Usually when I putt, it’s after I see where the ball ends up that I want to close my eyes, but I think that might start closing them before I hit my putt.

Last weekend Lexi Thompson won the Honda LPGA Thailand event, and did so by putting with her eyes closed.  Golf.com has since posted a lesson by James Sieckmann about how you too can benefit from putting with your eyes shut.

As they say in the article, most sports you focus on the target while performing an athletic action (ie. shooting a basketball, throwing a football or a baseball, bowling, etc).  In golf your focus is on the golf ball during the swing, and not on the target.  This can be a problem with putting, especially short putts.

Putting with your eyes closed will help you focus on just putting, and not being distracted with your eyes watching the putter, or looking up too soon to see the result of the stroke.  This is also a variation on Jordan Spieth’s technique of looking at the hole when putting short putts (although I think the first I heard of looking at the hole while putting was Davis Love III doing it about 20 or so years ago).  The brain is able to focus on the target. All you’ll be able to do is “fill your mind with a picture of the hole and react like an athlete.”

In my workplace we have a putting mat (like the one here) and so after reading about Lexi putting with her eyes closed, I decided to try it myself.  I probably hit about 15 putts, and 14 of them went in (the one I missed was pushed to the right when I peaked).  I am not sure if I will have the guts to try this out on the course, but I will definitely try this on the practice greens.

So if you struggle on the greens, try closing your eyes.