Putt Like a Pro 2 - Pete Cowan

The Reflex Drill

In a solid stroke, the left shoulder works down and then up – just like the handle of the putter.

Hands remain neutral on the grip and passive throughout the stroke, enabling you to maintain this controlling unit while developing good tempo with the gentle rocking of the shoulders.

How the Zen can help you develop your feel for the stroke, and a sense of true ‘release'

Hitting at the ball with the putter is often the cause of poor ballstriking on the greens (and likewise in the full swing). You see it everyday: flicking at it with the putter-head can cause a player to pull a putt, while hitting at it with the hands (i.e. ‘driving' a putt) can result in a block.

Either way, the ball's not going to drop.

The key to long-term consistency is that (1) you learn to develop a repeating pendulum-type stroke that is controlled by the upper body and (2) that you then fine-tune that stroke to produce the smooth upstroke that (as far as is physically possible) eliminates the ‘hit'.

And that's where this putter really comes into its own. With its unique design, when you work on ‘holding' and then releasing the ball from within the aperture of the Zen Oracle putter there is no impact, and so immediately you get a true roll towards your target.

To get accustomed to the feel of the head and the sensation of rolling the ball back and forth, we kick off with what we have termed the ‘Reflex' exercise (above).

This involves simply holding the ball within the aparture of the putter as you move it just a few inches gently backwards and forwards under the line of string (and whatever putter you play, practising with a taut line of string like this is a no-brainer; all of the best putters do it). Tour players who use the Zen repeat the Reflex drill for a couple of minutes and then move on to releasing the ball and rolling it into the hole.

When you have a perfect roll, it's all about following the correct path

To keep the ball in the aperture of the putter on the backswing, you must make the handle go down to keep the putter-head low to the ground (and so immediately we're back to the value of the exercise I demonstrated on the previous page). In other words, simply spending a few minutes rehearsing the Reflex drill, or stroking a few shortish putts with the Zen, reinforces this specific feature of a correct, repeating stroke.

Here's another thing. When you know that you are going to get a pure roll on the ball as it leaves the putter, the quality of your path is exposed. The exercise you see me working on here (above) is known as the ‘Release', and it is designed to help you get the path of your stroke running perfectly at the target.

In my experience, too many golfers go on thinking they are putting well when in reality their stroke is hampered by a (usually) fundamental fault which forces them into making compensations.

Some days those compensations work (hence players feel they are putting OK), but more often than not their performance is inconsistent and the stroke is not a confident one.
What I really like about the Zen Oracle is that, via these various exercises, it basically teaches you the fundamentals and simply does not tolerate compromise. In the case of the ‘Release' drill, the quality of your path through to the hole is immediately revealed. Because you have eliminated the ‘hit', the roll is true, and if you miss the hole from this range (on a dead-straight putt), then clearly the path of your stroke needs some attention.

The students that I have coached with the Zen – and they include a number of good tour players – have been amazed at the way the putter becomes their own best teacher.
It enables you to work on your stroke and groove solid mechanics..