Putting Help - Down the line stroke vs. arc stroke

[mdl]

I agree that a literal down the line stroke is hogwash, tons of manipulation for no reason.  But if I try to feel the arc, I get all wrappy and rotational and putt terrible.  I do my best putting when I keep wrist, arm and shoulder manipulation out of it, physically enforcing an arc and pendulum motion, but feel the stroke down the line.

Also, the advice that Stricker supposedly gave to Tiger before a tournament last year to use the feeling of trying to brush the club, like with a soft paint brush, through the ball down the target line really helps me.  Just another version of the various feels you read pros talk about trying to keep their touch with the putter.  Nicklaus talked about pretending his putter was a stick of glass.  But the brush feel really helps me cause it keeps my focus 100% on trying to feel light and with good touch on the club head itself.  Other putting swing thoughts I've tried tend to get my focus on some part of my body instead of the actual contact with the ball, and for me that leads to less consistent putting, especially for distance control.

[mmoan2]

Well, I'm sure that my stroke arcs, and I'm also pretty convinced that SBST as Pelz prescribes feels awkward and contrived to me. I'm also pretty convinced that most of Pelz' tour pro students, not just Mickelson, did not putt SBST.

However, if I'm working on my putting, I'm thinking posture, rhythm, touch, tempo, aiming, and reading (though not necessarily in that order). Hell, I'd invest a couple of hours adding and removing lead tape and testing the results for touch before I started worrying about whether I was SBST or arcing.

So, in answer to the OP, no I don't think it's worth "scrapping" the SBST to work on a more arcing stroke - but nor would I do anything to "preserve" a SBST path. I'd work directly on the things that I think matter much more  - and in the process accept whatever consequences there might be for my stroke path.

The funny thing is, I think even the factual information presented in Pelz' Putting Bible doesn't add up to a convincing case for SBST, or indeed worrying about stroke path of whatever shape.  Stroke path is probably the least important factor in putting, barring possibly the colour of your putter's face insert. Pelz' own data seems to point in that direction - and yet he labours the SBST thing beyond all reasonable justification.

I think there's some good stuff in Pelz' books - but I'm quite wary of the stroke mechanics he advocates.

While I agree with you about what is most important to work on while practicing putting (and I do these), I think you make a good point about "preserving" a certain path, whether it be SBST or arcing. Perhaps you are right that the arc will come naturally based upon my posture, size, etc. and to try and consciously manipulate the putter to remain SBST is not a good idea. I think my worry about putting consistency comes from the fact that I've tried so hard to maintain a SBST that, especially on putts of like 25 feet, the inherent manipulations required to maintain that path cause inconsistencies when my body wants to arc the putter because physics and anatomy dictate that I should do so. I just posted this thread to see people's thoughts as I move from what I would consider my "intermediate" putting level to "close to advanced." I worked very much on putting when I first took up the game a few years ago and I'm generally pretty good. I just want to take the next step to see if I can shave a stroke or two away by improving everything, and if my basic mechanics are wrong, that's a problem. Sounds like they were to most people.