Dropping bombs
Rolling golf balls bores golfers. They’d rather see their balls flying down range and imagine themselves guiding their projectiles with the skill and precision of a highly trained military pilot flying his F-16, releasing a bomb and destroying some portion of southwest Asia. Few golfers can achieve such control, which is a good thing for players who can tamp down their ego, forgo the fleeting glory of the driving range and stand on the practice green rolling balls short distances.
Mentally adjust
A golfer setting off to become a good putter must fix in his mind that the golfer who wins is the golfer who gets his ball in the hole with the most efficiency. Golf played well appears dull. Very little seems to happen when a player is at his best, making an entire round look routine, and it should be your goal to become the most boring golfer you can be. With this mental adjustment completed, putting practice will become the most enjoyable part of your golf game.
Mind numbing
A lot of putting practice centers around methods for putting pressure on yourself. Putting is a mental exercise. It tests your ability to control your mind and keep it from ruining your body’s ability to swing the putter in a manner that will roll the ball into the hole. That’s not to say that physical ability plays no role in putting, but once you have attained a comfortable, effective grip and combined it with a good, comfortable stance and then developed a motion that you can repeat time and again, numbing your mind becomes the primary goal. Fortunately, putting drills tend to be extraordinarily mind numbing.
Make plans, add pressure
Set a marker down two feet from the hole. Get five golf balls. Set them next to the marker. Now start holing balls from the same spot and don’t stop until you’ve holed 200 without a miss. Don’t let yourself go to the range, go home or go to the clubhouse until you have holed 200 two-foot putts. If you miss, especially if it’s the 200th ball, start again. You will begin to feel a little pressure as your streak continues, especially if you’ve got plans for later.
Confidence shattering
As you improve and your mind’s numbness increases, move further from the hole, and once you have completed three or four sessions you’ll be ready to make your friends suffer, which is the payoff for the hours you’ve put in on the practice green. Few things demoralize opponents like a guy who rolls in every four-foot putt he sees. Your good putting shatters their confidence, and by the sixth hole or so they lose all hope.
Boredom envy
Perhaps it seems too simple, but making hundreds of short putts in a row will save strokes and demoralize your friends, and that’s what golf practice is all about. Your numb mind will be impervious to distraction and pressure. You’ll find yourself hoping to face a five-footer for all the money. Your game’s mystique will grow, and your friends will envy the boredom it inspires. And, as if that’s not enough, you’ll be the one winning the wagers and pocketing the money.