6 Steps To Better Putting

gest problem in putting is not the breaks in the green or5 Steps to Better Putting:
the distance from the hole, it is your mind.1. Judge the distance between the ball and the hole.
The solution to better putting is not in focus or2. Bend down to look for breaks in the green and hills
concentration; it's in your ability to "let go" of needing toor slopes toward the hole. Just allow your eyes to
sink that putt.pass over the green without judgment. It is what it is.
The Letting Go Solution:3. Step up to the ball, practice swing your putter until
In a sparring situation a highly trained martial artist willyour body tells you the speed you need to strike the
strategize the best way to get in on an opponent, notball; until it just feels right. Trust it.
unlike a golf player setting up for a good approach to4. Release your mind from the process by taking a
the green. But when the time comes to strike, thatdeep breath.
martial artist lets go of thought and allows her skill,5. Take one last look toward the hole and putt away.
ingrained in her body over years of training, to take6. Whether your ball goes in or not, maintain the
over.meditation as long as you can. This gives your body a
How does this help on the putting green?chance to learn from the putt. Too often we get
All modern martial arts derived from Shaolin Kung fu.excited either that the ball is going into the hole or it is
Shaolin Kung Fu was designed simply as a tool tonot and our body and mind tense and impede sensory
strengthen the body and use it as a tool to train thelearning from that putt.
mind to live in this moment right now. Shaolin Kung FuWill you sink every putt? Not likely. But this process will
moves are a meditation-in-motion.make you a better putter. The most difficult thing is to
Better Putting as a meditation-in-motion:release your mind from the outcome. When you do
When standing in front of a putt, stop thinking and trustyour natural bodily intelligence with adjust accordingly
in your body's natural intelligence. Empty you mind ofand set you up to sink the next putt.
the last hole, the shots leading up to this putt, yourPutting is more sensory, tactile, than any other stroke in
scorecard, and most importantly release your mindgolf. It requires pin-point accuracy where the slightest
from the want to sink that putt.miscue in stroke can send the ball awry.
When your mind takes over it puts stress on the bodyWhen the mind puts stress on the body--to make the
and tension ensues. When putting you want to haveputt--the body tenses and does not get an accurate
good form but also a natural fluidity of movement. Notfeel of what went wrong, or right, and does not learn.
sharp, sporadic strokes that stress can cause.