Review of the Train Your Aim putting aid by @protipsgolf
I’ve never been a big gadget guy – I use tour stix and chalk lines. Train your Aim works on the same principle as chalk lines but is much easier to set up. I recommend drawing a line on the ball even if you don’t normally.
I started as the easy to follow directions instructed – by hitting putts of 18 inches then moved to 3 feet then to 5. I stopped when I got to 8 feet. Obviously you can’t use this during play; the idea is to train or eyes to know what a perfect setup looks like.
Practice with this, start and end your pregame warmup with Train your Aim and you’ll be surprised at how many putts you make. Commit to an hour a week even if it’s at home on a rug. You will become a better putter. The plastic seems durable but I would like to see a pro version maybe made of aluminum and more adjustable so you can customize it for your putter.
Bottom line: for a price less than a sleeve of ProV1’s you can easily take 3 or 4 shots off your score. The Train your Aim will still be in your bag long after those 3 ProV1’s have moved on to their new home in the desert.
Log onto www.trainyouraim.com and order yours today!
After I posted that last video of my swing when I thought I had a real breakthrough, my swing coach, Jay Lim, left me some notes in the comments for things to work on. At first glance it seemed like a whole lot to think about and change and I felt a little overwhelmed. But when I started to implement it I realized it was pretty much all the same thing – setup. Nothing to feel deflated about. In fact, as soon as I took those ideas to the range and called Jay to clarify his meaning about tilt, it started working right away. In fact, it made the other things I was doing even easier to repeat. Brilliant. I continued practicing it throughout the week and, once again, was eager to go try it on a golf course.
On Friday afternoon I rushed to a local course and since I wanted a good chance of finishing my round before dark, I skipped my warm up. As a result, my first few holes were disastrous and it took a few more to really get the feel of my new swing anywhere near comfortable. (I also had some trouble holding onto the club – details at end of post if you’re interested – but as this is something I’m just going to have to deal with, it is not something that I will allow to account for a poor swing or score.) I played alone for the first 5 holes until another single jumped a foursome and joined me. My swing improved a bit but never really got in the groove. My new walking buddy was impressed but I felt down and frustrated as I posted my 102! (White tees, 6000 yards, ratings 75.6/132.) It’s the identical score to the last two times I played there earlier in the month. Where’s the improvement? Can’t even break 100? How long until 80 now???
Then I soothed my mind and body with a nice relaxing bubble bath and a couple giant martinis. I got my head right, found my smile and shook off any discouragement. I would play the next day and try again, but this time with the right kind of warm up for my swing and mental game. I decided to try the little executive course where I played my first 18 hole round when I took up golf. I figured it was a great place for me when I was just starting out and since I’m essentially doing that again, maybe I can recapture some of that mojo. I hadn’t been there in years. I was excited!
Getting Closer!
I stretched, hit a small bucket of balls and my swing was feeling good. Did a little chipping and some ninja putting drills and hit the course. I played the back tees, which are only 4961 yards (par 67, 68.4 CR/112 slope). I went to the first tee alone and could see the foursome approaching the green up ahead on this 293 yard par 4. My tee shot went straight up the middle and I waited in the fairway 70 yards from the flag while the 4 guys finished. I stuck the green and two putted from about 8 feet for a ho-hum par. That was the only green I hit on the front nine, but with 15 putts I salvaged a 41*, making me 6 over at the turn. A twosome joined me on the second hole and we ended up playing through those guys in front of us and joining another single on the back nine. On the back I had two doubles, 3 bogeys and finished with 4 pars, which felt great and totaled 40. I posted an 81. *After I got home I realized I had forgotten to give myself a penalty stroke for moving my ball off a tree root in an effort to save my wrist. I should have posted an 82.
If I had broken 80 that day, I would not have counted it as achieving my goal (though I would have awarded a prize to Billy D, who chose that date in my Break 80 pool). I want to achieve it from the white tees at a regular “grown up” course. However, my personal best score is an 82, the same I shot on Saturday, and it occurred to me  to look up the length and ratings on that course, since we played the red tees. Turns out it was only 4799 yards, par 71, 66.5/111 rating. I count that as my previous personal best! Should I? Should I reconsider allowing myself to feel like I accomplished this goal if I break 80 from the red tees? Does it matter? In golf, everything matters mentally, and you know I believe I can do whatever I think I can. The really good news is, I felt like I easily should have broken 80 on this course and shot my 82 with relative ease. Friday’s disaster and realization was merely the stumbling block I needed to make mental adjustments and try a different route. I am beyond encouraged. Nice try, Friday! (c:
Video Update
The video here includes a couple of my honey badger practice swings on the range on Thursday as well as my tee shots on the last two holes of this round (two of my pars – the par 3 17th (pitching wedge) and the par 4 18th). Sorry – it had a cool tune with it but was disabled for copyright snags. Maybe I can get Big Head Todd to approve it. Meanwhile, hope you enjoy the silent movie.
The details I promised about my grip
I think I have mentioned the aggravating pain in my hands and wrists that hasn’t really bothered me since I was a kid but has returned. It’s actually not always painful per se. Sometimes it’s just more of a discomfort with irritating spasms, locking up certain fingers and joints in odd positions and making it difficult to hold onto things. After the week of practice, my right hand was really getting frisky on Friday (in previous weeks it was more my left). My buddy Jay over at Jaysgolf.com has a better understanding of such challenges than I do and we joked together about the “death grip” we subsequently put on our golf clubs, tearing through gloves and creating callouses faster than rolling O’s.
I understand the more I keep exercising the joints in the manner that aggravates them, the less they will hurt over time. Kind of hard to believe the morning after I’ve played golf and I can’t even grip my toothbrush but golf is certainly better than no golf so you know I will find out if it’s true! Meanwhile, I’m primarily treating the pain by deciding not to feel it or care, along with over the counter and over the bar medicine, and trying to control the spasms with my ninja mind. I don’t have insurance.
I’m here at the Mesquite Amateur Golf Tournament this week and so far it’s been a blast. There are over 600 players in the tournament and the hotels are packed with golfers. Oh, and the casinos are as well. Go by the card tables and you’ll see an ocean of golf hats and various sporty apparel. It’s awesome. I’ve heard “Where you playin’ today?” and “Good luck out there” so many times I can’t count.
There are multiple men’s divisions – mostly by age group – and one women’s division with three flights. Obviously we’re playing on multiple courses (I think 8 in total but more on that later) and it’s just a golfer’s paradise. The event’s title sponsor is Golf Mesquite Nevada, who have been great hosts with all the wonderful side events. More on that later as well.
Here is Cody Law, Executive Director of Golf Mesquite Nevada and one of our hosts. He recently won a qualifier that will take him to play Carnoustie in November. Passionate about golf and Mesquite, a total professional who makes everyone feel welcome and important, and an absolute cutie pie who has only been playing golf for a few years – congratulations, Cody!
Today’s round
I’m in the Sorenstam flight in the women’s division and today we played at Casablanca Golf Club. I’ve played courses in Mesquite before but all the courses on my rotation are new to me, which is challenging and fun. Yesterday was a warm-up round and the tournament started today. I haven’t met anyone here I haven’t liked, and the ladies in my group today were no exception.
Sue, Patti and Brenda were a real pleasure to play with. Here they are on #? at Casablanca.
We were all pretty much evenly matched with our handicaps. Sue (left) is a __ year old grandmother who plays like nobody’s business. She was my cart partner and a real delight. Patti (middle) had an outstanding game and was a real power hitter. She had one drive that went nearly 300 yards and had a short game to go with it. This is my first Mesquite Am, and I hear they used to have a women’s long drive competition. She’d be a contender if not a shoo-in if they still had it, but I’ve heard they got rid of it after a trans-gender woman won it in the past. That’s not official, of course, but still – I think they should have it regardless. And if not, put something in it’s place like and extra closest-to-the-pin hole. I digress… Anyway, Brenda (right) was the only one of us who had ever played this event before – in fact I think she said she’d played it all 7 years it’s been happening. She was also a solid player and was invaluable for rules and procedures questions. None of the rest of us had been there before. All three of them outplayed me, which isn’t surprising considering I’ve only been playing once a month. Plus, I three-putted 16 holes (yes, for real) so I think I might sleep with my putter tonight even though my boyfriend just showed up and surprised me. Priorities.
Remember Neil? He is the friend I wrote about in an article for World Golf who has had the putting yips for years.
Neil has learned to live with his affliction and recently improved even more. I loaned him this book, which he says actually helped quite a bit. The biggest difference? He doesn’t care anymore. He always had a good attitude about it and handled some friendly ribbing from his golf buddies with grace. Now he just makes putts and doesn’t care how his stroke looks. Period. He doesn’t care.
He’ll ask his buddies on the putting green, “Do you want me to hook it or cut it?”
In this video, you’ll see his putting stroke in action from before the recent improvement. Keep in mind, this was taken on the practice green, where the putts don’t count. When we got out to the actual golf course and the putts were from within 6 feet, that stroke became more… spastic… for lack of a better term. There was a definite hiccup that appeared from time to time. I wish I would have taken some footage on the course but pace of play was more important at the time.
Music credit: Tom Waits, Jockey Full of Bourbon
Neil has some interesting coping methods. The putter he uses is completely flat so he can putt with it either right or left handed. He has learned to putt pretty well left handed and has a pretty normal stroke from that side. The close putts are the ones that really bring out his yips, so that’s when he’ll turn around and putt left handed.
He has tried many “remedies” over the years but what really has him managing his Yips now is his ability to relax. He says his grip on the putter is so light it’s like he’s barely holding it. He no longer cares about his stroke so he just relaxes and lets himself putt. Back and through, feeling nice and smooth. To the onlooker, the stroke doesn’t look as smooth as he says it feels, but that’s not important. And the hiccup almost never appears.
Big thanks to Neil for his open participation and willingness to share.
Well, it’s that time of month again. No, not the time when I get all cranky and roll around in chocolate – my latest column is up at Worldgolf. Since their disaster of a new site design isn’t just ugly, but a navigational nightmare, you might want to use my link below if you want to read it. Hmm… maybe it is that time of the month after all. I hope I don’t get fired for voicing that opinion.
Anyway, the column is about understanding the bizarre phenomenon called The Yips. WAIT – hear me out: as a superstitious person myself, it was a daunting topic for me at first. But the more I learned about it, the more comfortable I was talking about it without fearing that I’d catch it.
Unfortunately, I have a small word count range in these columns so it’s difficult for a long-winded writer such as myself to turn in anything substantive. I plan to follow up that article with more about the topic here on The Golfchick blog. I have a very cooperative friend named Neil who is suffering from the putting yips and I hope to include video clips in future posts. I guess the column could be considered an introduction to what might become a series here. We’ll see!
Perhaps I mis-titled this post. I guess I should say developing some putting skills instead of improving. Improving implies that I had some skills to begin with. I didn’t. I used to putt like a stoned chihuahua – spazzing out and either timidly leaving it way short or nervously hammering it past the hole with a freakish jolt. In either situation, I would often completely misread the putt in the first place so whether it was short or long it was way off line. Three putts were standard fare and I’d throw in a four or five putt for good measure, especially when I had a “good round” going. I used to dread going to the green to putt and just wanted to get to the next hole so I could take some more swings. My favorite thing about getting a hole-in-one was not having to putt.
Then the one and only Luke Swilor responded to one of my posts lamenting about my putting woes and he recommended the book Putting Out of Your Mind. Dog bless Luke Swilor. And Dog bless Dr. Bob Rotella for writing the book. Now I love putting. I can’t wait to get up there and try to knock it in the hole. That’s my real scoring opportunity!
Book Report – Putting Out of Your Mind, by Dr. Bob Rotella with Bob Cullen
There is really no big mystery to putting. It’s just like it was when you were a kid on a mini-golf course. You look at the target, read the putting surface, choose your line and stroke the ball into the hole. For some reason, now that we’re “adults” and golfers, putting has become so important in our brains that we psych ourselves out about it. At least I did. Suddenly it’s not as simple as it used to be. It means so much more now so it must be more difficult. I must have to concentrate more and really really try. WRONG!
In Putting Out of Your Mind, Dr. Bob Rotella explains it all so simply. It’s not a book that teaches you putting mechanics like holding your triangle or keeping your head over the ball or any of that nonsense. Not that those aren’t things that might work for you, but they might not for someone else. Grips, stances, strokes and routines can vary immensely from golfer to golfer and none is necessarily better than the other. What does have a big impact on every putt no matter who you are is what happens in your head.
This book taught me to develop a solid, repetitive routine. That much is pretty common knowledge, however overlooked or disregarded it can be in any given round. But I also learned not to over-read greens or second guess my lines. Not to stress over speed. “But, but, but… I don’t want to leave it short… I don’t want to end up 10 feet past the hole.” Forget it! If you putt just to get it close, you’re putting to miss. I now putt every putt with the full intention of making it. And guess what? I make a lot more! Sure, I still have the occasional three putt and I’m sure I always will, but I have a lot fewer of them now. More importantly, I make a lot more one-putts.
How can that be? Just by putting to make it? Well, I guess you have to read the book to really have it sink in and be convinced of the overall concept that makes it successful: trust your putt. Just like you have to trust your swing. Speaking of trusting your swing, I have also read and highly recommend Golf is Not a Game of Perfect, also by Dr. Bob Rotella. Every shot I take from under 100 yards, I aim to make it in the hole. I actually chip it in more often now, too.
Of course it isn’t quite as easy as I’m making it out to be. These things take time and I have had some setbacks. But that’s why I decided to refresh my memory of this book by re-reading it and writing this book report.
Dr. Rotella is a psychologist who works with many professional golfers and has done so for years. The book includes many anecdotes from those interactions to illustrate just how important the mental aspect of putting (and golf in general) is. It’s a quick and easy read and can have such a big impact on your game – and your scores.
I highly recommend this book. It’ll make a great holiday gift for your favorite golfer (even if that’s not yourself). Like me, you’ll probably want to pass it along to someone else after you read it. Also like me, you should opt instead to get that person his own copy so you can keep yours on the shelf because you will probably want to read it again. And again.
Rather than struggle for weeks, months or years trying to figure out the problem on my own, I went to see a professional about the slice I developed with my driver. It came on quite suddenly and became more pronounced as the days and weeks passed. I was so frustrated that I couldn’t figure out what I was doing differently.
I had to run an errand on the east side of town, so I called up Simi Hills this morning to see if there was an instructor available who could cure my slice in one magic session. Matt answered the phone and he said “I can do that, what time?” I love it when a plan comes together.
After I warmed up a little, he watched me take a few swings with my driver. Sure enough, I produced the dramatic slice I wanted him to cure. Ten minutes later I was hitting it straight or drawing almost every hit. We continued for about thirty more minutes to make sure I had the idea down. I did.
Familiar prescription
So what was the answer? First, he changed a few things in my setup. He had me position the club head right up next to the ball (I was placing it a couple inches back). My shoulders were pointing slightly left of my target line, and he fixed that (directing them to point AT the target – doh!), and he brought my hands back in line with the ball (I had them in front like an iron). Then he got to the heart of the problem in my swing. Mainly, I wasn’t able to square up the club face because I was transferring my weight forward with a swaying motion, moving my head and shoulders forward as my weight shifted. I’d have to swing the club awfully fast and get really wristy to get the club face square at impact. Rather than do that, why not just keep my head and shoulders back and just let the weight shift in my legs like I’m supposed to do? And just for fun, how about if I actually turn my hands over and produce a draw? DUH! Sure, now I say duh. Sounds familiar… hmmm…. I seem to recall having that same reaction after that group clinic I attended when I completely lost my swing. The answer there was also to transfer my weight correctly. Trouble was, even though it was enough to give me my confidence back, I kept that swing thought and was over-correcting! Sure enough, that’s right when I started slicing with my driver. I guess I could get away with it with the rest of my clubs at least most of the time. The longer the club, the bigger the slice. Funny how that works.
So, for the first clinic I shelled out 20 clams, and this lesson cost me 40. Actually, the lesson was $40, but when I went out to my car I discovered they were slurrying the parking lot right next to where I parked and my car was covered in black dust, so I guess I should add the cost of a car wash to that total. Anyway, I wonder what problem I’ll develop now that will send me running out for the next magic fix.
Putting update
My new putter is feeling great, by the way. We played Malibu Country Club yesterday and even though I only hit 4 fairways and 1 G.I.R., I only had 32 putts! 32! I think that might be my personal best for putting! No thanks to their recent course modification, either. I was really disappointed they had removed the brass cups from the holes. No more *clangety-clang* when you sink a putt! That was my favorite thing about playing that course, dangit.
Now what?
Now I need to take my improved putting and my straightened-out drive and attack some course to see if I can make it all come together. Wouldn’t that be special? Then I can go to work on the most important stat of all: G.I.R.s. Don’t you just love this game?
Is this some kind of “true golfer” initiation process I’m experiencing? Let’s check the stats.
After finding my lost swing at the range on Saturday, I was still a little anxious about taking it out on the course. I mustered my courage and played yesterday, only to find myself playing like I did back when I was on a roll and winning. Aside from a couple of disaster holes (a 7 and a 9 – both on par 4’s!), I had a solid round with7 pars and 6 bogeys. It was a really hot day and I was fatigued by the end, but I still parred out the last three holes to shoot a 90, which is my best round in months. I was walking on sunshine (instead of my aching dogs) and thinking to myself “oh yeah, I remember this… I actually CAN play golf.” I was even putting well – only one 3-putt all day and a total of 35!
Then I turn around and play again today only to shoot a disappointing 100. I walked off the course feeling a little dejected but refused to let one round shake my regained confidence (even though I was quite willing to let one round just the day before build it up). I then chalked it up to some kind of golf god’s hazing ritual – like now I’m REALLY not a beginner anymore because all real golfers go through this kind of thing. I know that’s true – we all have our ups and downs, and I’m sure I’ll continue to do that as well. HOWEVER…
…then I checked the stats. I know how important putting is. I do. I also know I’ve been struggling with that aspect of my game from the get go. To some extent, I believe putting is natural talent – you either have it or you don’t. Kind of like music or fine art: you can become pretty good at it with training and experience to develop the skills, but the people with the natural ability to begin with will always be better.
Yesterday I was putting with confidence, feeling the lines and the speeds and knowing that, even from 50 feet away, I could two-putt my way into the cup. Today, I putted like the spaz I am. So here it is: yesterday I had 35 putts; today I had 43. I guess this is why I keep statistics. Had I putted today like I did yesterday, my 100 would have been a 92. Plus, today my disaster hole was a 10! So, I found all the strokes and I feel better about it. I’m still striking the ball well. My irons are back to being relatively solid, and the bonus – my shots with my fairway woods the last two days have been things of beauty. My driver, which used to be my straightest club, has developed an enormous slice, though not unplayable, and I’m working on it.
I don’t know how many posts I’ve written complaining about my putting, but it seems like a lot. Putting, putting, putting, putting. I have to get better at putting. Maybe I’ll read a book.
Any recommendations?
I admit it. Putting is not among my favorite things about playing golf. I like whacking that little ball and watching it fly. Putting just isn’t sexy. I’m pretty sure Tiger Woods would vehemently disagree on that point, which is why I’d really like to change my own attitude about it. While my golf game is teeming with opportunities for improvement, putting is easily identifiable as an area where I could shave several strokes off my scores. Still, during practice sessions, I’d rather take full swings and hear that satisfying thwack. I really need to commit to working on my putting game off the course.
Yeah, yeah, we’ve all heard “drive for show, putt for dough,” probably enough that we want to throttle the next person who says it. But let’s face it — most of us aren’t playing for the kind of dough that really makes putting that important. Maybe a couple bucks among friends. I do know that for me, the more there is at stake, the better I seem to putt. Evidently, even without practice, I could improve my scores with a little more focus on the greens when nothing’s on the line. Actually working on speed and touch and reading skills would serve to give me even greater probability of making those putts on which I really focus. Is that idea enough to inspire me to get out to the practice green more often?
Based on my data, if I eliminated only the stupid missed putts from my rounds over the last few months, I would have been in the 80s more frequently, in the lower 80s on several occasions, and possibly even have broken 80 once. Surely that idea is enough to inspire me to get out to the practice green more often, right? (I’ll call you Shirley if I want to.)
A tangent on different types of golfers
A lot of golfers can’t be bothered to improve their scores, they just like to get out there and “have fun.” Whatever. Sure it’s fun. But it’s more fun the better you do. And it’s even more fun if you’re competing. And it’s even more fun than that if you’re competing and you win. Winning is fun. Don’t misunderstand me — I absolutely enjoy playing the game. I’ll go out and play a round all by myself and truly enjoy it. I also know that every stroke of every round is helping me get better for the next time I am competing.
Then there’s that guy (you know you’ve played with him) who thinks he deserves to play better than he does even though he only plays once every couple of months. He gets down on himself for every poorly executed shot, and if he’s having any fun at all, he sure doesn’t show it. I played with that guy last weekend at RusticCanyon. Fortunately, he figured it out around the 13th hole, flagged down the beer cart girl and enjoyed the rest of his round.
I hear people talk about Tiger’s golf game and it seems like it’s always about his distance, his drives, his amazing recoveries to get on the green out of trouble. Those are all fantastic, but if I had to pick one thing about Tiger’s game to emulate, it would most definitely be putting. I don’t watch a lot of golf on television, but when I do, or when I see highlights of his wins, he’s always making incredible putts! A lot of times, he’s not making birdie because he’s stuck it close to the flag, he’s making it because he can make the longer putts. He saves par the same way. He doesn’t turn a troublesome lie in the rough into a bogie by going for the pin because he doesn’t have to. He knows he can put it in the middle of the green and still make the putt for birdie or par. Even from the middle of the fairway, I’ll play smart sometimes and avoid that pin but then I’ll three-putt from 20 feet. Dumb. Won’t that idea get me out on the practice green more often? I want to putt like Tiger. If only I’d get out there and practice.
The Speculum Squat. What I would give to see through Tiger’s eyes.
I wonder if the line of the putt actually glows on the grass for him.
What now?
Okay, here’s my plan. I’m going to start calling it the “practice facility” instead of the “driving range” to try to readjust my thinking on a fundamental scale. And, the next time I go to the practice facility, I’m only taking my putter. I’m going to practice putting for a half hour once a week. That’s a reasonable goal. It might not sound like enough to really help, but I know that if I get overly aggressive with it, I’m not likely to follow through and then I’ll be disappointed that I didn’t. So I’ll set this modest target, and since it’s more than I’m doing now it should still help my game.
