3 Keys to Better Putting

[GEM57]

I like the advice in this thread, and intend to use it. Only thing is that I don't think the sequence is right.

Thoughts when standing over a putt should be:

Read (the line)

Speed (to match the length)

Bead (draw a focus on the two elements above and DO IT)

[iacas]

I like the advice in this thread, and intend to use it. Only thing is that I don't think the sequence is right.

Thoughts when standing over a putt should be:

Read (the line)

Speed (to match the length)

Bead (draw a focus on the two elements above and DO IT)

They're not in a particular order. Obviously you get a read before determining your "bead" and "speed."

FWIW, I tend to go "read, speed, bead, speed." I read the putt, make some strokes to feel the speed, line it up to get the bead, and then focus just on the speed again. :)

[Hardballs]

I've said this a few times (well, more than a few…), but I didn't realize we didn't have a specific thread for it until now. Apologies for the brevity of this post, but the concepts - I think - are fairly simple and don't really need a lot of explanation. Just as we have 5 Simple Keys for the full swing ([CONTENTEMBED=/t/74723/introduction-to-the-purestrike-5-simple-keys-5sk-learning-system layout=inline]​[/CONTENTEMBED]), @david_wedzik and I have identified the 3 Keys to putting. These three things are the three commonalities of the game's best putters. They are: [LIST] [*] ​Bead - hit your putts online [*] Speed - control the distance you hit the putt [*] Read - read the green (amount of break) properly [/LIST]

Bead

This comes from the phrase "to draw a bead." The poorest putters regularly pull or push their putts left or right of the line they intend to hit. The best putters do not miss their line - they regularly "draw a bead" and hit their mark.

Speed

The best putters in the world regularly control their speed. They aren't regularly hitting the ball four feet short or five feet long. This thread has a lot to do with that: [CONTENTEMBED=/t/74295/putting-do-not-accelerate-through-the-ball layout=inline]​[/CONTENTEMBED].

Read

The best putters in the world can read greens well. They don't regularly get the direction of break wrong, and they don't regularly play a foot of break on a putt that breaks two inches or three feet. [rule] Great! So how do I practice my putting now? [LIST=1] [*] Pick the skill above at which you're the worst, and then WORK ON THAT skill. [*] See #1. [*] There is no #3. [/LIST] In other words, don't throw a ball down on the green and putt to a hole 20 feet away. What you even doing? Don't con yourself into thinking "you're working on all three skills at the same time!" You're not, because if you miss, you likely have no idea which skill was lacking. Did you misread it, align poorly, and then shove the putt with extra speed to try to make it? Who knows? Pick a skill, devise drills to practice that particular skill and only that skill, and work on it. It's as simple as 1-2-3. P.S. Go to an AimPoint clinic to help tremendously with "Read." Find one near you at [URL=http://www.aimpointgolf.com/instructors.asp]http://www.aimpointgolf.com/instructors.asp[/URL] .

Just got back from a 3 day golf trip, my putting is absolutely shocking! I'm totally disheartened to the point where I'm stood over the ball and I had no idea what to do, I've spent so much time working on my full iron swings my putting is now rubbish at best! So I need to work on setting of on the correct line, can anyone give me any advice/tips/drills I can work on at home? It really is affecting my scores tremendously! (Great original post by the way! I feel I can overcome this problem with this info,)

[Ernest Jones]

Just got back from a 3 day golf trip, my putting is absolutely shocking! I'm totally disheartened to the point where I'm stood over the ball and I had no idea what to do, I've spent so much time working on my full iron swings my putting is now rubbish at best!

So I need to work on setting of on the correct line, can anyone give me any advice/tips/drills I can work on at home? It really is affecting my scores tremendously!

(Great original post by the way! I feel I can overcome this problem with this info,)

Are you talking about hitting your lines? As in getting the ball to roll on the line you've chosen? If so: http://thesandtrap.com/t/77086/3-keys-to-better-putting#post_1053099

If you're talking about choosing the correct line to begin with, then there's really nothing better than Aimpoint. I've had some moderate success with other methods but even the best of those were just sophisticated guessing.

[boogielicious]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hardballs

Just got back from a 3 day golf trip, my putting is absolutely shocking! I'm totally disheartened to the point where I'm stood over the ball and I had no idea what to do, I've spent so much time working on my full iron swings my putting is now rubbish at best!

So I need to work on setting of on the correct line, can anyone give me any advice/tips/drills I can work on at home? It really is affecting my scores tremendously!

(Great original post by the way! I feel I can overcome this problem with this info,)

Are you talking about hitting your lines? As in getting the ball to roll on the line you've chosen? If so: http://thesandtrap.com/t/77086/3-keys-to-better-putting#post_1053099

If you're talking about choosing the correct line to begin with, then there's really nothing better than Aimpoint. I've had some moderate success with other methods but even the best of those were just sophisticated guessing.

Totally agree.  In winter, I can really only practice aim and starting the ball on line on my home mat.  I am very confident in AimPoint. So when I get back on the course, I only have to worry about speed.

[RFKFREAK]

I feel my biggest weakness in putting is speed.

I think it's one of those things that I just have to spend a few days once the weather gets warmer on figuring out how to measure that for myself.  I feel that on my first few putts of 10 feet or more, I have no idea if I'm hitting the putt with enough energy, if I'm hitting it with too much energy, or if I'm hitting it with the correct amount of energy.  What ends up happening is that I calibrate myself on the golf course which can't be good.

[Abu3baid]

I feel my biggest weakness in putting is speed.   I think it's one of those things that I just have to spend a few days once the weather gets warmer on figuring out how to measure that for myself.  I feel that on my first few putts of 10 feet or more, I have no idea if I'm hitting the putt with enough energy, if I'm hitting it with too much energy, or if I'm hitting it with the correct amount of energy.  What ends up happening is that I calibrate myself on the golf course which can't be good.

I thought everyone calibrates on the course? Some just do it faster than others.. The pros get to calibrate during practice rounds don't they For me it might be the first 1 or two holes.

[saevel25]

I feel my biggest weakness in putting is speed.

I think it's one of those things that I just have to spend a few days once the weather gets warmer on figuring out how to measure that for myself.  I feel that on my first few putts of 10 feet or more, I have no idea if I'm hitting the putt with enough energy, if I'm hitting it with too much energy, or if I'm hitting it with the correct amount of energy.  What ends up happening is that I calibrate myself on the golf course which can't be good.

I thought everyone calibrates on the course? Some just do it faster than others.. The pros get to calibrate during practice rounds don't they

For me it might be the first 1 or two holes.

Most practice greens are pretty close to the course. Studies have found that players can't tell between 1-2 STIMP on the actual speed. So if the practice green is a 10 and the course is a 11 you probably wont have trouble.

As for speed control, if you really are having issues make sure your putter is fitted for you. If the weighting is off then you will struggle a lot. Also make sure you are not accelerating through the ball. Maybe video tape your putting stroke and put it in your My Swing thread and let a few people who know more about it take a look.

[rehmwa]

I read pretty good

speed......some days great, usually if I miss it's tentative or short....

Here's the tickler - Bead - I don't miss regularly left or right, I tend to miss in the direction my eyeballs fool me into thinking I've mis-read......  so not executing the line I know is right.

I 'KNOW' I'm lined up correctly, but then I get over the ball, lined up correctly, but it "LOOKS" like I'm lined up left (or right).  So during the putt, no matter what I try to tell myself, I'll flinch before impact and correct to the right (or left) and miss to the right (or left).  It's so annoying and very subtle (flinch isn't the right word, but it's that subtle little 'adjustment' right at impact that's not wanted or needed).  100% mental and I need to find a fix so I trust the lineup enough that my subconscious doesn't 'fix' that thing that's NOT even broken.  I do better and better the more I take my right hand out of the putt FWIW.....

[RFKFREAK]

As for speed control, if you really are having issues make sure your putter is fitted for you. If the weighting is off then you will struggle a lot.

The putter I use is from a starter set that I bought in 2006.

I've never been entirely certain how having it weigh a certain amount for you would help with distance control.

Either way, I want to buy an Edel putter this year to help me out with this.

[iacas]

I've never been entirely certain how having it weigh a certain amount for you would help with distance control.

It's not just the weight, but the distribution of weight.

Each of us feel the pressure in our fingers and sense the speed and "weight" differently. Finding a putter that fits your kind of "natural sense" of touch can go a long way toward helping you improve your distance control.

[RFKFREAK]

It's not just the weight, but the distribution of weight. Each of us feel the pressure in our fingers and sense the speed and "weight" differently. Finding a putter that fits your kind of "natural sense" of touch can go a long way toward helping you improve your distance control.

Ahh. Not surprisingly, that makes a lot of sense.

[Play4Fun]

Just wondering , how much does mechanics count in putting? Any minimal performance index we must achieve ? Where mechanism is concerned ? Can we play a cut ? Toe hits ? Is there such thing called optimal?

[joekelly]

The softest hands possible; when over the ball focus only on the ball, never on the clubhead; imagine the center (sweet spot) of the club striking the center of the ball.  Until you can consistently hit the center of the ball with the sweet spot of the putter...you know the rest of the story.

[Play4Fun]

Never thought of it that way sound like a good idea . I'll try it thanks. But I cut my putter a lot . Is that fine ?

[saevel25]

Just wondering , how much does mechanics count in putting?

Any minimal performance index we must achieve ? Where mechanism is concerned ?

Can we play a cut ? Toe hits ? Is there such thing called optimal?

@iacas has posted a few times on the forum some impact conditions for the putter. Hitting with a slight upstroke. The putter is not accelerating into the ball. I think about 3-4 degrees of dynamic loft at impact.

As for how you do that, I think that is more personal to your own putting stroke.

I wouldn't play a cut. I am not sure how many good putters got away with something Billy Mayfair did. As for toe hits. I'll sometimes do that if I have an extremely downhill putt that I want to take some speed off of.

In the end you want a putting stroke that is easily repeatable. You hit the same spot on the putter face, optimally the center of the putter face since that is what the putter is designed for. You are able to have good distance control and start your putts online. If you have that then you just have to worry about your ability to read the putts.

[Play4Fun]

I used the search function amnd struggling to find it .. Halp pls . Tq

[Club Rat]

This may be the thread your looking for?

Putting Stroke - Arc or Straight?

Quote: Originally Posted by slightlymad    I thought people only get the yips with really short...

In Forum: Instruction and Playing Tips

• Replies: 44   |  Started: Oct 28, 2007  |  Last Post: Nov 29, 2013 at 8:38 pm