New Putting Theory

[clubmaker15]

Has anyone experimented with watching the hole instead of the swing????? I was messing around on my putting mat and was holing putts ALL on FEEL and NOT on mechanics. I would stare at the hole and the ball would roll up there. Maybe a REAL green is different than a putting mat? Any comments or responses would be helpful.Thanks

[iacas]

Has anyone experimented with watching the hole instead of the swing????? I was messing around on my putting mat and was holing putts ALL on FEEL and NOT on mechanics. I would stare at the hole and the ball would roll up there. Maybe a REAL green is different than a putting mat? Any comments or responses would be helpful.Thanks

I've used this trick before on really long putts. It helps you gauge the distance sometimes.

I suspect that the usefulness will decrease once you start facing putts with break.

[sacm3bill]

Yep, I read that tip recently and it really worked for me. It kinda makes sense that your natural hand-eye coordination works better if you're looking at the target and not the ball. (E.g., when you throw a football or toss an object into a wastebasket, you look at the target, not the thing in your hand.)

The article in which I read this tip implied that you wouldn't be as accurate with direction using this method, but it reasoned that on long lag putts proper distance can be more important than proper direction. What surprised me though is it not only helped with distance, but direction as well. As long as I'm lined up properly (which of course is necessary no matter what technique you use), the ball goes in the desired direction more often if I look at the hole, and use feel instead of mechanics. That was the case even on short putts. (In fact on short putts the technique works even better because you can still see the ball in your peripheral vision.)

Even though I had success doing this on the practice green, it was a tough leap of faith to do it in an actual round. The first time I did though, I had one of my best putting days ever.

Erik: Breaks don't really make this technique any less useful for me - whether you look at hole or ball during the stroke, you still have to read the breaks first and line up accordingly.

It does concern me that you never see pros look at the hole when they putt, so I doubt I will become the best player I can be by doing that. So after that one round I chickened out and went back to looking at the ball. But man, it definitely worked and I should prob stick with it, for a while at least... maybe go back to looking at the ball once I ingrain the proper feel...

- Bill

[Crafty]

I believe Johnny Miller used this strategy at Pebble Beach when he won. He had the yips horribly and used this to relax himself.

I never liked it because I tend to kill the ball for some reason when I do it.

[neudi]

Has anyone experimented with watching the hole instead of the swing????? I was messing around on my putting mat and was holing putts ALL on FEEL and NOT on mechanics. I would stare at the hole and the ball would roll up there. Maybe a REAL green is different than a putting mat? Any comments or responses would be helpful.Thanks

I don't look at my swing either, i look at the ball. Maybe that is your problem...

[AnalogAG]

Yesterday, during the broadcast of the Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Nick Faldo mentioned that a caddy once helped him to a proper putting before the Masters '89. He said, try to do the backswing with your left hand and the actual swing with your right hand leading.

I tried that yesterday on my carpet with my tiny putting machine and I thought that is great. I got more feeling and a better roll!

Have you ever heard about that or even tried it?

[Three Putt]

I like to have my right hand dominant, I sort of chicken wing my left elbow and push through with a level stroke. Distance control is very good for me and I usually sink 2 or 3 15+ footers in a round on the goat track that is my home course. I play on below average greens where they do not break like they seem...so for me distance control is everything to at least 2 putt.

[sonicblue]

When I putt, my stroke focuses on NEITHER hand moving. I take a grip that joins the hands into a single unit, locks them in. My stroke is made by moving my big muscles and keeping my hands quiet. I think "left hand back, right hand forward" would only promote overactive hands and would take the putter offline.

[Ringer]

Interesting thread. A few points.

You shouldn't be looking at your swing anyway.

Your distance will tend to be a little long until you get used to it.

On putts that break you should putt the ball to a spot away from the hole however much you think the putt will break. Also pick a spot short of the hole for downhill putts and pick a spot past the hole for uphill putts.

Left arm FEELING like a dominant side is prefered over the right side. The stroke is much smoother and because of a smooth acceleration the ball will tend to come off with less jump.

An "All shoulder" stroke is the feeling most commonly taught since it minimizes the moving parts. Distance can be a very difficult thing to feel with this stroke since there is little sensitivity to the speed of the club in your shoulders. You simply don't have nerves in your shoulders that really feel the pull of the club.

[Wisco-Kid]

I have tried this theory out on my putting matt too. It worked for me as well and it kinda freaked me out. I sank every single putt by just looking at the hole. I couldnt get my nerves up to actually do it on the course on a regular basis but did try it a couple of times on longer putts with moderate success.

I have since been practicing my putts with just my right hand. After I putt about 10 or 20 with just my right hand then I add my left and try to maintain the feeling of my right hand guiding the putter through the ball. All the while I have a very loose grip and let the putter release through the ball. This has been working very well for me.

I just wish it was the end of March or April so I could actually putt on some grass! This winter is killing me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[tiger_who]

have u tried a curved putting stoke it is the best c my thread of curved putting strokes its rather dandy

[sboardz006]

Its in Rotella's 'Putting our of your Mind'

I think the story was about Faxon breaking a courses recorder putting looking at the hole all day.

basically it helps you gauge distance and become more target oriented.

[jowlar]

I tend to agree with Iacas in that it seems to work well for gauging speed but not so much on breaking putts. Of course, I am not a very good putter so I have tried almost every putting tip one could imagine. If someone wrote an article about holding the putter with your butt cheeks and doing the hokey pokey I would try it.....and it probably wouldnt work.

[Stuart]

Hahahahah....me too!!!!

I tend to agree with Iacas in that it seems to work well for gauging speed but not so much on breaking putts. Of course, I am not a very good putter so I have tried almost every putting tip one could imagine. If someone wrote an article about holding the putter with your butt cheeks and doing the hokey pokey I would try it.....and it probably wouldnt work.