This past weekend Adam Scott won the EDS Byron Nelson Championship in extra holes by draining a 48 footer for birdie. It was an incredible shot, one of the best of the week. However, it is also completely illogical. How do you miss 12-15 footers all day and then drop a interstate bomb?

There are many ways to read a putt. You can pick a line, aim for a point, find the apex, etc. Each method works as long as you accurately see the contours of the putting surface. Unfortunately, for most amateurs they never get to see if their read was correct because they do not put a good stroke on the ball.

The hole is approximately four and a quarter inches wide. It is a little wider than the width of your hand. That is pretty wide. So here is the current problem in mindsets for just about everyone not getting paid to play. The hole is fairly wide but the fixation during putting is on a point or a line. Essentially, the golfer takes a small target and makes it smaller.

It all comes down to the visualization of the putt. How wide is the line or how big is the point you aim for before you commit to the swing. Chances are the putt you are about hit has been made more difficult due to the restriction placed on the desired path. Next time you putt, allow for a little more room for error. If you focus on a line to the hole, imagine the line is 4.25 inches wide. That is probably a nice big boulevard compared to the razor line you normally visualize. This will relax your stroke preventing pushes or shorts.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 29th, 2008 at 1:53 pm and is filed under Golf, Perception. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.