Teach me to Putt - Part II

[Nyper]

Some of you remember my post a while back.. that I can't putt. Well... I've been practicing a lot on making a solid stroke everytime and lining up correctly (on a practice green outside my apartment that is halfway decent).

Well... yesterday I went out & played the first round of 2007....

GEEEEZZZZ

Luckily I hit the ball very well off the tee. I think I only missed 1 fairway today. The greens were multi-tiered and very nice. The pin positions could be tough.

It was also the first time playing a round with my new irons. I've hit them at the range some though. I have to say I was REALLY happy with them. I hit some of the best iron shots I have hit in my life. There is something to be said for custom fitting, in my opinion.

On a 145 yard par 3 I just hit the purest straightest shot and stuck it about 1ft. A basic gimme for birdie.

On an uphill 160 yard approach I stuck it 6 feet. I missed the putt.

On another 155 yard par 3 I stuck it 10 feet. Of course I missed the putt.

On a 210 yard approach on a par 5 I stuck it about 15 feet. I three putted.

I hit my tee and approach shots good enough today that I shouldn't have been more than a couple strokes over par.

UNFORTUNATELY I CANT PUTT!!!

Folks... I had 43 putts today. I had 8 three putts. These greens were FAST and in great shape for January. I would have an 8 foot putt and knock it 6 feet past then miss it coming back as well. I had absolutely no feel for distance and it was purely disgusting.

I know sometimes it's the carpenter, not just the tools - but I am now officially on the search for a new putter. And a book. And lessons.

[demon]

a putter is important, you have to have confidence in it and you have none in yours. get a putter you have confidence in it and you will start shaving those 43 putt rounds down big time.

[Stanters]

Wow - 43 putts. But it was only your first round for a while - developing confidence and getting that routine sorted will take time so give it time.

If I were you and buy 2 cheap putters from ebay. a mallet style and a balde/anser affair to narrow the field down. You can have plenty of time to try them out this way.

There was plenty of good advice in your previous thread - have another look and stick to the principles advocated there and take a lesson. If in 2-3 months you are still struggling I'd be surprised.

Good luck.

[emc]

It sounds to me like you just didn't get the speed on the practice green before the round. It's happened to me before and you end up lagging 10 footers. Remember also that you can't expect to make 6 footers, even the PGA Tour guys only make about 50% of them, and they're the best in the world

[ThatCanadianGuy]

I was having problems judgeing the speed for a few weeks last year. Talked to the pro and he suggested practising 15-30 footers with my eyes closed to gain a little more feel for my stroke, and the speed of the greens. I tried it and it supriseingly helped a little.

If you're going for a new putter I say go for the 2 bar mallet.

You can change the head weight to what you prefer for a certin speed of green. Plus it's an all around awesome putter

go e-bay for cheap. Around $200 probably.

[emc]

Originally Posted by ThatCanadianGuy

I was having problems judgeing the speed for a few weeks last year. Talked to the pro and he suggested practising 15-30 footers with my eyes closed to gain a little more feel for my stroke, and the speed of the greens. I tried it and it supriseingly helped a little.

If you're going for a new putter I say go for the 2 bar mallet.

You can change the head weight to what you prefer for a certin speed of green. Plus it's an all around awesome putter

go e-bay for cheap. Around $200 probably.

Another good way I've seen somewhere is to look a the hole for 4 seconds, as that's how long it takes your brain to register the distance to the hole

[ThatCanadianGuy]

Originally Posted by emc

Another good way I've seen somewhere is to look a the hole for 4 seconds, as that's how long it takes your brain to register the distance to the hole

gezzz look at the hole for 4 seconds!??. I coulden't do it. I'd start to think about other things besides my putt.

[cypressperch]

just in your head. But there is, indeed, a lot of the game that is in your head. I agree that you have to have a putter that you have confidence in, but without good mechanics and understanding of how to putt, you will not have much success, and success is what brings the confidence. But you must also have your mind open to be able to latch on to that confidence. You seem to have a pretty good game as evidenced by those iron shots, and your confidence in those clubs will continue to grow so long as you continue to have a positive attitude when using those clubs.

To be perfectly blunt about it, your lack of confidence and resulting negative attitude towards putting have you in a mental straight-jacket. You have the ability to take any putter and go out and have far fewer putts that forty-plus putts. You need to get away from all of those negative vibrations, and truly tell yourself that you are just as capable as the next guy to be a pretty good putter.

You must find a putting stroke and stick to it. I still content that there are two basic strokes (one is straight back then straight through and the other is one where the putter opens a little going back then closes going through). There are videos and books that cover one or both of these methods. I still suggest that since you are sort of building from scratch that you stick to a proven method of putting rather than trying to invent something new. But if you are stuck on developing your own stroke, going on ahead, but stick to it. You cannot develop a consistent stroke if you are always changing that stroke. But I still say that if you develop a stroke of your own without any research, there is good reason to believe that it will be flawed in ways that will make your progress far slower than if your putting was based upon a proven model.

You will not make five and six footers consistently before you can make two and three footers consistently. It is not a waste of time to putt 25 or 30 two footers until you make all of them. You are making square contact and with every made putt, your confidence will improve. Slowly work your way farther from the cup. Before you move farther away, make certain that you can make many two footers in a row from every angle to the cup.

On the course, you should not miss many three footers, but even pros do on occasion so do not let it become the end of the world if you should miss some of these. No pro really thinks that he can make 8 and 9 footers as easily as a two footer. You should certainly be trying to make these somewhat longer putts, but again, missing them should not shake your confidence. Make your best stroke. Accept the results.

Somewhere 25 feet or whatever, you are trying to get the ball close more than making it. LIne up the putt of course, but your main goal is to get the distance correct. On shorter putts, you certainly think of distance, but the main concern is line. On long putts, it would be good to have your ball end up inside a circle with a two-foot radius, so such a circle is your target (on a straight in putt). On a four foot putt, you should be aiming at a certain blade of grass, not the entire hole.

About how a putt breaks. One of the dumbest questions they sometimes ask on televised golf tournaments is "How much do you think this putt is going to break?" It is dumb because SPEED DETERMINES BREAK. Tom Watson, in his prime, putt the ball with such force that he took a lot of the break out of his putts. You can do that if you have supreme confidence in your stroke. One of my favorite golfers from the past was Cary Middlecoff and he wanted ever putt he faced to "die into the cup" on the ball's last rotation. His putts would certainly break more than Tom's. Both were very good putters, but they stuck to a particular philosophy which made for more consistency. Tom certainly putted less aggressively on down-hill putt, and Cary putted more aggressively when his putts were uphill. Still, one was thinking back of the cup, the other thinking the front of the cup. A person's personality probably has a lot to do with how one handles this aspect of putting.

Enough already. Bottom line, YOU CAN AND WILL BECOME A GOOD PUTTER IF YOU HAVE A GOOD PLAN TO BECOME ONE AND STICK TO IT WITH A POSITIVE ATTITUDE. And congratulations on those good iron shots. Sincerely, Cypressperch

[cypressperch]

as it breaks toward the hole. If there is a break, the putt does not go into the front center of the cup, does it? Certainly not. It goes in at the side of the cup. The only putt that goes into the front center of the cup is a straight in putt. Visualizing the putt going into the hole on the side of the cup(breaking putts) will have the effect of making the hole bigger because the side is a bigger target on a breaking putt than the front center.

Allow enough for the break in a putt. Most good putters want to miss on the high side of the cup because there is greater chance for the ball to fall. Aim at the apex of your visualized line. Give your putt enough pace to track on that visualized line.

Sincerely, Cypressperch

[Nyper]

Thanks for the replies guys. I went & looked at some more putters today & can't find anything truly inspiring. I looked at everything from high dollar Scotty's to $5 used junkers.

Cypressperch had some good tips. Time to clear my head, get a positive attitude, and it'll come together...

[SiberianDVM]

Have you tried a belly putter? My putting has improved since I went to one, along with using a claw grip.

[Nyper]

Originally Posted by SiberianDVM

Have you tried a belly putter? My putting has improved since I went to one, along with using a claw grip.

In the past, I've been completely opposed to belly putters. I don't really feel that they are a true, free swing, and frankly wish they were not allowed. But I guess I can wish in one hand and poop in the other as far as that's concerned..

I won't criticize anyone for using one. I picked one up today and fiddled with it. It's just not for me. They aren't comfortable and I'm not confident in it at all.

[ezra76]

I would seriously, seriously consider a putting lesson before dropping any ridiculous $200 for a putter. My putter has a trade in value of $8 and I do just fine with it. If I ever had 43 it wouldn't be going home with me, probably be up in tree till hurricane season. I've got some tips from a lot of guys and a short, simple lesson. 3 putts are rare and I averaged 1.7 per hole this year. Of course a low GIR % has a big effect on that number. Building a solid, straight stroke is key. A lesson will give you the fundamentals, stance, grip ect. to get that consistant stroke you can practice till it's second nature. It gets a lot easier when you can have a simple preputt routine. Take a read, feel the speed, hit the back of the cup.

I'll give one simple tip for the shorter ones. Picture a lane, like a gutter at the bowling alley, leading right into the back of the cup. Hit the back of the hole.... too hard can drop but too short never gets there.

[cypressperch]

a higher-priced putter. Your statistics are quite good, but you are obviously short-changing the golf gods. They require substantial expenditure of funds on each and every club that you carry. The good thing about a new putter is that all the good putts that will ever come from it are still in it. True, all of the bad putts are also still in there, but we think positive to negate that fact.

I suppose if you are satisfied with 1.7 putts per hole average you can go on ahead and keep using it.

(I always wanted to use that little face thing!) Sincerely, Cypressperch

[benk]

I can't say enough about spot putting. I was an awful putter until I spot putted, and now I average around 30-31 putts a round. Also remember pre-shot routine. If you have these 2 things down, I promise you can't go over 35 putts.