As a performance coach, I am fascinated by improvement in any field of sporting activity… and this year, we got one in the world of football. You don’t need me to tell you about the England team’s reputation and record when it comes to penalty shoot-outs – and yet in the quarter-finals of this summer’s European Championships, we witnessed an incredible thing: five spot-kicks dispatched with an assurance that bordered on eerie.

In the aftermath, a story emerged – of how the team and its coaches had abandoned the idea that shoot-outs were a matter of luck, a lottery, and looked into ways of stacking the odds in their favour. How well it worked. And how well it could work for you too, on the golf course.

Let me explain.

When it comes to putting, we golfers are treading a remarkably fine line. On the one hand, we understand how important it is to our score; but on the other, we seem to have a huge problem giving this part of the game its due respect. For so many club players, a great putting performance is ‘streaky’, a question of luck. As a consequence this part of the game gets undervalued, neglected, and performance suffers. Contrast this to the attitude we take to ball striking, a fine and noble thing involving great feats of skill and strength. There’s nothing fluky about a pure, 200-yard 4-iron, is there?

In fact, it goes further. In my time as a performance coach, I have regularly come across the phenomenon of the golfer who actively cultivates and apparently enjoys a status as a poor putter. Yes indeed, there are folks out there who paint a round of pure striking, ruined by a woeful/unfortunate putting performance, as a desirable state of affairs. It is almost as if a series of holed putts somehow undermines the quality of the long-game performance. Golfers of this ilk seem to enjoy broadcasting this experience – “shot 78, holed nothing” – so maybe you’ve heard their stories in the clubhouse.

If this is ringing bells with you, it’s time to analyse your attitude to putting because it could be seriously holding your scores back. We’ve come across the phrase ‘what the thinker thinks, the prover proves’ before in this column; basically our brains work to find evidence to support the beliefs we have, whether those beliefs are fundamentally correct or not. If you develop the belief that putting performance is predicated on luck – and the persona of a golfer regularly let down by the putter – you will surely find ways to reinforce those beliefs on the course.

For Exhibit A I give you Ben Hogan. In many ways, Hogan was the perfect example of how a golfer flourishes according to the values he creates for himself. “The man who is solid from tee to green will last longer,” he once said. “Show me a player who depends on putting and I’ll show you a man who won’t stand up to the steady grind.” His belief in ball striking led to a career dedicated to finding the sweet spot; his dismissal of putting, to the point of wanting it eliminated from the game, made him one of the weakest-ever major winners on the greens.

Had the Hawk shown more respect for putting, convinced himself of its worth and shown the same passion to excel with the putter as he did with the 1-iron, he would certainly have enjoyed even more success than he did.

If you want to become a better putter, you need to follow the example set by England’s footballers and adjust your narrative. Do you feel putts drop because God puts them in? Do you dismiss people who hole everything, as if they are not playing the real game? Do you like telling the story of how well you hit it but how badly you scored? Is putting a ‘dark art’?

If the answer to any of those is yes, it’s time to gain new respect for putting. Appreciate that good putters gain their reputations because they putt consistently well – a fact that, in itself, proves strong putting performance is down to more than fortune.

Pay more attention to coaches and fellow golfers who value putting. Look into the works of respected coach Bob Rotella, a man who advises us to “fall in love with the idea of being a good putter”. Remind yourself of the skill needed to hole a putt. Commit to improving your ability to read greens, a genuine skill that makes a holed putt feel a lot less like a fluke. And remember the ability to control the blade under pressure is one of golf’s hardest skills… and its most important attributes.

Finally, invest in a putting lesson, or even a putter fitting which will help you develop a more affectionate relationship with your putter.

These acts will give you a much more healthy respect for the art of putting – and that, in itself, will make you a better putter.

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To find out more about Karl Morris, go to www.themindfactor.com. Karl has worked with multiple major winners. Check out his Mind Caddie Podcasts for free on iTunes.