I'm a golf course superintendent. My club president mentioned that he has seen a smaller than regulation sized cup, for practicing putting on practice greens at some clubs he has played.

Are you familiar with this product, and if so, do you have any idea where I can find them? I've searched all over the web and have not been able to find one.

Thanks for any help.

Al

The shorter putt is much more precise. The putter must stay on line back and release on line to the hole, which is more Plez like. Letting the putter come off line at all results in pulls and pushes.

You view the "line" as being straight back and straight through. I would disagree - as would Scotty Cameron. We believe the "line" is an arc.

You hear alot of golfers and commentators today talk about "releasing" the putter.

They also talk about not letting the "left wrist break down."

I've always been confused about these two, seemingly contradictory things.

The talk of "releasing" the putter makes me wonder if a wristy putting stroke is something that we might see make a come back.

I'm certainly no expert on putting, but from my own experience I find that when I "release" the putter I do it more with the shoulders, with the wrists and hands staying fairly quiet and keeping the putter head on line through impact. The "left wrist breakdon" is when the wrists and hands get active before impact and pull or push the putter head offline, resulting in a missed putt. A severe case of this breakdown is a 'yip', when the hands make an involuntary spasm just before impact.
It's similar to the full swing. If hands should lea the clubhead through impact. If the wrists release too early the clubhead overtakes the hands, resulting in 'flipping' and very inconsistent contact.

... it takes the wrists out of the stroke.

You hear alot of golfers and commentators today talk about "releasing" the putter.

They also talk about not letting the "left wrist break down."

I've always been confused about these two, seemingly contradictory things.

The talk of "releasing" the putter makes me wonder if a wristy putting stroke is something that we might see make a come back.

I've been curious about lining up the aim line with my putt line as you mentioned. I know a lot of pros do it. Right now I turn my ball so that all I see is white (no distractions). Anyway - question is how precise are you when you line the ball up, given that you're quick about it? And is there anything you've found that makes it harder to line up correctly (i.e. straight-in putts, short vs. long)? Even in just trying this on the practice green, I seem to sit and fiddle with it forever to get it just right - the ball wants to wobble on grass blades, etc.

Agreed, the drill where you putt while looking at the hole is wonderful for getting speed and feel down, especially for longer putts. I have a tendency to kind of short circuit between my last look at the hole and stroking the putt on longer ones. That drill helps prevents the disconnect, as you say.

One thing I do when reading my putt is to go about halfway between the hole and the ball on the low side of the break and get a general sense of the degree of uphill/downhill in the putt. Just a quick glance, then I read the putt from behind as usual. While I'm not really thinking about it after that, I think it's useful information when choosing my line.

On putting with the right hand only - that's something I do, though not in a drill quite like that. I'll just take two balls and putt around to different holes on the green using only the right hand. It helps my release (my stroke is "Cameron" style) mainly, but also my tempo and distace control. This along with the looking at the hole drill is a good combo for me. I don't do it a lot because you can get a bit sloppy with your path if you overdo it. Just gets me back to stroking it consistently.

Thanks again for the insight and keep up the good work around here. Been enjoying it for a while.

I was also surprised that your recommendations for choice of putter correlate with my choice. I have a straight back and through stroke and I always putt better with face balanced, centre shafted putters.

I putt with a reverse grip and I find it has worked for me as it takes the wrists out of the stroke. It's not for everyone but I think it's a sounder grip that stands up to pressure better for me. It takes a little while to get used to the reverse grip but as you said you can't assess a new stroke in a five minute carpet session. Once you get used to it it feels totally natural and I could never go back.

Finally, one thing that I always seem to do when I make a good stroke is keep my head still til well into the follow through. Any movement of the head forward leads the shoulders out of line and results in an offline putt.