A blog on the website of the American Association for the Advancement of Science describes an experiment using golfers and putting, and carries the headline, “The Case of the Haunted Golf Club.”
The experiment involved the psychology of putting: If a golfer believes he is using a “special” putter, will his putting improve?
In this case, the putter was one the researchers purchased, and aside from being an expensive, top-of-the-line putter, there was nothing really special about it. Except that some of the golfers in the study were told (untruthfully) that the putter belonged to Ben Curtis.
So half the golfers stepped up to take 10 putts thinking they were just using a nice putter. The other half took 10 putts believing they were using Ben Curtis’ putter.
The results? The golfers who thought they were using a tour pro’s putter made more putts. On average, those who were told they were putting with Ben Curtis’ flatstick were 15-percent better than the other group.
The moral? Get your hands on a putter that once belonged to a tour pro! Or, more realistically, convince yourself you are using such a putter. Yes, both of those objectives are difficult to pull off.
But it’s just a little quantitative proof of what golfers have always know: Confidence plays a huge role in putting success.
Or, as Chi Chi Rodriguez once said, “I’ve heard people say putting is 50 percent technique and 50 percent mental. I really believe it is 50 percent technique and 90 percent positive thinking. See, but that adds up to 140 percent, which is why nobody is 100 percent sure how to putt.”
Read more about the study
