Make Putts In Your Mind To Stay Positive
POSITIVE PUTTING
Consistently putting well is one of the hardest things to do at this game. Every course and every green is different. Throw in grain, slope, spike marks, ball marks, foot prints, shadows, etc. and you can easily see why holing putts is difficult. This being the case, staying positive towards your putting is not easy. In fact, it’s one of the hardest things to do in this game. Putting well requires confidence. Confidence comes from trusting and believing in what you’re doing. To gain more confidence, consider thinking about putting this way: try to make the putt in your mind, not whether it goes in the hole or not. This is not easy, but if you can adopt this mind-set, you’ll gain more confidence and stay more positive on the greens.
When you hit a putt there are two possible outcomes: it either goes in the hole or it doesn’t. There’s nothing in between. This gives us many highs and lows. It’s easy to become result-orientated, meaning you judge your success solely on the results. This is counter-productive because the odds are you’re going to miss more putts than you hole.
What I like to do is judge my putting success on how I hit the putt. I want to “make” the putt in my mind. I try to roll the ball to the best of my ability on the line I choose. If I do that, I’m happy. I’m obviously happier if the ball goes in the hole, but I know it’s out of my control once the ball leaves the putter face. When I’m putting well, I will “make” most of the putts in my mind, but the odds are I’ve only holed a few on the greens. I like to think that if you make a good putt in your mind and it doesn’t go in it just means your odds of holing the next putt goes up. At least it does my mind. Try this the next time you play and I bet you’ll not only be in a better frame of mind, but you’ll putt better too.
About
KYLE VOSKA, PGA PROFESSIONAL
I grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio and graduated from St. Michael’s, St. Xavier, and Miami University. After graduating from Miami with a Finance degree, I moved to Florida to pursue my professional golf dreams. After a few successful years and a couple of difficult years, I stopped playing full-time. After a year of caddying on the LPGA Tour for Young Jo, Kim Williams, and Angela Stanford, I moved back home to Cincinnati. Currently, I live near Sharonville with my lovely wife, Lindsay, our kids, Maclin and Ellie, and our dog, Nora.
Teaching golf for over a year in Florida and having taken and watched many lessons from PGA Certified Master Teaching Professional Carl Rabito, becoming a golf instructor was something I really wanted to do. Fortunately, I was able to find a home at Sharon Woods Golf Course in Cincinnati, my old home from the 90′s, to further this new career path. As I enter my 6th season as a golf professional, I’m excited how my role is taking shape. I assist in managing and supervising a staff of nearly 40 while teaching golf lessons to over a 100 students. Hopefully, someday I’ll have the opportunity to mentor some future golf professionals like myself.
Email: kvoska@hotmail.com
ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
- PGA Member – June, 2009
- 2008 PGA National Assistants Champion
- 43 Professional Tournament Victories
- 2010 Southern Ohio PGA Section Player-of-the-Year
- 2010 Southern Ohio PGA Southwest Chapter Player-of-the-Year
- 2009 Cincinnati Chapter Match Play Champion
- 2009 Southern Ohio PGA Assistant’s Champion
- 2001 and 2010 Southern Ohio PGA Open Champion
- 2000 PGA Buick Open Contestant
- 1998 Miami Athlete-of-the-Year
- 2-Time NCAA Division I All-American
- Mid-American Conference Sportsman and Player-of-the Year (1998)
- 2-Time Cincinnati Met Amateur Champion (1997, 1998)
- Cincinnati Met Amateur Medalist and Runner-Up (1996)
- NCAA low scoring average on Par 3′s (2.91) in 1998
- Low competitive round – 62 (3 times): Four Bridges CC (’01), Oasis CC (’09), and Juniper Hills GC (’02)
- Low non-competitive round – 61: Browns Run CC – White tees
- Won a 54-hole Developmental Players Tour event by 9 shots shooting 19 under par with no bogies (64,64,69)
- 4 career Holes-in-One and 3 career double eagles
MY PGA MENTORS:
Tom Bach – Head Professional at Sharon Woods Golf Course
George Long – Kenwood CC PGA Professional/Head Pro at The Mill Course (17 Years)
Carl Rabito – PGA Certified Master Teaching Professional (Top 100 Instructor)
Mike Bender – 2009 PGA National Teacher-of-the-Year (Top 100)
Craig Shankland – 2001 PGA National Teacher-of-the-Year (Top 100)
Jim Suttie, Ph.D - 2000 PGA National Teacher-of-the-Year (Top 100)
Bill Madonna – Bill Madonna Golf Academy (Top 100)
Andrew Park – The David Leadbetter Golf Academy
Chris Toulson – Jim McLean Golf School at Doral
As you can see, I’ve been very fortunate to have learned from some of the best PGA Professionals in the country. I feel privileged to pass on the wealth of knowledge I’ve gained from spending time with these great gentlemen.
