What’s the difference between you and a great putter? It just might be the Quiet Eye. In putting as well as in other hand-eye-target skills, the Quiet Eye is emerging as a key indicator of optimal focus and concentration. It’s this focus and concentration, research shows, that sets the good putter apart from the poor one. Fortunately, achieving this focus and concentration is a skill that can be taught in golf lessons or learned on one’s own and can help drive down a player’s golf handicap.

Usually, we attribute the difference between a good putter and a poor putter to mechanics. Good mechanics produces good putting. Bad mechanics produces bad putting. Good mechanics are what most golf lessons and golf tips emphasize. And that’s fine. You can’t be a superior putter if your mechanics are wrong. But mechanics aside, what else makes one golfer a better putter than another? Research shows that focus and concentration is the difference, underscoring the importance of the Quiet Eye.

The Quiet Eye
Simply put, the Quiet Eye occurs when your gaze remains absolutely still on the ball just before and as the stroke is performed. Two key elements in the Quiet Eye are location and duration. Research shows that golfers who putt well focus on either the back or the top of the ball. Which is better? Both locations improve accuracy, but a weight of evidence now favors the back of the ball. As for duration, good putters have a Quiet Eye duration of two or three seconds on average. Less skilled player held their gaze steady for one or two seconds on average.

Why is the Quiet Eye so critical when you putt? Your hands are controlled by your brain, which gets valuable information from your eyes. As you putt, your brain must organize 100 billion neurons. Your gaze keeps these neural networks informed. They in turn control both your hands and body when putting. But these networks stay organized for only a short period, creating a window of opportunity that must be used when it’s at its most optimal: This is the Quiet Eye period.

Unfortunately, the Quiet Eye is the first thing to go when under stress. It moves with the stroke. When you choke, the billion cells in your brain lose their effectiveness in solving the putt’s slope, curvature, distance, and location problems. Even hours of golf instruction sessions and practice focused on mechanics may not be able to save you when the pressure is on. On the other hand, developing proper mechanics builds confidence—another key element in putting. But confidence may not be as critical to putting accuracy as the Quiet Eye.

Developing the Quiet Eye
Routine Research shows that an average golfer using a pre-shot routine based on the Quiet Eye sinks more putts than when not using the routine—whether the routine is learned in golf lessons or self-taught. Visualization is a key element of this routine.

Focus on the hole
Once your putterhead is set behind the ball, pick a specific location on the hole where you want the ball to go, like a blade of grass or a small feature on the cup’s front lip.

“See” the ball go in
Look at this location for about two seconds. Visualize the ball going into the hole.

Scan from the hole to the ball
Smoothly shift your gaze without interruption from the target to the back of the ball. Your gaze should move efficiently and calmly.

Eye on the ball
Fixate on the back of the ball. Imagine just the right contact of the putterhead on the ball. Picture a line through this contact point to your spot on the hole.

Stay steady
Maintain a Quiet Eye on the one spot on the back of the ball from the backstroke through contact. Don’t peek! Take a look at your ball going in the hole only after putting.

The Quiet Eye may be an objective measure of “being in the Zone,” according to some experts. This idea of being in the Zone, or in the “flow,” as some athletes say, has been around for a long time. But until now, there has been little scientific evidence that the Zone exists—let alone can be measured. Developing the Quite Eye technique might not only help you access the zone when putting, it might also help you achieve better putting accuracy, knocking strokes off your golf handicap.

For more about the Quiet Eye, see the Quiet Eye Web site (http://quieteyesolutions.com) or the Web site of Dr. Joan Vickers (http://www.kin.ucalgary.ca/nml) , a leading researcher in this area.

Jack Moorehouse is the author of the best-selling book “How To Break 80 And Shoot Like The Pros.” He is NOT a golf pro, rather a working man that has helped thousands of golfers from all seven continents lower their handicap immediately. He has a free weekly newsletter with the latest golf tips, golf lessons and golf instruction.

Match play is a somewhat unique golf format. It requires a mental approach that’s completely different from stroke play. It requires toughness, patience, experience, and competitiveness. And it requires paying close attention to what your opponent is doing. What’s more, match play doesn’t always favor the players with the best golf handicaps. It’s quite easy for a golfer with a low golf handicap to lose to a player with a high one.

But match play is a highly popular format. Many golf leagues use it. Many tournaments do as well. So if you’ve never played this golf format, rest assured you probably will. Done right, match play is a lot of fun, especially if you’re on a team. It also provides some variety from stroke play. And it gives you a different perspective on your game. Obviously, you have to approach it differently than you do stroke play.

Below we describe five popular match play strategies. They’re time-tested strategies that work. Keep them in mind whenever you play match play.

Form A Game Plan
To win, you must form a game plan—and stick to it. This is a key golf tip on match play. Don’t let your opponent dictate play. Take control of it early and try to keep it throughout the match. Size up your opponent and the golf course. Disregard golf handicaps when doing this because they don’t mean much in match play. Then, decide how to play each hole based on your capabilities. In formulating your game plan, keep one thing in mind: pars win matches.

Apply Pressure Whenever You Can.
Among the keys to winning at match play is applying pressure. It can cause opponents to make mistakes or take bad swings. So apply pressure whenever you can. For example, if your opponent hits a good drive and you can afford to sacrifice a little distance, try to hit just short of him. That way you can apply pressure by hitting it close. This is an excellent strategy to employ on the closing holes. Making him/her press even a little bit in an effort to match your shots often results in a poor swings.

Control The Match’s Tempo
Controlling tempo is another way to apply pressure to your opponent. If he/she is hyper and fidgety and likes to play quickly, take the opposite approach. Play at a moderate speed, especially if you make a mistake, like skulling one out of a greenside bunker when your opponent is on the green. Take your time raking the bunker and walking to your ball. It allows you to simmer down and it gives him some time to think about his putt. Controlling tempo isn’t always easy. I know. I once had a student taking golf lessons that couldn’t sit still. It was all I could do to slow myself down when playing with him. Just be careful that you don’t unduly delay the game.

Control Your Opponent’s Putting
Putting is just as important in match play as it is in stroke play, if not more important. Concede short putts early but not late in the match. Don’t give your opponent the opportunity to practice any shot that might help him or her later on. This is an old golf tip that works. If your opponent isn’t used to putting short ones, it will be that much harder for them at crunch time.

Know When To Gamble
Know when to gamble and when not to. If you’re down 2 with 3 to play and your opponents plunks one a foot from the hole, it’s obviously no time to lay up. The trick is to recognize those times when it’s absolutely necessary to gamble, when gambling is worth the risk. As you play this format more, you’ll learn when these times occur. Keep them in mind. It may help you in the future.

Match play isn’t about you and the course in a quest for the lowest golf handicap you can achieve. It’s a contest about you against the golf course AND an opponent. That added element makes match play challenging and fun.

Jack Moorehouse is the author of the best-selling book “How To Break 80 And Shoot Like The Pros.” He is NOT a golf pro, rather a working man that has helped thousands of golfers from all seven continents lower their handicap immediately. He has a free weekly newsletter with the latest golf tips, golf lessons and golf instruction.

This is the second of two articles on fixing your game when things go bust. The first article covers driving, iron play, and the short game. This article covers putting and sand play. Like the first article, this article has golf tips to improve the problem areas.

No one plays well all the time. No matter how low your golf handicap, sooner or later you will have some problems. Even the pros go thru rough patches now and then. When they do, they work hard on correcting their problem areas. That’s why you often find pros working on their games long after playing in a tournament. When things go bust, you must fix your game, if you want to achieve—and keep—a low golf handicap

The first step in fixing your game is determining problem areas. Once you’ve done that, you can develop a game plan designed to abolish swing flaws. Lastly, you must work on ingraining technique. Determining your problem areas does you no good if you don’t correct them. Below are some areas of your game to examine when things go bust. We’ve also provided some golf tips to help streamline practices.

Ups and Downs
When you miss greens, you must be prepared to play different shots. The only thing you should think about after missing a green is making par. Scrambling up and down trims strokes from your golf handicap. When facing a chip shot, think in terms of two techniques—hitting the ball with a closed clubface or an opened clubface. Use your closed clubface when you want to run the ball or hit from hardpan. Use your open clubface when close to the pin or from long rough.

Also, use the club’s leading edge, not the toe, to determine the club’s true angle. At practice, spread balls at various spots off the green and then chip them on the green. Experiment with different shots to get the feel of each. While taking golf lessons and reading golf tips in magazines are also good ways to improve your chipping, the best way is to practice chipping as much as possible. The best chippers are self-taught.

Rough Escapes
Shots that miss the green often find the rough. Previously, players used the sand wedge from the rough. Today, players have the 60-degree wedge. They need to use their imaginations a lot less. The key for playing from the rough with the 60-degree wedge is follow-through. Good rough players complete their follow-through. Poor rough players don’t. Don’t get so concerned about getting out of the thick stuff that you stop at contact. Also, try to prevent your right-hand (left-hand for lefties) over the other hand. Keep the clubface open and you’ll get more height on your shots.

Lag Putting
Lag putting is all about pace. Golf tips in sports magazines agree. To lag put well, read the green before getting to it. You want to see the fall of the ground before you reach the hole. Also, after determining your line, make a few practice strokes while looking at the pin. When you look at the target, it sends signals to your brain to move your arms and shoulders the correct speed to putt the ball the right distance. This doesn’t happen when taking practice strokes with your head down.

Putting
Some say that the key to putting is maintaining the triangle formed by your forearms and hands during your stroke. Others say that it’s confidence. More than likely it’s a combination of the two. By keeping the keeping the triangle intact, you eliminate al wrist action, which can kill a putt—short or long. Instead, power your stroke with the muscles in your shoulders. If your wrists push the putter past your hands, you won’t be able to control distance putts. Practice with a metronome for rhythm. Or try putting with your eyes closed. It forces you to visualize the stroke and helps feel and speed.

Hopefully, these two articles give you a game plan to implement when things go bust. And trust they will. Like the pros, you’ll experience a rough patch when it comes time to playing. But if you stop to fix your game, you’ll never go bust. Pre-empting major problems before you ingrain bad habits keeps your golf handicap low.

Jack Moorehouse is the author of the best-selling book “How To Break 80 And Shoot Like The Pros.” He is NOT a golf pro, rather a working man that has helped thousands of golfers from all seven continents lower their handicap immediately. He has a free weekly newsletter with the latest golf tips, golf lessons and golf instruction.

A short time ago I came across an article penned by a local man who had been caddying since he was a kid. Few courses still have caddies. But back then many courses had them. During his career he had caddied for players with both high and low golf handicaps. He had even caddied for a few professional golfers in his time that had wandered into town for one tournament or another.

The caddy chatted about a number of things, like the changes he saw during his time on the bags, such as the introduction of metal shafts and metal clubheads on drivers. The best part of his article, though, was his take on what he thought was the difference between weekend golfers and professional golfers. Below are some of the golf tips he thought would help weekend players trim strokes from their golf handicaps.

Play To Your Strengths
Playing good golf isn’t about shaping shots. It’s about shaping shots to your strength. Many players with high golf handicaps don’t play this way. Instead, they let the course dictate their shots. In other words, they hit without thinking. Then play whatever lie they get—uphill, downhill, etc.. But smart golfers control their shots. They look for targets that favor their strengths—even if they’re adept at working the ball. In most cases they stick with what comes naturally—no matter where the pin is on the green. Play to your strengths and you’ll cut strokes off your golf handicap.

Stick With Your Routines
Pre-shot routines are the key to consistency. Players like Justin Leonard and Jim Furyk are known for their pre-shot routines. But fans don’t realize the amount of pressure professional golfers face. To achieve consistency under great pressure, pro golfers use a routine for each shot. This systematic approach ensures that the golfer is in the right frame of mind to hit a shot. More importantly, it ensures proper setup, which, in turn, dictates proper positioning of the body. Develop a routine you’re comfortable with. And remember to set the club first before the body.

Keep A Solid Forward Leg
Not keeping a solid forward leg is among the most common errors instructors see in golf lessons. Watch the pros on TV—men or women—and you’ll notice that that they all keep a solid forward leg. They have to if they want to generate the kind of shots they need to compete on the tour. A solid forward leg helps you swing along your body, not around it. Keep the knees flexed, but the forward leg solid. You’ll see both your ballstriking and shotmaking greatly improve.

Move On
Golf is as much mental as it is physical—maybe more. One of the keys to conquering the mental side of golf is not letting bad shots get to you. That’s why it’s important to acknowledge—and accept—that you will occasionally hit a bad shot. Nobody hits perfect shots every time, not even Tiger Woods. And sometimes, luck works against you. It’s okay to get a little angry now and then, but don’t let that anger get to you. And don’t dwell on it. Let it go. Move on. There’s nothing you can do about the bad shot anyways. It’s done. Focus on the next shot. Remember, winning is a positive state of mind.

Use Shadowing Putting
Professional golfers are all great putters. When they err, it usually isn’t mechanical. It’s things like keeping their eyes on the putter head or poor rhythm. To combat this, the pros use a simple drill, called shadow putting. When it’s your turn to putt, turn your back to the sun so it casts a shadow in front of you. While watching your shadow, make a few practice strokes. Imagine you’re swinging to the beat of a metronome. Once you have your rhythm, move to the putt. In golf instruction sessions, instructors tell people to back off the putt if they feel their rhythm is off. Then take a few practice strokes emulating the metronome all the while. That’s good advice.

One other golf tip from the caddy is to perfect your posture. Good posture leads to proper weight shift and a more fluid release through the ball. Weekend golfers often over look good posture as a key fundamental, as they do the other fundamentals in this article. But my thinking is: if a fundamental is important enough for the pros, it’s important enough for myself and players trying to whittle down their golf handicaps.

Jack Moorehouse is the author of the best-selling book “How To Break 80 And Shoot Like The Pros.” He is NOT a golf pro, rather a working man that has helped thousands of golfers from all seven continents lower their handicap immediately. He has a free weekly newsletter with the latest golf tips, golf lessons and golf instruction.