Get to know Blackout Mode Putter Training

Golf is hard, at times we have too much to think about. With the elements, mechanics, body movements, positions of the arms and hands, our mind is active processing all this information. The problem is we are processing this information in the seconds just before we pull the trigger. Then we are left with trying to diagnose what went wrong and how to fix it.

Blackout Putter Training will focus on this very issue. We’ll focus on building Feel into your Putting stroke, and how to eliminate all that thinking.
Developing your Feel for the speed of the greens will improve your distance control and put you in position to make more Putts, for sure. But maybe more important, it will make your confidence soar like no other club in the bag.

The Putter is the last club you use on virtually every hole you play. It can make or break your attitude for the next hole. When you walk to the next hole feeling good about making Putts, your tee ball improves by default.

How is it you can type on a keyboard effortlessly, without thought of where your fingers are going? Skilled typists rely on implicit muscle memory to locate letters on the keyboard without conscious thought of where the letters are located.

In Putting terms, implicit memory involves remembering the fundamentals of how-to set up to the ball and roll it without conscious thought, without thinking about how to do it.

When you try to type for the first time there is zero implicit memory to fall back on, you first must learn the fundamentals, ingrain them to memory, then and only then can you type on a keyboard properly without conscious thought.

To build Feel into your putting stroke, we must install implicit memory. That is, you must learn the fundamentals before you can Putt the golf ball without conscious thought.

This starts at home where we’ll introduce the fundamentals of the pre-putt routine, then the fundamentals of the Putting Setup and Stroke. We’ll follow that up with the fundamentals of how to change the speed of your stroke to add or subtract distance. You’ll ingrain the Putting fundamentals to memory, so you’ll learn to trust yourself before you step on the practice green for the Putting drills. This is necessary to build your Feel for speed and distance control.

Once on the practice green, we’ll start the process of practicing without the thought of how hard to hit the ball, allowing your mind to communicate with your body without your conscious thoughts getting in the way.

Imagine a world where you’re Putting on the practice green, have no worries about results, no grinding over miss or make, in fact, no thoughts exist about trying to fix the mechanics of your putting stroke. This is a world where you can find your Feel for distance control, where you can hit a Putt the correct distance without thought.

Imagine entering Blackout Mode in the moment right before you pull the trigger.
You hear announcers talk about it all the time; how good their Feel is. The common denominator of the best putters in the world is that in the moments right before they pull the trigger, they’re not thinking about anything.

Top players and teachers have different names for it, separate ways to get into that mode:

Harvey Penick (Little Red Book) called it “Take Dead Aim.”

Brian Hepler (Tathata Golf) calls it “Looking Out in Front.”

Jordan Spieth calls it “Blackout.”

Tiger Woods calls it “Take a Picture.”

Simply, it’s about rolling a golf ball without thought, with the image of the target fresh in your mind. The target represents the distance while the mental image feeds valuable information to the brain.

What does Jordan Spieth see when he steps into a putt?

“The blur of the ball’s path and that path alone burns in my mind – nothing else. My stroke is simply a reaction to make that path come alive, to come to be, with the roll of the ball.”

Jordon also said that “it takes Work and Preparation to get in this mode,” a mode he calls “BLACKOUT.”

Jordon Spieth (with Max Adler, Golf Digest) June 20, 2017

When Jordon Spieth steps into a putt, the only thing he is thinking about is the blur of the ball’s path. The important part is it’s the only thing, and nothing else. Jordon talked about how it takes work and preparation to putt this way.

The work and preparation will start at home, where you’ll ingrain the putting fundamentals to memory.

Tiger says:

“Every look I take from the ball is a picture. First look I take a picture of the hole, get up over the ball, look at the hole, take another picture, another look and take a last picture. Then I Putt to the picture. That really helps free my mind. Don’t have to worry about distance because all I’m doing is Putting to the picture. It really helps me late in the round when I’m under pressure.”

Once the correct putting fundamentals are committed to memory, you’ll know it, you’ll be able to Feel it, when done correctly. You’ll be able to perform the drills without conscious thought of right or wrong. You’ll know when you’re ready for on course drills, this is where practice becomes fun.

There is nothing like this feeling in golf, to stroke a putt the perfect distance without thought.

This is where you’ll discover your own way of getting into Blackout Mode in the seconds right before you pull the trigger.

It Changes Everything!