FARMINGDALE, N.Y. — Most golfers have at least one thing in their pre-round routine that I’d classify as quirky. Something they do because they think it works and makes them comfortable—even though it looks a little strange.
In the darkness on Friday morning, before his foursomes match, I found Ludvig Aberg’s.
It came on the practice putting green. After hitting a few putts from short range, he made his way over to the edge of the putting green where he had cobbled together a unique putting setup.
- Two different mirrors
- Four tees
- One alignment rod
- One headcover
They each served a specific purpose:
- The mirrors were to make sure his eyes and shoulders were square to the target line
- The tees formed a game to make sure his putter face was square at impact
- The alignment rod was there to make sure his feet were square to the target line
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All pretty standard stuff that is popular among the pro ranks (you can dive deeper on it right here), but the headcover was an interesting addition. Why would Åberg putt to a headcover, rather than a hole?
Simple: Because Aberg’s goal here is to square up everything in his stroke. Taking away the hole allows him to focus on nothing else. It focuses you fully on your most important goal (improving your technique) because you’ve removed the outcome entirely.
Aberg hit about 10 putts this way, in his fully technical world, before returning to the hole. A simple way to sync everything up, before leaving that technique-heavy practice behind, and going back to worrying about holing important putts.
It certainly worked for Aberg—he made a putt on the first hole for birdie, and went on to win his match alongside Matt Fitzpatrick, 5 and 3.
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This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
