SPORTS

Why it's worth putting time into tricky skill of putting

Sports, Brett Brasier, Published on 13/03/2016

» Golfing great Ben Hogan once described putting as "merely rolling the ball over the surface of the green by striking it with a gentle but firm blow". Sounds easy, and of course, if it were easy, a lot more of us would be scoring better. It's so cool to be able to step up to the tee and blast the ball down the fairway, but it's putting that separates truly great golfers from good ones. That's because putting is one of the trickiest skills of any sport — a delicate mixture of muscle control and mental focus. When a skilled putter scrutinises a 10-foot distance to the hole, pauses and then applies precisely the right amount of force to sink the shot, that triumph of mind over matter is truly skilful and inspiring.