How many times a round do you either pick up your ball when it is a foot or so away from the hole. Or even worse, have one of the guys in your
group kick the ball back to you saying “that’s good”?
Each time you don’t hole out on the green you are costing yourself a chance to build confidence. You are depriving yourself of the opportunity to
watch the ball go in the hole.
Putting is greatly influenced by attitude and confidence. Much of this is subconscious. You may not notice an effect if you pick up your “gimmies”
until you have an 18 inch putt that means something. Having had most of them kicked back to you, can you consider them automatic.
Nothing builds your confidence like making putts. Remember the confidence you feel after making a string of not so gimmie putts? Think about how
many strikes you would save if you made every putt you had under ten feet. Think about how easy the game would seem if all you had to do to make
par on a par four is put it within ten feet of the hole in three shots.
The first step in rebuilding lost confidence in putting is to start watching some putts drop. Over the course of a round, you may have four or five
“gimmies”. Each of those is a lost chance to see a putt go in when it counts.
Think it doesn’t matter if the putt is only two feet and you would be “certain” to make it? Well, if you have been taking (and giving) gimmies for
years, you probably rarely see the ball go in the hole from two feet. What is not filled by confidence and experience will be filled by doubt.
Make a commitment to yourself to make that last putt on every single hole. It may only be a foot away, but the visual reinforcement of seeing the ball
go in the hole off of your putter will build confidence over time.
You will find that five footers become easier once you get used to seeing