Golf Tip: Think speed

When any great putter has the flat stick working, you can bet on one thing: He’s focusing purely on the speed. Great putters, guys who play professionally, focus on the speed of their putts, and not the alignment. That’s because they’ve grooved their setup and their stroke to the point that they’re virtually automatic. If you’re struggling on the greens, you’re probably thinking technical thoughts about your stroke. That’s not a good place to be. Instead of thinking your way around the greens, you should be feeling your way.

Amateurs typically get so fixated on analyzing the line, that they forget about the speed, and speed is more about feeling than thinking. The hardest putt for an amateur is a straight 10-footer, because there’s so little margin for error; if the amateur doesn’t hit the putt on the perfect line, at the perfect speed, it’s not going in.

On the longer putts, especially those of 15 feet or more, the speed is much more important than the line. Instead of worrying so much about the line, I want you to envision a path to the hole that’s 8-10 inches wide, and to play maximum break. The speed is the critical thing on those long lag putts. This approach will leave you with much more makeable second putts and curtail those dreaded three-putts.

Rob Akins is the Director of Instruction for Spring Creek Ranch in Collierville, Tenn. and is one of Athlon's Elite Eight instructors.