Putting Questions.

So, about 2 months ago i bought an odyssey white hot xg 2-ball srt putter. Which i quite like. I haven't got to try it out on a real green yet, since there is still snow everywhere. Ive only been able to try it at the golf dome place.
Putting has never been a strong part of my game. So, i always ready the putting tips in the golf magazine. But, im finding there are so many tips that contradict each other.

Like, should i keep my head down throughout my stroke or look at the hole? should i keep my arms straight or bent? should my eyes be over the ball or slightly behind it (how do i test this?)? And what type of grip should i use? How do i aim the putter?

I have seen so many different tips, im quite confused.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Head down throughout the stroke. Or as I like to say, keep your head down until you hear the echo of the ball rolling in the cup.

Some putters like Crenshaw talk about looking at the hole at impact, but most golfers don't have his coordination, touch, and ability to read greens.

There's no concrete answer to this, but generally you want them straight. A guy like Raymond Floyd had his arms bent and was a great putter.

But, by keeping the arms straight you greatly lessen possible tension forming in your arms. I'm 6'3" tall and have a 35 inch long putter. To keep my arms straight, I just grip down on the club about an inch. If you're shorter than that and want to have your arms straight, you may want to cut down the shaft on your putter down to 34, 33 or 32 inches long.

Eyes should be over the ball. You can measure this by either video taping it or using the coin test. In the coin test all you do is address the ball like you normally would on a putt. Then, take a coin and putt it up at your eyes while you are still addressing the ball. Then drop the coin.

If your eyes are over the ball, the coin should drop right on the ball.

I use the reverse overlap. Just google it.

Well, that's golf mags for you. But your eyes should be over the ball and you should keep your head down. Those are pretty basic. If you really want to improve your putting, I'd say look at purchasing either the Z-Factor Perfect Putting machine or getting Pelz's Putter Clips.

3JACK

Putting tips will always vary and contradict each other, this is simply because there are hundreds of different methods of putting, and each pro that writes advice in magazines will have different opinions of the best way to putt.

The most common method used is the head down method, but the head is only part of the issue; the key to consistent putting is keeping the entire body still, you could in theory look at the hole throughout your putting stroke, and as long as your body movement was minimal it would make little difference to the quality of your putt.

One of the best thoughts to keep your body still while putting is to lock your knees out, and focus on keeping the knees locked out throughout the putting stroke, this is a key that Darren Clark focus on when he Practises I can not emphasize enough that when playing a round of golf, focus purely on feel not technique

Your arms should hang comfortably straight down from your shoulders, your arms should stay relaxed at set up, and during the putting stroke, at no point should they be rigid and as a result your arms will always maintain a slight bend before, during and after the completion of the putting stroke.

As for the grip, it is impossible to tell you what grip to use, my advice would be to try and grip the putter grip in 4 - 6 different ways when practising, find a grip that feels comfortable and stick with it, It does not matter how the grip looks as long as you hole putts and feel comfortable.

There are a lot of methods to

aim the putter, for example using the logo on your ball and aiming the logo on the ball to the hole and using the line of the logo to help line your putter up correctly, this can be time consuming. The method I use is to read the putt from behind the ball, and pick a spot on the grass in front of the ball (on the line of my putt) and use that spot to aim my clubface.

There's different techniques on aiming the putter. I find most Tour Pros and good putters use the logo on the golf or a line that they marked on the golf ball. They point the logo/line on the ball at where they want to hit the putt, then just align the putter head along the logo/line of the ball.

That can be time consuming, but if you do it long enough, you start to get better and quicker at it. That's why the pros do it. They've done it so many times that they become good at it. And it also wouldn't hurt to try this method out on the practice green every time you are practicing.

JaYB's spot putting method is more than fine. What I usually do is look at the putt, find a spot of grass between the line and the ball that I want to use, and then just aim the logo/line of my ball at that spot of grass.




3JACK

Ok thanks guys, in the golf magazines newest edition they show an article on what type of grip you should use according to your handicap. I have always just gripped the putter normally with my thumbs acing down, they say this is for a 25 handicap because it provides to much control. What do you make of this?

I read golf mags, but I usually don't pay much attention to them. I've been playing for nearly 20 years, used to have professional status, played D-I college golf, and played mini-tours and currently have a 2.3 handicap index and I don't think I've ever heard of NOT having your thumbs facing down. I guess unless you are using a long putter, the Gator Grip or some other crazy putting method. But yes, keep your thumbs facing down the shaft.

(Sorry, these golf mags drive me crazy sometimes). 3JACK

How on earth can a magazine say a different grip suits your handicap, It's the only thing I don't like about magazine instructional articles - they focus on the masses, and its rare that the individual tip will suit the reader specifically.

KK thanks, how does the overlap grip work? Because, i heard its the most conventional?

Yes, the reverse overlap is the most conventional putting grip. Here's a link that shows you how it works:

http://www.easy2.com/tutorials/glf0111/index.asp 3JACK

Thanks, is it true this grip is only for the advanced player?

No. Any play can and should use the grip. You don't want your wrists to break when you are putting. This grip helps prevent the wrists from breaking.

3JACK

Any grip you use that can hit the ball down the line is fine. Most putting problems are people can't read the greens and try to steer the ball into the hole not trusting the line they choose.

Whats the advantage of using a blade over a mallet putter?

At your level, not many (joking) Putting is all personal preference so the possible advantage is that you would feel more comfortable using a blade putter than a mallet putter, however a mallet putter will be much more forgiving, and I would assume would be more suited to you. A blade putter offers little forgiveness and little improvement on feel (when compared to a mallet putter) and will offer less technological benefits (will be harder to putt well with) than a mallet putter.

To put it simply, I would suggest you stick with your 2 ball, or if your changing putters, switch to another mallet design.

You're right there is a lot of contradictory information out there. I recommend you look at the instructors who teach short game to the pros for a living (Dave Pelz and Todd Sones), or the top level tour pros, and ignore the rest of the junk floating around out there.

books I recommend: short game books: Ernie Els - The Complete Short game Todd Sones - Lights Out Putting Dave Pelz full instruction with good short game sections: Greg Norman - Advanced Golf Nick Faldo - A Swing for Life Nick Faldo - Golf the Winning Formula Fred Couples - Total Shotmaking Butch Harmon - Four Cornerstones of Winning Golf

Ideally you want to keep your head stationary throughout the stroke. If your head is moving during the stroke there is a good chance your shoulders will move in the same directon (and your putter path will deviate).

Ideally you want your hands hanging directly under your shoulders. If your hands hang outside your shoulder line they will naturally (with the help of gravity and the way the body is built) want to swing back to a free hanging position under your shoulders. Likewise if your hands are jammed up against your body (inside your shoulder line) they will want to move away to a free hanging position during the stroke (causing you to swing on a path away from you). Where and how your arms hang are dependent on how much you bend from your hips, waist, and knees as well as the length of your putter. The more you bend from those areas the more your arms will need to be bent, the less you bend from the knees and hips the straighter your arms may hangs and still have your hands hanging in a good location. Ideally you want your eyes directly over the ball to target line to give you the best view of your line. (Behind the ball and still on the target line is ok too). What you do not want is your eyes inside the target line (closer to your body than the ball) or outside the traget line (more towards the toe of the putter than the ball) as both of those will cause optical illusions of your target. You can setup to a ball and drop another ball from the bridge of your nose to see where your eyes are positioned. Your grip is open to personal preference. Many modern day pros set their hands/grip in a way that minimizes excess wirst movement (to better gage speed). Some do so by running the grip through the middle of their palms (along the life line), some do so by wrapping their fingers more underneath the grip, and some do so by contorting their hands and fingers in ugly ways (like the nasty looking claw grip). Experiment and see what feels comfortable to you. I recommend you aim the writing on your golf ball with your intended target on the putting green and then line up with the line (or dots) on your putter (if it has a line or dot(s)) in the same direction, and then set your eyes along that line as well. Here are a few exerpts from magazine articles that Greg Norman wrote while he was #1 in the world that may help you with your putting. http://img524.imageshack.us/img524/4...pg11993rp5.jpg http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/4...pg21993kd6.jpg In this next image notice how Norman is hanging his arm. This serves a number of purposes. It gets his hand hanging naturally (under his shoulder line), and it levels out his shoulders (which allows a level strike on the ball instead of a glancing upward blow). As Dave Pelz says hold the follow through (like the small picture below) as that will help your mind process feedback on the stroke and give you a feel for your putts. http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/7...armhanguj0.jpg

Wow Avid Golfer thanks alot, this is alot of greta information.

I was trying this on the practice green today and I'm LOVING it. Impact was more solid and distance controll was AWESOME as compared to keeping my head down while I made the stroke. I was even playing the break better this way. Just think a little less and let my brain work out the physics of it. I'd say I was making at least 80% inside 8' doing this.

My personal opinion on putting is work on a few basic fundamentals (keep lower body quiet, don't hit at it-stroke through it, keep arms wrists and putter fused as a unit and make a motion like a ticking clock back and forth) and other than that, do what feels good and makes the ball roll well. I don't even use the same stance all the time. I'm kinda more square on lag putts, and somewhat open inside 10-15'. Anywho, just an observation, take it or leave it