Putting on your BEST days, what’s your mindset?

Think it all comes down to how comfortable and confident you are, to be honest a putter fitting would boost any confidence and would make everyone play better. Thinking of getting one myself

I am in the camp with Dr. K and Dale. Speed control is very important to me on long putts. My worst long putts (20 ft+) are ones that come up 5+ feet long/short on a decent line.

Mindset is really nothing. There's no focus on technique or thoughts just reading the green.

Like many have pointed out, it's a combination of technique, reading break and speed and a big dose of confidence. When I'm putting well my head is still. When I've missed a super shorty (1 foot) in a tournament it's simply looking up and not finishing the stroke. A putter head coming through decelerating and open can even miss on a short putt.

Solid fundamentals don't work well if you can't read break and speed. So a great stroke needs to be on the right line and speed.

But nothing gets more confidence than making more putts.

Bryson has an interesting technique (still requires reading) but he paces the putt off and then has a precalculated backswing for each distance. If you acceleration of the putter head is consistent, this works. Then you just add a factor in for up or down hill.

Oh, and don't get old. When in my 20s and 30s, I made everything (maybe a slight exaggeration) inside of 10 feet with my Wilson 8802. I recall vividly a round in a 9 hole league where I had 10 putts. So I started tinkering with equipment and technique to try and make the longer putts. Which led to the yips. So since 2019, I've pulled out my old png B90i broomstick without anchoring. Works pretty well on most days and would have to say generally my putting is what keeps my index in the single digits.

I agree with most everyone on this topic. Distance control is BIG. The worst thing for me is to be faced with a 3+ foot distance on my 2nd putt....and 3-putting really ruins my round!

When I am putting my best it's due to confidence in my lag putting. Having the ability to put the ball within a 2 ft range for my second putt is key to building that confidence. What's nice is that some of those longer putts do drop every once in a while.

For me in order to build that confidence has been working on speed control and being able to hit my target. Missing a putt due to not reading correctly is ok and happens but knowing that I put my putt over the intended target is key.

Once you have gone through your putting warm up you should have a good feel for the speed of the greens and your stroke feel for the day. After that it's time to read and roll the putts trying to match that speed and line. I feel on my best days that every putt is makeable and that I am usually going with my first read or thought on each putt. Once I have made the initial read stick with it and roll it hopefully into the hole.

A southern gentleman I use to play with who was up in his years, and one of the finest putters I have observed use to tell me kiddingly, every once in a while. "Chuck, regardless where you are on the green, if you spend too much time thinking about it you will miss it, but if you hit it into the hole, 99.9 percent of the time it goes in". Whitey was a character to play with, but never gamble with him when he had a putter in his hands or a wedge. Ask Sam Snead.