When I was in my teens, in the 1960s at Champions Golf Club in Houston, Texas, co-owner Jackie Burke taught me how to become a great putter. He constantly reminded me that great putters felt it in their fingertips and that all putts went wherever the hands went, good or bad. He made me very aware that my focus should be only on what my hands were doing and not what the putter head or ball were doing – that they were the effect of using the hands properly.

Since then, putting for me has always been easy and fun and also easy to teach. I was lucky enough to have someone who understood what great putting felt like pass it along to me. Since most golfers have never been taught this simple solution to great putting I have developed some feel drills that will help anyone become a better putter.

Here’s a drill I taught Nick Faldo in 2000 that improved his putting from one of the worst putters on tour to No. 1 in putting at the 2000 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, some of the toughest greens in the world to putt, where he averaged 25 putts per day.

Improve your putting with the thumb pointing drill

This drill is called the thumb pointing drill. Even though there are a couple of other elements (how to hold the club for control, and how to get in the best set-up) that will enhance your putting performance, this drill will help you become a much better putter.

First, you must focus on the relationship between your hands and the intended target. Now, feel the corner of your lower thumb on the grip that is closest to the target. On your right hand it will be the corner of the nail on the outside of your thumb and if you use left hand low it will be the inside corner of the thumbnail. Take some practice strokes feeling that corner pointing at your target at the end of the motion.

Now putt 3-inch to 6-inch putts making sure to hold the point at the finish of the stroke. By doing this you will discover the ball went the direction you pointed, good or bad. Two things will come from this drill: 1. Your focus will shift away from the putter head and ball and 2., you will complete your
stroke giving you better rhythm and distance control.

When you get a good feel for short putts, increase the distance until you feel comfortable from all distances.

Once you learn to narrow your focus to your hands and where they are going, putting will become simple and fun.

The next time you’re on the putting green, try these three simple practice drills that will help you become a better putter:

Place a golf ball about 5 to 6 feet from the hole, then put two tees in the ground, approximately 8 to 10 inches behind the ball. Place them a little farther apart than the length of your putter head. Make sure they are directly on the target line you intend to putt the ball.

This drill is intended to have you swing the putter straight back away from the ball. If you strike either tee on your back stroke, your backswing path is offline. When you can swing the putter head back and fourth between the tees, you will know that the putter is moving along the correct path, ensuring you will make solid contact every time. This path is vital, because it helps start your ball on its intended target line.

Next, I encourage golfers to hold the finish of their putting stroke until they hear the ball falling into the hole. This drill is effective in training your head and body to stay still over a putt while also helping you maintain the putter face on line throughout your stroke. Finally, your focus on the follow-through will keep your mind off missing the putt.

As I watch golfers struggle with putting, I notice many have trouble with distance control. This problem relates to feel.

A good drill to increase feel and improve your distance control is to practice putting with one hand. Start by placing a ball 8 to 10 feet from the cup, and hit a few putts with just your right hand. Next, repeat the putt just using your left hand.

By now you should notice which hand gives you better control of the putter. From then on, practice your one-hand drill mostly with the dominate hand.

This drill will have you feel much more comfortable and confident over putts, improving your distance control, thus giving you a more confident stroke.

If you suffer from the occasional yip, tend to pull your putts, have trouble keeping the clubface square at impact or just plain struggle with the putter, you’ve no doubt considered alternative methods.

Alternatives, of course, would include the long putter, belly putter, claw grip and any number of other gimmicks that might help steady the nerves or help you find a pendulum stroke.

Well, here’s another idea. Simple Golf, of the Symple Power Swing technique, has introduced the Symple Putting method.

Ironically, Symple Putting does not utilize the principles of the Symple Swing. In fact, it’s pretty much the opposite. The Symple Swing primarily employs the body’s core muscles; Symple Putting is a wristy stroke that involves very little arm motion.

“This is a hinge method,” said Mike O’Leary, director of instruction for Simple Golf LLC. “It’s much like a grandfather clock.”

Symple Putting anchors on the thigh

For an idea of how Symple Putting works, just imagine the putter as the pendulum on a clock. Your hands are essentially the fulcrum on which the putter swings, and your left thigh (if you’re right-handed) anchors your hands.

In fact, you set up by placing the club in your left hand, which is at around mid-thigh, then closing the grip with the right hand. You execute the stroke by swinging back and through with the left hand in constant contact with the left thigh. The idea is that by anchoring the putter handle on the left leg, the clubface must return to the same spot it was at address, therefore eliminating pulls, pushes and opened and closed clubfaces.

Distance control is accomplished by varying backswing length with the left wrist. If you’re thinking long putts could be a problem, you’ll be surprised how far you can hit with this method. For really long putts, however, you must speed up the tempo in addition to lengthening the backstroke.

Scoring Machine putter works best for Symple Putting

Not surprisingly, Simple Golf has a specially-designed putter for this method called the Scoring Machine. This mallet has a flatter lie angle, designed to accommodate a putter that’s anchored at mid thigh.

Finding the right length is crucial for executing this putting method correctly, and the folks at Simple Golf determine that based on your height and build.

Simple Golf isn’t just marketing this method (and its putters) to players who use the Symple Swing, but to anyone looking to improve putting regardless of their full-swing action.

If you think about it, Symple Putting is probably most like using a belly putter, but instead of anchoring the club in the abdomen, it’s anchored on the thigh with ball position off the front foot. Plenty of good players use belly putters or long putters, so this might appeal to them as well.

At least one Champions Tour player has tried the method, said Simple Golf founder and President Joe Davidson, but because it’s not a paid endorsement, Simple Golf can’t release his name. Simple Golf also features former LPGA player Jan Stephenson and ex-NFL player Jack Youngblood in its videos.

Speaking of videos, the putter comes with video instruction, a head cover and online and telephone support.

Tiger Woods’ dramatic chip-in on the 16th hole at at Muirfield Village was undoubtedly the shot that led to his 73rd victory on the PGA Tour, a momentum grabber, an attention getter and a glimpse of the Tiger of old.

It was also a shot that was ridiculously difficult by even his standards, “I pulled it off, and for it to land as soft as it did was kind of a surprise because it was baked out and it was also downhill running away from me,” Woods told reporters. “It just fell in.”

Before we look at the how, let’s examine why he chose the flop under such demanding circumstances. On a direct line to the pin, the shot had to carry at least 10 yards to clear the fringe and the lie was showing only the top half of the ball in rough that was at least two inches thick. The standard chip shot was not an option due to the lie and distance to the green, and the usual pitch shot would not stop the ball fast enough to avoid the water.

There was another option — play the soft pitch to the left side of the green where there was little danger of bringing water into play — but Tiger went for the must-make in a situation where he could win or lose depending on the outcome of one high-risk shot.

Learn the Tiger Flop shot

So how did he hit the shot that makes mere mortals break into a deep sweat? I mean it was only a must-make shot from a downhill thick lie to a firm fast green with water behind the green, what’s the big deal?!

Here are the steps you need to use to learn the Tiger Flop:

1. Get the right wedge. For this shot, Tiger chose his 60 degree for maximum height and stopping power.

2. Lean the shaft backwards. Even though on a normal wedge shot the handle of the club is normally leaning well forward, Tiger actually leaned the shaft back so that the handle was pointing more towards the middle of his body.

3. Open the club face — a lot. Tiger’s wedge was leaned back and open so much that it looked like the face was almost pointing vertically. Be sure to open the face before you take your grip, otherwise your hands will manipulate the club face back to square.

4. Play the ball just forward of middle. Too far back and you will chop down too much, and too forward will cause the club to slide so far under the ball it will barely go forward.

5. Use a slightly open stance, an exaggerated aim to the left is not necessary and only complicates how your eyes perceive the shot. The golf club hits the ball, not your feet.

6. Take a three-quarter backswing. A long, floppy swing will not be controllable especially under pressure. Use a normal amount of wrist hinge; this is plenty to get the speed needed for this shot.

7. Accelerate through but under control. This is not the uber-high Mickelson flop; Tiger actually hit a standard flop with normal acceleration.

8. Keep the face open through the down swing. Do not roll the face over or you’ll take off all the loft you acquired at address. Hold the face open like a big spoon.

9. Bend the left arm after impact. This helps keep the face open and the acceleration even.

10. Practice. You can be sure Tiger has hit thousands of these shots before he ever considered taking it into competition.