UPDATED 4/30/05, 10:30 AM

Putter Sensei Philosophy

Learning to excel at putting can be easy and fun whether you are a beginner or a longtime player. There are four steps to the Putter Sensei philosophy.

The first step is to test how well you aim your putter. A laser is used to check the accuracy of your aim. This is the key to putting success. If you think your putter is aimed at the target at 8 feet away, but you are actually aimed two feet left, very few putts can be holed out.

If you can not aim your putter, the second step is to use the Chris Aoki Fitting Method to custom-fit a Fit2Aim™ putter. During the fitting process, different design features are tested using a laser until the correct design combinations result in actually being able to aim your putter more accurately.

Adjustments are also made in your address position and putting stroke to reduce compensations relating to inaccurate aim. The fitting process therefore has two goals: One is to create a putter design for more accurate aim and the other is to us the fitting session as lesson time to correct compensations developed from poor alignment.

In the third step, you will learn how to keep the old compensations from returning by revamping your address position routine. Your new routine will coordinate with the accurate alignment of your new Fit2Aim™ putter and will better prepare you for a putting stroke and ball contact that will create straighter roll.

Attending Putter Sensei School I is strongly recommended as part of your third step because this school, although appropriate for anyone, takes the Putter Sensei philosophy further by eliminating compensations in the putting stroke and replacing them with viable technique that coincides with accurate alignment and natural body motion. The school also serves as a yearly review for many continuing Putter Sensei students.

The fourth step is to learn the skills from Putter Sensei School II because they are the practical elements needed on the golf course. This school emphasizes how to work with long putts, manage distance and speed and read greens well. In addition, there is always new technique to try in each Putter Sensei School II. In other words, much of the content of each Putter Sensei School II is different each time you attend.

The reason for the four steps in the Putter Sensei philosophy is to teach you how to acquire good putting performance. Quick tips and training aids often try to teach you to memorize a good putting stroke. Putter Sensei philosophy believes this is not complete because only attempting to memorize ignores the broad spectrum of abilities that the human body can perform. Putter Sensei philosophy believes good putting performance is based on aim, preparation, instinct and knowledge.

Thank you for reading about Putter Sensei philosophy. As teachers, we have worked diligently over the last twenty years to develop a simple and easy program that is fun to learn and easy to achieve great accomplishments.