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Several professional golfers have told me that they partially regulate their swing effort for the short game and putting by the length of their backswing. The longer the backswing, the more effort at impact. This seems to be a useful process for chips and approach shots. However, as I’ve watched scores of professionals putt, there is no correlation between the backswing and the speed of a putt. They think they are taking the club back further on longer putts, when in reality they are not.

When I challenge them about this notion, they realize that it’s the firmness of their grip, the tension in their forward leg at impact, and the energy they apply during the forward part of the putting stroke that determines the speed of the clubhead and the speed of the ball.

Finally, it’s helpful to have a sense of your own energy level as you strike the ball. As you well know, some days you feel strong and supple and your swing requires very little effort. On other days, when you feel sluggish and tight as a rusty bolt, more effort—and maybe a little WD-40—is needed to get the ball moving. Pre-round practice will let you know your current energy level.

How to Develop

the Short-Game Touch

Obviously, practice is the fundamental answer to the question of how to create the right swing effort; and a facile memory for past good shots helps too. But how, specifically, do fine-touch golfers practice, and what do they actually do in their minds to snuggle a ball up close to the pin, or sink it with that familiar and pleasing plunk?

For approach shots, including chips, many professional golfers often hit thousands of balls to circles marked on the practice range or green that are a predeterminded number of yards away. Putting practice is approached in much the same way from predetermined distances on varied slopes.

Some professionals practice putting by placing a number of balls on a straight line and putting them a specified distance to a parallel line marked with chalk on the green. Bill Adams uses a “ladder drill,” stroking a ball to say six feet, then eight feet, then ten feet, and so on. Others, like Greg Norman, putt for the hole at different distances. It’s reported that he putts twenty-five balls placed in a circle around a hole beginning at a distance of three feet. When he sinks them all, he moves out one foot. It’s said that he has reached a distance of eight feet from the hole without missing—150 successful putts in a row!

During practice many professionals attend to only one or two cues at a time, as in the Uptime Anchor. They spend several minutes concentrating on the softness of their hands while holding the club, then on weight balance, then on follow-through, and so on, all in relation to how much effort it takes to get the ball to the hole. In this way they anchor swing effort to individual visual and kinesthetic cues.

This kind of practice can engrave in your memory the sights and feelings of hitting each ball. Deliberately associate, for each distance and slope, the feelings in your hands, arms, and legs during the swing with the trajectory, roll, speed, and final resting spot of each ball.

Gradually, you will become adept at the short game, spending less and less time hitting balls at predetermined distances from the hole. Of course, you will still have to practice regularly, but eventually you can limit your practice time because your sense of touch will have become thoroughly honed. The ultimate outcome of practice is to get the right feelings in your muscles for playing better golf.

The V-K Weave

The V-K Weave is a technique for developing the right amount of swing effort for chipping and putting. It helps you to weave seeing and swing effort together strongly. Oddly and paradoxically, it involves chipping and putting with your eyes closed. Here’s how it goes.

V-K WEAVE

During practice, with your eyes open, chip several balls from a short distance off the green. Pay close attention to the amount of muscle tension that existed