Drills That Develop Champions By JASON VOIGTS and MARIA CASTELLUCCI Have you ever experienced that instant fear that comes with standing over a 6-foot putt knowing that the putt stands between you and beating your best bud or worse, between you and a championship trophy? It's a feeling most of us are familiar with but never want to admit. Some instructors would tell you that it's a feeling that won't ever go away or that it can't be controlled, but there are steps that you can take to ease the pressure of those situations and turn them into an advantage for you.This is one benefit of practicing with a specific purpose in mind. One way to practice this skill is through drills.We have found that these two drills not only allow you to work on your putting fundamentals but also allows you to simulate the feeling of being 'under the gun' to actually simulate that moment of fear without something being on the line. My father used to tell me all the time, if you can't do it in practice, you will never be able to do it when it counts. One of our favorite drills is called the 3,6,9 putting drill. The following steps describe how to set it up and complete it: 1. Place your putter head inside the cup and put a tee down at the length of the club. Most putters are 33 to 35 inches. 2. Go another putter length back from that tee which would be 6 feet and then another from that tee which would be 9 feet. 3. Take three golf balls at the 3-foot tee and putt, if you make all three of those golf balls consecutively then proceed to the 6-foot tee. Putt those three golf balls and if you make those three consecutively, move to the 9-foot tee and make those three in a row. 4. If you make all nine balls in a row, you have completed the drill but the first ball that you miss takes you back to the beginning with the 3-foot tee where you start the drill from scratch. The purpose of the drill is to put you in a make-or-break situation.The pressure increases as you move back and when you reach that eighth or ninth ball, you will have simulated effectively that true feeling of pressure.This is not an easy drill to successfully navigate.There has been more than one occasion where my father has had to turn on the car headlights to illuminate the putting green so that I could finish it. One thing that we can promise is that this will make you a better pressure putter and those 3-foot putts will no longer be viewed as knee-knockers. CONTINUED ON PAGE 22 Tee to Green Golf Magazine Issue 230 Page 20
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