Advice I Won't Be Taking (and a Putting Practice Question)

[darthweasel]

My putting has been slipping a bit lately (when I got the putter regripped I could not find the grip it came with so had to switch to s Superspeed thick grip) so I showed up early to League to do the clock drill. As I am immersed in working on distance/direction, I am paying little to no attention to other golfers until I hear the following crack by some guy to his partner.

 

"Let's go. I make too many putts on here, it gives you a false sense of confidence. That is why I don't like to spend too long on the putting green."

 

I am not even sure where to start...seeing success gives you a false sense of confidence? A sense of confidence doesn't help you? Building the sense of what it takes to sink a putt is...bad? 

 

Anyhow, it was good for a laugh to me and the knowledge if I run into this guy in league I would not hesitate to bet against him in a putting contest.

 

 

Now on to the question: I note I practice different than the overwhelming majority of golfers I run into. I will actually line up my putts the same way I do on the course. I will step behind the putt, look at the slopes surrounding the hole, gauge the break and speed, step up and roll my putt. The longer the putt the further behind the ball I stand to look at it. On particularly hard to read putts I will look at it from the opposite side of the hole.

Most people that I see drop a ball, two, three, step up to it, and roll their putt. Even guys doing drills...there was a guy with some alignment rod with markings on it for various lengths,  He carefully placed his ball at the marks, left the rod laying there...and rolled putt after putt on that line without ever "reading" a putt. 

When you practice, do you do it the same way you do it on the course? Why or why not?

 

For me, obviously I do. I want to replicate my success on the green so I do it the same way in practice as I intend to do on the green and personally find it helpful. 

[Shindig]

I am also interested in the advice for how to practice putting better (and also how to hit shorter putts -- the ones that should have high make probabilities).

I do the clock drill, between 3' and 6' depending on various factors.  I read each one, in part because I don't put the ball at the same spot each time I get to a coin -- slightly different, so I can't give myself false confidence that comes from putting from memory.  I realize the differences in break are slight, but at least they aren't the same putt.

I realize now I don't put a lot of time into reading the break on a long putt on the practice green, as on those I'm working on speed.  I should be working on both when I do that.

[sjduffers]

There are three skills involved in putting: read, beed (hitting on the chosen line) and speed. Those skills can be practiced somewhat independently. The last two are what most people work on on the practice green (or as a warm up before the round). Get the right speed, and hit the ball on the chosen line (with gate drills, etc...).

Practicing reads is more difficult to do as you typically need to never have seen the putt in order to really read it, otherwise you'll build on what you have seen a ball do on that line before. In particular, if you tend to roll more than one putt from a position to a hole (like most people do on a practice green), you are not reading the later ones: you already know the line. Now it's a matter of hitting a ball one that line at the right speed.

At least, that's how I think of it. YMMV.

ETA: As far as replicating how I putt in a round during a practice I don't. I might do it a few times with a single putt to a hole a long way aways (more than 30 ft), but on the second try, I won't go through the whole routine and just react to what I see (and now know). To me putting is more a reaction thing than a deliberate process, once I am confident in my ability to hit my line at the right speed (ie the skills that I can and do practice). In other words, less thinking and more doing!

Edited July 8, 2021 by sjduffers
Added last paragraph

[ChetlovesMer]

2 hours ago, darthweasel said:

When you practice, do you do it the same way you do it on the course? Why or why not?

When I "practice" putting I do a number of different things. For the clock drill, which you mentioned, I will go through my putting routine. Which by the way is very short. I've actually intentionally been shortening it over the past 4 years or so in order to make sure I'm keeping pace at all times. 

When "warming up" before a round, I do not go through my routine for every putt. I am just trying to get a feel for the speed of the greens. What I generally do 5 or 10 minutes of mostly 10 foot putts, flat ones, uphill and downhill. I'm just trying to gauge the speed of the greens that day. Often I won't even putt at a hole, just any target that I can set up 10 footers which are flat, 10 footers which are uphill and 10 footers downhill. With any time remaining, I'll try to roll some long ones toward the collar. Trying to get them to stop as close as possible to the collar. Again, I'm just trying to get a feel for the speed. 

[BHI 99]

I practice 15’s and 5’s (or there about). No fluff or gizmos. 

[wakefield724]

I practice putting more than any other aspect of golf and truly respect that aspect of the game. When practicing, I will often read a putt, have 5-8 balls already down, and practice that putt with all the balls before moving onto another section. What I find most effective is the clock drill between 3-5 feet. The majority of amateur golfers do not realize how many strokes they lose by missing short putts. I believe that most amateur courses have medium to slow greens so judging speed tends to be semi-easy if your goal is to get it within 4 feet of the hole. This is the reason why I spend about 75% of my practice within 8 feet. 

[saevel25]

On 7/8/2021 at 10:36 AM, darthweasel said:

Now on to the question: I note I practice different than the overwhelming majority of golfers I run into. I will actually line up my putts the same way I do on the course. I will step behind the putt, look at the slopes surrounding the hole, gauge the break and speed, step up and roll my putt. The longer the putt the further behind the ball I stand to look at it. On particularly hard to read putts I will look at it from the opposite side of the hole.

 

I use Aimpoint, so I don't go through that entire routine, but I use to do something similar. 

On 7/8/2021 at 10:36 AM, darthweasel said:

Most people that I see drop a ball, two, three, step up to it, and roll their putt. Even guys doing drills...there was a guy with some alignment rod with markings on it for various lengths,  He carefully placed his ball at the marks, left the rod laying there...and rolled putt after putt on that line without ever "reading" a putt. 

Depends on what I am working on. If I just want to get use to green speeds, you do not even need a hole to putt to. Just walk off 15-20 FT from the edge of the green and putt to that. 

Other times I want to work on hitting a start line, so I might put down some alignment help or maybe a tee about 2-FT from the ball just high of my line. The goal is to roll it so I don't hit it, but just miss it on the low side. 

On 7/8/2021 at 10:36 AM, darthweasel said:

When you practice, do you do it the same way you do it on the course? Why or why not?

Again, depends on what I am working on.

Just putting to different holes, or doing a wide range of putts lengths and angles, going through the routine is a good way to practice. I like the 4'-8'-12' drill. Put 1 ball at 4', 2 at 8' and 3 at 12'. Try to make one ball at each distance. Then you make 100% from 4', 50% from 8' and 33% from 12'. That is pretty good percentages. 

On 7/8/2021 at 12:47 PM, sjduffers said:

Practicing reads is more difficult to do as you typically need to never have seen the putt in order to really read it, otherwise you'll build on what you have seen a ball do on that line before. In particular, if you tend to roll more than one putt from a position to a hole (like most people do on a practice green), you are not reading the later ones: you already know the line. Now it's a matter of hitting a ball one that line at the right speed.

Especially when greens can trick your eye. 

Promoting Aimpoint 😉

 

 

[pganapathy]

On 7/8/2021 at 1:47 PM, sjduffers said:

There are three skills involved in putting: read, beed (hitting on the chosen line) and speed. 

To be honest, when I am on a practice green, I am mostly trying to judge speed, and hoping that the practice green and course greens are the same speed on the stimpmeter.  I don't worry about beed or read a great deal.  Sure, I would like to hole putts, but holing them on the practice green is worthless for me, unless I do the same on the course

[darthweasel]

been some interesting and fun responses on here. I do tend to practice a lot, and the clock drill I generally follow the Mickelson "sand wedge" (although I strongly suspect mine is not as long as his) and expand it a putterhead at a time when I hit my goals. I tend to try to find a hole that is not on the flat so I get used to rolling with break and I line up pretty much every one to get used to seeing the break it requires at those differences but it definitely sounds like I am an outlier. 

[iacas]

9 hours ago, wakefield724 said:

I practice putting more than any other aspect of golf and truly respect that aspect of the game.

You shouldn't. 🙂

9 hours ago, wakefield724 said:

The majority of amateur golfers do not realize how many strokes they lose by missing short putts.

Fewer than the number of shots they lose by hitting their driver poorly, or their irons poorly.

9 hours ago, wakefield724 said:

This is the reason why I spend about 75% of my practice within 8 feet. 

Ouch.

But seriously… you really should revise your practice ratios. Unless you're a unicorn, that's nowhere near the best way to spend your time (if your goal is to shoot the best scores you can).

[BHI 99]

I spend my entire word day buried in statistics and Excel spreadsheets. I was horrible in math in high school, now it’s my bread and butter. My algebra teacher would roll over in his grave I’d he knew what I did for a living. He had to hold my hand so I could pass my final and graduate. My tutor would laugh out loud. 

Having said all that, numbers don’t lie. 

Now I’m going to buy a new driver....

🤣

 

[StuM]

My pre-round putting is solely to get a good feel for the speed of the green. I want to putt it @ 6-12 inches past the hole since if on line those putts will drop on the course and if off-line are an easy 2nd putt.
I am using aimpoint this year and  trust it to give me a line on the course and I am reasonably  good at hitting on line so I do not even worry about read & beed in pre-round warmup.

after Aimpoint this spring my putting is where I have the most confidence.  I still have some 3-putts but they are typically the very long 1st putts.

Edited July 14, 2021 by StuM
Fixed typo

[boogielicious]

I don’t practice putting a lot. My strokes gained numbers show other areas that need attention. So I spend the majority of my practice time on full swing and some time on chipping and pitching then a little time on putting rhythm. 

[Vinsk]

I put very little time into putting. But I have to admit one reason is my lower back gets pretty sore quickly on the putting green. But the boring aspect is certainly the main reason.🙂

[saevel25]

3 hours ago, boogielicious said:

I don’t practice putting a lot. My strokes gained numbers show other areas that need attention. So I spend the majority of my practice time on full swing and some time on chipping and pitching then a little time on putting rhythm. 

That suggestion of practicing 10-30FT putts is kind of crazy. 

Maybe they need to break that up. Like 10-15 FT, 15-20 FT an 20-30FT

The one putt % from 10-15 FT is like 30% for PGA Tour players, but from 25-30 FT it is 8%. I wouldn't want to practice much from 25-30 FT because the ceiling is so low. 

For me, practice 5 to 15-FT putts (short game range) and then practice lag putting. In general, if you have good lag putting skills, and are decent at 15 Ft and in. I think it translates to putting well from that mid range area. 

 

[David in FL]

19 hours ago, pganapathy said:

To be honest, when I am on a practice green, I am mostly trying to judge speed, and hoping that the practice green and course greens are the same speed on the stimpmeter.  I don't worry about beed or read a great deal.  Sure, I would like to hole putts, but holing them on the practice green is worthless for me, unless I do the same on the course

Yep, pretty much this.

On the practice green prior to a round, all I’m doing is trying to get a feel for speed.

I do like to finish by making a few 3-4 footers though, just to get used to seeing them go in.

[Shindig]

12 hours ago, BHI 99 said:

I spend my entire word day buried in statistics and Excel spreadsheets. I was horrible in math in high school, now it’s my bread and butter. My algebra teacher would roll over in his grave I’d he knew what I did for a living. He had to hold my hand so I could pass my final and graduate. My tutor would laugh out loud. 

I, for one, love this story.  I know lots of people who were "horrible in math" in high school who were later able to excel in it.  I hope others worried about reading or analyzing statistics, who might not have enjoyed math class in high school, will hear your story and be more willing to look into these things.

1 hour ago, saevel25 said:

That suggestion of practicing 10-30FT putts is kind of crazy. 

Maybe they need to break that up. Like 10-15 FT, 15-20 FT an 20-30FT

The one putt % from 10-15 FT is like 30% for PGA Tour players, but from 25-30 FT it is 8%. I wouldn't want to practice much from 25-30 FT because the ceiling is so low. 

For me, practice 5 to 15-FT putts (short game range) and then practice lag putting. In general, if you have good lag putting skills, and are decent at 15 Ft and in. I think it translates to putting well from that mid range area. 

 

GameGolf's grouping for putts is bizarre.  As best I can tell, it's "under 10 feet" and "10-33 feet."  The worst part for the 10-33 feet grouping is that I know that there isn't much point to practicing 15-25 foot putts, so it is very unclear to me if I should look into 10-15 or 25-33 when I get that note.  Thankfully my putting inside 10 feet is so bad I get that notice more often.   

[boogielicious]

1 hour ago, saevel25 said:

That suggestion of practicing 10-30FT putts is kind of crazy. 

Maybe they need to break that up. Like 10-15 FT, 15-20 FT an 20-30FT

The one putt % from 10-15 FT is like 30% for PGA Tour players, but from 25-30 FT it is 8%. I wouldn't want to practice much from 25-30 FT because the ceiling is so low. 

For me, practice 5 to 15-FT putts (short game range) and then practice lag putting. In general, if you have good lag putting skills, and are decent at 15 Ft and in. I think it translates to putting well from that mid range area. 

 

Considering the strokes gained I have putting, it is rather an odd suggestion.