PuttNTrainer is being used by PGA Tour Professionals and some college golf teams to improve their putting, as well as amateurs with a burning desire to improve their game through putting (which makes up half of golf’s shots).  Although expensive, it is not only a valid training device, it has been proven to work.  I know it has helped me, and I have incredible confidence now standing over putts within 5 and 10 feet. The following is written by it’s developer, S.J. Leonard, the director of Poulsbo Golf, www.poulsbogolf.com. This is a letter authored by S.J., that went out to all of his clients, and I thought you would find it extremely interesting.

“Smart” Putting

Here is an analogy about what PuttNTrainer is doing.

In the old days, to launch a torpedo, a Navy ship would ID the target, point the torpedo, and then launch it. Once the torpedo was launched – it was “dumb.” There was no guidance system. The moment of launch determined its fate.

Today, when a ship launches a torpedo, the target gets ID’d, the torpedo is aimed, and then it is launched. But, the entire course is “informed” by a guidance system, small immediate corrections are made, the target is “locked on” and the torpedo is “smart” – it “knows” where to go to hit the target.

Too many golfers are like old-fashioned torpedoes. They ID the target and then, the minute they initiate their stroke, all kinds of deviations occur that throw the putter face off alignment, and … throughout the course of the stroke, there is no real corrective guidance. It is a “dumb” stroke in the sense that … there is no guidance system in place to keep the stroke on target. They literally do not have enough kinesthetic awareness to make the required corrections.

The target is not the hole. The target is the ball. Once the ball is struck … the game is over. The golfer is no longer involved in the event. So, the real challenge is to learn to properly and precisely hit the ball/target.

This is what PuttNTrainer is about. Developing a “smart” putt. A putt that has a guidance system in it. And that guidance system can only come from one place – a densely networked package of neural connections in the brain that equate to “hitting the ball/target” precisely. The “smart” putt is a putt that has a data network that “knows” what must be done.

This guidance system is our “kinesthetic” or “body” sense of “this is right and that is off.” It is very subtle. The distinction between “right” and “off” is just tiny fractions of an inch the farther out we get. At 10 feet, a make or miss depends on face deviation about half the thickness of a pencil.

Our brains are fully capable of learning to recognize “right” from “off” and to stay right. Our bodies are fully capable of “staying inside” the zone so that the putter face arrives “right” at the target/ball.

 

It is like mountain climbing. There is no trick route. There is no “secret” idea or gimmick or special boot that will get you up the mountain faster.

PuttNTrainer is the trail up the mountain. If you put one foot in front of the other, you will see one step progress. If you put 1,000 steps down, you’ll start to see a whole new vista. And you’ll learn about the terrain and get “smarter” about navigating it over time.

I’ve been talking to top golfers about PuttNTrainer for about 6 months now. And I am learning more about the device and how it can work.

Some golfers make the assumption that there is a “point” to be learned. That is, you use the device and suddenly you discover the “magical” thing that makes putts roll in.

While it is true, using the device will make you discover the key stroke elements that are mandatory for you, it is simply not enough to “mentally get it.” That is, it is not enough to “have the idea” of what has to happen. The “knowing” has to be “kinesthetic” instead of “cognitive.” It is a feel, not a thought.

PuttNTrainer is a micro-environment for building the “smart” putt. And this “smart” data can only be built by taking one step after another and amassing a very large number of steps up the mountain.

Having a mental map of the mountain is not the same as actually climbing it.

I am finding that the ideal practice protocol is:

2 sessions per day,each session about 20-30 minutes, and each session broken into about 3 minute mini-sessions,  with a 30 second or one minute break in between.

 And, hit some real putts before and after.

This seems like a lot of time. But, concert pianists, for example, would regard this as a warm-up.

At a certain point, we hit the wall. And the wall is the place where most people stop. It is tedium, it is a feeling of “good enough” and it is a sense of “this is nuts.”

And that is exactly the place where the learning is really starting to kick in!

Just like weight-lifting. The initial lifts are just precursors to start breaking down the muscle. The real gains happen when we get to the critical burn point of exhaustion.

As you pay attention to your hands and your balance and your shoulders and the whole stroke, you start to get very clear signals when you are “right” and when you are “off.” This is greater sensitivity. And this is exactly your “smart” guidance system at work.

The goal is to build a putt stroke that is so precise that it can be called on anytime anywhere to deliver a “smart” putt precisely where intended.

I realize putting is about more than this. There is green-reading too. But, when we develop a smart putt skill, we can start to shave into the arc more because we trust our ability to hit a point.

PuttNTrainer develops “offensive” putting where we take more risks knowing that the backside is still secure.

At the end of the day, PuttNTrainer respects the inherent and unique totality of each golfer. No golfer is alike. Each has a different body and different metabolism and different eyesight and different nervous habits and … PuttNTrainer allows us to discover for ourselves the optimal package and sequence that is right for us and to then embed that as the “smart” guided putt that finish our hole with.

FLASH