Rollin' it

All right, Duffer Dan, we know you can hit gargantuan drives and you never miss a green, but how is the flat stick treating you? It's a good bet even you short game specialists would like to polish up your stroke a bit. So let's get to work.  

First lets determine what type of putter you are. There are two types: the Technician and the Feel Putter.  

The Technician (Tom Kite) will have mechanically broken down the putting stroke into a complicated geometric equation of moving parts multiplied by velocity.  

The feel player (Phil Mickelson) will just inherently know which way the green breaks and how fast it will be. Note: If this is your putting style get used to occasional three putts.  

Which are you? Sure we have all felt zoned in with our feel and we have all tried to master the art of algorithmic putting, but which do you prefer? Once you know where you stand, don't sway from it. This is your natural ability as a golfer, and no person should dare to change his or her innate ability.  

Now that we know what type of putter you are, we should concentrate on how you can get better.  
What makes a good or bad putter better?  

Form -- The best golfers in the world share many distinct similarities in their putting strokes: tempo, posture, ball placement, setup and stance. The next time you watch a good putter take notice of these things. Most good putters do not have a squared stance. Most place the ball in the middle of their stance or forward slightly. Most good putters have a confident grip (not fidgety). Most good putters extend their follow-through towards the hole.  

Feel -- This comes from only one thing: practice, practice, practice. Feel in golf is another word for experience. The ability to feel the proper putting stroke comes from knowing what the proper putting stroke is. This, in turn, comes from practice. It is said that Phil Mickelson will not let himself leave the practice green until he makes 100 four footers in a row!  

Imagination -- The ability to read a putt comes from one's ability to imagine what the ball is going to do after it is stroked. When standing behind the ball, you should be able to see the ball rolling toward the hole, imagining what it will do after you have started it on its way. That's pretty much it. The ability to see the break in the green is totally dependent upon your imagination and eyesight! Knowing how hard to hit the ball comes from feel, which in turn relates directly to practice. Once you have these two things, and you have a form that you can repeat time after time, the putts will start dropping.  

One last thing: be at ease on the green (grasshopper). Nervous hands make for off-line putts. Even when it counts, pretend it doesn't. If you miss, well there's always lawn bowling! Accept the fact that you are going to miss your share of putts. Take the pressure off having to make the putt, and your form and feel will fall into place.