I keep missing my putts right

[IrishGolfer]

My flat stick is killing me right now. I'm hitting the ball great but averaging 38 putts per round over my last four competitive rounds :(

I actually had 7 putts on two consecutive holes on Saturday, up to then having playing 10 holes in +3. After a poor 3 jack on 11, I faced a 15ft birdie putt on 12. I shaved the hole with my initial attempt and left it 18" past. I then took a further 3 from there

I finished +10. I almost puked on the course I felt so bad. Toilet golf.

Putts of 3-6 feet are just torture and I appear to keep missing them on the right side. The stroke seems to be positive enough. I feel that it is a minor alignment issue. Any thoughts or fixes?

Ta very muchly!
IG

[DaveE]

Aim left.

Just kidding. This may not help you at all but I'm going to tell you anyway. I was having similar problems, especially with the short ones.

Watching a little golf on TV I noticed a few of the players lining up and then taking 2 or 3 good looks at the hole, or their target before the putt.

I tried it and it helped. I think it just gets the stoke ingrained in your head before turn it loose. It's even helped my distance with the longer ones.

Now if I could just get my full swing worked out. :real angry:

[JEFF4i]

I'm guessing you are a righty?

If so, are these left breakers and right breakers that are both missing right?

What is the style of your putting? Pendulum?

I think these will help a lot for understanding, at least from my point.

[bames]

I was missing my putts right as well and have done two things. I line up with the ball slightly forward in my stance and I bought a new putter with more offset than the 1/2 shaft offset I had before. Solved my problem with the same putting stroke.

[jcostello88]

Don't get too disheartened - at least you're missing it consistently right and it's obviously a repeating stroke. A few tweaks and it should be center of the cup again. My problem is I don't have the groove back in my putting yet, so the ball is missing left and right!

[gwlee7]

Take care that you are not "closed" to the target line. Just as in the full swing, the majority of golfers think they are aimed straight when in fact they are aimed to the right.

Get one of those chalk strings that masons and carpenters use and "thump" a 10 to 12 foot straight line on the practice green. It can, but does not have to end at a hole. Place your ball at about the halfway mark on the line. Make sure that you are lined up exactly parallel to the line. Get someone to check for you!! Practice putting on the chalk line and you'll be making those putts in no time.

[warbirdlover]

Aim more left...

[15andlife]

Heres what I do, try it next time before a round on the practice green. Step in with your right foot, line up the putter in your line. Now step in with your left foot and your feet and putter will now be allined. When I had problems missing one way or another I found that my feet werent lined up to the hole. Try it next time and lmk how it works.

[Pa Jayhawk]

IG,
Not sure this has anything to do with your issue but it is something I seem to consistently hear with what I read on people consistently missing to one side and tips from pros. It may be a matter of eye dominance, and knowing how to read a putt and setup with that in mind. Make sure you are using your dominant eye. The majority of the population is right eye dominant and will have a tendency to miss right. Being that it is early in the year, I would just guess you may be right eye dominant. As many have hinted in joking, although has some merit, as the year goes on you may likely adjust for this and tend to miss left.

The article below just kind of explains the idea, and is the first I saw. You will likely find many about this if you do a search. I also tend to make sure my dominant eye is in line with the ball and the hole when I read the putt and notice I miss to one side. From what I hear, people who putt right handed and are left eye dominant have a real advantage with putting. For which may explain why I am fairly happy with my putting as I am left eye dominant.

IMO, it is certainly something that is worth knowing though.

GOLFONLINE - See The Perfect Putt

I believe this is also part of the basis on the quiet eye approach to putting or many of the other unique approaches to putting, where it opens up the right eye to better see the line and the hole for putting for people who are right eye dominant and putt RH.

edit 1 - in all honesty, if I consistently had putting issues and was looking for some kind of change, and was right eye dominant, I would seriously consider putting LH. But that is probably a fairly extreme approach. Then again, it is no less extreme than what I see many times where people may go through 3 putter in a year to tackle the same issue.

[IrishGolfer]

Thanks guys, btw I have tried aiming left!!

The dominant eye thing is interesting as is the chalk stuff.

My stroke is pendulum with shoulders. I am trying to avoid taking putter back on inside.

[Bravo]

Short putting has usually been a strength for me and my technique involves the eyes also. I have described it here previously.

On putts of less than six feet, once you are in the 'address position' (eyes immediately over the ball) - you can easily see three objects in your total field of vision:

1) The putterhead
2) The ball
3) The hole

I have trained my eyes to be 'more aware' of two of these objects:

1) The putterhead
2) The hole

While I indeed do see the ball, I am more aware of the putterhead and the hole (in my left eye peripheral vision).

Once my eyes see all of this, I take the putter back and stroke it straight toward the target line (the ball just happens 'to be in the way').

Putterhead on a straight line toward the targetline. Obviously, if it is a straight putt, then you are simply seeing the putterhead and the hole.

On the full swing, our brains are trained to zero in on the ball (or back of the ball as case may be). We do this to insure that we get a good strike on our intended target. In putting, there's little chance that we are not going to get a good strike on the ball, so focusing our eyes intensely on the ball, rather than the intended target line, is not the best use of our senses....

Hope this make sense to you.

b

[wirehair]

Are you looking up? That could raise your left shoulder and open the putter face.

[gwlee7]

Are you looking up? That could raise your left shoulder and open the putter face.

This is also true. I know that in my own stroke, peeking = pushing. Try not to rotate your head toward the hole until after the ball has left your field of vision.

[JEFF4i]

Thanks guys, btw I have tried aiming left!!

The dominant eye thing is interesting as is the chalk stuff.

My stroke is pendulum with shoulders. I am trying to avoid taking putter back on inside.

Then you put the same as me. I had a problem with this too, didn't notice, and somehow winged it.

A big help to make sure you are taking it straight back is get a couple 2x4s and place them parallel to one another behind the ball.

[CHW]

i had the same problem.

1st bend over the ball alittle more insted of having a upright stance which will cause you to push or pull the ball. and swing.

2ed swing with your arms only no hip movement

3rd keep your head down dont even look at where your ball went untill a whill after the shot.