WEBVTT 1 00:00:20.519 --> 00:00:22.839 Well, two putts from there and I'm in. 2 00:00:23.620 --> 00:00:25.199 If you've ever felt like this when you're 3 00:00:25.199 --> 00:00:27.260 over a putt after hitting a great shot 4 00:00:27.260 --> 00:00:29.160 into the green to just a few feet, then 5 00:00:29.160 --> 00:00:30.960 listen up. I've got something really, 6 00:00:31.160 --> 00:00:32.539 really interesting for you. 7 00:00:33.240 --> 00:00:34.939 All right. I've just hit this midiron 8 00:00:34.939 --> 00:00:36.859 approach shot up here to 12 feet. It's a 9 00:00:36.859 --> 00:00:38.780 hard green. It's very firm. It was hard 10 00:00:38.780 --> 00:00:40.460 to get it this close. I had a great shot. 11 00:00:40.759 --> 00:00:43.039 All systems ago, I'm thinking to myself, 12 00:00:43.380 --> 00:00:44.920 at least I'm telling myself that I should 13 00:00:44.920 --> 00:00:46.340 be thinking that, all right, 14 00:00:47.100 --> 00:00:49.299 it's 12 footer for birdie. No problem. 15 00:00:49.399 --> 00:00:50.539 You know, it's a little downhill, but I'm 16 00:00:50.539 --> 00:00:51.039 going to make this. 17 00:00:51.679 --> 00:00:53.759 The reality is that during my entire 18 00:00:53.759 --> 00:00:55.899 playing career as a professional, which 19 00:00:55.899 --> 00:00:59.420 spanned more than five years, I averaged 20 00:00:59.420 --> 00:01:03.020 about 16 to 18 greens a round and more 21 00:01:03.020 --> 00:01:06.319 than 32 putts. Yeah, it's not exactly a 22 00:01:06.319 --> 00:01:06.879 great step. 23 00:01:07.480 --> 00:01:08.739 And that's why I'm not playing 24 00:01:08.739 --> 00:01:09.540 professionally anymore. 25 00:01:10.900 --> 00:01:12.640 I probably have the most dubious 26 00:01:12.640 --> 00:01:14.340 distinction of being one of the best ball 27 00:01:14.340 --> 00:01:16.040 strikers on the mini tours with the 28 00:01:16.040 --> 00:01:17.439 highest scoring average. That's not 29 00:01:17.439 --> 00:01:19.319 something you want to be known for. I 30 00:01:19.319 --> 00:01:21.540 would hit 16 or 18 greens a round and 31 00:01:21.540 --> 00:01:23.680 still struggle to break par because I 32 00:01:23.680 --> 00:01:25.560 struggled so much with putting. And I 33 00:01:25.560 --> 00:01:29.120 tried everything. I tried looking at the 34 00:01:29.120 --> 00:01:31.519 hole. I tried different grips. I tried, 35 00:01:31.519 --> 00:01:34.040 you know, rocking my shoulders, tried 36 00:01:34.040 --> 00:01:36.780 using my hands. I tried a belly putter, a 37 00:01:36.780 --> 00:01:39.359 long putter, you name it. I tried, I got 38 00:01:39.359 --> 00:01:42.299 fitted for putters. Nothing helped. It 39 00:01:42.299 --> 00:01:44.739 would maybe give me a temporary relief 40 00:01:44.739 --> 00:01:47.659 from my putting woes, but nothing helped. 41 00:01:47.840 --> 00:01:50.680 And so I got so frustrated with the game 42 00:01:50.680 --> 00:01:52.480 that I eventually quit playing 43 00:01:52.480 --> 00:01:54.719 professionally because it was incredibly 44 00:01:54.719 --> 00:01:56.519 frustrating. Hitting the ball so well and 45 00:01:56.519 --> 00:01:59.319 hitting it so close to the green that I 46 00:01:59.319 --> 00:02:01.120 couldn't get the ball in the hole. And so 47 00:02:01.120 --> 00:02:02.900 no matter what I tried from, I mean, I 48 00:02:02.900 --> 00:02:04.239 literally tried meditation, 49 00:02:05.040 --> 00:02:06.519 different mental approaches to the game, 50 00:02:06.620 --> 00:02:07.780 you name it, I tried it. But no matter 51 00:02:07.780 --> 00:02:09.300 what happened, every time I got over the 52 00:02:09.300 --> 00:02:12.120 ball, no matter how confident I was, even 53 00:02:12.120 --> 00:02:13.419 telling myself like, oh, absolutely, I'm 54 00:02:13.419 --> 00:02:15.240 a great putter. I'm going to make this. 55 00:02:15.759 --> 00:02:19.120 I still did that. I missed it so many 56 00:02:19.120 --> 00:02:21.300 times that I just couldn't stand it any 57 00:02:21.300 --> 00:02:23.419 longer. If you can relate to any of this, 58 00:02:23.580 --> 00:02:24.879 I've got something that's going to 59 00:02:24.879 --> 00:02:27.699 completely change the way that you putt 60 00:02:27.699 --> 00:02:29.680 for the rest of your life. Putting for me 61 00:02:29.680 --> 00:02:31.439 was, it's not even a fun part of the 62 00:02:31.439 --> 00:02:32.560 game, to be honest with you. 63 00:02:33.419 --> 00:02:35.560 It became a drudgery to have to go out 64 00:02:35.560 --> 00:02:37.479 and practice, especially when I practiced 65 00:02:37.479 --> 00:02:38.900 a lot and didn't get any better. 66 00:02:39.439 --> 00:02:41.020 Now, many of you can relate to this on 67 00:02:41.020 --> 00:02:42.460 your full swing, right? You go out and 68 00:02:42.460 --> 00:02:44.319 practice, you hit thousands of balls, you 69 00:02:44.319 --> 00:02:46.319 do all kinds of drills, and you don't get 70 00:02:46.319 --> 00:02:48.120 any better. Well, obviously with rotary 71 00:02:48.120 --> 00:02:49.460 swing, I was able to fix that with the 72 00:02:49.460 --> 00:02:50.780 full swing. That's why I hit the ball so 73 00:02:50.780 --> 00:02:52.539 well, and why my students hit the ball so 74 00:02:52.539 --> 00:02:54.419 well, because it's based on fact. It's 75 00:02:54.419 --> 00:02:56.259 based on science. It's based on physics 76 00:02:56.259 --> 00:02:58.599 and your anatomy and real fundamentals. 77 00:02:59.400 --> 00:03:00.879 But in putting, that stuff doesn't seem 78 00:03:00.879 --> 00:03:02.819 to apply. Putting seems to be kind of 79 00:03:02.819 --> 00:03:05.840 like this black art, this voodoo stuff 80 00:03:05.840 --> 00:03:07.319 that you're either good at it or you're 81 00:03:07.319 --> 00:03:08.819 not. You either have a good sense of 82 00:03:08.819 --> 00:03:10.180 touch or you don't. You can either read 83 00:03:10.180 --> 00:03:11.060 greens or you can't. 84 00:03:11.659 --> 00:03:13.539 And that just doesn't resonate real well 85 00:03:13.539 --> 00:03:15.240 with my brain. I need hard, logical 86 00:03:15.240 --> 00:03:17.639 facts. I want answers that make sense to 87 00:03:17.639 --> 00:03:19.539 me. And I could never find any with 88 00:03:19.539 --> 00:03:21.280 putting. Every putting instructor I went 89 00:03:21.280 --> 00:03:22.300 to to help when I was playing 90 00:03:22.300 --> 00:03:23.439 professionally, try to get help for 91 00:03:23.439 --> 00:03:25.259 myself, told me something different. 92 00:03:25.860 --> 00:03:27.659 Oh, try this. Or you should look at it 93 00:03:27.659 --> 00:03:29.199 with this eye. And oh, close your eyes 94 00:03:29.199 --> 00:03:30.659 when you putt. Or look at the hole. Just, 95 00:03:30.800 --> 00:03:32.039 oh, just listen for it to drop. I mean, 96 00:03:32.560 --> 00:03:34.060 none of this stuff really changes 97 00:03:34.060 --> 00:03:35.360 anything about how you're going to putt, 98 00:03:35.419 --> 00:03:38.400 because trust me, I've tried it all. So 99 00:03:38.400 --> 00:03:40.280 at that point, I just said, you know 100 00:03:40.280 --> 00:03:41.939 what? Maybe they're right. Maybe you 101 00:03:41.939 --> 00:03:43.800 just, you can't putt if you just don't 102 00:03:43.800 --> 00:03:45.879 have it. And I'm just not a good putter. 103 00:03:46.080 --> 00:03:49.159 So golf as a career, maybe it's just not 104 00:03:49.159 --> 00:03:50.539 the right choice for me because obviously 105 00:03:50.539 --> 00:03:52.539 I can hit every green and still shoot 73. 106 00:03:53.439 --> 00:03:55.199 So I finally stopped looking for the 107 00:03:55.199 --> 00:03:56.979 answer. And that's when I found it. 108 00:03:57.460 --> 00:04:00.460 Totally coincidentally, I was down in 109 00:04:00.460 --> 00:04:01.759 Jupiter, Florida playing at the bears 110 00:04:01.759 --> 00:04:03.379 club, which is of course, Jack Nicklaus's 111 00:04:03.379 --> 00:04:03.939 home track. 112 00:04:04.520 --> 00:04:06.879 And he happened to be there the day that 113 00:04:06.879 --> 00:04:09.840 I was there and he was on a green. And we 114 00:04:09.840 --> 00:04:11.539 came up. And he was sitting there talking 115 00:04:11.539 --> 00:04:14.120 to somebody and a guy I was playing with 116 00:04:14.120 --> 00:04:15.960 happened to know him. And so we start 117 00:04:15.960 --> 00:04:17.600 listening in on this conversation a 118 00:04:17.600 --> 00:04:19.000 little bit. And the guy that Jack is 119 00:04:19.000 --> 00:04:19.620 playing with 120 00:04:20.560 --> 00:04:22.360 asked the most interesting, profound 121 00:04:22.360 --> 00:04:23.839 question that I thought somebody could 122 00:04:23.839 --> 00:04:25.920 ask for somebody like this. He said, 123 00:04:26.360 --> 00:04:28.759 Jack, if there's one thing that you could 124 00:04:28.759 --> 00:04:30.399 have changed about your game, just one 125 00:04:30.399 --> 00:04:32.740 thing, what would it be? And I thought, 126 00:04:32.860 --> 00:04:33.959 oh, maybe he wanted to hit the ball 127 00:04:33.959 --> 00:04:35.360 further, be able to hit a draw more 128 00:04:35.360 --> 00:04:36.899 consistently, hit it lower, whatever. 129 00:04:37.680 --> 00:04:39.480 And it was about his putting. And he 130 00:04:39.480 --> 00:04:41.519 said, if he could change one thing, it 131 00:04:41.519 --> 00:04:43.800 would be this one specific thing about 132 00:04:43.800 --> 00:04:45.160 his putting. And I thought, this guy's 133 00:04:45.160 --> 00:04:47.300 won 18 majors. He was a phenomenal 134 00:04:47.300 --> 00:04:48.740 putter. I mean, he couldn't win that many 135 00:04:48.740 --> 00:04:50.939 majors without being a great putter. And 136 00:04:50.939 --> 00:04:52.259 yet he wanted to change it. And if he 137 00:04:52.259 --> 00:04:53.720 could go back and do it all over again, 138 00:04:53.939 --> 00:04:56.079 he would change this one thing about his 139 00:04:56.079 --> 00:04:56.839 putting. And I was like, 140 00:04:57.920 --> 00:05:00.360 seriously, like, and of course my putting 141 00:05:00.360 --> 00:05:01.660 woes at this point, I'm like, ah, forget 142 00:05:01.660 --> 00:05:02.980 it. I'm just not a good putter. It's just 143 00:05:02.980 --> 00:05:04.980 the way it is. But kind of gave me a 144 00:05:04.980 --> 00:05:06.160 little glimmer of hope. I'm like, listen, 145 00:05:06.240 --> 00:05:09.180 if this guy of Jack Nicklaus says, Hey, I 146 00:05:09.180 --> 00:05:10.860 would change this one thing about my 147 00:05:10.860 --> 00:05:12.459 game. And it's this one thing about my 148 00:05:12.459 --> 00:05:12.959 putting stroke. 149 00:05:13.759 --> 00:05:14.899 Maybe I should try that. 150 00:05:15.639 --> 00:05:17.579 felt like I tried everything, but maybe I 151 00:05:17.579 --> 00:05:18.339 hadn't tried this. 152 00:05:19.279 --> 00:05:21.459 So that the rest of the round, I went out 153 00:05:21.459 --> 00:05:23.079 and I did exactly what he had talked 154 00:05:23.079 --> 00:05:24.680 about in that little chat. 155 00:05:25.459 --> 00:05:28.379 And I putted the best I've ever putted in 156 00:05:28.379 --> 00:05:30.139 my life. Now, part of that's just kind of 157 00:05:30.139 --> 00:05:32.360 dumb luck, to be honest, because when you 158 00:05:32.360 --> 00:05:33.600 distract your brain, you give it 159 00:05:33.600 --> 00:05:35.040 something else to focus on, especially 160 00:05:35.040 --> 00:05:36.699 when it comes to putting, you kind of 161 00:05:36.699 --> 00:05:38.399 block out all the other bad memories and 162 00:05:38.399 --> 00:05:39.800 you have kind of a new little sense of 163 00:05:39.800 --> 00:05:41.480 renewed hope and you put better. 164 00:05:42.379 --> 00:05:45.120 But it didn't stop after that day. In 165 00:05:45.120 --> 00:05:46.800 fact, it kept going, but it wasn't all, 166 00:05:46.879 --> 00:05:49.120 you know, peaches and roses. There were 167 00:05:49.120 --> 00:05:50.540 some ups and downs, especially with 168 00:05:50.540 --> 00:05:52.480 distance control. But as I started 169 00:05:52.480 --> 00:05:53.839 working through this and start trying to 170 00:05:53.839 --> 00:05:55.740 understand it, a light bulb went off. And 171 00:05:55.740 --> 00:05:57.839 I said, wait a second, what Jack is 172 00:05:57.839 --> 00:05:59.639 talking about with this putting stroke is 173 00:05:59.639 --> 00:06:01.959 the exact same thing, the same 174 00:06:01.959 --> 00:06:04.160 fundamentals, physics and anatomy based 175 00:06:04.160 --> 00:06:05.459 approach to the golf swing. 176 00:06:06.259 --> 00:06:08.300 He just didn't describe it that way. But 177 00:06:08.300 --> 00:06:09.920 that's exactly what he was talking about 178 00:06:09.920 --> 00:06:13.339 with this putting. And I said, this is 179 00:06:13.339 --> 00:06:14.980 brilliant. This is exactly how I teach 180 00:06:14.980 --> 00:06:16.839 the full swing. Now I can take what I 181 00:06:16.839 --> 00:06:18.720 know, all my expertise about the full 182 00:06:18.720 --> 00:06:20.500 swing and the body and the physics of it 183 00:06:20.500 --> 00:06:23.319 and apply it to the putter. And all of a 184 00:06:23.319 --> 00:06:23.620 sudden, 185 00:06:24.500 --> 00:06:26.660 it was like, heaven's rained down on me 186 00:06:26.660 --> 00:06:28.379 and I'm like, I can actually putt again. 187 00:06:28.500 --> 00:06:30.120 This is, the game is fun. I can actually 188 00:06:30.120 --> 00:06:31.579 go out and play and not be like, oh yeah, 189 00:06:31.660 --> 00:06:33.139 I'm going to hit 16 greens and shoot 75. 190 00:06:34.000 --> 00:06:35.579 I'm actually going to be able to make 191 00:06:35.579 --> 00:06:37.459 some putts. And I started shooting more 192 00:06:37.459 --> 00:06:39.160 consistently in the sixties. And all of a 193 00:06:39.160 --> 00:06:41.259 sudden putting wasn't such a drag 194 00:06:41.259 --> 00:06:42.379 anymore. In fact, I actually kind of 195 00:06:42.379 --> 00:06:44.079 enjoyed it, which I know it's kind of 196 00:06:44.079 --> 00:06:45.319 crazy for me to say, but 197 00:06:45.879 --> 00:06:48.279 it was this one thing that changed 198 00:06:48.279 --> 00:06:50.000 everything for me. And that's what I want 199 00:06:50.000 --> 00:06:50.620 to share with you.