I'm at a loss......

[fisher]

Played 11 holes tonight before the thunder started.

Playing from the tipps.

9 out of 11 Greens In Regulation
3 greens inside 10 feet
7 out of 9 Fairways Hit
1 for 2 on GIR par 3s

AND I FRIGGIN 3-PUTTED 6 TIMES AND 4-PUTTED ONCE!!!!!

arrrrrrgggggghhhhh!!!!!


3 OUT OF THE FIRST 4 HOLES I HAD MAKABLE BIRDIE PUTTS INSIDE 10 FEET AND BLASTED ALL 3 WELL PAST THE HOLE AND MISSED THE COMEBACKERS FOR PAR.

I don't know what the answer is. One day I putt OK and the next I am absolutely horrendous. Yesterday I had a good day putting today I was just in disbelief how bad I was. The way I hit the ball today I could have easily played 2 under par. There was only one green where I would have expected a reasonably good putter to have 3-putted as I had a rediculously fast 30 foot downhill first putt. The rest of the holes should have all been easy 2-putts or 1-putts. The greens I missed I chipped it close both times and got up and down.

For me it always comes down to speed. On the course I always seem to nuke it past the hole. When I practice on the practice green I very quickly find the speed and can 2-putt from just about anywhere. Once I get on the course and I now have one chance to get the speed right and I haven't hit a putt in 12 minutes I always seem to nuke it.

A pro suggested that my putter has a "Mushy" feel that is contributing to me having no sence of feel. I have goofed around with a Cameron Newport and I see exactly what he means as you get very good feedback thru your hands at impact. I just can't aim with a blade style putter.

It also may be a mental thing as I may be too amped up when I'm on the course. I know frustration is a big factor as well especially on the 3 to 5 foot comebackers I always leave myself. If my putting was half as good as all of the other aspects of my game my handicap would probably be between a 2 and a 4 or perhaps even better.:faintthud

[SilverUberXeno]

Relax and put some time in on the practice green. Even a mediocre putter will do better than that. It is well within your power to be better than mediocre. You may want to pick up "The Art of Putting" by Stan Utley to brush up on some fundamentals. He prefers an arching stroke though in which the putter head opens and closes slightly throughout the stroke.

And check your shoulder alignment.

[LeftyHoges]

Easy fix.


Instead of sitting on here predicting the easiest outcome in the world, go and get on the practice green. And you don't fix putting issues with a one hour session.

Three 2 hour sessions a WEEK for the next year. That should NEARLY do it.

[Esox]

Are you watching the putter go back? I went through a streak where I was hitting the ball so nicely with my irons it was almost freaking me out. I would hit ten or twelve greens and end up with 78/79/80. I was practicing some, but not enough. One day I was on the green and the old man pro at my club was out putting. We struck up a conversation and he told me I was watching the putter go back leading to pulls in some cases, and deceleration in others.

Worked on that a little bit and shot 74, 75, 75. No three putts. Still didn't make many birdies, but missed fewer short putts and my speed was a lot better. Under par was certainly there if a few 10-12 footers would have dropped.

Now my putting is somewhat better, but I've lost the feel with my irons after my back was bothering me. I'm all arms and no turn, and I'm more worried about my daughter's game.

Kevin

[fisher]

I would say that 90% of the problem is speed. I'm not pulling or pushing. I'm just hammering the damned thing. Part of the problem could be reading the speed as well.

[Esox]

If it's all speed, and I'm sure you thought of this, make sure you're not white knuckling the putter. SUX pushes Utley's style of putting, and while that opening and closing the face thing doesn't work for me at all, I did take something from his book about holding the putter lightly and gripping with the fingers. That improved my touch considerably. The worse I putt, the more tense I become, and tension and putting do not go well together, obviously. I even get tension in my neck and shoulders at times when I'm putting poorly.

Kevin

[ezra76]

I'd have thrown the putter into the nearest body of water. A 4 putt and I putt with my SW blade the rest of the round. Putter gets replaced immediately. Putting is a lot mental with me so I find it easier to blame it on the putter and move on.

I practice a lot and still pretty much suck. I had the yips for about 4-5 rounds. I don't know if this will help but all I did was concentrate on accelerating though the putt, square putterface right down my line. I also use a pendulum stroke. My issue though is decelerating and not getting it to the hole. I'm better from 7-8ft. than I am from 3-4ft. it seems for some reason.

A drill I did over the winter helped with the stroke. Put my head on a doorjamb and then used the pendulum stroke. It seemed to help a lot, especially on shorter putts. Other than that, putt with one ball on the practice green. That helped me. Hitting multiple balls is no good IMO. Go through your entire pre-putt routine every time.

[SilverUberXeno]

Going through your entire pre-putt routine is not an efficient way to ingrain mechanics though, Ez.

[ezra76]

Going through your entire pre-putt routine is not an efficient way to ingrain mechanics though, Ez.

I'm really not working on mechanics. I'm working on doing the same thing every time. That starts with the same routine to get the read, then the speed. If you are working on mechanics, IMO you'd want some sort of training aid. When I do that head on the wall, then I'm working on mechanics. I don't even care where the ball goes and don't even look. A couple others I tried were a shaft on the ground with toe of putter on the shaft, use more of a push to start the ball. Then finally a couple coins ahead of the ball at putter width and let the putter move straight/square through them.

Just trying to offer some suggestions and putting with just 1 ball helped. I was not confused on the course when it came time to putt for real. I use the same routine. My goal was only to get the speed right on longer putts and make everything inside of 3ft..

[eclark53520]

I hear you on the putting deal.

One day i will drain 10footers like they're nothing...next day i can't make anything beyond 3 feet and getting anything that close to the hole is a challenge.

No tips for ya really besides practice and/or replacing the misbehaving putter....just thought you would like to know i struggle as well.

[fisher]

Update:

Today I bought a new putter. I spent a lot of time hitting a variety of putters. I ended up with a 35" See More putter.

I practiced with it for about an hour tonight and I definately putted well with it on the practice greens. The test will be tomorrow on the course.

The problem is that I always am putting well within 5 minutes of practicing on a practice green. Within a dozen or so putts I find a groove and from there on I putt perfectly on the practice green. My problems crop up when I get on the course with just one chance to make a good putt.

[shane0mac1234]

I dont tend to usually have the putting problems that bad, occasionally ill 3 putt but my problem is about 50% of the time anywhere from 10-25 feet ill be able to get the ball within inches of the hole, either short left of right... extremely frustrating to read a nice long putt almost perfectly and come up with a 2 putt anyway but oh well.

In regards to your problem, no 2 days out are ever really alike though... I mean usually you are going to be putting at different hole locations with different breaks and such, as well as the balls location will be different. This makes a previous good putting day obsolete, the only thing it may do is help you read the green and give you confidence. Heck even look at pros. Look at about half the tournys tiger has played this year, his putting has been very flakey.... it happens to the best of them as well

[fisher]

If I could putt like Tiger I would rarely have a round more than 3 or 4 over par.

[johnny]

try lagging everything, even the 10 footers, until you regain your confidence in being able to get the right distance. on the practice putting green, practice leaving the long putts short, but still near the hole.
i slip into that nuke-it-past-the-hole deal once in a while, and the above helps me. i have to keep reminding myself that "i'm not trying to make the long ones. just lag it close and some of them will fall".

[fisher]

Tonight I did much better with the new putter. Played 11 holes. Only two 3-putts but I did miss a very makable 5 foot birdie putt.

The see more putter is definately an interesting concept. The alignment marks really are helpful.