A Tale of Two Extremes...
One End of the Extreme
I had the opportunity to spend some time with a veteran tour player to remain nameless. I can only tell you he owns a green jacket and a silky smooth putting stroke. I attached the T-Bar and he stroked several putts. He finally looked at me and asked, "Rick, what is this thing suppose to do?". I explained how it provided feedback for setup, alignment, and stroke mechanics. I further explained that he was not feeling any feedback or resistance because his stroke was close to perfect. A few more strokes and he said, "you should do very well with this device". The confirmation process was important to him.
The Other
Had a student, low handicap amateur, plays in at least 40 tournaments per year, and his only struggles are with his putting. He actually aimed his putter quite accurately. His first objective was to set up with his eyes over the ball. With his particular posture, this caused him to get too close and crowd the golf ball. As a result, his hands pulled the putter back outside the start line, which will result in a follow through well inside the start line. With accurate alignment and an outside to inside putting stroke, he had to compensate by opening the face with his hands at impact. This compensating motion caused inconsistencies in rolling the ball down his intended line.
I put the T-Bar on him, slightly backed him off the ball, and improved his posture. I asked him to putt and he responded, "I can't pull the putter back!". After a few ugly attempts, we introduced a little tempo into the motion and he began to groove the stroke. He's rolling golf balls about 20' and one ball is hitting the next. The feedback was overwhelming and I could see the excitement in his eyes. After about 30-40 putts, we took the T-Bar off. He continued to roll the ball consistently and responded, "I feel like the T-Bar is still attached".
Awesome feedback is the first step to re-wiring the motion. Re-wiring the motion can sometimes take days or even weeks, based upon the proper practice effort.
