Putting Capture Speed - Page 2

Yep, i agree, i had a putt the other day that it looked like 3/4ths of the ball hovered above the hole. I was ready to pick that sucker from the bottom of the cup. Thing ended up only about a foot past the hole. 

I missed this back in May.  Nice post Erik, great info.  Thanks for the tip.  It makes sense.  And one common sense note.  In regards to leaving them short, when you are rolling your putts 1.5 feet past, you get a little firm, lets say 2.5 feet past, you (me) really give yourself a very slim chance to make it.  So rolling it slower might leave a few short, but then your a little firmer and make an error of 2 feet past, you still got a good shot at making it.

 

Question:  Do you always try to roll the putt the same distance past? 

 

Me personally, I don't always try to roll it the same past.  If it is inside of 5 feet, I'm generally pretty firm (1.5 feet) and almost always want to not give the hole away.  Then when I get to the 10 to 20 feet, I just want to give it a chance and if I hit it perfectly and it doesn't go in, about a foot.  I also take into account which side I'm most likely to error on.  If it is uphill I know my tendency is to leave it short.  On those, I really focus on being a little more firm.  Then on downhillers, the opposite.  I know if I just hit it a little too hard, I'm going to have 5 feet past.  At times I'll leave it a inch or two short, but rarely three putt. 

 

Thanks for the reply Erik.  I think that is a better way to putt but I don't always read putts well and miss short ones on the high side.  That is a tendency I have when I'm not making the ones I really expect too.  Reading putts correctly is a huge part of the equation and at times I haven't done it as well as I liked. 

Thank you for this. I've been playing it as "don't give the hole away" even when my read told me I might have to, and I haven't had the courage to aim outside the hole. Sometimes I make it when I try to hit it firmly in, and sometimes I don't. Next time I'm on a practice green, I'm going to find a few 3-footers that require me to play outside the hole, and I'm going to make a few of them. Then I'll have the courage to do this on the course, and maybe not throw away that shot that I described a moment ago.

I knew this was how it worked but hadn't considered it lately. I've been getting addicted to how many putts I lip out when i'm hitting my putts fairly hard, and so i've continued to do it. Now i'm thinking that in reality i'm not necessarily coming all that close to making all of these.

 

I do think I still would prefer to hit my short less than 5 footers a little harder, depending on the severity of the break. I could be wrong of course, but I think that on some shorter putts, and possibly even some longer putts, could it be beneficial to hit it a little bit harder to take some of the break out even though you are shrinking the cup size. As you hit the ball harder there would be a relationship between speed and cup size, as well as speed and amount of break. The more break in the putt the harder it is going to be to read and as speed increases, break decreases, cup size decreases. Slower speed means more break and bigger cup, maybe there is a certain distance and/or amount of break that you gain more by taking out the break, and a certain distance where you gain more by increasing the cup size.

Edited by jshots - 7/24/11 at 2:43am

Yeah I see what you are saying, and maybe its just because I suck at reading greens, maybe it just increases my confidence, but I tend to make more of those just outside tap in range when i'm striking the ball more firmly. Its only been recently that I've begun doing this, and based on what you said it doesn't really make much sense but for some reason i'm making more short putts when I hit them harder. I think i'm probably more comfortable finding that precise spot when I take some of the break out, so maybe it is just a confidence issue. I don't use aimpoint, I can't afford to attend a clinic but maybe I should try to learn it on my own.