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Putting miss on the high side!?


motsco
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I'm going through a major putting funk. some on told me that I need to get the ball in the hole but if I miss it should be on the high side, I have also read this. well sice I have been using this logic I am putting worse, I'm either way short or 15 inchs past the hole with a down hill putt. thinking about it tonigh after 45 putts on my 91 round today, it came to me just get the ball in the hole and if it goes low then I have a more uphill putt and in my brain should be easier to putt uphill then Down. any thought? tom
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There is no good reason to leave the ball above the hole, but as you figured out, it's often advantageous to leave the ball beneath the hole. That said, your aim should be to make the putt. (And I only say that because at 45 putts per round, I'm not sure you've figured that out. ;-))

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I'm sure you'll agree with me when I say that 45 putts is completely unacceptable :-D

I've got a few very informative threads for you to study. I promise you they will improve your understanding of putting. Passed off tips like "miss on the high side" are considered pretty obsolete when compared to all the completely legit information out there on how to improve.

It's incredibly important that you understand the fundamentals of putting:

1) Reading the green

2) Aiming your putter correctly

3) Making a decent stroke at it -- you gotta hit your start line.

4) Hitting the ball with the correct speed.

Grip, setup and ball position are key as well, which leads me to this inevitable sentence:Β Honestly, you could benefit from starting a My Swing thread and posting your stroke. Be sure to mention you took 45 putts the last time you played. You'll get some helpful responses.

And look, if you can toss a ball to your buddy from 30 feet away without it flying over his head or falling fifteen feet short, you can learn to be a great putter. I promise you. You just have to really buckle down now and seek out good information because it's out there (and often times, that information is free.)

Stuff that isn't free but is really great is checking out AimPoint green reading and Edel putter fitting. Do your research first to make sure I'm not full of shit here, but I can vouch that they are good businesses.

This book has a ton of great information on putting in it too:

Hope that helps, bud! :beer: Keep your chin up! The good news is bad putting is the easiest part of golf to fix.

Constantine

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I'm going through a major putting funk.

some on told me that I need to get the ball in the hole but if I miss it should be on the high side, I have also read this.

well sice I have been using this logic I am putting worse, I'm either way short or 15 inchs past the hole with a down hill putt.

thinking about it tonigh after 45 putts on my 91 round today, it came to me just get the ball in the hole and if it goes low then I have a more uphill putt and in my brain should be easier to putt uphill then Down.

any thought?

tom

Take a look at this thread, think it will really help you improve your speed control. Basically there is a good chance you "hit" your putts rather than make a stroke where the backstroke and followthrough length matches. Need to be more pendulum like.

Mike McLoughlin

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lol. I hate to say it but my last 2 rounds = 85 putts is that 85 strokes? seems to me my high scoring is due to more puts on the greens then shots on the course. I have been saying to myself lately if I could putt I could score! looking at my gamegolf stats tells me my flat stick is keeping me out of the low 80's.
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You need to spend some time on the putting green. I'm not a very good green reader, but I have good speed control. Work on your lag putting and work on making those 4-6 footers you'll leave on those longer putts. I had a 3 putt today by over reading a break and leaving myself above the hole with a 3 foot downhill breaking putt.

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I think putting to the high side actually gives the ball more of a chance curl back into the hole. If you hit to the low side, you are only using the bottom half of the hole (<100 degrees) for the ball to roll into. If putting to the high side, you have 270+/- degrees of the hole to work with. You are using the bottom, side, and top lips of the hole. This is especially true for up hill,and side hill putts. I have heard this high side jargon also referred to as the "pro side".

I too like to putt uphill more so than down hill. However, when I do putt to the high side of the hole, and miss, the return putt is not that long as it is.

https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1CHFX_enUS551US551&q;=pro+side+putting&oq;=pro+side+putting&gs;_l=serp.12..0i8i30.8627.10358.0.12761.3.3.0.0.0.0.171.343.2j1.3.0....0...1c.1.53.serp..2.1.94.c6Zag-8PVHM

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A whole bunch of Tour Edge golf stuff...... :beer:

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The best putters miss high as often as they miss low. Think about it.

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lol. I hate to say it but my last 2 rounds = 85 putts is that 85 strokes? seems to me my high scoring is due to more puts on the greens then shots on the course.

I have been saying to myself lately if I could putt I could score!

looking at my gamegolf stats tells me my flat stick is keeping me out of the low 80's.

Just a different perspective:Β  If you're taking that many putts it could also mean that youΒ were struggling with your approach shots and leaving yourself really long putts on too many holes.

Joe Paradiso

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Just a different perspective:Β  If you're taking that many putts it could also mean that youΒ were struggling with your approach shots and leaving yourself really long putts on too many holes.

I havr thought about that, but it's not the case, I don't get unhappy if I mis a scramble on a hole and walk away with bogie or double because I failed with my wedge, I know how to fix that. but when I gir and walk away with bogie or worse it frustrates me to no end and it's because I don't know how to fix it. my brain gets in the way, for some reason this year I have been trying to work the ball in the hole, trying to play the breaks. yeah I miss on the high side and even if it's in the leather I will miss low on 2nd putt Its a funk, i have become so chicken to putt the last couple of rounds it's almost hurts. In the last 3 rounds I have had 2 strangers compliment my ball striking and both pretty much told me in different words, if I could putt I could score. thanks guys tom

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The best putters miss high as often as they miss low.

Think about it.

Erik, this is very interesting information.. but do these good putters have a preference on where they want to miss? Β Do you have a preference?

Can I assume that with all the knowledge out there, that people generally under read the break? Β so, wouldn't you agree that aside from telling people to take aimpoint the advice to miss high isn't actually bad advice?

Also, is there a relationship if we assume that someone always hits the ball with consistent speed that he is better of missing high because if he misses the ball will be closer to the hole a majority of the time? Β rather than rolling away from the hole when he misses it will be rolling towards the hole?

Thanks in advance!

:adams:Β / :tmade:Β / :edel:Β / :aimpoint:Β / :ecco:Β / :bushnell:Β /Β :gamegolf:Β /Β 

Eyad

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Erik, this is very interesting information.. but do these good putters have a preference on where they want to miss? Β Do you have a preference? Can I assume that with all the knowledge out there, that people generally under read the break? Β so, wouldn't you agree that aside from telling people to take aimpoint the advice to miss high isn't actually bad advice? Also, is there a relationship if we assume that someone always hits the ball with consistent speed that he is better of missing high because if he misses the ball will be closer to the hole a majority of the time? Β rather than rolling away from the hole when he misses it will be rolling towards the hole? Thanks in advance!

I do not know why but after reading this and other response, I just realized that the past 3 rounds a high % of my approach shots have left me pin high putts and I'm thinking pin high, say east and west of the pin may be worse the short or long. kind of a crazy thought, I'm thinking i would rather putt north or south (up hill or down hill) then east to west (across the slope.). hmm

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I do not know why but after reading this and other response, I just realized that the past 3 rounds a high % of my approach shots have left me pin high putts and I'm thinking pin high, say east and west of the pin may be worse the short or long.

kind of a crazy thought, I'm thinking i would rather putt north or south (up hill or down hill) then east to west (across the slope.). hmm

That would be a very hard thing for you to manage in my opinion.. unless they never change the location of the hole, or the greens are just all sloping to one side (also unlikely).. or you study the greens carefully before your round starts so that you can pick your spots on each green, and not many of us non pros will ever do that!

well since I have been using this logic I am putting worse, I'm either way short or 15 inchs past the hole with a down hill putt

This really has nothing to do with the advice given to you IMO.. if you are missing short and long then this is a speed issue and until you fix this you won't really be able to make any good assumptions about how you are doing with your green reading or with the line you are picking to start your putts.

You should always be aiming to end your putt about 6" - 12" past the hole to give it the best chance of getting into the hole.. if you had said that you are always missing high side and always ending up about 6" past the hole then this would be a green reading or line start issue, until then I would suggest you lay a line about 10 ft away and put to that line and see if you can land on it or just past it 3 golf balls in a row.. if not, then you might need to look at the weighting of your putter, or the counter weight in the handle..

That amount of putts you are talking about is just insane!!

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Eyad

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Erik, this is very interesting information.. but do these good putters have a preference on where they want to miss? Β Do you have a preference? Can I assume that with all the knowledge out there, that people generally under read the break? Β so, wouldn't you agree that aside from telling people to take aimpoint the advice to miss high isn't actually bad advice? Also, is there a relationship if we assume that someone always hits the ball with consistent speed that he is better of missing high because if he misses the ball will be closer to the hole a majority of the time? Β rather than rolling away from the hole when he misses it will be rolling towards the hole? Thanks in advance!

It's not interesting at all. Good putters are good green readers and good at hitting their line. It would stand to reason that in the long run they'd miss fairly equally on both sides. Giving people "advice" to miss high is good advice?? To MISS high? The goal is to make putts, not miss. Why would that word even be in the teaching vocabulary?

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Erik, this is very interesting information.. but do these good putters have a preference on where they want to miss? Β Do you have a preference?

I don't think missing is something you even think about. If you get the distance right, the next put is easy no matter where you missed.

I think you do want to aim just a tiny bit high though, not so that you miss high, but so that you miss less often. In other words, the put you thought was going to miss will fall in sometimes from the high side, but not likely from the low side. I think that is what people must have in mind. But we're talking about aiming maybe a half inch more towards the high side. If you are practicing with the flag in, try hitting the high side of the flagstick. Much more than that and you are liable to end up missing high on puts that you should have made.

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Note:Β This thread is 3388 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic.Β Thank you!

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