Chad Phillips on "Putting to the Picture" (Video)

GCA coach Chad Phillips did this tip Friday about "putting to the picture" the way Tiger says he does.



The drill is simple enough. You make practice putts -- not hitting the ball, just making a stroke -- while looking at the hole and imagining how it will feel, as well as how far the ball will roll. Then you actually hit the ball, while looking at it, and try to duplicate the stroke you "saw" in your mind with the practice putts.

He then suggests repeating the practice putts while looking at the hole, and then actually hitting the putt while looking at the hole. My experience has been that, if you putt while looking at the hole, you will push your putts. If you want to strike the ball while looking at the hole, you will probably need to position the ball just a bit farther forward in your stance. (Maybe an inch forward, but that's about all. Looking at the hole changes your shoulder angles just enough to effect your stroke.) Otherwise you probably won't get the results you expect.

With that small caveat in mind, I think this is a great drill to help your putting. It gets you thinking more about the feel of the putt than about the mechanics, and that's a good thing because your stroke will be more relaxed and natural... and more repeatable.