Tom’s Featured Tip: Toe-Up Putter and Emotions

For those of you that have been following my quest for a toe up putter that fits my eye and my style, I purchased a duplicate of my favorite two ball putter off of Ebay. Then I sent it to Mark Bernhadt at Positiveputter.com to have him convert it to a positive balanced putter.

Here’s a picture of my old putter on the left below, and the converted putter on the right.

Here’s an image of how they balance when laid across a bench, the positive putter is balancing toe up, my old putter is balancing face up.

I’ve had it play for two rounds and I’m liking the feel, it definitely starts the ball off on my intended aimline very consistently. I rolled in three birdies the first time I put it in play, and one birdie the second time. I was, however, leaving some long putts short of the hole more often than I normally do, so some practice time is in order.

Visually it’s taken some getting used to because it looks very different at setup, but I think it’s a keeper.

I’ll keep you posted.

Today’s tip is short but sweet, and if you follow the advice your game as well as your attitude will improve.

Players at every level hit their share of bad shots and good shots, but you rarely if ever see a pro throw a club after a bad shot.

Amateurs, on the other hand, may let a club fly every now and then after a bad shot.

So on the one hand, the more emotional we are the more it gets rooted into our memory, and on the other hand it’s not healthy to stifle your emotions.

So what should you do after a bad shot?

Let’s talk about what to do after a good shot first.

When you hit a good to excellent shot, don’t be shy about congratulating yourself. It doesn’t need to be externally expressed, but you should definitely say something like this to yourself ” man I hit that pure” or ” that was a great shot”. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with patting yourself on the back after a good shot.

Most average players are quick to criticize themselves after a bad shot, and rarely compliment themselves after a good shot. Switch that around and you’ll be better off for it.

So how should you react after a bad to really bad shot?

Don’t suppress your anger, but don’t go off the deep end either. Some self criticism may be in order, but don’t dwell on it.

When I coached college golf, I told my team that they had ten seconds or ten paces – whichever expired first – to dissipate their anger, then it was back to business. “Dissipate their anger” meant that they could act out a little bit or express their anger verbally, but not to the point where it caused a distraction to their playing partners. Also, no “F” bombs were allowed (that rule was broken a few times).

Ten Seconds or Ten Paces. Express it then forget it.

Try it, you’ll like it.

Comments: ttucker @ rochester.rr.com

Love your practice, own your swing, own your health,

Tom