There haven’t been many better putters under pressure than Sir Nick Faldo during his heyday.
Faldo has holed plenty of memorable putts from five-six feet while under the most extreme and intense pressure.
The Englishman’s putts to win the 1987 Open Championship and to secure his full point against Curtis Strange in the 1995 Ryder Cup singles matches were two of his best moments in the game.
The reason why the 68-year-old was so good from six feet and in was his impeccable technique and an incredibly strong belief in his own ability.
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Faldo has already told amateurs how to put better under pressure and any advice he offers on the game of golf often centers around visualizing the shot before you step in to address your ball.
And that was no different when he offered some tips for amateurs regarding the best way to hole six-foot putts more consistently.
Nick Faldo’s trick to help amateurs hole more six foot putts
Faldo was rock solid under pressure during his prime years because he had full faith in his stroke and his pre-shot routine never wavered.
During an instructional video for Golfing World, Faldo offered his best advice for amateurs who are looking to hole more putts from the six-foot range.
He said: “The number one question I’m asked by amateurs is, ‘how do I deal with pressure?’
“I’ve got one here. The six foot putt to win, and what do we do? Do we hope we make a good stroke? Do we wish it in? Do we just let it happen?
“Well, I’m a big fan of, ‘what’s your intention?’ Well, my intention is to hole it. So if you have an intention to hole it, you’ve got to also then see it go in. That’s the real important part.
“You’ve got to see this golf ball track and disappearing down into the hole.
“Now, I’m fast-tracking here. We assume you’ve got a decent stroke. You’ve done all your work, you’ve got your belief and all of that.
“So, you know, what I used to do, number one, placing the ball down is very important, many people put alignment lines on it, but I used to, once I’d lined up everything, I would pick a spot, literally a blade of grass right behind the back of the ball.
“I was famous for keeping my head down, but I could actually really focus on a spot. And even in my practice strokes, I would be looking at that spot, because I wanted to keep everything perfectly still.
“Then you calm yourself down, of course, and then the next most important thing is, if it’s the six footer, practice the six footer, please.
“So, if you’ve got a six footer, stand up there, if you like having practice wings, a lot of players now don’t, but you’ve got to feel that six footer.
“When you get over it, you’ve got to calm yourself down, feel your breathing, and then you’ve got to just look back a couple of times, you see the ball tracking down, okay? You tracked it, your intention is to hole it. You’ve got trust in your stroke.
“That’s the time to lock into what you believe, so you might be saying square, square, I’m trying to keep that face square, square, or it’s one, two, whatever it is.
“I found I needed a little auditory command.
“So I aim there, I get ready to go, and I think smooth, smooth, and there you go. Just like the old days, never missed.“
Why Nick Faldo was so good under pressure
If you are looking to take advice from someone to help improve the way you putt under pressure, Faldo is one of the best players to learn from.
He was cool as ice under the gun back in his heyday, and he seldom missed a putt when it truly mattered.
Do you think you could win The Masters if you started every hole on the green?
If not, how many shots would you also need?
Faldo practiced his putting stroke as hard as anyone else at the top of the game did.
He had a rock solid setup, with a wide stance for his base.
The tempo of Faldo’s stroke was the same every time and he talks about that a lot. He’d whisper to himself, ‘smooth, smooth’ or ‘one on the way back and two on the way through’ when putting.
As the Englishman said, he always envisioned holing putts before they actually dropped in the cup and the rest is history.
If you look at all of Faldo’s major wins, his putting never let him down once. By copying his very simple advice, you too will be able to hole more putts from six feet and in.
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