Do you have a hard time making the important putts or do you tend to psyche yourself out before you even address the ball? Try some of these practice drills and exercises to help you make your flat stick one of the strongest parts of your game.

For this week's episode I'm sharing with you the best strategies I've learned to help increase your confidence and ability to perform under pressure. This really comes from the fact that I've seen these few drills/exercises make HUGE strides for my students. It's something that I do myself all the time so I can sometimes forget how big of an impact this has on my game, but seeing the success my students have had by adapting these tips has definitely reinforced it's importance.

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Episode highlights​

Pre shot routines are for putting too!

You've heard me say before but you can't expect to get a consistent result without consistent preparation.​ For that reason you have to make sure you approach every putt the same. This way a birdie putt for your personal best is treated the same way as a bogey to finish off a middle of the road round.

Your pre shot routine is the key that sets this foundation.

My favorite drill​

The ladder drill is far and away my favorite drill when it comes to putting. I wrote about this drill in an earlier post, but it's worth mentioning again for one simple reason. This is not a putting drill that teaches you how to make putts from a longer distance, or read a green better, or even learn that day's pace. These are all very fortunate side effects from this practice drill, but the main thing derived from this is to putt without fear.

By sticking to the drill and actually restarting it every time you fail you learn to accept those outcomes and not fear them on the course.

It's like how in The Dark Knight Rises Christian Bale is only able to make that final leap and escape the prison by tossing aside his safety rope. He knows and has fully accepted what will happen if he fails so he has nothing left to fear. This is the type mentality this drill helps develop.

Did I just teach you how to be Batman??? - I'll let you be the judge of that.

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Handling nerves on course

Even if you have the perfect pre shot routine and live and die by the ladder drill, there's still likely going to be those times were some nerves or fear can sneak through.

​One way to manage those nerves that can sometimes sneak through the cracks is with focused measured breathing techniques. This is a technique that I mentioned in my Science Behind the Yips article and it's certainly applicable here too.

I used to take voice lessons back when I was the lead singer of a band, and the first thing I was taught was how to properly breathe.​

Breathing in slowly and deeply, expanding your stomach and allowing your lungs to fully inflate is how you properly inhale.​

Using that technique, inhale for 4 counts and exhale for 5 counts. Once this becomes easy to do, step it up a notch and take that breath in for 5 counts and exhale for 6.

You can do this while going through your pre shot routine so you don't worry about bogging down the pace of play.​

This has is a proven way to slow your heart rate and help eradicate those nerves that might still be hanging around before the putt.

Hopefully these tips help you break through those barriers and let you approach your putts without fear.

Cheers!​

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Photo courtesy of Kedar Joyner Photography www.kedarjoyner.com​