Ten top putting tips

More than 40 percent of strokes in a round of golf are made with the putter on the putting green and it’s here that most frustration with golf occurs.

Take the time to practice your pre-shot routine, establish a consistent ball-strike with the sweet spot, and give our Putting Practice Drills a go while you're on the practice putting green.

Here’s a few golf putting tips to work on to eradicate those niggling three-putts and bring your scores and handicap tumbling. These drills will aid your putting technique if you put them into practice.

10. Left below right

Comfort and alignment are crucial but the shoulders must be kept square and aligned to the direction of the line on which you want the ball to roll. Try left hand below right, (if you’re a right handed player – and like Jim Furyk or Padraig Harrington); it helps to keep the shoulders square at impact. You may have to adjust to a shorter-shafted putter to get the full value of the stroke.

9. Routine procedure

Establishing an identical pre-shot routine is essential. Check the line (ideally while others are putting out but not in their eye-line), address slightly away from the ball, check your alignment, practice swing to get the feel of the pace, shuffle forward to the ball.

One look then pull the trigger, smoothly back and through, which is even more vital on the monster putts as a poor motion will leave you in three-putt territory.

8. Fringe benefits

Putting from the fringe of the green, imagine the hole is a few feet further from you and ensure you follow through to get a good roll.

Remember though, depending on your touch, you still have a choice to either chip or putt off the fringe or alternatively try a rescue club for chipping if there's one in your bag.

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How to Teach Good Putting, Golf Pro Putting Tips

Half the golf shots you hit during a round are on the greens. Learn to putt well to save shots and lower scores. Understand and practice the basics of putting.

This article from the series How to Teach Golf deals with putting. This is the most important part of the game. Not only will a good putting stroke enable a golfer to lower scores by holing more putts, but if a golfer is confident on the greens it takes pressure off the long game.

The Putting Stance

• Make sure the stance is stable. The feet should be wide enough to make sure the body can stay rock solid during the stroke.

• The eyes should be directly over the ball. This enables the golfer to look directly down the line of the putt and helps with alignment.

• Let the arms hang from the shoulders so they are almost vertical. This helps the stroke naturally stay pointing at the target for the longest possible time.

• Most golfers aim the putter face either right or left at address. Aiming correctly is essential and every effort should be made to get your pupil to achieve this. To help, draw a line round the circumference of the ball. Aim the line directly where you want the putt to start, and then line up the face of the putter with the line on the ball.

The Putting Grip

There are many putting grips that a golfer can use, but an effective grip is not just about helping the hands to stay firm during the stroke. A good grip is one that allows the arms to hang down without distortion.

It is absolutely essential a line across the arms points at the hole. Most golfers who putt badly fail to appreciate how important this is. The arm line is as important to putting as aiming the cue correctly in snooker or pool.

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9 Tips on Setting up a Successful Meditation Practice

In todays fast paced stressful world the main reason people report for not meditating is time. There always seems to be something more urgent on the horizon in our busy, demanding lives.

Ironically, Psychology Today notes that neuroscientists have found that meditation decreases negative effects from stress, depression, and fear (1).

This not only benefits your overall health, but your peace of mind and your daily productivity. Setting just a few minutes aside to meditate can mean that your more balanced, calm, focussed and happy throughout the rest of the day.

The decision that needs to be made in regards to time is simply a choice to make the time because you believe its worth it.

1. Seek Guidance

Meditation, although a fairly simple practice, doesn’t always come naturally. It’s the antithesis to how we’re conditioned to think and act in this busy day and age. A good, qualified instructor can be a huge benefit in helping you get started. For quality meditation practice, its essential to get the basic foundations of practice correct.

Look for a workshop, class or retreat where you can ensure that experienced teachers will provide you with the basic information you need. A good coach will guide you through and answer questions.

2. Find the Right Fit

There is more than one way to meditate. If your thinking of setting up a long term regular home practice you may consider having a period of exploration into different types of meditation techniques before settling on your chosen practice. Different meditation types suit different types of people.

You may enjoy mantra meditation, breath meditation, or other types of seated practice.Yoga Nidra is another wonderful and very popular form of relaxation and meditation. Then there are also movement meditations like taichi, qi gong and some types of yoga.

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zen-meditation

Mainstream meditation practice is slowly becoming unified into several distinct traditions largely based on ancient Buddhist practice.

The three major categories are: 1.) meditation based on Vipassana, a Theravada Buddhist practice; 2.) meditation based on Zen Buddhism from Japan; 3.) assorted, mottled meditative practices based on several traditions, including modern science and western religions. Looking closely, two of these categories might be classified as more visible and accepted whereas the third category, Vipassana, is still relatively fringe in popular culture, although popular amongst the masses who are interested in meditation broadly.

Meditation based on the smorgasbord of practices might be closely aligned with this modern Western sense of spirituality without a God or gods. That leaves us with meditation based on Zen Buddhism. Zen Buddhism, like most Japanese cultural practices, is one of the cleanest and streamlined of spiritual practices in the world since it emphasizes a carefully orchestrated symphony of actions that are to be repeated ad infinitum.

A Description of Zen

Zen Buddhist meditation is three-fold. First, there is a period of chanting, usually the Heart Sutra. This chanting is usually accompanied by a beating of a drum if one is practicing meditation at a temple. Next, there is sitting meditation for approximately 30 minutes. In this meditation, one’s eyes are open, contrary to popular belief, and focused on a singular point ahead.

The Zen master will walk row-by-row helping students to adjust their posture, making sure that the back is straight, neck aligned, and eyes open. Lastly, the third facet of Zen meditation is walking meditation. This is a simple, quiet walk around the room, the temple, or another place. Hands are generally folder and the steps are short. After 30 minutes of walking, students may proceed back to sitting meditation, called Zazen. Depending on how long the meditation session lasts, a practitioner will alternate between sitting and walking meditations.

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10 Happiness Tips for Busy People

“Life is what happens while you are making other plans.” ~John Lennon

I am someone who enjoys doing a lot of different things, and yet I don’t always enjoy being busy. Sometimes when my schedule gets full, I feel almost as if I’ve lost a part of me.

Just like some people become codependent in relationships, I can be codependent with work. When it has my attention, everything else can easily fall to the wayside—my social life, my hobbies, you name it.

It’s all too easy to get caught up in a riptide of doing without ever evaluating what you’re sacrificing, why, and if it’s actually in your best interest.

Sometimes it is worth it, though you might need to make minor adjustments to enjoy the journey more. Other times you need to make major changes to experience the happiness you might think you’re chasing.

Here’s what I’ve been doing to ensure my busy-ness doesn’t compromise my happiness:

1. Assess just how busy you’re willing to be.

New research indicates that a key indicator of happiness is the distance between the hours you’d like to work and the hours you actually do. If you don’t want to work more than 40 hours per week because you have a hobby you’re passionate about, but you’re working over three hours more than that, you will inevitably feel dissatisfied.

In some cases, this may be beyond your control. If you just can’t afford your mortgage unless you push yourself, that’s one thing. But sometimes you do have a choice; you just think it’s too difficult to make it. Downsizing or moving into a new place may seem like an unnecessary hassle, but it’s worth the uncomfortable transition if it allows you to do with your time as you’d like.

2. Consider whether your schedule conflicts with your priorities.