“Half Of Golf Is Fun…”
By Jordan Cooper
“…The other half is putting.”
These are the words of famed golf journalist Peter Dobereiner. Very recently, one of my students came in for a lesson and informed me that he had broken 90 for the first time. He was, of course, very excited to see his scores reflecting the hard work he has put into his swing the past few months. During our discussion of the round, he informed me that he had five three-putts! Five! His 90 should have easily been an 85. It always amazes me how much the average golfer complains about their putting, yet how little time they are willing to spend working on it. 40% of your strokes are taken on the green, yet most students rarely even spend 10% of their practice time putting. Whenever I begin working with a student, I ask them how many putts per round they average. The typical answer of an 18-24 handicapper is about 36 putts per round. The “worst” putter on the PGA Tour averages 30.74 putts per round (sorry Tom Lehman). One of the easiest ways to quickly see your scores improve is to take a putting lesson. There are a couple things that a golfer should factor in when determining where to take putting lessons. First, find an instructor who works both indoors and outdoors. Working on a combination of indoor instruction on mechanics with video reinforcement and outdoor instruction on green reading and course management is vital to a well-rounded putting game. Also, make sure the instructor has a proven track record. Do his/her students get better? Finally, once you have decided to get help, stick with it! Take the tips and drills that your instructor gives you and use them. Trust the advice of your instructor and disregard the advice of everyone else. If you truly want to see your scores drop, spend 20% of your practice time on your full swing, 30% of your time on chipping, pitching, and bunkers, and 50% of your practice time putting. Put in the extra effort and half of golf will be fun, the other half will be…winning.
Jordan Cooper is a PGA Apprentice Teaching Professional and Club Fitter for GolfTEC in Bellevue, WA. He can be reached at 425.454.7956 or visit www.golftec.com/seattle for more information.
