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The

Putting
Manifesto
How to unlock your authentic
putting game.

The Putting Manifesto


How to unlock your authentic putting game.
A new approach for golfers over 40 who want
to putt their best WITHOUT needing to
rebuild their technique.

By Cameron Strachan

© Cameron Strachan

The Putting Manifesto is all about helping you sink more


putts. In fact, it goes much deeper than that and my best
clients have used the principles within to change their
entire golf game and even their life. If you proceed any
further you probably won’t look at golf learning (or putting)
the same way again. You have been warned.

No part of this document can be reproduced or copied


without my written consent. Please forward all
correspondence to the address below.

Cameron Strachan
C/O Golf Marketing Services
33 Freyling Rd.
Hodgson Vale, QLD, 4352
Australia
www.AutomaticGolf.com

An important manifesto for any golfer who is brave enough to


explore how good their putting game can be.

Preamble
Here’s the abbreviated version:

You have more than enough talent to putt your best! And
you can do this without taking on complicated theory or
changing your putting stroke. And, it doesn’t require you to
spend big dollars on lessons, new putters or silly training
aides.

If you’re continually frustrated by poor putting and feeling


embarrassed by lots of missed putts and you know you
have the talent required to be better, then there is a path
to consistent (and way more satisfying) results on the
green.

The hard part is giving up all the tips, rules and theories
that have let you down. You need to move away from
“traditional” type teaching and move towards something
that’s actually going to help.

For some, the thought of doing something “di erent” is a


little scary. But if you keep doing the same thing over and
over you will keep getting the same results…

If you don’t mind some straight talk, then please keep


reading. What I have next might just change your thoughts
on the putting game, help you sink more putts that matter
and allow you to unlock your authentic putting game!

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Part 1: Putting Nightmare

T
he putt couldn’t have been any easier. It was dead
straight, a little uphill and around 3 feet.

But something didn’t feel right. My body felt like it


belonged to someone else, my mind was racing and I
actually felt ill.

I couldn’t take the putter away from the ball. I was hot and
bothered and just wanted to be somewhere else. Anywhere
else!

This had never happened to me before. I’d always felt


nervous on some short putts but this was something out of
the box.

I was in the midst of a panic attack and I didn’t know what


to do about it.

My attempt was horrendous. I inched at the putt and the


ball didn’t even hit the hole. My opponent, by this time
sensing I was in trouble, didn’t concede the next putt. And I
missed that too.

I went from winning the hole to losing it. All in a matter of


seconds.

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I was despondent.
I wanted to vomit.
I wanted to hide.
I didn’t know what to do.

The last holes of that match were terrible. I went from


having two-putts and winning my match to losing the un-
losable. I let myself down and my team.

Talk about snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

Welcome to the horrible world of losing the putting plot!

The next few years were a gol ng NIGHTMARE! My


pathetic putting was a constant source of embarrassment
(and discussion among my playing group). I didn’t like
playing that much. I thought about quitting and I never
putted that well. NEVER!

And it wasn’t from lack of trying. I worked at my putting


game and did everything I could to get better.

• Practised hard
• Bought an expensive putter (actually, more than one)
• Listened to many teachers and attempted to change
my technique
• Was always thinking about my putting and how I
could get better

But nothing I tried seemed to work. It was one step


forwards and then two back.

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What makes this story more remarkable is I’m the guy who
a few years earlier had been credited with showing Aaron
Baddeley his “famous” putting routine.

Aaron, at multiple times during his career, had been on top


of the putting stats on the PGA Tour.

His process has been described as Look and Shoot and it’s


where the golfer walks into the putt, gets set, takes a quick
peek at the hole and then powers the ball home.

From the outside it looks like the golfer is playing really


quickly, and he sort of is, but there’s a fair bit of nuance at
play too (and many are misguided why this works so well. If
you simply try and putt more quickly, which many golfers
do, it can cause your system to completely shut down and
you’ll putt worse, not better).

Aaron used this process to become the best putter in the


world. He topped the USGA putting stats in 2004 and 2006
and was renowned the world over for his amazing putting
ability.

Note: When he won the Australian Open as an 18 year old


amateur in 1999 he beat Greg Norman and Colin
Montgomery down the stretch. That week he had
something like 95 putts. Truly remarkable.

Cameron Strachan turned my putting from the


weakest link into my strongest. Using Cameron’s
technique has helped me become a successful
putter which in turn has enabled me to win
professional golf tournaments."
Aaron Baddeley PGA Tour Star

But this isn’t about Aaron Baddeley and you don’t need to
be a budding superstar to have it work for you.

In fact, if you are over the age of 40 and you don’t putt that
well, what I have for you today can get your golf game back
on track.

This is about the golf learning methodolo y that has come


from that original coaching session with Badds and how it
is now helping golfers all over the world.

And it’s also about my greatest regret. Something so


powerful and profound but hardly ever spoken about in
golf coaching circles.

On the following pages I’m going to go deeper into what I


coached Aaron and also HOW I was able to become a way
better golfer (by following my own advice) and how this
new approach to golf training is helping golfers nd their
authentic putting game.

As a quick heads up, what I’m about to share with you is


based on learning science and NOT typical putting
instruction principles.

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If you’re the kind of golfer who is looking for;

• A quick tip
• The latest miracle cure straight out of a golf magazine
• Some special gadget or practice technique
• A new putter
• Or more technical instruction

Then this is de nitely not for you.

But, if you’ve ever questioned traditional teaching ideas


and wondered why you nd putting so hard then what I
have here has your name on it.

If you’re confused why you’re able to putt decently one day


but so badly the next time out. If you’re frustrated because
you can hit the ball quite well but you are continually
embarrassed by missing too many putts, then this
manifesto is de nitely for you.

I’m going to share with you a profoundly simple way you


can approach putting that does away with the typical
technical rubbish.

And if you have an open mind because you’ve tried things


like, rock your shoulders, keep your wrists rm, low and
slow and have your eyes over the ball but have failed
miserably, the next few pages could be a game-changer.

Let’s get stuck into it.


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Part 2: The Truth About Putting

L
isten up. Putting isn’t really that hard. It’s nothing
more than rolling the ball along the nice green grass.

Please read that again…

It’s nothing more than rolling the ball along the grass.

But, (and this is huge)…

… much of the industry are obsessed with making things


harder than they need to be.

I’m not sure if it’s the golf teachers feeling they need to
justify their position or it’s just the way things are.

For too many golfers traditional putting advice doesn’t


work but we still try to;

• Fix our stroke


• Rock our shoulders
• Improve our putting path
• Keep our eyes over the ball
• Make sure our putter is pointing at the target
• Putt smoothly
• Keep our wrists rm
• Hit the putts rmly to the hole
• And about a MILLION other things
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And all this technical instruction can leave us a little


confused.

• We never really know what we’re doing


• We are made to feel more than a little hopeless (the golf
pro doesn’t mean for this to happen but it’s just a
symptom of a bigger issue)
• Golf isn’t fun because we can’t seem to get the results
we want (some days we can’t get the ball into the hole
from a foot!)
• The harder we try the worse we become (and do this
long enough and putting becomes really frustrating)
• We are always thinking and analysing what we’re doing
and this ultimately becomes tiring and boring

When push comes to shove, the traditional way (the


technical way) is simply too hard. What should be a simple
task – rolling the ball along the grass –
becomes almost impossible.

Is there a better way?

I’m not writing this to bash up the typical golf pro but my
research suggests only around 2% of golfers can make all
this technical “stu ” work for them.

2%. It’s a small number and sadly, many of the creators of


this putting content fall into the 2%.

It can work for some, but not too many. And if you have
been going around in circles, trying the latest putting
theories, buying new putters but still feel awful when you

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pull your putter from the bag you are most likely not
inside the “lucky” two percent.

And because the golf industry is built on the back of all this
technical instruction, if you can’t make it work, you really
have no other option.

You’re stuck. It’s like a step forward and then two or three
back.

And the most frustrating thing is the harder you try and
improve, the worst things can become.

More tactics
Another tip (or 25)
More theories
Another new putter (is that the 3rd putter this year
already?)
Hoping for a miracle cure.

But none of it works or provides a long term solution. In


fact, it could be causing you more harm than good.

It’s a bit like being on a horrible merry-go-round. You feel


like you should be getting somewhere and seeing results
but you’re actually stuck.

The image below helps explain what is happening here.




The Learning Matrix

Take your time to study this image. It’s important.

For many, the tips, the theories and all the instruction
DON’T provide the path to the best results. And the
“normal” way is hard work because you need to constantly
nd new things to come up with.

And because it’s hard you can’t sustain high levels of


performance. This is why you can putt well one week, and
like a madman the next (things can even change hole to
hole).

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And if you keep bombarding your system with too many


rules/regulations/theories then you may start getting the
yips and ultra-poor performance.

This is when you nd putting really hard and you don’t get
any sort of decent or consistent performance. You are
ghting the system and it’s NOT much fun.

But let’s flip the lid on all this instruction

Many years ago I asked the question, “Is there an easier


way?”.

Automatic Learning (as I like to call it) was the answer. I


looked at how we approach other skills (like throwing or
driving a car) and realised us crazy golfers had totally
complicated the simple art of putting the ball.

With Automatic Learning you get the best of both worlds.


You get higher levels of performance with the least amount
of e ort.

And it gets better. Because you’re learning optimally (like


how you’re meant to) your results can keep on getting
better and better. It really is the ultimate win-win situation
and you don’t need a university degree to get results.

So you really have a choice. If you can’t make traditional


teaching concepts work for you, then by all means you can
keep going down the technical rabbit hole.

Or,
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You can embrace your learning system and trust yourself


that you can roll that potato along the ground towards the
hole.

The major learning conflict

The very foundation of “normal” golf instruction doesn’t


work.

(There! I said it)

The current system really has set you up for failure. And
this is quite ironic, but the very thing you’re doing to x
your putting is the thing causing you all the misery.

Let me say that again so it’s really clear.

All the theories, tips and quick xes are causing you to fail.
It has nothing to do with you. You are more than talented
enough to roll the ball along the grass.

So it’s not you fault.

It’s also not a time for band-aid solutions. The last thing you
really need is another tip straight from YouTube (don’t get
me started).

Now is the time to reconsider the way you approach your


putting game. Time to re ect on what you’ve done to this
point in your golf career and if it has really worked for you.

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If this sounds like too much or just


too hard I understand. You probably
don’t want to reinvent the way you
putt the ball. I get it. You have been
let down before.

What I am suggesting is a proven


methodolo y that gets away from all
the technique (and xing shit) and
playing/putting in a more instinctive
and easier way.

It’s actually based on how we


perform most other skills, so it can
FEEL right to the 98% of golfers who
aren’t blessed with a technical
learning mindset. 
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And there’s absolutely nothing weird
going on or required (you don’t need
to meditate or do strange drills or
adopt some crazy putting stance).

It’s so normal, your gol ng buddies


won’t know what you’ve done to
make such a transformation. More on
all that soon.

Even if you’re putting OK right now, chances are you’re a


little inconsistent and you’re only a round or two from
losing the plot (or a couple of missed putts).

And when that happens, you know you’ll be back


struggling again.

And this merry-go-round of inconsistency makes golf


horrible. It’s so annoying. You’re made to feel hopeless
despite you being successful at so many other things.

And it’s this annoyance that could be golf’s biggest killer.


We are now getting into the really important stu …

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Part 3: Why you can’t putt

W
e are brainwashed into thinking putting is really
hard. It isn’t. And it’s not that hard because we
can all roll the ball along the grass.

We think our technique is really important (it’s not) and we


must try hard to x it (you shouldn’t). The issue here is
twofold;

a. The constant tweaking is hard work and we don’t ever


get to just putt and play golf (so golf becomes boring and
exhausting)

b. When you fail (and you will) you need to keep thinking
and coming up with new tips/theories and ideas

So it’s a vicious cycle of going around in circles. And there’s


absolutely no shortage of lessons, ideas and equipment you
can purchase to keep this thing going.

And that’s only the start of it. There’s a bigger problem at


play…

Welcome to Shitville and Averageville

I have been writing, coaching and sharing these ideas for


20+ years and in that time I have spoken to tens of
thousands of golfers from all over the world.


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And there’s something that I nd very sad.

Only a small percentage of golfers extract from golf the true


enjoyment that’s on o er.
 
 “Golfers invest their time and ener y into
golf but they are not really getting any real
enjoyment (or satisfaction) from the game.” 

And at the risk of sounding like a broken record, this is


because the learning model is all wrong. We are trying to
overload our little minds with so much garbage (tips, ideas,
theories etc) that our system shuts down.

At best, this is a very average way to play. At its worst? It’s a


nightmare. Fucking horrible with little long-term success,
consistency or enjoyment.

Why doesn’t it work?

Because the part of your brain that is responsible for


understanding language has no means to perform the
motion. Let me say that again so there’s absolutely no
confusion:

The part of the brain that can understand all the


technical information does not actually perform the
motion.

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So there’s a disconnect between what we KNOW we should


be doing versus the actual results we achieve. Simply, our
approach to learning a basic task is all messed up!

We falsely believe we can THINK and ANALYSE our way to


better putting performances. We can’t. And when I start
talking to a frustrated golfer he gets it.

He realises that all the technical info/tips/lessons don’t


really work, but he doesn’t know what else to do. And
potentially more destructive, the typical golfer doesn’t
want to buck the system.

We want to it in and do as we are told.

This all might seem a bit deep but it’s important if you’re
gunna sink that tricky 4 footer on hole 18 this weekend.
Stick with me please.

The info-overload kills learning. And we’re learning


machines. We are all hardwired to learn and it’s something
that makes life more interesting (and fun).

Without learning, there’s conscious e ort. Lot’s of it. But


conscious learning is the really hard way of performing
anything (unless you’re in the 2%). But we tend to keep
doing what we’re told because this is how the education
system works.

Humans don’t question what we’re told. We want to t in.


We are scared of bucking the system because we are
desperate not to look out of place.

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Enter the industrial revolution

We need to back up a few hundred years now to


understand this fully.

Owners of the rst factories needed workers to perform


mundane tasks. They didn’t want the workers to think and
make decisions. They needed them to blindly follow
instructions, operate the machines, stack shelves and
shovel coal. No. Questions. Asked.

All day. Every day.

Our school system is built on the same system (that’s why


most of us don’t like school). The teacher stands in front of
the class and barks orders. We wait patiently for the teacher
to tell us what to do.

Side note: I have a lot of respect for teachers. I am not


bashing them. I have spoken to many teachers over the
years and a huge percentage of them are frustrated at “the
system” too.

And yes, many of us learn golf the same way.

The di erence here is teaching versus coaching and I’ll


cover this in more detail below.

Here’s something interesting I do with new clients:

I asked them to describe their best putting round and their


worst.

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WARNING: If you continue reading you’ll never look at


putting the same way again.

You do have the answers

When I ask a golfer to think and describe their best putting


round it normally goes something like this:

When I’m putting well everything feels easy and


simple. And it’s like magic because the ball
keeps inding the hole and I don’t really know
what I’m doing except for some general
awareness that I want the ball to go into the
hole.

When I’m putting poorly, my mind is abuzz and


I’m always working on something. My set up,
my stroke, my putter position. My bloody
forearm plane and spine angle! I almost never
putt well this way.

Let me break this down.

When a golfer is putting well, he has little going on from a


technical point of view. His focus is generally on getting the
ball into the hole.

When the same golfer is struggling, he is thinking of 127+


di erent things at once. His focus is on something else not
related to sinking the putt.

One process is simple and natural. The other, although


fairly popular, is missing the entire point of the game.

One process is all about performing a task in a way that


suits you, while the other approach is about you trying to
putt in a way that someone else says is right for you.

Can you see it?

When we’re performing a skill in a way that feels good to us


we give ourselves a chance to learn. We are not overloading
our system. We are working how we are designed.

And golf becomes way easier and much more fun.

So the question is this, is golf instruction dead?

Not exactly.

I’m going to make a key distinction here. I’m going to


replace instruction with “coaching”.

Because instruction (or teaching) is old-school (bit like the


workers from the industrial revolution). And that might be
dying.

Things like;
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• Quick tip instructions


• Gimmicks
• Promises of unrealistic improvements
• Just telling people what to do (but this doesn’t work
because we don’t learn this way)
• Making things complicated because this makes the
teacher feel important
• No longterm focus on enjoyment & satisfaction

Smarter golfers. Golfers who want to


take control. Golfers who want
more from the game than some BS
theory or tip, won’t stand the
mainstream ways for long.
Especially if there’s an alternative to all the mess.

Is there a catch to all this “learning” and coaching


ideas?

Yes.

It requires a level of trust that you might not be used to.


You’ve got to put the trust back into your own game and
system. You must learn to trust yourself that you’re
perfectly capable of learning to roll the ball along the grass
towards a hole.

Because remember, that’s all putting is!

If you’re able to adopt this new paradigm, that I’ll show you
in a ji y, everything will change for you.

Your putting stroke will change for the better (all very
naturally).

You’ll sink more putts without busting a million brain cells


(or without dropping another $499 or more on a new
putter).

You can forget about technique and all the putting


theories and start enjoying yourself (hooray!).

Your results will continue to get better and better. Because


you’ll be performing optimally, positive results happen as a
natural side-e ect. It’s pure win-win.

And golf/putting will o er way more enjoyment and


satisfaction (maybe the most important thing of all).

You can make the shift. You can ght back. You can take
control of your game.

Golf is too hard

You can’t take the putter away from the ball because you’re
too scared.

You are so worried about missing, your body goes into


shut-down and you start yipping.
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You are con icted because deep down you probably know
you should be putting di erently, but you don’t want to
upset the apple cart.

It’s no wonder we can’t enjoy ourselves.

You are accepting bargain basement levels of enjoyment


because YOU are not prepared to play golf in a way that
suits you!

We tend to let the inmates run the asylum because, well,


that’s just the way it is.

There’s no learning going on peeps

When the golf instructor tells you to set your spine angle,
lock your wrists, take the putter away smoothly, focus on
the putter path and then putt with your shoulders, there’s
almost no learning going on.

You’re stuck. You’re confused. Your brain is shutting down.


You will struggle to perform consistently.

And the very thing you’re doing to get the results you want,
is the very thing that’s causing you ALL the problems. It’s
not YOU that’s broken or not talented enough. It’s the
bloody method you’re using!

I call this “new” way Automatic Learning. And on the


next page, I’m going to go deeper and let you in on a
mindset shift that can set your putting game on re.

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Part 4: The path to putting success

T
he internet has seen an explosion in putting tips and
advice. Anyone with an internet connection and a
mobile phone can o er advice everywhere.

Youtube. Instagram. Facebook. Have you seen TikTok?

There’s a plethora of information but is any of this


really helping?

My contention is that the information explosion is making


something that should be simple – rolling the ball along the
grass – into a mine eld of frustration, confusion and mental
agony.

The reason a lot of the quick tip stu is so popular is


because it o ers the miracle cure.

It hits our greed gland. Hard.

All we have to do is buy new putter or try new grip or


practice new theory and we’ll have instant transformation.

They are every golfer’s dream.

But the irony, and apologies for the repetition, is the very
thing that we think can help us is the thing that’s actually
destroying our game.

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The bottom line is that the traditional way of learning golf


should be replaced. Most of us don’t learn that way.
And if I can be so bold: the traditional teaching system is a
brilliant business model but it doesn’t help us.

The golfer is fed a whole pile of junk (despite the teacher’s


best intentions) that is unlikely to work. And when the
golfer fails (and he will) the golfer is made to feel stupid and
hopeless.

And that’s just the start of it.

Because once you’re on the merry-go-round and your


putting game su ers, you are forced to keep coming back
for more information. You almost become a golf junkie
addicted to the latest theory or gimmick.

Like I said, great biz model but none of it is helping you.

And ultimately, this way of playing is completely


unsatisfying. There’s no real enjoyment and any success
can be short-lived. There’s almost zero trust in our own
ability and we believe we need constant reassurance from a
teacher.

And the teachers/instructors are happy to keep feeding us


information because it keeps food on their table.

It’s madness!

Oh, and I nearly forgot to mention, it’s really hard work. It


can be exhausting to putt this way.

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Even some of the best players in the world can’t go


anywhere without a guru or two telling him how to stand/
swing/putt/chip/think/play.

It’s quite funny (but sad) when you think about it because
we can do so many things really well, but we lack belief in
ourselves to roll a little ball along the nice green grass.

But here’s the good news:

You have full control on how you want to play. You don’t
need to putt with the latest theory or high end putter. You
can do it HOW you want.

Think about that for a second?

The technical path isn’t the only path to true success. And
it never was.

You can unlock you best putting game, con dence,


consistency, and skill level by ignoring a system that has
failed you.
 
Here’s the key shift:

Instead of thinking that technique is the only way forward.

You are going to replace the technique with a learning


methodolo y.

Instead of asking, “what’s wrong with my putting?” you


start with a better question(s), like,

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“How do I really want to putt? What’s the best version of


my putting game I’d like to bring to the golf course?”

Then things become in nitely easier. The entire putting


process becomes simpler.

1. Bring a natural and instinctive putting stroke to the


surface (if you’ve been playing golf for more than a
year you’ll already have this)

2. Build your putting game around awareness, focus,


learning and enjoyment

3. Develop a system that allows you to repeat this


process over and over again (this is how you can putt
your best under pressure. Even those really nasty
pressure putts!)

The above three points are essentially what I taught Aaron


Baddeley.

And it’s what I recommitted to once my putting game hit


the skids.

Not only did this all “feel” better, it was way easier to do
(compared to the traditional technique method)

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“Hi Cameron,
I’m not normally one to write emails but just
wanted to let you know I tried your putting
technique for the irst time today in a round
and had 27 putts. 27 putts is fantastic for me
and although having a little trouble on really
long putts my short putting was unbelievable.
Just wanted to say thank you, it certainly made
putting enjoyable for me today. I’ve never
trusted my stroke so much as what I did today.
Keep up the good work and thanks again.”
Matt

And you can’t lose

You’re working optimally so your learning system


responds. You start getting better results almost*
immediately

* I say almost because I’m not going to bullshit you. There is a


learning phase and depending on how far you’ve gone down
the technical rabbit hole will determine how quickly you’ll
get results. The fact is, so many crazy golfers have
completely abused their learning system, there’s going to be
a settling in period where it might take a few rounds to feel
comfortable. There’s no getting away from this.

When you start working with your learning system, instead


of against, your putting game gets an unfair advantage.

1. Your stroke mechanics get better naturally. Because


your system is working optimally, there’s less clutter,
confusion and fear. You will simply putt better
because your system will lock into ideal mechanics all
very naturally.

2. You get a mental advantage. Again, this is because


you’re working optimally and things just feel easier.
It’s like having the weight of the world lifted from your
shoulders.
 
I’m sure this is what Aaron Baddeley felt when he won the
Aussie Open as an amateur. It’s de nitely what I started to
feel when I overcame a terrible dose of the putting yips.
And it’s what clients are telling me every single day about
their own game.

“I’ve seen a real improvement in putting overall


particularly in getting long putts close enough
to expect the next one to drop.”
– Chris Martin

And here’s something interesting. Your putting and overall


score performances will improve naturally.

And you won’t need to be worry about this and keep stats
and be concerned about HOW you’re actually putting.

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All you need to do is put some trust in your learning


system that it’s capable of putting that ball (because it is).

The results will take care of themselves.

And with trust comes discipline and resilience. The


discipline to keep doing what’s working over and over and
over. And the resilience to understand the di erence
between the odd missed putt or when something is truly
wrong.

Note: Almost all of the time, when you follow a learning


approach, there’s no such thing as technically wrong. Sure,
you can have a bad day and miss a few putts, but it’s not
because your stroke is wonky. The putts missed because
this happens sometimes. This is reality of peak
performance and the art of putting (some days the ball just
won’t go in but this is not a reason to throw away a
perfectly good learning model).
 
If you’re going to go o the deep-end when you miss the
occasional 4 footer, then you’ll always be disappointed. The
counter-intuitive thing here is when you accept that misses
are normal and there’s no such thing as a “perfect putting
stroke” you’ll miss far less of the time.

Go gure.

A di erent approach.
Most golfers are obsessed with their technique or their
equipment (or both). As we’ve discussed, this is pretty
much the attitude of the entire golf industry. It works for
some but not everyone.

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98% of golfers are praying that their putting game turns


around.

They are hoping that the moons align and they start sinking
putts at will. They are constantly searching, tweaking and
trying new stu .

Their e ort is admirable but misguided. Most of these type


of golfers never play/putt in a way that’s remarkable.

They are constantly disappointed and spend too much time


wondering what’s going wrong.

If you take anything away from today, please take this…

“Putting well is no harder than


rolling a ball along the grass. If you
can learn to keep out of your own
way for long enough, you can become
very good on the greens.”

And the best way to keep out of your own way is to adopt a
learning methodolo y over the traditional technical one.

When you get it right, everything falls into place.

Your stroke gets better.


You putt/play better under pressure.
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You continue to get better and better.


And golf becomes way more enjoyable.

Let me be honest with you.

Playing golf the “old” way can work, but it’s ultimately
tiring. It’s non stop stress and worry and any success is
usually sort lived.

Case in point: Jordan Speith. He holed everything for a


year or two and was the best golfer on the planet. Then he
missed some putts (which was always going to happen).

Then came the changes.


Then a loss of con dence. Then more changes. Then loses
plot (relatively speaking).

And yes! He’s still a very good golfer but he’s not playing as
well as he should. I hope he can turn things around but he
could spend the next 2 years chasing his tail TRYING too
hard to gure things out.

At the end of the day, there was nothing wrong with his
putting game. He missed some putts when he wanted to
make them. He was so far in front he should have laughed
the misses o and kept on trucking. There was no need for
him to start making crazy changes. He needed to remain
patient and trust in his talent.

Instead, he potentially ruined his golf game and at the very


least, set himself back a few years.
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If one of the best players in the world can’t make the


technical/traditional way work for him, what chances have
you got?

If you’ve come this far I’m hoping you can see that there’s a
better way. I’m not o ering some airy fairy approach that
calls for you to become a meditation guru (or any type of
guru).

Nope. I want you to play/putt like you do most other things.

Throwing a ball, riding a bike or driving a car.

This is how you’re meant to putt. And if nothing else, it’s


way easier than what you’ve been doing all this time.

If you haven’t believed in yourself in the past, I hope you


can see it now.

Start trusting yourself to perform one of the simplest and


easiest motions in sport.

Trust yourself that you can roll that ball along the grass.

Stop doubting yourself and changing your technique or


equipment all the time.

Stop panicking and getting anxious each time you pull the
putter from your bag.

You can do it

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There’s no rocket science involved. Just proper learning


science. And many other sports are years ahead of the
curve. Golf, being all traditional and all (and very
conservative), is a bit behind the times.

The learning model is actually an ancient learning model


that has been around for centuries. Automatic Learning in
this instance, is a modern take on a fairly new skill
(putting). If you can throw and catch a ball or ride a bike
then you should be putting optimally. There’s really no
excuse.

On the next page I’m going to share another story about a


high pro le golfer who has approached his putting game a
little di erently – and this has certainly worked very well
for him.

I’m also going to highlight two golfers who are the epitome
of the easy and hard way.
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Part 5: Time to putt your best

O
n the previous page I talked about how Jordan
Speith potentially ruined his game by trying too
hard to x his putting. He’s obviously a very good
golfer but he has fallen a long way from his best.

Note: I know he’s playing better but I still think he makes a


good case in point.

I now want to share with you a story about another modern


day golfer. Here’s the article from the website of New
Zealand Golf Digest:

Rory McIlroy will retake the top spot in the O cial World Golf
Ranking next week, which is signi cant for a couple of
reasons. For one, according to PGA Tour’s Sean Martin, the
nearly four-and-a-half years is the longest anyone has gone
between stints at No.1. For another, considering McIlroy’s lack
of Majors during the OWGR’s counting window, it’s been an
impressively methodical climb back.

Less than two years ago, McIlroy had fallen all the way to
(gasp!) 13th after a missed cut at the 2018 Valspar
Championship. Before his next start, the struggling four-time
Major champ had his rst putting lesson with eight-time PGA
Tour winner Brad Faxon. That initial get-together didn’t play
out like McIlroy expected, but he can’t argue with the results
since.

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In the rst part of McIlroy’s latest (fantastic) interview


with the Independent‘s Paul Kimmage, the 30-year-old
describes a three-hour meeting of which the majority was
spent talking over co ee. And when it was nally time to go out
to the practice green, Faxon made an odd request.

“He said, ‘You just have to know what to work on – bring your
putter, a sand wedge and a 5-wood,’ McIlroy tells Kimmage.

“So we went onto the putting green and he got me to putt from
eight feet. I hit three putts with the putter and holed one of
them; three with the sand wedge and holed two of them; and I
holed three in a row with the 5-wood.”

Was this all preparation in case McIlroy ever breaks his


atstick in the middle of a round? Not exactly.

“He says, ‘I wanted to prove something to you. A lot of putting


nowadays is very technical and mechanical – you have to have
the right length putter with the right lie and the right loft. That
thing (the 5-wood) has 19 degrees (loft) and is about 10 inches
too long and you’ve just holed three in a row. That’s what you
need to get back to.

It needs to be instinctive,'” McIlroy continued. “And it was such


a massive ip. We had that one session on Monday afternoon
and I went to Bay Hill and had the best putting week of my
career.”

McIlroy jumped to seventh in the world ranking with his win at


the Arnold Palmer Invitational and nished 2018 at No.8. In
2019, he won four more times, including the Players and the
Tour Championships – while also being voted PGA Tour Player
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of the Year by his peers – to nish the year at No.2. And most
recently, a T 3 at Torrey Pines to begin 2020 will be enough to
move to No.1 next Monday, according to Twitter OWGR guru
Nosferatu.

There are many factors that go into McIlroy’s sustained high-


level of play, but improved putting has certainly been one.

McIlroy nished the 2016 2017 PGA Tour season ranked 159th
in strokes gained putting. The rst season after working with
Faxon, he nished 97th. And during his POY campaign, he
jumped all the way up to 24th.

With Faxon’s help, McIlroy ended a winless drought to begin


his climb back to world No.1. And if he keeps this type of
putting up, snapping his ve-plus-year Major drought might
not be far behind.

Ok, did you read the article?

This is one of the most profound articles you’ll ever read


about the putting game.

Brad Faxon has introduced a brilliant learning model to


Rory McIlroy. And it seems that Rory has embraced the
coaching/methodolo y because he has again become the
best player in the world (at the time of writing this) and
done something positive to his putting game.

And it also highlights how simple putting can be. We don’t


really need all the theories and technical advice. If we
wanted, we could nd a way to stand on one leg, with one
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arm behind our back and nd a way to putt with a broom


handle.

It’s just not that hard.

The key here is to get away from all the technical rubbish
and let our learning system shine. To do what it does best.

And before I introduce you to my process for adopting a


more natural and instinctive putting game, I want to get
into the most important part of this manifesto.

The following is my greatest discovery and also my biggest


regret. But just hang on one more second please…

… I want to introduce you to two golfers. They are sort of


based on me, but essentially, they could be you, or any
golfer you know who has struggled with the putting game.

It’s John and Matt

Here’s John’s story.

He’s smart, successful and wants to play his best golf. He


can hit the ball quite well, but his putting game lets him
down. A lot.

He three putts.
He misses the little ones.
He gets so nervous he can’t breathe.
He gets anxious.
He gets mad.
He gets angry.




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And eventually he will let a few missed putts ruin his score/
game/weekend.

Now let’s talk about Matt. Matt is a reincarnated version of


John. A better version of grumpy old Johnny Boy.

Now Matt approaches putting in a slightly di erent, but


highly important, way.

He too is smart, successful and loves playing well. The


di erence here is Matt is able to bring his A game to the
course. And he can do it most of the time, when it counts.

And he can certainly putt the ball under pressure (this is


despite having a bad case of the putting yips a few years
earlier).

Here’s an image that best showcases John and Matt.


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To an outsider there is almost no way to spot any di erence


between John and Matt (except for the results they get). But
to the individual, there will be a world of di erence.

Matt has an inner con dence and a knowing. He is


con dent NOT because he has the perfect stroke or has the
best putter money can buy. No. He is con dent because he
knows that his learning system is far superior to any other
contrived technique or method he has used in the past.

He knows that his game really can’t be helped by a quick


x or some magic pill. He understands that proper learning
doesn’t work that way anyway.

And here’s my greatest discovery and biggest regret. They


are the same thing.

What is it?
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It’s that I was perfectly capable of


putting my best all along. I didn’t
need all the rules and theories. I
didn’t need to have my putting
technique taken apart and then put
back together. I didn’t even really
need to spend long hours on the
practice putting green because my
learning system was able to roll the
ball along the grass. All. Of. The.
Time.

It’s my greatest regret because I wasted years going around


in circles, chasing my tail and putting like a complete idiot.

I wasted at least 5 years trying to do something that didn’t


work for me. I wasted 5 years listening to too many other
people and missed out on actually “playing golf”.

But learning this (and applying the principles to my


putting) is one of my greatest discoveries because I
overcame the frustration of the golf instruction merry-go-
round.

I was able to buck the system and learn to putt in a way that
worked for me.

I was able to turn my putting game from the absolute


weakest link into one of my strongest assets ( just like Aaron
Baddeley had done years earlier). I was able to putt with
con dence and leave the fear behind.

I was able to stay true. To keep putting my way even when I


missed a putt or when a playing partner suggested I rock
my shoulders while I kept my forearm plane and spine
angle at 43.55 degrees to the target line. I just ignored that
shit!

I was able to extract from the game every ounce of


performance, enjoyment and satisfaction for my talent,
discipline and dedication to the game. I learned to putt
really well when the heat was on.

I went from being an absolute basket-case on the green to


someone who could putt well on almost any day on any
course anywhere in the world.

I was able to e ectively self-coach and was no longer reliant


on somebody else telling me what I had to do (let me tell
you, this is a very powerful position to be in).

I challenged the status quo and over 100 years of gol ng


instruction to become a very good putter.

Let me be very clear:


If your putting game isn’t going as well as you’d like I’m
certain it’s because you’ve disrupted your natural learning
system and have been trying to force your body to putt in a
way that it isn’t suited to. You are working against your
system instead of with.
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I can also be certain that you’re more than talented enough
to roll the ball along the grass.

If poor putting has derailed your entire game then you can
do something about it.

Please take another peek at John and Matt:


If any this resonates with you then I invite you to check out
my Look & Shoot Putting System and associated lessons.

Look & Shoot is a multi-media training resource that will


help you unlock your best putting stroke and then guide
you on the process to unleashing that natural stroke out on
the golf course, when the pressure is on.

You can get all the relevant info by clicking here.

This training is unique in the golf world and has been


created to help you putt your best without all the usual
BS theories, tips and gimmicks. It might just be the only
putting learning resource on the planet that’s based on
natural learning principles and absolutely made for those
golfers over the age of 40.

And I’m convinced, that Look & Shoot can not only help
your putting performances, but your overall game. This is
what my best clients tell me all the time.

There’s no hard sell or pressure from me. You can click the
link below and discover what’s on o er in your own time.

And if I get to help you nd your authentic putting game at


some point, that would be a great honour. That’s it from
me. Over to you.

Good putting and thanks for reading,

Cameron Strachan
Putting Coach and natural learning expert


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P.S. My real goal with Look And Shoot is to help you


rediscover your passion and enjoyment for the game.

I know what it’s like to putt poorly and I also know what it’s
like to nd the spark again.

Link: www.Automatic.Golf/look

Is your putting game as good as it can be?


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About Cameron

Cameron in action

Cameron has dedicated his adult life to natural learning


principles. He has written a dozen books on all aspects of
peak golf performance and continues to inspire golfers
from all over the globe through his website and social
media presence.

Cameron now refers to his own golf game as “half handy”


and still likes to get outside and swing the sticks regularly.
He also has a “half handy” tennis game.

When he is not playing golf or tennis he is usually writing,


thinking or coaching golf.

He lives in Queensland, Australia with his family.


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