Many people have come to me for help with their putting. To putt well you need to master four things: 1 Set-up, 2 path and clubface, 3 rhythm and tempo, and 4 mental focus. Over the years I have had to continually work on all four of these skills sets to improve my putting. When I had the yips in college and also when I fist turned pro (yes I had them twice), my mental focus was the issue. I had to change what success meant, and in college, that was a smooth stroke where the ball rolled nicely. At least the ball now had a chance to go in the hole. Then I had to work on my path because I was cutting my putts. I remember hitting 50 putts every night in a track to get my stroke more straight back and straight through. My first year on Tour, I struggled with the speed of the greens, and finally realized that I was decelerating with my putter. I shortened my backstroke, and worked on my rhythm and tempo to be able to putt Tour speed greens more aggressively. Lastly I had to keep an eye on repeating a consistent set-up. In 1990 my dad and I worked on maintaining the fundamentals of a solid set-up, and I led the Tour in putting. I’ve pretty much been a good putter ever since. If you are struggling with your putting, identify one skill set that you think would help your putting the most, and work on that.
About Larry
Since 2015, Former PGA Tour Player, Larry Rinker, has been the Director of Instruction at The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, Orlando at Grande Lakes. Larry offers everything from 1-2-3 hour golf lessons to 1-2-3 day golf schools. For more information on Larry Rinker’s programs and rates click on Golf Instruction.