PRACTICE YOUR PUTTING STROKE

The most important aspect of your putting stroke is keeping the putter square on the back swing as well as the forward swing. Putting a ball under a taut string that is set up between sticks on a practice green is ideal. Tough to do over the winter. You can still work on this skill if you practice your putting stroke without a ball, along the seam in a tile floor or along the parallel lines of a hardwood floor. Work on keeping the putter square on the line designated by the mark on your putter. If you have a relatively short pile carpet in one of your rooms, you can practice putting a ball into a glass or a ball return device. Focus on the stroke, not the speed because the speed of your carpet will probably not match the speed of next years greens. If you live in an older house, you may have to learn to play the "break of the living room".

You can even make a game of it with your friends. First you need one of those plastic putting aid type holes, or anything that can be used for a target. Mark 5 balls with numbers 1 through 5. Then mark your carpet with corresponding numbers. (A piece of masking tape works well.) The #1 mark should be about 2 feet away from the hole, #2 about 4 feet and so on. Position the numbered balls on their corresponding floor marks and putt them in. For every putt you make you get the corresponding number of points. (1 point for #1 ball, 2 points for #2 etc. With # 5 being the hardest and longest putt.) The person who gets the most points wins. Don't forget, when over the ball,  "track" your eyes down the line of the putt and back. Try to do this at the same speed you think the putt will roll. Then, as soon as your eyes return to the ball after your last look down the line, go without hesitation. Don't even think, just putt. With your last look, try to memorize the location of the hole, or a spot to the side of the hole to which you will aim in allowance for the break.