A professional-level putting stroke, while within reach of any golfer who wishes to have one, nonetheless takes countless hours of dedicated practice to acquire. Along the way, we putt with the stroke we have, which hopefully is the best stroke we can make up to that moment.

That stroke will not be applied to the ball, however, if the mind is not prepared and is off doing other things. Things like getting the speed right, starting the ball off on the chosen line, or getting the ball in the hole. Does that about cover it? If your mind is occupied with any of these topics, or worse, fear of the consequences of missing, you will not make your best stroke on the ball. I guarantee it. The ball might still go in the hole, but it will be due more to good fortune than to anything else.

To learn the right frame of mind for the putting green, practice one-foot putts. Set up to the putt, feet, hips, and shoulders aligned in parallel, putter resting gently on the ground, putterface square to the hole, and make your stroke. Roll the ball right in the hole. Step away and repeat until you've hit a dozen putts.

I hope you find out that when the target is just a foot away, your stroke is smooth, full of confidence, authority, and the ball always goes in.

The one-foot putt allows your mind to be free from worries and irrelevant thoughts. It places in your mind the habit of being at ease with the stroke you're about to make, and the result you wish to attain. All that’s on your mind is the ball going in the hole. The result will be that your best stroke comes out time after time.

Want proof? After you've done the dozen-putt routine a few times, hit a dozen six-footers in the same way, mind and body, that you did the one-footer. If you do, I just know you’ll drain them like there was nothing to it. That's proof.

So what you need to practice is not really your stroke, but your frame of mind. The one-foot putting drill does that. Drop by drop, each putt teaches you to hit a putt in a pure state of mind. That's how your best stroke will come out, and that is how you will be the best putter you can be.

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