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I recently watched an episode of Scientific American Frontiers devoted to scientific advances in sports. One segment demonstrated an approach to putting called "quiet eyes". Basically it involved taking a normal stance, but then holding your gaze on the hole for a second or two to quiet the eyes before starting the backswing, and finally maintaining your gaze for a second at the point where your putter hit the ball during the follow through.
According to the research presented, 95% of amateurs move their eyes with ball and pull out of the put too soon, whereas most professionals keep their heads down through the stroke. Nothing we all haven't heard a hundred times before. What's new is the discovery that by quieting the eyes by looking at the hole for a long second prior to the stroke, amateurs were able to dramatically improve their ability keep their gaze at the resting position of the ball throughout the stroke and putt much straighter as a consequence.
I spent about 30-40 min. trying this technique on the living room carpet and was impressed by how much it seemed to help my short putting. I wasn't pushing and pulling near as many of those 3-5 footers. I was also putting better than average on putts up to 15' (didn't have the space to try longer putts). One thing I noticed was that I unconsciously seemed to slow down by back swing and my stroke felt smoother and more under control. I'm really curious to see how this technique works on real greens and with longer putts. I wonder if anyone else has tried it, and if so, what kind of luck they had?
According to the research presented, 95% of amateurs move their eyes with ball and pull out of the put too soon, whereas most professionals keep their heads down through the stroke. Nothing we all haven't heard a hundred times before. What's new is the discovery that by quieting the eyes by looking at the hole for a long second prior to the stroke, amateurs were able to dramatically improve their ability keep their gaze at the resting position of the ball throughout the stroke and putt much straighter as a consequence.
I spent about 30-40 min. trying this technique on the living room carpet and was impressed by how much it seemed to help my short putting. I wasn't pushing and pulling near as many of those 3-5 footers. I was also putting better than average on putts up to 15' (didn't have the space to try longer putts). One thing I noticed was that I unconsciously seemed to slow down by back swing and my stroke felt smoother and more under control. I'm really curious to see how this technique works on real greens and with longer putts. I wonder if anyone else has tried it, and if so, what kind of luck they had?
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