It takes a reasonable amount of physical skill to propel a golf ball 300 yards or more. Not very many average weekend golfers have that kind of skill. But it takes even more skill to take basically the same mindset you have with the driver in your hand and slow it down to control a three foot putt.
But, you say, a three foot putt is much easier to hit than a 300 yard drive. It can't possibly be harder than hitting a driver.
The difference is simple. When you are swinging a driver, the forces of momentum assist at first, and then take over the swing entirely. At the moment of impact you have no control whatsoever over the swing you have initiated.
In the long game, you must be in the right position when you do finally lose control. The longer you can maintain control before momentum takes over, the better a player you will become.
In short putting, you don't have the momentum to help you. You stay in control the whole way. And to compound the matter, you don't have 40 yards of fairway or 5,000 square feet of green to be successful in hitting. You have 4.25 inches of hole.
Putting ain't golf in slow motion. You don't have the luxury of momentum to keep you from yanking the clubhead off line on the down stroke. The only way to putt successfully for the average guy is to forget about the technical aspect of the stroke and treat putting like any other game where the object is to hit a specific target as opposed to a general area.
Golf and short putting are so different they shouldn't even be a part of the same game. If Ben Hogan had his way you wouldn't have to putt at all. If the greatest ball striker that ever lived couldn't putt, how different must the two really be?
Let me show you a better way to putt