You can see it coming.
When you get to a course in the AM and you’re not quite sure what the day might be bringing weather-wise, just look at the greenskeepers. You can ALWAYS tell how good/bad it’s going to get according to what they donned for the day.
For example, here’s a friend of mine out at Heron Lakes, Charles:
When he’s dressed like this, you know it’s gonna rain! And, rain it did today..
I’ve come to appreciate, and in some ways enjoy, the rain, but in all honesty I’m completely looking forward to my stint in Florida starting January 29. If nothing else, I’ll be able to putt on different grass (I’m pretty sure they have Bermuda grass down there, as we have Bent and Poa here.) and get a change of scenery for a bit. I’m sure the people over at Heron will appreciate a bit of a break from me too!
On to a different topic: I realized today why some people are always fidgeting with their putting swing and buying new gear. My theory, and remember that this is coming from limited, yet concentrated, experience, is that people change up what they are doing not because they need something new to help them, but because the changes force them to concentrate. And, concentration is the hardest aspect and most important part of putting.
Putting itself is a very easy task. All you have to do is hit a stationary ball x amount of feet with a flat-faced club. If you compare that to baseball, football, cricket, badminton, skeet shooting, etc, it’s pretty darn easy. The problem is not performing a difficult task, rather it’s being able to do a simple task with the utmost diligence and care. It’s remembering every time you stand over a ball to get yourself into the “zone.” And, it’s about stopping your mind from interfering with what you’ve learned to do.
Since it’s such a mind-numbingly easy task, (editor’s note: although hitting the ball can be easy, reading greens and judging grass speed can be very tricky!) it’s easy to get careless over time and ingrain bad habits in your swing. When this happens, our natural tendency is to first look for an external cause (it’s a lot nicer to our ego to assume an inanimate club is causing our woes) and then maybe think that something we’ve been “taught” was incorrect, i.e our grip or posture. But, what I’m thinking and where I’m going with this is that if you start having issues with your putting, I don’t think you need a new putter or to start hitting with a “claw” grip, but perhaps just need to remember to step aside and let your brain focus on the task in front of you. Don’t over-think it, just do what you do and be the ball. na na na na na na na