Putting is an extremely personal part of golf. From the time you step foot on the green to the time the ball hits the bottom of the cup, the process is different for everyone.
While green reading, setup and stroke are unique to each golfer, we can draw inspiration from others to test out different procedures and figure out what works best for our game. A great way to do that is to look at the best putters on tour and see how they approach the process of putting.
One player I especially love to look at is Rose Zhang. She was top 10 on tour for putts per green in regulation during the 2023 season, averaging 1.76 putts per green, and always seems to know it’s going in before hitting it.
In a video with adidas, Zhang worked with a team of neuro scientists to analyze her putting routine and see how she manages over pressure putts. You can watch that below.
Zhang’s data revealed that she has an elite ability to ignore the pressures from external distractions, a skill she says she trained with her father as a junior golfer. But, the data also revealed that Zhang has a tendency to take extra time when standing over high pressure putts—something many of us can relate to.
While it might feel good to take extra time, adidas’ team explained that the additional time causes athletes to enter into an analysis state, a state of mind that’s less optimal for execution and can cause players to overthink.
So the fix is to get Zhang pulling the trigger faster.
Look…and go
Rather than speed up her routine, Zhang opted to shorten it and take a single practice stroke instead of her usual two—a switch that would benefit many amateurs as well.
Zhang says that taking two practice strokes gave her a false-sense of relief when she was in high-pressure situations. By switching to a single practice stroke, she’s ready to execute earlier and still in an optimal performance state.
“Understanding what I need timing, routine wise, really impacts my focus,” Zhang says.
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
