We're back to putting again. We feel that strongly about it. The average golfer could easily make up 10 strokes a ROUND by putting properly. And it is much easier to practice putting then driving or fairway shots in your house or yard!

The game of golf should be learned from green back to tee. That means putting, chipping, fairway shots, and THEN drives. Remember, most shots in a round are from around green!!!!

The average golfer's tendency, when putting, is to use too much of their wrists and arms, thus breaking down their wrists through putt. No! No!! NO!!!! DO NOT BREAK YOUR WRISTS!! First it hurts (ok, couldn't resist), second, you LOSE CONTROL!!!

To become a great putter, perfect combination of shoulders and arms should be used throughout putt. Any wrist action involved is through motion of weight of putter.

During your putt, concentrate on your shoulders really putting stroke. On backswing, your left shoulder moves down and your right shoulder moves up, focusing on your shoulders becoming synchronized. Your left wrist should stay nice and firm throughout.

In order to set up putting grip, first place grip in palm of your left hand, and your entire hand around grip. Place your right hand underneath your left, in a similar palm grip. Overlap your right hand with your left index finger.

Your palms should be opposite to one another, for a nice locked-in feeling. When setting up to address ball, make sure your eyes are over ball, specifically your left eye (if you are a right hand golfer).

Bend your knees slightly, and hang your arms over ball.

Shift your weight slightly forward on your left foot, favoring left side of your body. Your hands should also be slightly forward in your stance.

The rule of thumb when judging a break, and size of break, is to use plumb bobbing. Yes, that's a real word ( or words!)

First, you need to find your dominant eye. Make a circle with your thumb and forefinger, and with both eyes open, place an object in middle (i.e. a lamp, a flag, a picture, etc). Now alternately close left eye, and right. Whichever eye "keeps" object in middle is your dominant eye.

Now, take this to golf course. Line up your putter, hanging freely, behind your ball so that it matches up with flag pin. With your dominant eye open, you will see that ball is to left, right, or straight on. Straight on, no break. If to left, putt will generally break right to left. Conversely, it will break left to right if pin is to right. The distance between ball and pin/hole is GENERALLY amount of break.

This is not an exact science, but it will help you immensely if you can't read greens at all (like me).

A handy little gadget to practice your putting when you are not on course is a homemade putting tool. Rather than explain in detail, click here to see how $5.00 in hardware store parts will greatly enhance your putting, and how you can use it anywhere!!. It's a GREAT tool. (I would actually give it to you, but my purchase does not allow for free distribution. I believe it sells for $3 or $4.00

EYES WIDE SHUT

An great way in which to perfect your putting stroke is to practice with your eyes shut. This drill will shift your attention away from mechanics of stroke and force you to concentrate on feel. The urge to lift your head too soon to see where ball is going will vanish. The net result will be less anxiety on putts of all distances.

Practice this drill:

Hit a series of 10-foot putts with your eyes closed. Make sure you are settled in correctly. Then, simply concentrate on hitting putt solidly with an accelerating motion on forward stroke, utilizing an ultra-smooth stroke (see tip below on how to get that!)

Remember, goal is to two putt. One putting is icing on cake. Always think of a two foot perimeter around hole. If you are 15 feet or further away, try to sink in one, but ultimately, best course of action for a weekend golfer is to shoot within that two foot perimeter.

The secrets to judging speed and break