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Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781524642570 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | AuthorHouse |
| Publication date: | 11/08/2016 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 62 |
| File size: | 132 KB |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
The Putting Machine
Secrets of a Mind Game
By Ernie Makepeace
AuthorHouse
Copyright © 2016 Ernie MakepeaceAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-5246-4258-7
CHAPTER 1
YOU ARE ALREADY A GREAT PUTTER
* * *
If you bought this book to become a great putter then it might shock to you to learn that you are already a great putter. The only thing you lack is the information to access your hidden talent. This information has been available to everyone since the game began. It is bathed in simplicity. It only takes awareness to allow it to reveal itself to you.
One of the first problems we encounter with attaining this awareness is the language used to communicate ideas that are essentially felt more than understood in the usual way. Most times language doesn't carry the power that your imagination does. Great poems string together words that elicit feelings, ideas, images and emotions that are created in your mind. That's why written words haven't been enough to learn complicated ideas about golf that require imagination. It takes a good student to make a good instructor. We're going to be in this together. For this learning experience to be successful you must use your imagination and see and feel images and emotions in your mind. In its purest form golf is a mind game. Use your imagination that's what it's there for.
You have approximately 100 billion neurons and trillions of dendrites which accompany them. They are ready to accept any message from your brain and deliver it to the appropriate nerves that in turn deliver neuro transmitters to end plates connected to a muscle where molecules of acetylcholine are released to make your muscles contract. All of this happens very fast at 120m/per second. It is, of course, much more complicated than that, in fact the machinery behind it is not entirely known to biologists today. Our interest is not in how it works but in that it's all put into motion by a conscious thought. It is not difficult to see that swinging the putter on a specific line and at a specific speed requires the activation of many neurons to get the job done. If we were able to reduce this activation to just one deliberate small movement then our rate of success would increase dramatically simply because it would require less conscious effort. That is one of the goals of this book.
The one small movement is a simple downward push of the left shoulder for right handed golfers. How many neurons and synaptic connections are involved for this action is unknown. We can safely, however, imagine many thousands less than the ongoing activation of a continuous conscious action. Giving up control of the downswing is very much like dropping the putter head on the ball. Gravity pulls the putter head down like a pendulum at a predictable accelerating rate. There is so much feel and imagination involved that it is difficult to describe in mere words. You must experience it to understand it, and then maybe you will say, how could it have been any different.
CHAPTER 2AIMING IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING
* * *
I believe that aiming is and will continue to be the most difficult action to master in putting. I say that because I know full well that as perfect as "The Putting Machine" swing is, it will not yield the desired results if it is not aimed properly. The good news is that aiming can be mastered paving the way for untold success for those who come to truly understand the simple mechanics behind it.
One third of your awesome brain is dedicated to vision. That's a lot of firepower for one system. It is therefore obviously important for you to know how to use your visual acuity properly to take advantage of this power that you possess. Your eyes are located on your face so that they can naturally trace vertical and horizontal lines. Look up and down and you easily see vertical lines. Look side to side and you can easily see horizontal lines. This imaginary grid that's always in front of you disappears when you tilt your head. If you tilt your head and try to see a straight up and down line you'll notice that the line appears to have a slight curve to it. Not only that but it just doesn't feel comfortable because it affects your equilibrium. To see a straight line on a green it is vitally important to have your eyes directly on top of the line which you want the ball to roll on. This position will allow you to clearly see the grid with imaginary perpendicular lines. It is then easy to pick out a spot in front of the ball and to set up squarely to a line which is the focus of your attention.
To begin the aiming process you simply stand behind the ball so that you can see a straight line from the back of the ball to a spot about a foot away in front on the line. This line should pass between your legs dissecting the right side of your body from the left. Your shoulders should be perpendicular to that line. You are looking at a line that is essentially only a foot long.
The problem really begins when you turn sideways to align yourself to the target line. Without a club in your hands step toward the ball until you are on top of it looking straight down at it. Imagine a line coming straight up from the ball to a spot between your eyes. Keeping that imaginary vertical line fixed between your eyes turn sideways until your eyes, shoulders, hips, knees, and feet are parallel to the target line on the ground. The imaginary vertical line remains between your eyes throughout the hit. The distance the feet are from the line will vary from individual to individual. You will eventually find the appropriate distance for your shape and size. Practice will turn this seemingly awkward move into a seamless flawless habit. A line now perpendicular to the target line will dissect the right side of your body from the left.
Now instead of the line being in front of you so that you look up and down at it, it is now sideways so that you must look at it from side to side while the ball is directly below your eyes. Gone is the comfortable panoramic view behind the ball, in its place is a restricted, confined area that looks the same putt after putt. That is a good thing. Remember that the near target is only a foot away. There is no need to be aiming or looking at a line further away than that.
Some of you may tweak the process slightly and that's ok but there are three things that cannot be changed; your eyes must be on top of the line, the imaginary vertical line from the ball to a spot between your eyes must remain there and finally your shoulders must be parallel to the target line.
CHAPTER 3THE GRIP
* * *
Grip pressure may be the most misunderstood fundamental of all. By now most players know that a light grip is ideal for putting. We've all heard that it is very much like holding a little bird in your hand; light enough not to hurt it, but firm enough not to let it go. While that has been very good advice, I think gravity can show you a more consistent way that you can count on day after day. Once you come to understand the role that gravity plays in the scheme that is putting, you'll be able to put more of the pieces of this puzzle together.
To start with place your elbows against the sides of your torso. Hold the putter in front of you straight up and down with the left hand so that the thumb is straight up on the grip and the index finger is pointing away from you. The four fingers of the right hand now hold the grip so that the little finger snuggles against the middle finger of the left hand. Next place the pocket below the right thumb on top of the left thumb while placing the right thumb on top of the grip. Softly put your left index finger across the three right hand fingers. That grip is the reverse overlap which is popular with most golfers.
As you hold the club up in your reverse overlap grip, relax your fingers to the point that gravity could pull it through the grip were it not for a very slight pressure applied to keep the club from slipping down. As you become more familiar with this method you will notice that your grip pressure is consistent day after day because the pull of gravity is the same day after day.
One of the main reasons for a light grip is that it relaxes your wrists, which allows information about the weight of the putter head to travel up to your brain where receptor neurons tell the brain what it feels like. It is the same as when you step on a stone and the information travels up to your brain to let you know that it hurts. Feel, it appears, comes from the outside and travels very quickly to receptors that deliver the message. How the brain gathers signals that result in the feel for how hard to hit a putt is not something that, as far as I know, has ever been studied. My theory is that when a putt is read information about length, speed, break, and condition of the green is delivered to the subconscious mind where the feel for this particular putt is very quickly formulated. It is, at best, an incomplete theory because I only have subjective experience to back it up. Only by experiencing it yourself will you be able to know what I am writing about. Your job then is to aim, set up, and just let it happen. This is when the repetitive psychomotor pattern is subconsciously activated.
One of the objectives of making putts is to not try to make them. This is known as detachment to the outcome. It is obvious that getting the ball to go in the hole is what we want to do, however staying in the present and doing what we are supposed to do now is more important than what happens to the ball in the future. The instant the ball is hit, information about distance and line is transferred from the putter to the ball. After the ball has been hit there is nothing else you can do to influence the outcome of your efforts.
CHAPTER 4THE SET UP
* * *
As stated earlier, it is in the transition from behind the ball to the side of it that most mistakes take place. This very important action must be rhythmic in nature. The set up should take the same amount of time whether it is a sixty foot or a three foot putt. Ideally, once the decision to set up and hit the ball is made then the whole action turns into a flowing, seamless motion that culminates with the transfer of energy from the putter head to the ball. It is very much like a choreographed dance move. You practice the same move time after time until it becomes second nature.
Allow me to make something very clear; from the instant that you are satisfied that you have picked out the proper line and you decide to hit the ball on that line there is no need to stop and become motionless. Aiming, setting up, and hitting the ball are tied together by the timing of the whole process. It takes a certain amount of time for each individual to perform this task. Some players will take more time than others but the amount of time that each takes remains the same for all putts. The point is that it must flow at a pace that is comfortable and suits your personal rhythm. The transition from the conscious action of setting up to the subconscious action of hitting the ball is hidden in the timing of your personal rhythm. It is something that you must discover for yourself.
Standing approximately a foot away from behind the ball and holding the putter in your right hand, move to the left so that the outside of the right foot is next to and parallel to the target line. While moving to that side, do not lose sight of the target line or the top of the ball. Scroll your eyes from the ball down the target line and back again as you place your right foot on a 45 degree angle to the ball. The next move is very critical; swing your left foot around so that it lands perpendicular to the target line while the shoulders are parallel to it and your eyes are on top of the ball. Grip the club in the manner which you have practiced and place the putter directly behind the ball and perpendicular to the target line. The distance the feet are from the target line will differ slightly from person to person. Again, it is something that you must discover for yourself.
That whole action will at first be somewhat clumsy, but as it becomes a habit with practice it will become more graceful and eventually you won't give it a second thought. Think of it as trudging a new path in a forest except this forest is in your brain being created by your many neurons. The more you practice the more ingrained this path becomes. One of the fascinating aspects of all this is that you don't actually have to physically perform these moves. All you have to do is think about them and the neurons fire away.
I recall reading about an experiment involving eighteen basketball players. Six of them practiced shooting free throws for a week, six of them only thought about shooting free throws, and six of them did not practice or think about free throws at all. When they were brought together the six who only thought about the free throws made more baskets than the other two groups.
There is growing speculation that we possess mirror neurons that mimic actions that are being performed. Some scientists are skeptical because the research has only been done with monkeys but my guess is that if we imagine an action then our neurons can fire away and mimic that action. That's why it's important to view the video that is available for this book. In that way you can tie what you learn from reading the information with what you see being performed. It's an interesting way to learn because you know exactly how and why the movements are happening when you see them happening.
Your forearms have two bones which make the rotation of your wrists possible. Were it not for these two bones rotation would be impossible. The radial bone extends at the wrist from the base of your thumb to the base of your upper arm. The ulna bone extends at the wrist from a bone connected to your little finger to the base of your upper arm. When your hands are in front of you as if in prayer, the radial bone is above the ulna. This is considered a neutral position.
PRONATION
Pronation occurs when the radial bone, from a neutral position, rolls over the ulna so that the back of the hand is facing the sky. You will notice that the bones cross under the forearm. This action is necessary in the release of the club head in the full swing. It is very similar to the motion of the second baseman's underhand throw to first base. While this is a very desirable action for the full swing it will absolutely wreck a putting swing.
SUPINATION
Supination occurs when, from a neutral position, the palm of the hand is rolled so that it is facing the sky. You will notice that the two bones are now parallel to each other. In the full swing the left arm, for right handers, is in supination while the right arm is in pronation. Body mechanics dictates this action for the smooth transition into the follow through. In putting, however, we want both arms in supination to eliminate the rotation that requires constant attention and virtually eliminates consistent success. I have played with very good putters who open and close the face, but they were few and far between.
* * *
Supination of both forearms during the hit is the secret to keeping the putter face square without having to think about it. Coupled with the proper set up and grip pressure the putter face will retain its perpendicular angle to the line like a machine as long as you don't interfere by trying to control it.
The next step is to bring the supinated forearms and elbows in and press them slightly against the midline of your body. You will notice that your forearms can easily move up and down and rotate from side to side while your upper arms remain still. This freedom allows us to do such incredible things like open doors and bring a cup of coffee to our lips. All that potential motion is great but it can wreck a putting swing so it must be held in check.
In order to stabilize the supinated forearms, you must first flex your hands down while keeping your elbows pressed against your sides. Next, bring your hands together by rotating the supinated forearms toward each other until your hands meet as if gripping the club. Take note that half of each forearm is touching your upper body. That relationship remains throughout the swing. It should feel very restricting. The object of what you have done is to keep your hands from pronating. It is imperative that you keep your elbows touching your body. In this particular position the supinated right forearm will not allow the left forearm to pronate and the supinated left forearm will not allow the right to pronate. The only thing that either can do is go straight back and straight forward.
CHAPTER 5THE SWING
* * *
You are now ready to swing the putter. You have in effect turned yourself into a putting machine. If you can imagine a machine made of steel parts, similar to that of your body, that needs a motor for power and a computer to run it then you get the idea. This machine has the added advantage of being able to use certain laws of physics to achieve its goal of delivering information to the ball about where and how far to go. The information is exchanged at the point of impact. When the putter head touches the ball at the moment of impact, the ball is instantly on its way. There is no time to grip it and to try to put over spin on it. Balls begin to roll end over end when they meet friction from the green. Super slow motion cameras have confirmed that balls skid first and then begin to roll.
This particular method, however, seeks to make the ball meet friction immediately by hitting down on it at a very precise and shallow angle of attack. This very delicate action cannot be consciously controlled. It must be part of the machine like action of the swing. It is programmed in the set up. The results will have to speak for themselves.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from The Putting Machine by Ernie Makepeace. Copyright © 2016 Ernie Makepeace. Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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Table of Contents
Contents
Preface, ix,Introduction, xi,
Chapter 1 You are already a great putter, 1,
Chapter 2 Aiming is the most important thing, 7,
Chapter 3 The grip, 13,
Chapter 4 The set up, 19,
Pronation, 25,
Supination, 27,
Chapter 5 The swing, 31,
Chapter 6 Reading greens, 39,
Summary, 45,