I was out on Cape Cod over the Labor Day weekend and despite some awful New England weather I was able to get a round of golf in with two of my good buddies. I continued my recent trend of great tee shots and much improved iron play. After the round I looked back and realized I hit over 50% of the fairways and 12 greens in regulation with no penalty shots and I still carded an 87. This brought out a glaring shortcoming in my game right now. I lost around 8 shots on the greens alone due to 3 putts.
After the round I was frustrated in a way I haven’t felt before on the course. I was beyond happy with how I hit the ball tee to green, but felt utterly confused by my putting performance. I went back to the course the next day to hit some balls and do some work on the greens just to see if I could find something to get me more engaged in my putting. I did a few drills and still didn’t feel like I was making consistent contact which led to my speed and accuracy being off. After 20 minutes of continued frustration I decided to start trying some new grips.
After a silly attempt at the claw and a Brandt Snedeker type pop stroke I still had nothing to hang my hat on. As a last resort I tried the left hand low grip with my arms tight to my body and a simple rock of the shoulders and I finally started to see some improvement. I have yet to take this new approach on the course for a round, but after two range sessions with it I feel much more focused on the greens and confident. I’m not sure if it has anything to do with the technical stroke or just my mental approach and focus level, but I needed to make a change and this one seems like it might be good for now.
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