The game of golf can be very rewarding to learn and play. There are many aspects to the game and putting has often been said to be a seperate game altogether.
Learning how to putt can be quite a challenge. Some people pick it up quickly and become good but often they encounter difficulties down the road and develop the dreaded putting yips.Here are some tips to help you become a good putter and stay that way.

Putt To Make It:
Many golfers on long putts try to just get the ball close to the hole. They often will aim for a 3 foot circle.The problem with this strategy is that you are just increasining your margin for error. A better approach would be always putt to make it. This means every that on every putt your goal is to make the putt.
This does not mean you have to hit the putt hard in order to make sure you get it to the hole. Instead think of making every putt by seeing the ball dying into the hole on the last rotation. This way your misses will be much closer.

Trust Your First Impression:

When you are reading greens it can very easy to get overwhelmed and start doubting how the the putt will break. When you first approach a green take a bit of time to look at the putt from a few different angles. After that simply come up with a good solid first impression and stick to that.

It is very important to be decisive on your putts. You must trust the read you make and believe the ball will go into the hole. This does not mean you will make every putt. Your goal is to give every putt the best chance of going in the hole and this way of thinking will allow you to do that. Rember that even the best professionals misread greens so when you do misread a few putts just forget about them and believe your next read will be accurate.

Focus On Your Successful Putts:

If you play a lot of golf then you will inevitably miss a lot of putts. It can become very easy to dwell on these misses. However there is no doubt that you have made a fair number of putts too and some of them have probably been quite spectacular. Be sure to celebrate all the great putts you have made. This will ingrain into your mind the good putts you have made and will help you to build your putting confidence.
Be sure to remind yourself of some of the greatest putts you have ever made. One good thing to do is each day before you go to bed think about the top 3 putts you have ever made. Replay them in your mind as vividly as you can and really experience the joy nad satisfaction that making those putts gave you. Never suppress your emotions on successful putts, of course do not brag too much either, instead celebrate internally so you do not appear rude to you playing partners.

Do Not Think To Much

It is easy when you are about to hit your putts to start thinking about all sorts of things. Make sure that when you are about to hit your putts you are focused on your target. So make sure to pick out your target like a blade of grass on the edge of the hole or somewhere to the right or left of the hole if you expect the putt to break. Also make sure your target is something small.

Do not think about putting mechanics or how you made the last putt or about how the putt will break as you about to hit the putt. Just focus on the target and let your mind and body strike the putt in the most accurate manner that will allow the putt to go to the hole with the right direction and speed. Use some these tips to help you make more putts

If you watch amateurs try this shot they have a lot of movement in their lower body during the backswing, and tend to use only hands and arms on the downswing. This results in fat, bladed, or low driving shots with poor outcomes. Consequently many amateurs don’t practice the short pitch shot, it’s no fun practicing shots that consistently have poor results. Does this sound familiar?

THE SECRET LIES IN TURNING THROUGH THE SHOT. Most amateurs tend to use mainly arms and hands, if they do use their lower body it’s generally to late during the downswing. Here’s the drill: Select a shot of about 20 yards that needs to be lofted in the air and land softly. Pick your wedge with the most loft, 60 degree if you have one. Set up with a slightly open stance, along with an open club face, and play the ball back in your stance. Place slightly more weight on your front foot (left foot for a right handed player and right foot for a left handed player). Now start the backswing by moving the arms and shoulders only restrict all movement with the hips and legs. Turn until your arms are at the 9 o’clock position and the club pointing to 12 0’clock and stop. At this point simply turn your hips and legs toward your target and let your hands and arms follow. Be sure not to throw your hands or arms at the ball. Just turn the legs and hips, the hands will follow.

This may be difficult at first, especially from the stopped position. But once you begin to turn your lower body through the shot properly the ball will pop in the air with very little effort. You will be amazed how easy this is to execute with proper technique.

Next time you see a good player hit a short pitch, pay attention to how little movement there is in the lower body during the backswing. Then watch how they rotate the hips and legs through the shot before the hands and arms. Notice how the rotation of the lower body pulls the arms and hands through the shot, resulting in high, lofted, soft shots.

Learn to hit this shot, you will lower your scores, win more money, and have more fun with the game.

By: Caddyguy

The best way to approach this is to forget that you need to fix a slice. Instead, focus on playing a draw. There are just a few factors that create a draw. From a physics standpoint a draw occurs when the clubface is slightly closed relative to the path of the clubhead.
Grip
Let’s start with your grip. The left hand should be on top of the shaft with at least two knuckles, (preferably three) showing. Then fit your right hand to the left with the thumb of your left hand resting comfortably in the palm of your right hand.

When you are trying to fix a slice and learning to play a draw this will not feel natural. So, practice taking this grip over and over away from the driving range and golf course. You can do this with a club while you are watching TV. Do it at least thirty times a day every day for a month. Make it feel natural. If your grip reverts to its old form on the course you won’t be able to start playing the draw you desire.

Setup
Make certain that you set up with your feet, hips and most importantly shoulders closed to the target line. Your left shoulder should feel like it is in front of the right shoulder. If your right shoulder is in front you will not fix your slice and you definitely won’t start playing a draw. Again, practice this at home, in front of a mirror. Do it over and over until it feels natural so that you won’t revert to your slice address position.

Swing
Finally, you need to swing the clubhead to the ball from just inside the target line.
There are two major swing flaws that tend to happen with slicers. First, you have been told that the swing should be from the inside to out. So from the top of your backswing you throw your hands out at the ball. The problem is when your hands travel out to the ball so does the clubhead and you end up swinging across the ball and produce yet another slice. The clubhead is what must swing from inside to out, not your hands. To do this your hands actually have to stay close to your body, closer than you think. From this position with your hands the club can be swung out to the ball. Watch the tour pros on TV when they show slow motion swings. You will be amazed at how close their hands are to their bodies. Jim Furyk is a great one to watch for this.

The second major swing flaw a slice has is that they move their bodies too far forward in the downswing. This is usually just the result of swinging too hard. When your body center moves forward it becomes impossible to swing your arms quickly enough to catch up and square the clubface. As a result, you slice the ball.

To fix the slice swing problems, start practicing this with a short iron off of a tee. Actually, tee the ball up higher than you think you should. This will give you the confidence to work the club from inside the ball and draw it back. Swing easy, you will be amazed how far you hit it. Try and quiet down your lower body and swing your arms more. You can do this by hitting balls while standing with your feet together touching each other. Once you get the feel of your arms swinging past your swing center and the clubhead releasing through impact you will be drawing the ball in no time.

By: Bob Charles

The first part of your golf swing is the mental part. Many would say that this is where most games are won and lost on the golf course. For the starter golfer you never want to look stupid on the first tee when you thwack your ball into the trees or the nearest lake. You need to blank out all thoughts and surroundings when addressing the golf ball and just think about where you plan the ball to go. Do not give any thought time to how you will feel if you miss. Just focus on your shot.

One of the pressurizing aspects of taking a golf shot is that you are always being watched. You have your opponents and maybe the following group watching your every move. You must ignore all of this outside attention and just work through your shot. Make it clear what you are going to do and then do it.

Because you are a beginner it will not always work but that is not the issue. If you are in charge mentally then you will eventually get more right than you will wrong.

Controlling Your Swing Speed for More Accuracy

This is the single simple most important golf tip that you can adopt to improve you accuracy and distance. Control your golf club. If you are swinging your golf club so fast that it is not under full control then you will never get the distance you need. Swing your club as fast as you can while still being in control of the moment of contact. By slowing your club down by up to 30% speed you will actually increase your distance. This is as a result of better contact with the sweet spot of the golf club face.

Whether you are a hooker or a swinger of the golf ball this slowing down of the golf club will ensure better distance and very quickly reduce your banana golf shots. Your swing technique will improve as you take control of the pace of your golf swing.

Another mistake with the speed of your swing is to try and speed up in the last 18 inches before contact with the golf ball. By doing this you will again lose the straight shooting you are looking for. You must make your swing smooth on the backswing and smooth and controlled on the downswing. The club head will naturally gain momentum on the way down. There is no need to force it.

Once you know you have control of the clubhead then you can consider trying to add more speed to your swing. But do not think about the speed when you are hitting the ball. Think about being in control of your swing