Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/68546
FROM MONTREAL TO MAUI: GOLF TIPS FROM PARADISE BY CLAUDE BROUSSEAU NUMBER THREE? PICTURE SERIES #1 Q:Why Should You Love The A: It is either a par, a birdie, or an eagle on the scorecard. Maybe even more importantly for the average golfer is that the hole is 3 balls wide! Still even with that margin of error, many golfers miss putts... especially on the low side of the hole. These missed putts could be because often golfers are underestimating the putt's Apex point and are thereby decreasing the probability of making the putt. Why are they making this miscalculation? Quite often they are foregetting the "The Newton Effect" or in other words... gravity. Gravity influences the ball as soon as the ball starts to roll. The ball doesn't wait until it reaches the apex to move in the direction of the slope. Depending on the severity of the slope, the ball could break 2 to 3 inches after rolling only 3 to 4 feet on a 20 footer. The apex is defined as the point on the path of the putt, which is the furthest (read highest away) from a straight- line drawn from the ball to the hole. On a typical single-breaking putt, the apex is about 65% of the way towards the hole according to Mark Sweeney inventor of AIMPOINT Technologies, the world's #1 green reading system. Sweeney goes on to define the aimpoint as a spot, perpendicular to the hole, which defines your aim line, the optimum starting line for a successful putt. This point is the starting aiming point of the ball, not the arrival point. The hole is the arrival point! After you have become proficient at choosing your aimpoint, the first motor skill you need to develop is rolling the ball on a straight line. A good way to train is to use a metal yardstick. (see Picture Series #1). I suggest making a black line on the metal yardstick to verifiy if the putter head is square at the address. Find a fairly flat area on the green. Lay the yardstick there. Then just make your putting stroke and monitor if the ball starts and stays on the yardstick for a few inches. go to a location with a slope on the green and use a string and a target hole placed as your aimpoint. (See Picture Series #2). Make your putting stroke starting the ball on this straight line and watch the ball go in the hole. All putts need to be treated, as straight putts to the aimpoint and gravity will do the rest for you. On a breaking putt, if you make a mistake, you are better off to over-estimate the severity of the slope. The ball has a probability of dropping in from the high side of the hole with the help of gravity. You are in fact "increasing the size of the hole". (See Picture #3). Do these drills and I guarantee you will make more putts! Go and realize your golfing potential PICTURE #3 The ball has a probability of dropping in from the high side of the hole with the help of gravity. You are in fact "increasing the size of the hole". Claude is a native of Montreal and Director of Instruction at the Golf Court Academy in France and with Claude Brousseau Golf on Maui. He is the host Off- Site Golf School and travels to the customers and does lessons /clinics/ schools at their clubs... a great option to treat VIP customers/ business partners to a fantastic event. Contact him at cbunderpar@msn.com and 808-870-1422 Visit www.golfcourt.fr For More Instruction From Paradise, visit www.insidegolf.ca PICTURE SERIES #2 45