Unconscious Putting: Dave Stockton's Guide to Unlocking Your Signature Stroke Hardcover – Illustrated, September 15, 2011

This is a layman's guide to putting. Simple and easy to understand. It definitely helped me. Stockton's recommendation about looking at a spot in front of the ball when you putt, rather than at the ball itself has helped me to start my putts more on line. I read another very highly rated book on putting and it is so technical I found it to be confusing and redundant.

Helps to simplify putting and improve feel on the green. Controlling pace is most important and this book concentrates on that.

I read a few reviews of this book before purchasing it but knew I would purchase it based on the amount of work the Stockton family does with tour pros. Even more compelling are the results the pros brag about having after their "lessons" or tune-ups.This book teaches you that putting is about feeling the greens out and seeing the line, not over complicating it with mechanics; which I now whole heartedly agree with. It's about trusting what you see and going with it. You cannot go up to a putt, see the line then determine the pace based on calculations and degrees of break like a computer. It's about truly trying to read greens and doing so by constantly changing your practice routine up to get a feel for the greens and understanding undulations, not by "banging 400 balls" in a row on the same putI understood the concept of practicing with a purpose (from Ed Feeney and Appliedgolf.com) but not in the context of putting. I changed my full swing practice routine from banging balls to practicing with a purpose years ago and went from a 18-20hdcp to a 10-12hdcp in a year or so.Since then I had spent a few years on putting greens still focused on mechanics. I was attempting to find the perfect angle of press and arc vs. straight back-straight through which resulted in maintaining a 10-12 hdcp and maybe breaking 80 once a year. I struggled for years trying to get better with the perfect stroke and perfect swing until finding this book.It honestly changed my mindset on the course, tee to green.After working on the points Dave has enumerated in this book I am now trending to a 4.8 hdcp with much more consistency on the greens.My main take-away is to trust your gut, when you read a green or choose a shot to hit, or club selection, it's usually correct. I take a lot less time over a ball and in my pre-shot routine.I take a 1/2-3/4 easy swing to feel my forearms rotate between 9 o'clock and 3 o'clock (a consistent problem I have), I pick a spot in front of the ball in line with the target (not necessarily the flag) and set up to make sure my club face is set to the spot on the ground in front of the ball I take one look at the target, then back at the spot and finally the back of the ball and swing away.I am absolutely recommending this book to all my (non-competitive) playing partners.

I have owned probably too many books on putting. Too much information can be a bad thing, esp. when some of that info is contradictory. But this is, quite likely, the only putting book I will ever need from now on, and the one that I wish that I had when I played for my college team. I have long considered Mr. Stockton to be one of the best, if not the best of some excellent coaches when it comes to putting. Annika Sorenstam went to Dave in the midst of her amazing career, and in short order her putting went from being middle of the pack to one of the very best in the women's game. Currently, Phil Mickelson has been working w/ Dave, and he is having a renaissance in his putting too! He was ranked right at 130th on tour in putting the last 3 yrs, and after working w/ Dave, currently is 14th! So what I am saying, is here is real 'insider dope', an approach that has been tried and tested. Why? Because Dave Stockton made his living for decades on the PGA and Senior PGA tours largely on the strength of his putting, not his ball striking. What he was taught by his father and other golfiing mentors, he passes on to you. I will say, though, that this book is not for the casual golfer, but one who is willing to tackle radically different thinking. The title gives a hint of what is in store. No more obsessive focus on mechanics, but instead on visualizing the line of the putt, for example. Not all will buy his thinking, but I know that it has helped numerous pros, and it has helped me already, even though I haven't learned the totality of the content of the book yet. If you are open minded and willing to try a radically different approach, you owe it to yourself to try this out.

I'm not going to attempt to do a full book review here, because 1) I don't think this is the place for it, and 2) I don' think anyone will read it all.So the book arrived within the 2-day allotment for shipping (it came bundled with another item), and it is in A-1 condition. The contents are pure Dave Stockton doctrine (see what I did there?). But somehow it all seems fresh, with a renewed and valid context. The illustrations, while too few for me anyway, are great. The teaching drills are easy to set up and practice with. Stockton gives one a wide berth when it comes to putting style/stance; he's not really concerned with if you're set up closed or open. He gives the reader a lot of room for one's personal style. One thing about the book itself: it's physically small in comparison to other golf tomes out there. I think it's a conscious decision on Stockton's part to keep things short and simple for the golfer, not clutter up an already busy-minded golfer's brain with 18 more swing thoughts. Obviously, if one is reading, or even looking for, this book, it's not for more things to remember during the lifting and dropping of the golf club.I think that Stockton has been around for so long that his teachings and techniques have come full circle, and have been refined for today's game. Much of the book deals with the mental side of the game, which all golfers know is a huge part of today's game. If you haven't tried his method lately, and you're in a bit of a rut, putting wise, "Unconscious Putting" just might be what you need to practice in the off-season, and give you a head start for the 2012 season.~K/sabr

If you want to putt better, get this book. It has introduced me to new thoughts about putting that I would never have imagined. It has changed the way I putt.

Dave Stockton has been out there, played on the PGA Tour AND written about what he did to become a great putter. There are very few golfers who have done that successfully, but Dave Stockton stands out as one who has. Sp when he writes about how to putt, he's telling you not only "how to do", but what he knows stands up and works in competition rounds at the highest, most stressful levels. So if you want to be a good putter this is one of the books you need to read.As we are all a bit contrary and like to read other authors' work before following, I would suggest a read of Dave Pelz, Stan Utley, and Geoff Mangum. Stan and Dave Stockton believe in a curved path to the ball, with a rotation of the shoulders, and Dave Pelz and Geoff Mangum believe in a straight back, straight through path for the putter face.I'm very analytical, so of course I read one of each and then settled on the ones that most closely matched my own golf coach's teaching - Stan Utley and Dave Stockton. My two picks measures 3/4" thick when placed one on the other - that's more than enough for me. Geoff Mangum's and Dave Pelz's books on top of each other is too much for me - 2"

If you're looking for the defacto technical guide to perfect putting, move on. This book is about the art of putting. How can you write a book about feeling? Well, Dave Stockton explains his approach and method which has made him a great putter. Most of us overthink and try to micromanage our putting stroke, which is where our problem resides - in our minds. This book is about letting the unconscious mind take over once a basic assessment has been made.

I read an extract from the book in a copy of Golf Digest (I’m in the UK but just happened to pick up a copy!). I hadn’t been putting well and thought I’d give it a go.I gave the system 9 months and I have to say my putting got worse – sorry Dave!There may be some reasons – to work properly you need a putter with loft on it because one of the things is a forward press then keeping the hands ahead of the ball. I didn’t change my putter!!No practice swing, breaking the wrists on the way back I found difficult, and picturing a spot an inch in front of the ball didn’t work for me either.There were good things – approaching the putts, reading the greens, but overall since I have gone back to my old style and improved back to my old stats, which, whilst not great, are better than Dave’s method stats!I’m sure it’ll work for some – after all he is one of the gurus – but not for me. Never the less it’s a good book, hence the 4 stars.

An excellent book with numerous gems on putting. Dave Stockton talks the talk having walked the walk. Half the cost of a golf lesson but twice the value

This book makes the art of putting very simple if followed and allows those of us who do not take it as a game within a game see the importance of improvement. Well set out and looks at the critical things that will impact this part of golf. You will not not miss out by reading this book from a respected coach and past champion.