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Make Putting More Enjoyable. By a Former Hater of Putting

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Ways to Make Putting Enjoyable

It’s one of the things we practice the least.  And one of the biggest impacts to a golf game if done well.

Ask the Open Champion, Zach Johnson, how important putting was during that four-hole playoff.  Better yet, ask the two guys that didn’t win.  Mark Leishman three-putted his way out of contention and Louis Oosthuizen missed putts on 17 and 18 that would have extended the playoff.

Or you can ask me.  Two rounds ago I could have carded a relatively satisfying 84.  But due to five (FIVE!) three-putts, it turned into an aggravating 89.  By simply turning those three-putts into ho-hum two-putts, I could have shaved five strokes off my score.

Not to mention my two brothers won’t shut up about it.

Following that woeful performance with the flat-stick, I set out to find some of the top putting products and training aids on the market.

A Musician Never Blames His Instrument

The first thing I did, naturally, was blame the putter itself.  But, I love my putter.  That meant the grip was clearly the problem.  Okay, probably not, but I couldn’t just blame myself!

In all seriousness, I knew part of my putting issue was because I was squeezing the club a bit.  So going into my grip search, my only requirement was that it be oversized.  The problem was after testing a few of the Super Strokes and Winn grips, I couldn’t get over the feeling that I was putting with a Pringles can or an empty paper towel tube in my hands.  I just couldn’t get comfortable with any of them.

The Forward Golf Putter Grip

Then I came across a putter grip from a company called Forward Golf.  Forward Golf has designed an oversized putter grip that simply fits in your hands more naturally than other oversized grips.

Tupper Putter Grip Review Golficity

The grip is in a kind of rounded V-shape, naturally placing your thumbs on the front of the grip and aligning your hands properly.  This shape promotes a proper putting set-up by creating a natural triangle from your shoulders through your arms and to your hands.  It makes it very obvious if you are twisting or flipping your wrists while you putt.  Simply put, the Forward Golf grip gives me that “feel” I’ve been looking for while keeping my hands nice and relaxed.

And wouldn’t you know it, my first round with the new Forward Golf grip resulted in zero (ZERO!) three-putts.

Talkin’ ‘Bout Practice

We all know we* should spend more time on the practice green.  We also know how boring it is, even if we can conjure up some kind of game to make it a little more interesting.

*By “we” I mostly mean “I.”

The majority of my time spent on the practice green is either because there is no range at the course or there isn’t enough time to hit a warm-up bucket before a round.

“No range?  Guess I’ll roll some balls on the green for a while…”

Five minutes later I’m bored and hate everything.

Ladies and gentlemen, our long, monotonous nightmare is over.  For I have discovered two training aids that will hold your attention and, more importantly, provide instant feedback to your putting.

The Train Your Aim Putting Aid

When I received the Train Your Aim in the mail, I must admit I was underwhelmed by its design.  This T-shaped piece of plastic is going to help me improve my putting?

Train Your Aim Putting Aid Review 1

Sometimes there can be such beauty in simplicity.

As I soon as I set-up behind a golf ball with the Train Your Aim clicked onto the shaft of my putter, it became perfectly clear that this T-shaped piece of plastic was going to help me improve my putting.

“Shut up,” I incredulously whispered to myself as golf ball after golf ball I struck travelled on the exact line I had intended.

This beautifully simple device was doing quite a few things for me.  First, it was giving me a perfect visual to set-up properly to the ball by aligning myself with the arrow bar.  Second, it was clearly showing me where the ball would go if I struck it with a square club face.  And, of course, when I would putt with it attached, it was giving me a constant visual of what my club face was doing.

Train Your Aim Putting Aid Review 2

The Train Your Aid also kept me on the practice green, focused and purposeful, for a good half-hour.  My putting practice became much more deliberate using the Train Your Aim.  I was still putting five balls at a time as I usually do, but with the aid attached; I was much more focused on my set-up and putting stroke with each ball.

One last thing it was doing took me a while to realize.  In fact, it didn’t occur to me until after I took the Train Your Aim off the putter.  Now, putting golf balls without the aid, I had a much better awareness of the club staying square (or not) and where on the club face I was striking the golf ball.

In other words, this sneaky, little T-shaped bastard was teaching me feel.

Needless to say, the Train Your Aim has become a permanent fixture of any trip I take to the range as well as my pre-round routine.  No range?  I’ll be on the practice green if you need me!

The Pill

It’s fitting that this ingenious product comes as a set of three.  The reason being is it’s nearly impossible to use them without someone noticing and wanting a crack at one.  So as a word of advice, if you don’t like to share, I would avoid using these around others.

The Pill Putting Training Aid Review 1

So what is a Pill?  It’s just like a golf ball in that it looks and feels like a golf ball, but with two flat sides, making it look like a tire, or, you know, a pill.

They’re also fun as hell….oh, and they’ll make you a better putter, too.  BONUS!

A video posted by Kris McEwen (@krismcewen) on


Actually, you can do a lot of things with a Pill, and I encourage everyone to check out all of the videos at ThePillGolf.com, but for this review, I’m going to focus on the putting aspects of it only.

When putting a Pill, there is one, simple rule: if it wobbles, you’re doing it wrong.  That’s really the gist of it.  It may sound easy, but I can assure you, it is not easy.

What the Pill trains you to do is strike the ball square with the center of the putter face.  It is designed to exaggerate mishits, giving immediate feedback on your putting stroke.

Working with a single Pill is fun and it didn’t take long for me to start really challenging myself.  I started putting each Pill from about three feet away.  Once I consistently got rid of the wobble, I started backing up roughly three feet at a time.  I wouldn’t move back until the wobble was gone again. I could obviously do this same drill with an ordinary golf ball, but the Pill does such a better job of holding my attention, my concentration level, and telling me exactly what I was doing wrong.

The Pill Putting Training Aid Review 2

At about fifteen feet The Pill started drawing a crowd.  It started out innocent enough.  On my first attempt from fifteen feet, I rolled The Pill a few feet past the hole.  Another golfer on the practice green was walking by and saw it fall over on its side (yes, it was wobbling the entire way).  He stopped dead in his tracks, did a double-take, and then looked at me with an expression on his face that essentially said, “Did your golf ball just fall over?”  I just smiled back and rolled another Pill his way so he could see it in action.  At that point, he couldn’t help himself and picked one up for closer examination.  He had to try it.  Then he had to call his three playing partners over to try it.  Before long we were basically having a Pill putting competition with my new pals giving each other a hard time whenever an attempt would wobble and fall over short of the hole.

Then I showed the guys the “Two Pill Drill” and things got real.

A video posted by Kris McEwen (@krismcewen) on


The Two Pill Drill is simply putting with two Pills, side-by-side, at the same time.  The goal is to have both Pills travel at roughly the same speed.  This drill will tell you immediately if you are leaving the face of the putter open or closed on impact.  A closed face will send the outside pill well ahead of the inside one, while an open face will send the inside pill ahead of the other.  As one friend said, “It really makes you focus and concentrate on what you’re doing with each putt.”

We* are all guilty of dropping a few balls down on the green and mindlessly putting until it’s time to head out onto the course. That sort of practice isn’t making us better at putting.

*By “we” I again mostly mean “I.”

The Pill changes that.  Now I make sure I build enough time at the range or prior to a round to work with them.  And the result of that work is definitely showing up on the course.  Along with the number of friends I’ve been making on the practice green.


 

Kris became obsessed with the game of golf after deciding to finally hang up his baseball cleats about four years ago. Still learning the game, he’s leaned on much of the on-line golf community for help and loves to return the favor whenever possible. A contributor to several golf sites in the past, Kris writes from the perspective of your average golfer. One who has a passion for the game, but also has the typical restrictions of life and budget. He can be reached on Twitter at @krismcewen.

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