Part 4: The Swing Doctor
By Jim Caple
Page 2
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Part 4: The Swing Doctor By Jim Caple Page 2 | ||||
| The Swing Doctor, with Retief Goosen
Dear Swing Doctor: My short game is a mess. What tips do you have for putting? Ty Webb, Bushwood CC
Putting is the most important and hardest part of the game, but also the most easily practiced. The most important thing is to clear your mind of all negative thoughts. Visualize success. See the ball rolling into the cup. Be the ball, Ty. Be the ball. Na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na. Next, get yourself properly lined up, with your feet about a foot apart, knees slightly bent and weight slightly forward. Next, keep the putter's head square to the ball. Then, keeping your eyes on the ball, swing your arms like a pendulum, stroke the ball and watch it gently roll toward the cup and into -- Doh! OK. Don't panic. Start over. Clear your mind. No negative thoughts. Be the ball. Be the ball. Just line yourself up again. Think positively. There's no pressure. Just make this gimme putt from two feet and you're the U.S. Open champ and $900,000 richer. Don't even think about choking. Don't think about the cameras and the national television audience. Just be the ball, swing your arms gently and -- $*@&^*#$@! All right, all right. Calm down. Go get your putter from where you threw it. Line yourself up again. There's nothing to this shot. Just a couple of feet and you're the Cinderella story. Be the ball. Be the ball. Keep the putter square to the ball, kiss it gently and -- It's in the hole! It's in the hole! Gunga galunga, it's in the hole! See? The secret to successful putting is really just a matter of practice. Now go sit in the clubhouse and wish bad things on your competitors. Jim Caple is a senior writer for ESPN.com.  Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories |
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