James Colgan
Getty Photographs
I bear in mind the primary time I realized a few placing metronome.
It was the autumn of 2021, and my golf sport was nonetheless in its nascent days of ascent. I used to be getting higher slowly, however my power was centered on greater issues like a wayward drive and a far-too-omnipresent viewers with the shanks. Nonetheless, my ears perked up when I discovered myself on the receiving finish of a placing lesson from Danielle Kang.
Kang, proprietor of a positive mallet putter and one of many steadiest strokes I had ever seen, was telling me about her lifelong relationship with a metronome — and with the methods the instrument had helped her set up a simple sense of consistency all through the stroke. The instrument, she stated then, was not meant to assist with the mechanics of the placing stroke, merely the timing of it, serving to her to make sure she wasn’t accelerating or decelerating via the stroke, two straightforward killers of consistency across the greens.
For individuals who don’t know, a metronome is a tool that produces a gradual beat — or variety of faucets — per minute. The gadget is primarily utilized by musicians to maintain time, nevertheless it serves loads of advantages within the golf world, the place gamers have leaned on its advantages to maintain their very own sense of tempo.
Quick ahead, now, to the summer season of 2024, along with your trusty editor’s sport at a uncommon second of power. After a number of extra years of matches and begins, my swing had rounded out in full, turning my aggressive pursuits in a special route. All of the sudden I might discover fairways simply, put on out the middle of the greens with my irons, and customarily discover myself in place to make a number of straightforward pars. I used to be on the level with my golf sport I’d all the time dreamt of discovering — nicely, aside from one factor: I’d forgotten learn how to putt.
The difficulty, as I bear in mind it now, was troubling. Throughout one spherical, I left someplace within the neighborhood of 10 10-footers wanting the outlet. Throughout one other, I blasted so many putts lengthy that I briefly questioned if I used to be affected by a well being episode.
At some point I lucked right into a spherical at the Outdated Course, and my swing left me. I used to be battling to maintain my sport upright throughout a spherical I desperately needed to go nicely. Then, lastly, catastrophe struck on the thirteenth inexperienced — nevertheless it had nothing to do with a wayward drive. I five-putted from about 100 ft and realized I’d had sufficient. It was time to deal with my placing woes as soon as and for all, and I used to be going to begin with Kang’s outdated trick: the metronome.
I set out on the apply inexperienced again dwelling on Lengthy Island a number of weeks later with headphones in each ears and no music enjoying. Following Kang’s recommendation, I turned on a metronome app, and I started to apply my placing stroke.
Virtually instantly, I seen a significant situation: my tempo modified with each distance. On lengthy putts, I’d take an eternity to drag the putterhead again, then slam it via the ball with a mighty pull. On shorter putts, I’d attempt a uneven little backstroke that pressured both a violent follow-through (which despatched the ball nicely previous the outlet) or a defensive decel (hi there: quick misses!).
I ended wanting on the putterhead and centered as an alternative on the noise in my ears. With every putt, I attempted to ensure the backstroke stopped on one beat, and observe via completed on the subsequent. Then, as I went to longer putts, I attempted to deal with preserving that very same back-and-through tempo, simply with an extended backstroke.
Inside an hour, my distance-control woes have been dramatically improved. The edge for enchancment was admittedly threadbare — now I might really look at a goal and hit a putt inside the normal neighborhood — however the impact on my sport was appreciable. Three-and-four putts had been decreased to comparatively constant 2-putt makes. My scores have been enhancing, and my mindset round placing had advanced into an precise, actionable technique.
It’s not an ideal repair — it doesn’t assist unhealthy reads or unhealthy contact, two placing points that face lots of mid-handicap gamers — nevertheless it is one thing that requires little or no time and power to right.
Relating to managing life across the greens, that’s adequate for me.
James Colgan
Golf.com Editor
James Colgan is a information and options editor at GOLF, writing tales for the web site and journal. He manages the Sizzling Mic, GOLF’s media vertical, and makes use of his on-camera expertise throughout the model’s platforms. Previous to becoming a member of GOLF, James graduated from Syracuse College, throughout which period he was a caddie scholarship recipient (and astute looper) on Lengthy Island, the place he’s from. He might be reached at james.colgan@golf.com.