Do You Tense Up on The Greens?
Many golfers share a similar putting problem:
They putt with ease on the practice green but find it difficult to putt effortlessly during rounds.
Confident putting is essential to your overall golf game especially since approximately 40% of your total number of strokes happen on the putting green.
Having no confidence in your putting game puts tremendous pressure on you as you stand over your tee shot…
On a par 5, you try to muscle the ball on your drive, second shot and approach in order to place the ball as close as possible to the hole…
Why would your performance change from practice to tournament play?
Why do some golfers tense up on the greens?
If you think about it, there are many constants in both practice and tournaments… you are using the same ball and putter, often on the same courses.
The biggest factor that changes in your putting is your mindset….
On the practice greens, you are just trying to sink putts but during tournaments, you become so focused on the outcome of your shots and the fear of missing.
Fear is the culprit that negatively alters your game from practice to tournament play.
The “fear mindset” is a confidence crusher.
Fear causes golfers not only to dwell on negative outcomes, but to expect negative results.
Instead of thinking about sinking a long putt, “panicked putters” try to avoid double-bogeying or three-putting.
Let me use an analogy of a more self-enhancing or positive mindset… Think of a kid who goes miniature golfing… He’s excited to navigate all the obstacles, banks, curves and hills…
He sees the miniature golf course as a challenge. He is never frozen over a putt fearing not being able to time the ball through the windmill or between the pirate’s legs…
No matter the result of the last hole, he runs to the next hole to see the layout of the current challenge. If the hole is more difficult, the young miniature golfer thinks “all the better.”
These young golfers stay consistent in their mindset during a round of miniature golf. These little putters look at the target, quickly plan their attack, stand over the ball, aim and shoot.
If you can adopt the “miniature golfer mentality” where you view putting with the excitement of beating a challenge, you will be more confident in your putting game.
After all, this is similar to your mentality on the practice greens where you are merely immersed in sinking putts.
Tips to develop a one-putt mindset:
As Greg Norman said, you never want to entertain the thought of a second putt. This one putt in front of you is your last! That’s a one-putt mindset.
Feel and envision the ball tracking on your line into the hole. Refocus when you get ahead of yourself and think about the come-back putt.
Related Golf Psychology Articles
- How to Stop the Yips Cycle Before it Starts
- The Role of the Mind in the Golf Yips
- How Danielle Kang Overcame the Yips
Anti-Yips Putting Drills
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