Learning to putt

[Ravenous Bugblatter Beast]

It was earlier this year that I first began taking more seriously putting, after I had a day of ballstriking where if I had made it around in 36 putts I would have broken 90 for the first time ever. It was in a day or two after that when I found an article in the online Golf Digest about the Quiet Eye and that put me on the path of stabilizing my targeting routine with the ball and the hole. Also at the time I experimented with the claw grip, and found some improvement in maintaining a decent pendulum action, and some improvement with the pace of my putts, although I was never able to get really comfortable with the feel of my left elbow sticking out with the claw grip.

So at some point I switched again to lefthand low, and always gripping at the bottom of the putter grip, with my ring and pinky fingers of my left hand overlaying the first two fingers of my right hand. I chose that point on the grip so as to ensure that the length of my arc would always be the same as it's very easy to grip in the exact same spot, whereas up further on the grip it seems as though you could, if not careful, move up or down a bit, and possibly introduce variance into the speed of the putter head at the bottom.

Lefthand low felt a lot better than the claw grip, with it I felt like I could execute a comfortable pulling action that I never got with the elbow sticking out in the claw grip. Still, over time, I was having some frustrations with the length of putts I was leaving myself after I got beyond 15 feet from the hole. It wasn't uncommon for me to find myself with 5 or more feet left, after going long or leaving them short.

I probably should have put some time in on a practice green studying this issue of putting woes. I didn't, perhaps to my detriment, but I did go last week and spent time with a drill for those kinds of putts. I was never able to complete the drill's requirements within the hour I had, and had to leave and try to sort out why my distance control was so poor.

I made one observation in that time which was if I kept my head down, the putts came up short. If my head lifted the putts went long. That didn't really offer any solutions though, ideally I should be keeping my head down for 1 to 2 seconds after the ball is struck by the putter head, but then, at least I knew there was some issue and the problem wasn't with the Quiet Eye. There was something else affecting the quality of my putting stroke.

I played an evening round after work on Friday, and it was while waiting for my turn to putt on one of the greens that I was thinking about many things, including Hogan's lessons about fundamentals such as repeatability and then as I moved the putter back and forth in easy and long back and forth strokes, I felt it in my grip.

My grip pressure was too light. I could feel the putter head getting play and variability, the putter grip twisting slightly in my fingers. Now I knew why my distance control for those longer putts grew exceedingly variable over the shorter putts. When the stroke got long enough, and had an increase in the speed of the putter head, my hands were sensing the putter head doing something other than what my brain and muscles wanted it to do, so that new contradictory information was destroying the solution I had been finding while using the Quiet Eye for targeting the putt and distance.

So I increased my grip pressure, enough to lock up my wrist muscles, and keep the putter head stable. But not so much pressure that I would begin to feel the muscles of my upper arms, just enough pressure to make the lower arm muscles firm but not rigid.

Yesterday, I had one of my best days ever putting. I got off the front-9 in 14 putts, but I was only about 5 more turns of the ball away from 11 putts. Only one of my second putts was beyond tap-in range. I didn't do quite so well on the back-9 as frustrations from my struggles with the irons crept in to my concentration, and ended up with 32 putts for the day. Still, in the review of what I had learned on the day, I think I may have made a good leap here, and now I'm finding myself looking forward to putts and taking a run at the hole.

Here's a summary of important things to monitor with putting:

1. A consistent targetting routine for the ball and the hole. I recommend reading the Quiet Eye article, and adapting it into your game if you don't use it already. This method does an excellent job of feeding your brain the information it needs.

2. A repeatable putting stroke. By this I mean you want to do things which eliminate variables. Variables are hard to account for in the subsequent observation of the putt's behavior after you make the stroke. If your stroke isn't moving with a consistent action back and then forward, it's then harder for your brain to learn if you underread the putt or overread it. On the other hand, if you know that you made a good stroke, you can then see the putt break, and your brain can then later use that information the next time you have a putt of a similar style.

3. Stability of the putter head. I now realize how huge this is. Of course we hear it talked about when people recommend heavier putter heads because of their stability and moment of inertia, but I wonder how many may overlook the importance of grip pressure for this. A problem I was having with the mallet head putter was from the moment of inertia causing it to pull on the too loose hands of my grip. That MOI is only valuable if my grip pressure is substantial enough to keep control.

The big thing is this. If I can learn to putt, I think most anyone can. It just takes practice, probably more practice than I do, and taking care to eliminate variables that can be eliminated. As you eliminate the variables, you can learn more from all your successes and failures while putting.

[JEFF4i]

Great post. I spend more time putting now and rarely reach 30 putts, which really helps the score.

[Pa Jayhawk]

RBB,
Something I did not see in your post or things to remember. This may very well address issues 2 and 3 at the same time. You may want to try a forward press. What I mean is simply tilt the putter so that your hands are slightly ahead. Think of this in the sense that you are slightly delofting the putter face. This helps lock your wrists in place, helps with a repeatable stroke and keeping the putter in line during the stroke and may very well eliminate any thoughts you have on grip pressure. You simply need to grip hard enough to keep the forward press throughout the stroke. You still keep the ball under your left eye.

Not sure if it was simply overlooked or something you have not tried. Think of it as though your are delofting a 3*-4* putter to maybe 1*-2*. It takes your wrists out of the equation, and may very well make the line your only consideration.

[Ravenous Bugblatter Beast]

RBB,
Something I did not see in your post or things to remember. This may very well address issues 2 and 3 at the same time. You may want to try a forward press. What I mean is simply tilt the putter so that your hands are slightly ahead. Think of this in the sense that you are slightly delofting the putter face. This helps lock your wrists in place, helps with a repeatable stroke and keeping the putter in line during the stroke and may very well eliminate any thoughts you have on grip pressure. You simply need to grip hard enough to keep the forward press throughout the stroke. You still keep the ball under your left eye.

Not sure if it was simply overlooked or something you have not tried. Think of it as though your are delofting a 3*-4* putter to maybe 1*-2*. It takes your wrists out of the equation, and may very well make the line your only consideration.

I do forward press a little as my way of telling myself no more targeting, time to make the stroke.

I went to a practice green on Tuesday night, and was able to verify that I am now getting much better distance control on putts from 20 feet or more. Obviously cutting down the distance needed for second putts is a good way to cut down the number of 3 putts

[Pa Jayhawk]

I should also be a little more specific. I used the general term "Forward Press". I realize this is more of a term to get the putting stroke started, kind of like a waggle or press is used by many to start their swing.

To take this a step further, I should simply mention maintaining the forward press throughout the stroke is probably more my intent on mentioning it and how it will help on parts 2 and 3 as well as grip pressure. I actually do not use it as a way to start my swing, I do it and then take a brief moment to actually clear my mind prior to starting the stroke. I guess I would say maintaining the position of the press and not the process is very important as well.

Something else I do, which I believe is one of the keys why I have confidence that I am a decent putter. I do not take a practice stroke on my putts, with exception to occassions where I am fairly close to the rough. In that case I usually simply bring the club back from behind the ball to see if there is contact. I think it gives me one less thing to think about, as well as less time to let thoughts clutter my mind. I also think it gives me less time to question my line and try and correct. Granted, this may be something that works for me but not the majority of putters, but may be worth a shot if you find you have to many thoughts running through your head. My feel for putting prior to my swing is definately a mental thing and not through practice prior to the stroke. I feel that my evaluation of the line is only done from behind the ball, and once I have the spot I want to line up with that and then move on to distance. If I am over the ball and still thinking about line, it is probably a good time to step away from the ball.

I do however take practice swings on every other stroke simply because it allow me the opportunity to evaluate the lie and how the club will react.

[Pa Jayhawk]

Another aspect that I find I do when I am putting well is finding an aim mark on the green at the apex of the break. I find when I use a mark closer or further away yet is still on the same line but not the apex, I do not putt as well. I do catch myself getting away from this, when I go back I usually get my putting under control. I want the ball to cross the apex. If I pick one closer to the hole I am usually long, further from the hole I am usually short. I then concentrate solely on what it will take to get the ball to the hole.

[Davebud]

I actually yried that idea with my wedges, worked great. Concentrated on the back of the ball and hit it there. It helped keep my head down more and my shots were a lot tighter out around 80-100 yards. I had very good results so I thought I would pass that along, still have not tried it on the green with the putter but I will on Sunday.