Have heard the story about how Phil Mickelson ended the 2009 season holing just about everything in sight? It came after a two-day session with putting guru Dave Stockton. He suggested some changes to Mickelson’s mechanics in a two-day session that paid immediate dividends.

Mickelson’s caddie at the time, Jim McKay, suggested Mickelson check in with Stockton. He knew that Mickelson was frustrated with his putting and that  he needed to putt better if he was going to beat Tiger Woods in the future. The visit turned out to be one of the most productive of Mickelson’s career.

Small Changes, Big Results 

It helped, of course, that Stockton putted a lot like Mickelson. That made things easier and helped reinforce Stockton’s suggestions. It also helped that the changes weren’t major ones. They were small tweaks. But they made Mickelson feel more natural and more comfortable when putting. That’s always a plus when on the green.

Below we describe five of the tweaks that Stockton suggested to Mickelson. Incorporating them in your mechanics might just help you take your putting—and your game—to another level:

1.    Grip — Mickelson liked to lap the index finger of his lead hand when over the knuckles of his trail hand. That’s not uncommon. But it has a downside. It can creates tension in your hands, and any time you do that, you sacrifice feel. Instead, try crooking your finger a bit. That helps cut the tension.

2.    Pre-Putt Practice — Mickelson used to look at the hole five or six times while setting his feet. Stockton advised against that. Instead, he takes one good look at the hole for five or six seconds while he sets his feet. Once he’s done that. He then shifts his focus to judging the speed of the putt then the line.

3.    Hand Position — When Mickelson was younger, he used to forward press his hands before stroking the ball. But he stopped doing that as he got older. Stockton suggested he go back to doing that, if it made him feel comfortable. Mickelson also added some loft to his putter to offset the forward press.

4.    Stance — As good as Mickelson is, he still falls into bad habits just like the rest of us. Often, our bad putting habits show up in our stance. It did for Mickelson, who used to keep his trail foot square to the line but his lead foot flared. Stockton suggested a new stance. It called for Mickelson to square up both feet to the line and widen his feet a bit. The changes enable Mickelson to putt more across his body.

5.    Practice — So putting gurus like to have their pro players—men and women—practice until they can sink 100 in a row. Stockton considers that obsessive. Instead, he suggested that Mickelson put in 20 minutes of practice daily. He also gave him a game to play (See below.) Games are great because they turn dull boring practice sessions into fun activities. Plus, it gets us to practice with a purpose:

Stockton’s Game: Peg a tee in front of a hole. Then try to draw and cut putts around the tee and into the hole. Do that for 20 minutes or so. Once you get proficient at putting to one side of the hole, things will be much easier when putting to the whole hole.

This next game is one of Jordan’s Spieth’s favorite, It’s great for teaching you speed:

Leap Frog: Put a ball marker on the practice green about 5 feet away on a gentle upslope or downslope. Putt to the marker. Try to stop the ball no more than 6 inches past the marker. Try predicting the outcome as soon as you hit the putt. Putt again with the goal of reaching the first ball and not going six inches beyond it. Try to predict the outcome.

Try incorporating the small tweaks discussed above in your putting game. You probably won’t start sinking everything in sight when you first make the changes. But give it some time. It may boost your putting to a new level. That might be just the thing you need to break 80.

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