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Please share your PUTTING ROUTINE in 100 words or less


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Seems everyone has their own way of reading the greens.  What I've been working on is a routine of setting up to the ball and making the stroke.

Once I feel I have my aiming point picked out, I pick a spot about 1' to 2' in front of the ball that is on the aiming line to my aim spot.  Then when I set up to the ball, I use Martin Chuck's 8 second drill, or a cadence of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,8:

Where 7 is the backstroke and 8 is the moment of impact:

* Two practice strokes (7 and 8, 7 and 8) to get a feel for the stroke length while looking down my aiming line.

* Then step up to the ball, line up my putter with my "spot"

* 1 - look at aiming point

* 2 - look at the ball

* 3 - look at aiming point

* 4 - look back at the ball

* 5 - look at the ball

* 6 - look at the ball

* 7 - backstroke

* 8 - impact

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Originally Posted by glock35ipsc

Seems everyone has their own way of reading the greens.  What I've been working on is a routine of setting up to the ball and making the stroke.

Once I feel I have my aiming point picked out, I pick a spot about 1' to 2' in front of the ball that is on the aiming line to my aim spot.  Then when I set up to the ball, I use Martin Chuck's 8 second drill, or a cadence of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,8:

Where 7 is the backstroke and 8 is the moment of impact:

* Two practice strokes (7 and 8, 7 and 8) to get a feel for the stroke length while looking down my aiming line.

* Then step up to the ball, line up my putter with my "spot"

* 1 - look at aiming point

* 2 - look at the ball

* 3 - look at aiming point

* 4 - look back at the ball

* 5 - look at the ball

* 6 - look at the ball

* 7 - backstroke

* 8 - impact

Like a lot of kids who grew up playing contact sports in the school yard, I had a lot of mild concussions in my youth. Not sure if it's officially "vertigo", but when I read your routine I almost fell on the floor.

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mark and clean ball, ball mark repairs, etc - replace

stand back and decide the line

pick a spot right on that line 3 feet or closer to the ball

put my putter right on that spot and stand in my normal alignment

line up the putter face and features to the ball

move the putter back to the ball and get set up

(ignore that my brain is telling me I'm lined up totally wrong)

focus on distance

then I hit barely short (if I lined up perfectly)

or way past (if I lined off a little bit)

repeat about 3 times until the ball goes in the hole, or the putter goes into the lake

(actually, setting the putter on the line and then just making sure it stays square from that point to my final stroke is working great for me - feeling better and better on putts as far as 4-8 feet.  When I miss now, it's because I read the line wrong, not just because I missed the hit - but the ball goes where I try to aim it now)

Bill - 

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Originally Posted by Datsyuk

Like a lot of kids who grew up playing contact sports in the school yard, I had a lot of mild concussions in my youth. Not sure if it's officially "vertigo", but when I read your routine I almost fell on the floor.

Hmmm, might want to go see your doc!

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Here's my putting routine:

It's important that you try and stick to the same routine each time and perfect it (even down to the number of practice strokes) and it will eventually increase your confidence (as you will know you've gone through all the necessary preparation).

1. Mark your ball and repair any pitch marks.

2. Assess the slopes of the green. Look at the whole green first and then take a walk around the putt. See the break and feel the contours with your feet.

3. Determine the Apex of the putt (the farthest point on the line from where it will start moving back towards the hole).

4. Look at the whole putt and step aside the ball (to take your practice putts).

5. Take a set number of practice putts, each time feeling the stroke that will give you the right speed and visualizing the ball tracking that line to the hole. See it going in the hole. What this is doing is committing you to that putt. Commitment is key - a poor line and speed with a positive execution will be a better putt than a good line and speed with a doubtful one. One way to ingrain the speed of the putt (if a long putt) is to say "1", "2" for your back swing and down swing, which you can repeat during the actual putt.

6. Pick a spot on the green (blade of grass or blemish on the green) between the ball and the apex of the putt and align to that spot.

7. Take one last look at the line and see the ball going in again.

8. Make a solid strike on the ball.

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I have tried visualizing me softly rolling a ball into the hole just to get a mental picture of how the ball will break when rolling. I usually do this a few times on the practice green before the round just to get my mind in the right place. Im not that good of a putter but i find that if i stand over the ball for too long... the worse my putt is. I try to read the green, take a couple practice swings to get the speed, adress ball and putt with out thinking too much.... i find that too much thinking (on any shot) will hurt you...

         

 

"There are two things that don't last very long...dogs that chase cars, and golfers who putt for pars."

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I use the same putting routine like Tiger Woods:

As Dr. Putt has noted in the letter on "marking the ball," Mr. Woods inscribes a short straight line on the ball to aim along the intended line of the putt. When he replaces his ball in front of the marker, he initially uses this line for a first guess at aim. He leaves the marker in place at this point. That is the first step.

Step Two. He walks in a clockwise direction to the hole carefully examining key points where there may be break and changes in grass. He crouches behind the hole looking back at the ball. The walk helps him get a feel for distance and changes in elevation. This walk takes about 20 to 30 seconds, depending on the length and complexity of the putt. On short putts of under 4 feet with no break he may skip this step.

Step Three. After returning to the ball, he carefully adjusts its position so that the short line inscribed on the ball is aimed along the path he has chosen and removes the coin marker, placing it in his right pocket as he steps away. This takes about 5-10 seconds.

Step Four. He crouches about two to three yards behind the ball, places his hands on either side of the bill on his cap to shut out all visual distractions and glare, and makes a final check on the line, probably visualizing the path of the ball into the hole. This takes about 10 seconds.

Step Five. He assumes his stance beside the ball parallel to the intended line setting the blade of the putter beside the ball with his right hand. He places his feet in alignment with the blade and often shakes the left hand a few times to free it from tension before assuming the grip. He is generally looking at the hole while he does this. While looking at the ball, he takes one practice swing, and without stopping, he takes a second swing. On the follow-through he looks up at the hole, probably imagining the ball falling into the hole. This gives him feel for the distance and promotes a sense of a freely swinging pendulum. This takes about 20 seconds from the time he left the crouching position behind the ball.

Step Six. Next Mr. Woods steps up the the ball, left foot first, then places the putter head behind the ball. He rotates his head to look at the hole -- he is very target oriented. Then he rotates his head back. He shifts his feet slightly to settle into his stance. This is done by shifting his weight to the right foot (lifting his left foot slightly) and then shifting weight to the left foot (lifting his right foot). He takes one more look at the hole, again carefully rotating his head. After he rotates back to the ball, he quickly focuses on the ball and begins his backswing. The time between looking back and the backswing is less than a second. The only variation here over the last couple of years that Dr. Putt has noticed is that Mr. Woods sometimes triggers the backswing with a little forward press. Dr. Putt has observed that when Mr. Woods is putting well, the press is practically nonexistent. Dr. Putt saw little of the press in Mr. Woods' dramatic streak in 2000. This process, from stepping up to the ball until striking it, takes about 10 seconds, usually slightly under.

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Hi,  To keep things simple i do the following amongst other things,    1   look at the shape and height of the green and decide how it will effect the ball as it rools to the hole

2   walk the length of the put to gain a feel for the quality of the land underfeet

3   see the put in my minds eye and ball dropping in(very important)

4   i line up the logo of my ball on the chosen line

5   now i only need to think of pace!!!! so i imagine in my minds eye how much i would need to roll the ball with my hand

and physically pendulum my arm and wrist loosely picturing the ball as it goes.

6 Take set up , look at a target point on a breaker or the back of the cup on a straight put a couple of times and make the putt.

Best of luck.....

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I've started breaking my routine down into aiming and stroking, since they seem like two different skills to me.

First I use the procedure that Beachcomber described to figure out the aim point, then I use the markings on the ball to align to it. Then I'm done with aiming and don't think about the line of the putt any more.

Take grip behind the ball, walk around and settle in, square face to the aim line on the ball, turn head slowly to sweep eyes along the green from the ball to the segment of the hole where I want it to enter, then back to the ball (this is basically "loading" the distance of the putt into my subconscious). One beat. Putt.

Practice strokes don't seem to help me, so I don't use them. If I'm putting badly, I'll make a point of holding the finish for a few seconds and noting the face angle. I'll always do as much of the reading of the putt as possible before I'm away, so the routine doesn't take long in practice. Once the ball is lined up, it probably takes me about 7 - 10 seconds to get in and get it rolling. Definitely feel like delay is not my friend!

Stretch.

"In the process of trial and error, our failed attempts are meant to destroy arrogance and provoke humility." -- Master Jin Kwon

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Not gonna go thru my routine, but I'll add one thing I do, in fact it's the last thing I do before pulling the trigger - I take a deep breath & audibly exhale. Calms the nerves.

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Note: This thread is 4143 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

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