CHAPTER ONE

HOW TO PUTT (1): GRIP

I came to my first Masters Tournament in 1995 thinking I could putt. Proud of my hat representing Stanford, where I was completing my freshman year, I was full of confidence. Like a lot of 20-year-olds, I had never seen a putt I didn’t like. As a junior and college player, I could go deep when my putter got hot. I’d had 21 putts for 18 holes several times, and under pressure it seemed like I never missed. The length of the putt was irrelevant; I would just get up there and bang the ball hard into the hole. I was aggressive, confident and had the touch to back it up.

1995年我还是斯坦福大学一年级新生，带着学校的帽子，甚是自豪。第一次参加大师赛，我对我的推杆信心满满。年少的大学学生，就像许多20岁的小伙子，我从来没想过推杆是难的。当我的手感好的时候，我的推杆好的连自己都难以想象。我有过几次18洞21推，即使压力之下，也不会手抖，长距离的推杆也不惧，我总是能把球推到该到的点，然后毫不犹豫灌球入洞。我自信甚至自负，无所畏惧。

But I was in for a pretty rude awakening that Thursday Augusta National. On the first hole first day, I stood over a 20-feeter for birdie that I just knew I was going to make. It was raining and misty, the kind of conditions that tend to slow the greens down. A little voice told me to give the putt a little extra nudge; the practice green had been a touch slow by Masters standards, and I was determined to play aggressively. So I put a nice smooth stroke on the ball, accelerating the putter a bit faster through impact.

星期四的奥古斯塔国家球场，让我悚然惊醒。第一天，第一洞，20英尺的小鸟推，我好不怀疑这只小鸟的入账。下着雨，空气湿润，我感觉果岭速度会慢一些。练习果岭的速度比大师赛的标准要慢一点，于是我想得稍稍用点力，我喜欢灌洞的感觉，我平稳一击，在触球的瞬间，略略加速。

The ball rolled nicely and slowed as it near the hole. But it didn’t stop. It trickled three feet past the hole, paused for a moment, then kept going, gathering speed as it went along. Next thing I knew, the ball had rolled completely off the green. Even then, it didn’t stop. Suddenly the gallery was parting to give the ball room to roam. By the time the ball stopped, I was farther from the hole than when I started and facing a very difficult recovery shot. It was a pretty startling moment. Even my playing partner, defending champion Jose Maria Olazabal, looked surprised. Though I was a bit shaken, I was determined to recover. I chipped the ball to 15 feet, and make that putt for a bogey. But right then I knew I had a lot to learn.

球朝洞口滚去，接近洞口时慢了下来，但是没有停下，它继续慢慢地滚过洞口三英尺后停了一下，然后好像被充了电，渐渐地越滚越快，居然出了果岭，观众们两边分开，为球让道，球滚出的距离比刚才的20英尺远多了，回切的球位并不好，我同组的卫冕冠军奥拉扎宝也面露惊讶，这样的情况下我也感到有点棘手，但我知道我必须救回来，一切一推，bogey完成了第一洞。从那时起，我知道，我的推杆远远没有我所想象的好！

The more I examine putting, the more fascinating it become. I’m at least as captivated by putting as I am by the full swing. That’s why I practice putting so much. I enjoy the process of altering my stroke a little when it gets out of kilter. I like the challenge of improving my touch, and the feeling I sometimes get when I know I can lag a fast, double-breaking 40-footer to with a foot of the hole—or else hole it. There is, and always will be, room for improvement. I guess that deep inside, I’m still 20 years old and feel I can make every putt I look at. The goal, even if it isn’t a realistic one, is to putt my very best every day.

对推杆的钻研越多，我越喜欢推杆。就像全挥一样，这小小的挥杆也让我着迷，我反复练习，喜欢挑战有难度的推杆，球感在提高，喜欢快速果岭上40英尺两个拐点的推杆，我能把球推到一英尺的范围甚至进洞。提高永无止境，在我内心深处我觉得我仍然是那个20岁青年，不惧于任何情况的推杆，每一天都能推出自己最好的推杆！

I see so many types of putting grips on the pro tours these days, it gives the impression there is no “right” way to hold the putter. Maybe there isn’t. The main thing in putting, whether it’s with your grip, posture, stance or ball position, is to be comfortable. The putting stroke is not a very complicated action. My hands move only a foot at most in either direction during the stroke. My arms move less than that, my body less still and my head not at all. So the biggest priority in gripping the club is to establish a feeling of sensitivity, comfort and relaxation.

巡回赛上职业们的握杆千姿百态，每一种自有它的合理性。也许没有一种是最好的。对于握杆，站姿，站位，球位而言，舒服是唯一的标准。推杆动作并不复杂，我双手在大多数情况下左右移动不超过一英尺，手臂少一些，身体再少一些，头保持不动。所以握杆应该考虑的是灵敏，舒适和放松。

My putting grip is conventional in almost every way. If you look the long history of the game and its greatest players, most of them have held the club very similar to the way I do. I’m glad I had them as models when I was young.

我是传统的握法，在我小时候，我就参照前辈伟大球手的握杆方法，我与高球史上伟大的球手们的握法基本相似。

*** The back of my right hand is parallel to my left hand. I don’t want my hands fighting each other during the stroke. By placing both hands square to the target, it’s much easier to keep the face of the putter square during the stroke, at impact especially.

*** My right thumb extends down the shaft to a point just below my right forefinger. Any farther and my right hand and wrist tighten a bit and don’t hinge freely. Any shorter and I sacrifice control.

*** A bracelet I used to wear, given to me by a Buddhist monk.

*** The back of my left hand faces the garget. This “weak” position discourages the hand from rotating excessively during the stroke.

*** The reverse-overlap grip, with the left forefinger laid across the fingers of the right hand, provides a sense of unity. It doesn’t lock the hands together in any way, but it does prevent either hand from becoming too dominant during the stroke.

*** I position both thumbs directly down the top of the handle. The thumbs are as sensitive as the finger and provide the greatest amount of feedback as I swing the putter back and through the ball.

The handle of the putter runs under the butt of my left hand. Most players like the handle running straight up the palm so the club-shaft is parallel to the left forearm. My grip is unique this way, but I believe it gives me a little extra feel and gives me freedom in my wrists when I need it.

杆把压在我的左手小鱼际下，许多球手喜欢让杆把沿着手掌往上，这样杆身就会平行于左前臂。在这一点上，我比较独特，但是我觉得这样的握法给我一个特别的手感，而且手腕比较自如。

I was on the practice green with Butch Harmon one day in 1998 when Butch noticed something. “If you hold that putter any tighter, you’re going to twist the grip right off it,” he said with a laugh. I always listen to Butch and sure enough, I was holding the putter so firmly that I was squeezing the blood out of the tips of my fingers at address. I tried to hold the putter more lightly, but I didn’t seem to have the same amount of control. And even then Butch said my grip pressure was much too intense.

1998年的一天，我和哈蒙在练习果岭，他注视了一会，然后笑着和我说：“如果你再握的紧一些，我觉得你会把握把给拧下来的。”我信任哈蒙，情况果真如哈蒙说言。在瞄准时，我的手紧紧地攥着杆，甚至我的指尖都紫了。于是我设法让握杆松一些，但是却感到失去了部分控制力，而哈蒙认为即使这样握杆还是比较紧。

A few days later, Butch showed up with a device he attached to the grip of the putter. He fooled with the setting for a minute, then challenge me to hit some putts without making the device emit a loud “beep.” It went off the minute I addressed the ball. I lightened my grip pressure to quiet the thing, but when I actually went to hit a putt it went off again. Man, that thing drove me crazy. But eventually, I was able to hit putts without activating the beeper. Surprisingly, I putted pretty well with that new, light grip pressure.

几天后，哈蒙带了一个能连上握把的仪器，他摆弄了一阵，然后让我推几个球，设法不要让仪器发出警告声。我瞄准的时候，仪器响了，于是我调整了握力，仪器安静了，但是当我上杆推球的时候，又响了，我简直无所适从了！但是我终于能够推杆而不激响仪器，自从采用轻握推杆后，我推杆进步了。

Still, I wanted some reassurance that holding the club lightly was the way to go. Early in 1999, at the Byron Nelson Classic, I ran into Ben Crenshaw, who may be the greatest putter of all time. I asked him how tightly he held the putter. Ben said he gripped his putter so lightly it almost fell form his hands. “The lighter you hold it the better you will able to feel the weight of the putter head at the other end of the shaft,” he said.

即使如此，我还是想得到确认，握杆松一些是否真的可行？1999年初，拜伦尼尔森精英赛，我遇到了也许是我们这个时代最伟大的推杆手，本 克伦肖。我问他的握杆的握力如何？本说，他握杆很松，握把似乎要从手中滑落，他说‘手握的越是松，就越能感受杆身另一头的杆头的重量。’

Hearing that from Ben did it for me. I committed myself to easing my grip pressure, and it really paid off. I shot 63-64 over the weekend and won the tournament.

I’d say that on a scale of 1 to 10, my grip pressure is about a 5. That may be tighter than Ben holds his putter, but it’s pretty light for me and I do have an increased sense of feel.

If you’re having trouble on lag putts, or if your speed isn’t right on shorter, breaking putts, or if you feel you’re manipulating the putter, check your grip pressure. No doubt about it, light is light.

听本这么说，我就踏实了，我尽量减少握力，这场比赛的周末两轮我分别打出63和64杆，轻松握杆的推杆帮了我大忙。

如果握力从1到10，那么我的握力是5左右，也许比本要紧一些，但与我刚合适，感觉很好。

如果长推有问题，短推和有线的推杆的速度控制不好，或者经常用手操控推杆杆面，那么试着改变握力，试一试，会有意想不到的收获。