Yourcaddy #3 | Page 69

HOLING OUT... Peter Dawson is the only Master Professional in the UK to have played in the Ryder & World Cup. As a coach he has led the Danish, Swiss and Moroccan National teams which included players such as Thomas Bjorn and Anders Hansen YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BREAK YOUR BACK PRACTICING BUT WE SHOULD TRY TO MAKE IT INTERESTING AND ENJOYABLE. You often see the golfer practicing his putting just aimlessly wandering about the green with one or two balls stroking the ball towards a hole, in other words he is just filling in time!  Before we go onto the golf course a little practice on the putting green is essential to get the speed and feel of the greens, but to properly practice you need a structure. Fig 1 you can see the player with 6 tees in a line. Start at the nearest to the hole 2ft from the hole and space the tees out 1 foot after that. If/ when you miss one you start all over again, do not move on until you have holed every one of them. This is not only practicing your technique but your mental powers / concentration. Knowing you have successfully holed the previous 4/5 putts you put pressure on your self as you do when wanting to hole that 4 footer on the 18th to win the money. Fig 2 is along the same lines, distance is your choice, space the balls around the hole and continue as with the balls in a straight line (Fig1). It is unusual to find a part of the green flat so this exercise you are moving a little more and changing your alignment. Fig. 1 Fig. 2 Fig 3 you can see two tee pegs, the width of the putter placed on the line to the hole some 3 fAeet in front of the address. These two tees act as a gate for the ball to travel through, an instant feed back if we cannot get the ball through the gate there is little chance to hole the putt. There is no need to practice for hours on end, that is the privilege of the pros but if we can try to make our practice different more productive scores will come down we will enjoy our golf that little bit more!    Fig. 3 ISSUE 03 | YOURCADDY 69