Kris Brown, Director of InstructionTrump National Golf Club

When I ask my students how they read a putt on the green the answer is usually the same: “I don’t really know.”

To help you improve your putting, I will take you through a four-stage routine that if done properly will give you the best possible chance to make an accurate read.

Stage 1 (Direction): Start from behind the ball and focus only on direction. Ask yourself three questions: Is the ball going to go straight, left to right, or right to left? Let’s imagine that our imaginary putt is from right to left.

Stage 2 (Speed): Go to the low side of the hole. This means that if you started from behind the ball and the slope breaks right to left, you will go to the left side of the hole. Again, ask yourself three questions: Is the ground sloped to go uphill, downhill or is it flat? When looking from the side, visualize three sections starting from the ball to the hole. We do this because your putt can go uphill, downhill, and flat.

Stage 3 (Confirmation / Direction): Now stand behind the hole looking back at the ball. This angle is about confirmation. Does it look the same as it did when you were standing behind the ball? When standing behind the hole it’s imperative to visually disregard the area between your feet and the hole, it has nothing to do with your current putt. If you happen to miss your putt and the ball goes past the hole, you definitely want to focus on the break and speed.

Stage 4 (Equalizer): I believe that all amateur golfers don’t play enough break because they lack the information in Stage 4. This stage allows you to read the second half of the putt, which is around the hole. Stand on the low side looking at the last five feet of the putt. Visualize that when ball starts to slow down it will break more, so it’s more influenced by the slope around the hole then when you first stroke the ball. What you are trying to determine is how much slope is around the cup.

Every player who consistently makes putts goes through this routine. It builds confidence in the stroke and improves green-reading skills.

Enjoy making more putts!

Warming up and stretching should be part of all golfers’ regimens to avoid injuries down the road

British Open champion Darren Clarke knows the importance of properly stretching before the round.

Your tee time is at 9:40. You leave the house at 9:05. You enter the course’s parking lot at 9:25. You pay your green fee at 9:35. You’re on the tee. You’re an accident waiting to happen.

By not warming up and stretching your muscles and joints, your body could rebel and your score might suffer, or vice versa. Golf is a game that causes a lot of wear and tear on a lot of different areas of your physique. Not getting all parts of your body ready to play is foolish on a number of levels. From head to toe, you need to be prepared mentally and physically. So get moving. Here’s some help.

EVERY LITTLE BIT COUNTS
A half hour is the suggested warm-up time for golfers, but if you’re always running late, here are a few tips:
• Park as far from the clubhouse as possible. The brisk walk will help you get loose.
• Use the golf cart as your stretch pole while waiting for the starter. Focus on your shoulders, back and neck.
• Hit a few putts to help focus the mind on what you’re about to do – play golf. Quickly hitting a few balls is often a mindless task and therefore unhelpful.
STEVE KAESE
PGA Director of Golf Instruction, Golf Academy of America

DEVELOP A PRE-ROUND ROUTINE
Before you stretch it’s important to warm up to avoid injuries. This routine will help:
• Stand with your arms bent at the elbow so the palms are facing down. Jog in place for 30 seconds, with the last 10 seconds raising your knees high enough to touch your palms.
• Stand with your knees and waist slightly bent. Rotate your arms in small circles for 20 seconds to warm and stretch the muscles simultaneously.
• Grab each end of your driver and, behind your head, rotate left to right and back again for 30 seconds.
MICHAEL METZ
Head Golf Professional, Lost Canyons Golf Club

QUICK AND EASY
Stretching is important and doesn’t have to take a lot of time. Here are three stretches that can be done in less than five minutes:
• With your legs as straight as possible, touch your toes with your hands to stretch your hamstrings and lower back. Hold for 10 seconds and repeat three times.
• Clasp your hands behind your back and reach toward the sky. Hold for 10 seconds and repeat three times. This loosens your shoulders, chest and upper back.
• To stretch your legs and torso, hold a club against your lower back and slowly make simulated swings. Hold the backswing and follow-through positions for five seconds each and repeat three times.
MATT VIGUERIE
PGA Head Golf Professional, Mission Viejo Country Club

POLE POSITION
Here’s a quick way to get loose before a round. Do three sets of eight repetitions for each stretch. If you don’t have a stretching pole, a driver will do the trick.
• Hold the pole or club with your hands 45-50 inches apart. Straighten your arms and move them over your head and behind your back. Repeat in the opposite direction. As the movement becomes easier, move your hands in about an inch.
• With your arms above your head, bend at your side to the right and then back to the left.
As this gets easier, move into a lunge position and bend in both directions.
KRIS MOE
Former PGA Tour Player, Kris Moe Golf Schools

FOCUS ON ALL MOVING PARTS
The idea in golf is to be as elastic as possible so your body can coil and uncoil. Therefore, it’s important that your entire physique is ready for the rigors of a round. These exercises will get your body properly warmed up before heading to the range and the first tee:
• Walk continuously for 15 to 20 minutes.
• Do half squats to loosen the quadriceps and gluteus muscles.
• Do a series of calf raises.
• Gently rotate your torso back and forth with arms extended to the side.
• Roll your shoulders in both directions.
GEOFF DEAN
PGA Director of Golf, Escena Golf Club

GET SPECIFIC
A warm-up routine that’s quick, to the point and improves your balance and mobility is crucial. You can accomplish this by incorporating dynamic, golf-specific drills into your pre-round activities. Perform one set of 10 repetitions with good speed for these three:
• Stand on your right leg and swing your left leg from side to side in front of your body. Don’t allow your standing leg to sway through the movement.
• Get in an athletic position, grab a club and hold it shoulder high with one hand at the hosel and the other at the grip. Rotate right and left through the trunk without allowing the hips to follow.
• Get in the same position and hold the club the same way as the previous exercise. Make a full body turn by pivoting on your left foot and turning to the right. Repeat to the left while pivoting on your right foot.
ROY KHOURY
RFK Training, Titleist Performance Institute Certified Golf Fitness instruction

JULY 2009 INSTRUCTION
By Kris Moe and Al Barkow

If you were boxer throwing a jab but you did it with your arm perfectly straight or stiff from the start, it would be a very weak punch. But if you throw that jab with your arm bent and it doesn’t straighten until you’ve hit your opponent, the result is a lethal punch. The same applies to golf. If you are ingrained with the ancient instructional dictate of having a straight left arm when making your swing (and you would be in the 96 percentile if that’s the case), the idea of a bent or soft left arm sounds like heresy. But it is, in fact, the most effective way to create the most powerful shots you have ever hit.

To put it in another context, say you have an axe and want to chop down a tree. When you swing that axe are you going to do it without any bend in your arms? No. If you were a hitter at the plate, are you going to swing the bat at a fastball with your arms stuck out stiffly in front of you? Of course not. So why should you do it when you hit a golf ball?

The point we are making recalls what “Wild” Bill Mehlhorn said many years ago. Mehlhorn came on the scene in 1919 and won over 20 PGA Tour events, and he was a pioneer in the development of American golf and the pro tour. Ben Hogan once said Mehlhorn was the best ball-striker he ever saw. Melhorne believed you can and should bend your left arm in the backswing. When his playing career ended, Mehlhorn took to teaching. He had no use for the stiff left arm, and you can tell to this day those who have been influenced by his teaching–they all have a soft left arm.

I like my students to pretend they are using an axe to chop down a tree or hit a belt-high fast ball with a baseball bat. If you try this and repeat it back and forth from back swing to the contact position, you’ll experience the natural timing of the bending of the wrists and elbows in the back swing and forward swing.

Try a few repetitions to get the feeling for the bending of the left elbow in the backswing and how it straightens in the forward swing just past the point impact. Next, tilt forward into your golf posture and try the same action with the soft left elbow folding in the back swing and straightening just past where the golf ball would be.

Next, practice hitting the ground and extending through to where both arms are fully extended. When you’re ready, try a few balls with a nine iron or wedge with the same length of swing, hitting the balls just 30 or 40yards until you can time the shots consistently.

To integrate this into your full swing, like any new exercise, do it a few times without a golf ball to get the right feeling. In the forward swing, hit the mat or make a divot before both arms get the chance to straighten. As they straighten they should finish with the club shaft online with your left arm and the butt of the club pointing back to your belly button. Hold for two to three seconds. When this gets easier to do, after holding the short finish,move the club into a full-swing finish. Repeat this until you feel you can do this in a seamless motion.

If you’d like to see this in action, I have this golf tip and more on www.youtube.com/krismoegolf. Give my soft arm exercise a try, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised how simple and effective it can be. Best wishes with your golf. CGN

Kris Moe played the PGA Tour in the US and Europe and finished top 25 in the1985 British Open. He now operates the Kris Moe Golf Schools at the Chardonnay Golf Club, in Napa and Poppy Hills, in Pebble Beach. He also offers private golf lessons in his indoor studio, in down-town San Francisco. He can be reached at: 707-939-0523 or at his website www.krismoegolfschools.com