Terrified Over Putts? Try this…

Valerie,

I feel confident over some putts and terrified over others, even when they’re the same length. Why does my confidence change hole to hole?

Hannah, Portland, OR

Hannah,

That is a brilliant question. In general, we assign meaning to putts, so sometimes a putt is for par, or it’s for a bogey, or it’s for a double bogey, or maybe it’s even for a birdie.

Our expectations change, the pressure we put on ourselves changes, even though the putt is the same length. The other issue may be that you’ve got a downhill putt or an uphill putt, or a left to right breaker, or a right to left breaker, all those different putts mean different things to us, and we have a comfort level with different putts and the meanings we associate with them.

I would have you review the instances where this happens and work out if its happening when you putt for birdie or to win the hole or not lose the hole. There are a load of different things that go on, so it’s not just as simple as the same length putt. There may be something else feeding into the confidence factor.

If I was you, I would take a little look at this, let me know and then we can move forward to address whatever issue we narrow in on. Thank you so much for that question.

Hannah, I hope my answers helped you, and hope it’ll help a lot of other people out there too. And if you have questions, email me hopline@franklygolf.com

May The Frog Be With You,

Valerie