What am I doing wrong?

[lamebums]

don't worry terribly about the putting. the goal of putting from more than 6 feet it to get it by the hole, not it. If you aim to get into the hole (mentally, not physically) then you are setting yourself up for a disaster because most pros don't make puts further than 6 feet on a regular basis.

just learn to read greens, and judge the speed. Its hard, but once you can putting is a lot easier.

I can make anything inside of that distance. However, take me out to 8 feet, for example, and I'll blow it 8 feet past.

Or on a long putt of say 30 feet, I'll leave it 15 short or 15 long.

Sounds like by the time you were done hacking your way up to the green you were too frustrated to make a putt. Dial it back a bit. If you can hit your driver 280 up the middle then distance is not your problem. From the description of your round, the problem sounds like inconsistant ball striking. One shot you're up the middle, the next your slicing it into the woods. Go to the range and hit chips until you can hit 10 solid chips in a row. Then hit 3/4 swing wedges until you can hit ten in a row. Then hit full wedges until you can hit ten in a row. Then change to a 9 iron. Hit a few 3/4 nines then hit some full nines. Keep working your way up the longer clubs until you become inconsistant. Maintain a smooth tempo every time and don't try to swing hard. Work on the shorter clubs until you are unaware of any lack of confidence. Then work up to the next longer club. Ball striking occurs from a foot behind the ball through a foot behond the ball. Hit thousands of chip shots and your ball striking will improve. The guy who taught me said "a drive is just a big chip shot". His handicap was 0.

Most of all have fun!!!

I might have to try that. Usually I shortchange myself with practice time.

 

[Augster]

don't worry terribly about the putting. the goal of putting from more than 6 feet it to get it by the hole, not it. If you aim to get into the hole (mentally, not physically) then you are setting yourself up for a disaster because most pros don't make puts further than 6 feet on a regular basis.

just learn to read greens, and judge the speed. Its hard, but once you can putting is a lot easier.

This is wrong on so many levels it should be redacted.

You should be trying to make every putt. There is no such thing as a lag putt. A lag putt is a long putt that you missed. Period.

You should be focused on the smallest possible point, and not just in putting. The amount you miss by will be much smaller when you focus on the smallest possible point. If you are focused on the blade of grass on the edge of the cup that you want the ball to roll over on it's way in, and you miss, you are more than likely going to be close enough to tap it in.

I would suggest reading some books. Obviously what you are doing right now isn't working. I would start over from scratch and place my fundamental development in the hands of a professional.

"The Art of Putting" by Stan Utley

"Dave Stockton's Putt to Win" by Dave Stockton

Build your fundamentals from the ground up, then practice those fundamentals. Then make some putts and shoot some scores.

 

[lamebums]

Today wasn't much better. My iron play is hacking the ball off line, but I'm usually able to salvage it with a decent chip. The problem is, I can't one-putt from there to save par.

 

[King Par]

How often do you practice?

 

[lamebums]

How often do you practice?

Almost never. I know I'm shooting myself in the foot when I do, but a large bucket of balls runs about $11 these days, and I can play nine holes for free (or $8 for a cart).

Sometimes I'll go down to the sand trap to work on my game there, and I'll be on the practice green chipping and putting a few minutes before I tee off, but I rarely work on my full swing unless I've got a major disaster going on.

 

[Pa Jayhawk]

This is wrong on so many levels it should be redacted.

You should be trying to make every putt. There is no such thing as a lag putt. A lag putt is a long putt that you missed. Period.

You should be focused on the smallest possible point, and not just in putting. The amount you miss by will be much smaller when you focus on the smallest possible point. If you are focused on the blade of grass on the edge of the cup that you want the ball to roll over on it's way in, and you miss, you are more than likely going to be close enough to tap it in.

Not even to consider the fact that if you simply want to get it by the hole on anything over 6 feet, you are likely being counterproductive on ever being able to make a breaking putt over 6 feet. You pick a line to your target on what you need to do to make the putt, then by choosing the mentality that you just want to get it past the hole, you just gave your putt absolutely no chance as you just took the correct line and gave it to little break because your new goal is to run the putt through the break. So while people say if a putt comes up short it never had a chance. If on a breaking putt you simply want to get it past the hole, it really has no chance either unless you do something fundamentally wrong.

Try and make every putt, rely on you fundamentals on being able to judge speed to assure that the ball reaches the hole. In time you will be able to ingrain that feel for speed, but only if you see it in relation to the target. Best way I have found to do this is hold the finish as you watch the putt. You walk away why the putt is on the way to the hole, you learned nothing on what caused it to finish too long or short.

 

[King Par]

Almost never. I know I'm shooting myself in the foot when I do, but a large bucket of balls runs about $11 these days, and I can play nine holes for free (or $8 for a cart).

Sometimes I'll go down to the sand trap to work on my game there, and I'll be on the practice green chipping and putting a few minutes before I tee off, but I rarely work on my full swing unless I've got a major disaster going on.

Bingo.

I have absolutely no authority to say this. But this seems to be common sense. You describing your game, sounds like a lot of inconsistent ball striking. Go to the range, develop a routine. Groove your swing, and I'm betting you'd see some improvement. You can't just step on to the course and expect to shoot 70's. You gotta work for it.

PS- $11 for a large bucket? That's crazy.

 

[lamebums]

My putting was marginally better today, I shot 44 with 18 putts. Could have been 40, but I ran into eight of the worst rumdums I'd ever met on the golf course. No etiquette, hitting into each other (and my group too!), driving the carts up on the green, etc. Calling the ranger didn't do much.

 

[rubber314chicken]

This is wrong on so many levels it should be redacted.

You should be trying to make every putt. There is no such thing as a lag putt. A lag putt is a long putt that you missed. Period.

You should be focused on the smallest possible point, and not just in putting. The amount you miss by will be much smaller when you focus on the smallest possible point. If you are focused on the blade of grass on the edge of the cup that you want the ball to roll over on it's way in, and you miss, you are more than likely going to be close enough to tap it in.

I would suggest reading some books. Obviously what you are doing right now isn't working. I would start over from scratch and place my fundamental development in the hands of a professional.

"The Art of Putting" by Stan Utley

"Dave Stockton's Putt to Win" by Dave Stockton

Build your fundamentals from the ground up, then practice those fundamentals. Then make some putts and shoot some scores.

I'm not saying aim for a 6 foot zone around the hole, but rather to aim for the hole, but don't get your hopes up because then you are just setting yourself up for failure (even if it does go in 1/3 of the time from 15 feet, the other 2/3s you are gonna be mad at the second putt)