Is it something in your grip?  Could it be that you need to see 3 knuckles instead of 2 knuckles?

Could it be to start your swing with a little more wrist hinge so that you can set the club with more ease?

How about thinking of the acronym HASH as you swing back?  You know HASH, don't you?  Meaning the order in which you should move your body parts as you swing the club back -

Moving in order starting with your Hands, Arms, Shoulders, Hips.  Then as you swing forward towards the ball, spell HASH backwards - Hips, Shoulders, Arms, Hands.  Is this the secret?

Or how about allowing your right elbow (for a right handed Golfer) to come down into your side as the first move down from the top of your backswing?  Could this be the secret?

Maybe it's finding the perfect configuration in the weighting of your moveable weights in your Driver?

Oh, I can go on and on and on with all these Secrets.  There are so many out there, that I'm surprised that they're considered Secrets anymore.

Do you know that the worst putter on the PGA Tour averages 31.50 putts per 18 holes?  The very worst putter!  The guy at the bottom of the list.  Last place.  Nobody has less talent then him on the PGA Tour when it comes to putting.

His scoring average for 18 holes is 72.67.  Which isn't very good when you're at that level of Golf.  Yes, I know most of you are reading this and would love to average 72.67 strokes per 18 holes - but, 72.67 on the PGA Tour is like batting .189 in Major League Baseball.

Do you know that the Monkey whose average score is 95 - averages 41 putts per round?

I wonder if the secret is that you need to get your shoulders turned 90 degrees as you swing back and have your hips turned 45 degrees?  Or maybe it's that you need to lag the club on the way down so that you can snap your wrists at the very last second before you make impact?  Or could it be that you have to make a well balanced follow-through?

Or maybe, just maybe - you could practice your putting for more than 7 minutes every 3 weeks and get your number of putts down from 41 to 32.  Which isn't a huge deal since I'm not asking you to putt as well as the best PGA Tour Player.  I'm asking you to putt as bad as the worst PGA Tour Player.

If you score 95 now and you improve your putting from 41 putts to 32 putts - cha ching, cha ching - you're now an 86 shooter without trying any of those Monkey secrets I've listed above.

Yet, I know that someone is saying - "Well Marc, I'm a pretty good putter.  I barely ever 3 putt."

There's still a 6 stroke difference between you - the good putter who barely 3 putts - (I'm taking the liberty to equate barely to meaning 3 putting twice per round) and the worst putter on the PGA Tour.  Meaning if you 3 putt twice and 2 putt every other hole, you still have 38 putts. 95 minus 6 putts is 89!

Then, we always have The Monkey who says that "Putting is the best part of my game!"

I believe that the only people that can say that putting is the best part of their game is the Player that can score under Par.  To back this up - If you say that putting is the best part of your game, then that means that your Driver, Fairway Woods and Irons are the worst part of your game.  Correct?  You follow me?

If you don't hit the ball well, but are able to get on every Par 3 in 2 shots.  Every Par 4 in 3 shots.  And every Par 5 in 4 shots.  It would take you 54 cumulative shots to reach the greens using the worst part of your game.

So if your average score is 95 and it takes you 54 shots to reach the greens, that means you average 41 putts per round.  If you don't hit the ball one stroke better on your next round of golf - yet you get your number of putts down to 32 - you now have shot an 86 without hitting the ball better.

And you know what the sad part is - I know I'm going to see a Registration Evaluation (the form we send out to everybody that's coming to see us, that outlines where you are with your game and what you want to achieve) from a 95 Golfer that says "I want to learn how to Draw and Fade the ball because if I learn to work the ball, I will improve my score."

And that's sad because if I ask this Golfer when are they going to start working on their putting, they'll say - "I'm a pretty good putter, what's holding me back is my Driver.  Once I get more consistent and get the ball in the fairway more often, I will work on my putting."

And that's sad not because this Golfer is thinking that way, but because Monkeys like Johnny Miller and the Monkeys that go onto the Golf Channel and Monkey Digest that want to sound smart in front of you by saying things that sound intricate and complex - like telling Bogey Golfers that they need to hit Draws and Fades.  That's sad!  It's sad that these Monkeys are messing you up just because they want to sound sophisticated.

Like a very, very, very successful Financial Professional that came to see us for 3-days, once said one day at lunch comparing the Professionals in his business with the Professionals in my business - "The ones that know, don't tell.  The ones that don't know, tell."

And that relates to the Secret.  Come on, Putting better isn't really a Secret.  Yet, the way that I see 95 Golfers (and even 85 Golfers that average 36 putts per round that could instantly turn into 81 Golfers) spend more than 9 out of 10 of their practice minutes trying to work on their golf swing to hit the ball better - it might as well be a Secret!

Monkeys are looking for Secrets and try out every one they come across.

The Player knows that if they can keep their putts under 32 - then and only then should they practice hitting the golf ball better.

Go ahead, be a Player!

Regards,

Marc Solomon - Your Instructor For Life