Dare To Be Different

When conventional golf instruction does not seem to work, you have to decide whether or not to stay with it indefinitely, or to come to the realization that some of the traditional methods may not ever work for your particular body. Hey, if it's not working anyway, why not try something different? What have you got to lose? Look at the ways Chris DiMarco and Mark Calcavecchia putt, with 2 different variations of the "claw" method. Look at how different the backswings are for Jim Furyk and Raymond Floyd. I don't think you will find an instructor anywhere who will tell you to swing like that. Yet, it does work for them. Is there hope that unusual methods might work for you?

Especially when you get The Yips, you have to try something. Here are some experiments I have tried. A putting drill suggested to keep more weight on the front foot (left foot for right handers) by moving the right foot backward into a pronounced narrow closed stance. Although this was only a drill, the results were better than my traditional square stance.

Then I tried the belly-putter concept, but without the longer putter. Instead of touching my torso with the end of the shaft, I used my left elbow to touch my torso, with my left arm acting as an extension of the putter's shaft. By keeping the elbow in contact with the torso all during the putting stroke, my putting has improved.

Then I tried both of the above methods together as a drill, and the results were so much better that this has become no longer just a drill for me, I now do this on the course as well. Then I remembered some instruction said you can also use your putting stroke for chip shots as well, so I tried it and again it did work better than the traditional method.

As a result, for me, The Yips are gone. I'm not going to guarantee that this will also work for you, but I do suggest that you have contests with yourself to see which works better, the traditional methods, or your own experimental methods.

Challenge yourself. Can your A-method take the pressure to stand up to the challenge from your B or C method? This can be fun, exciting, and very enlightening.
(see www.geocities.com/golfwithjoey)