CPI course gets thumbs up from Master Pro Martin

The art of putting took centre stage on the Golf Channel when Frank Thomas was quizzed by PGA Master Professional Martin Hall (above).

Hall invited Thomas, the founder of the online Certified Putting Instruction course, to talk about the secrets of the short game.

And Hall, a PGA Master Professional has been impressed, having already enrolled on the course which is part of the PGA’s lifelong learning programme.

“I think the whole course is really worth doing and I’ve learned some things I didn’t know,” said Hall.

“I have been doing the course and it is a really nice package from start to finish, its design is not over complicated.

“It is very digestible information, and covers everything right from putter fitting to basic geometry, green reading and the mental side of putting. It’s a good overview that gives the coach a system to help people’s putting.”

The rise of putting in coaching has advanced tremendously over the past decade as Hall acknowledges.

“I think going back 30 years it was just a case of stick a putter in your hand and it doesn’t matter how you’ve hit it.

“Now it is much more advanced and because it is a bit more scientific than it used to be you have the information to back up your coaching.

“I liked the piece about the six degrees of freedom, which I’d never heard of.”

Valerie Melvin, who runs the online course with Thomas, said: “The six degrees of freedom are the movements that are part of the putting stroke and which CPI looks to minimise to create consistency in the stroke.

“They underpin the CPI Course and The Fundamentals of Putting that are covered in the course, allowing the golf professional to have a more in depth understanding of the putting stroke.”

Hall presents a weekly 30 minute progamme called School of Golf in which the director of instruction at Ibis Golf & Country Club in Florida delivers insight from his 30 years of teaching experience.

Hall who began his career at Trentham near Stoke, was the PGA of America’s Teacher of the Year in 2008 and is ranked No. 10 in Golf Digest’s annual rankings of the game’s top 50 teachers.

He was Morgan Pressel’s first teacher, helping her qualify for the US Women’s Open when she was 12, win the U.S. Amateur when she was 17 and become the youngest winner of an LPGA major championship when she won the Kraft Nabisco Championship at 18.