What Is All This Talk About Visualizing A Putt?
I was watching a golf tournament on TV a few weeks ago and all of the announcers kept talking about how important it is to "visualize" the shot. One even made a comment about Tiger visualizing his shot.
After the round, Tiger was asked about it (visualization) and he said he never did that. He really didn't know what they were talking about.
I have never visualized a shot. Apparently Tiger never has either. Yet you still hear a lot of talk about how important it is.
I bring this up because I wanted to set the record straight about visualization and putting. I can't imagine anything that would be more distractive to putting than trying to make a picture in your head of the ball rolling on the green.
What you need to be worrying about is seeing the line of the putt, not an imaginary ball rolling on it. It exists, not like some fictional movie transpiring in your head. It is important that you be aware of the line and familiar with every inch of it, at least on short putts. It is irrelevant whether or not your imagination is strong enough to project a ball rolling on it.
Keep the ball, real or imaginary, out your putting preparation. You should read the putt with the ball marker in place rather than the ball. The only thing that is important is the line itself. I find it easier to see the line originating from a flat object rather than a round one that sticks up well above the ground. The golf ball actually obstructs the view of the first couple of inches of the line from behind.
I always notice on my perfect putting days (the ones when I make everything under ten feet and under), I have no problem at all finding the right line. It just jumps out at me. On the other days, I seem to have to look a little harder for it. But the one thing you must always do is be confident in the line you pick, even if you don't seem to see it very clearly.
I think ideas like "visualization" do nothing but complicate putting and take your focus off of where it should be when preparing to putt. Putting really is a simple as you care to make it.
I would love to show you the easiest way to putt.
Let me show you now.
