Can you imagine sitting in Santa’s lap and whispering in his ear, “I want to be a better putter”? Well, I figure if the elves are busy building the toys, Santa will have time to help improve my game so that is exactly what I did. That twinkle in his eye told me that I will get my wish,too.
So, when Christmas morning came, I sneaked down to the Christmas tree and looked for a letter from Santa. I hoped
and hoped that I would find something from him. At first, when I didn’t find anything I thought to myself, “Well, maybe he was too busy this year. But, I KNOW… I saw a twinkle in his eye!” So, I continued my search.
Finally, I gave up and put on a pot of coffee and waited for everyone else to wake up. The morning went along as usual. My wife was pleased with her bracelet and necklace set. The kids screamed with delight over their newest tablets. But, I just sat there, grumbling and feeling miserable. Then one of my my kids yelled out, “Hey, what’s this”? “Oh, it’s just for Dad.” Even my wife was surprised that there was a gift waiting for me.
I opened the envelope and was excited to see a gift of 5 tips on how to be a better putter. It was hand written in gold ink and signed, “From a fellow Golfer,Santa.” So, here goes, I thought I would share the tips I got from Santa:
1. Learn to grip the putter with your palms instead of the fingers. This will help align your arms and improve your stroke.
2. Once you learn a good grip and stroke, stick with it. Improve what you already know instead of changing it every time a new-fangled technique pops up.
3. Plan your stroke for the distance and speed of the green instead of aiming for the hole. The cup won’t move, so think about how far the cup is and figure out the lay of the green to time your stroke.
4. Instead of spending hours on the driving range hitting for distance, spend more time with your putter on the practice green. Putt to the same cup but move the ball to different angles and distances so you can work on getting a feel for the stroke for shorter and longer distances.
5. And finally, learn patience. You will improve with time as you develop good habits. It takes time to become a better putter. Next year, I will bring you lessons on how to drive the ball farther. (WINK)
