The problem with putting.....

[fisher]

This past weekend I had two horrendous putting rounds. The worst one was a round where I had 14 GIR and managed to 3-putt 7 greens and 4 putt one. On the parctice green my putting is just fine. I find a rythm and can 2 putt the practice greens from almost any distance and any angle. The problem is on the course. With 10 minutes or more between being on a green to putt then walking up with one chance to read the green, figure out the speed and get it close I always seem to leave myself that nasty 5-footer coming back. I can read the lines just fine but I can never seem to get the speed right out on the course. Most of the time I hit it too hard. Ask me to put it on the green from 195 yards and its no problem but once I'm on the green its a complete guess. Very frustrating.

 

[BigJim13]

This may or may not help, it worked wonders for me. I incorporated this into my preshot routine on the greens.

Once I read the putt and get the line I stand up behind the ball. My eyes never leave the hole and I take a few practice strokes (no more than 3-4). I then take my stance and take one more practice stroke, again my eyes don't leave the hole while taking the stroke. After than I step into the ball, one decent look at the hole and go.

It's great because it stopped me from thinking about how hard to hit the ball and got me to feel a stroke. Your mind will see the hole and the distance and intuitively make a correct length of stroke. Try it, its amazing.

 

[twogreen]

I feel your pain. My distance problem is just the opposite of yours. I almost never have a missed putt that goes past the hole. It is not at all uncommon for me to leave a fifteen footer four feet short; and then leave the four footer six to twelve inches short on the second putt.

I just cannot seem to make myself accelerate through the stroke enough to reach the hole. Nothing is more frustrating than watching a ball roll on a perfect line and realize that it doesn't have enough speed to reach the hole.

 

[ezra76]

You've really got no choice but to putt your way out of it. Realize that speed is the most important thing on a long putt and accept the fact that there is a very small chance you will make it.

I've been having a lot of issues with short putts. We pressed on the last hole yesterday and I left a downhill putt just shy of 3ft. short. All the practice payed off as I dropped it and won the hole.

My advice would be practice 1st. I've started practice putting with 1 ball, that's it and go through my routine, just like on the course. There is no sense hitting 3-4 putts because you only get 1 out there on the course. That's helped me.

Secondly, don't be afraid to try something different. Whether it's a different putter, a different grip, a different preputt routine, whatever. I've gone back to lining my putts up, use a different putter and focus more on the speed than the line now. On the short ones that were killing me, I just envision a lane, like the gutter of a bowling lane, leading right to to the back edge of the hole. I release the putter right down the line. Sometimes they end up really getting jammed in there with a lot of speed but it's working a lot better than the stabs I was putting on the ball last week.

BTW- My cap got revised to 9.8 yesterday... so you are now lower than me.