that there are some issues with my putting technique as well, such as the need to keep my head still, but the deeper problem lies with my subconscious belief at the moment I'm putting, that I'll miss.

I now choose a new future, of creative and artful putting. Stay tuned ;)

Labels: Choice, Disciplines, Extraordinary Putting, Fred Shoemaker