Remember the story of Medusa? The character from Greek mythology that turned people into stone if they looked directly at her face... Well the dude that finally defeated her did so by using the reflection of his shield to see her without looking directly at her. There’s a fun parallel to unconscious putting here...
Bear with me before you reach out of my power of attorney to have me committed...
So the way I see it, as soon as the subject of your attention goes to looking at your putter head at any time during the putting process, your body turns to stone. You lose the innate fluidity you use when playing those shuffleboard games at Fuddruckers. You don’t have to think about how to get the puck where you need it, you just see the target and your brain tells your muscles how to produce the intended outcome automatically. The motion is so simple that you don’t need to micromanage, your body will do what it needs to do if your intention is un-muddied and your attention is properly directed. Yes the more you practice, the more accurate you’ll be in shuffleboard but luckily for us, there is a margin of error, so good enough usually does the trick.
So when you putt, take your time creating a good visualization of how to make the putt, and keep your attention there from the start of your routine until the putt starts to roll. When you look at your putter head, do so through the reflection of your shield. What is your shield? Your attention. You can look at something but not have it be the subject of your attention. The only reason you need to look at the putter head is to make sure you won’t whiff.
You will be amazed by how often you achieve your intention when you properly occupy your attention.
Have fun!
