Kept Stats for a Round and Found Out I Am Apparently a Horrible Putter. Seeking Advice.

[ZANDER1994]

Today I snuck out of work early to play 18. I shot a 90.

I kept stats as part of this new habit and again was really disappointed to see: 

10/18 GIR

8/14 FIR

7 three-putts

9 two-putts

2 one-putts

41 putts total

Bleh. Just really disappointed in myself. Back to the practice greens I guess. Does anybody have any putter suggestions? Thinking it’s time for a change.

 

 

[Darkfrog]

29 minutes ago, ZANDER1994 said:

Does anybody have any putter suggestions?

I think there’s a lot of personal preference involved with putters. I’d go with whichever one that you can aim the best, whether that’s head shape, shaft position, and alignment markings.

[reidsou]

1 hour ago, ZANDER1994 said:

Does anybody have any putter suggestions?

Ram Zebra! Or any putter that inspires practice. 

[iacas]

8 hours ago, reidsou said:

Ram Zebra! Or any putter that inspires practice. 

Huh?

[klineka]

On 8/2/2021 at 8:55 AM, reidsou said:

Replace the grip if you want, but a new putter won't matter (unless it makes you practice more). 

You can't say that with any degree of confidence, it's entirely possible that @ZANDER1994 aims his current putter horribly off line and it's entirely possible that getting a new putter that is a different shape might help him line it up more accurately.

Or the weight of the current putter could be much different than what is optimal for him and that could be throwing off his speed control. 

You've never seen the guy putt, he's using a generic 20 year old putter, and he's never been fit for a putter. How can you honestly say that him getting a new putter won't matter? You don't know that for a fact.

[dennyjones]

11 hours ago, ZANDER1994 said:

Today I snuck out of work early to play 18. I shot a 90.

I kept stats as part of this new habit and again was really disappointed to see: 

10/18 GIR

8/14 FIR

7 three-putts

9 two-putts

2 one-putts

41 putts total

Bleh. Just really disappointed in myself. Back to the practice greens I guess. Does anybody have any putter suggestions? Thinking it’s time for a change.

 

 

Do you know the distances of your first putt?   Of your 7 3 putts, were they from 90' or 21'?   It really does make a difference.   Nobody likes 3 putts but it's not unrealistic to 3 putt from a very long distance.

[reidsou]

52 minutes ago, klineka said:

You can't say that with any degree of confidence, it's entirely possible that @ZANDER1994 aims his current putter horribly off line and it's entirely possible that getting a new putter that is a different shape might help him line it up more accurately.

Or the weight of the current putter could be much different than what is optimal for him and that could be throwing off his speed control. 

You've never seen the guy putt, he's using a generic 20 year old putter, and he's never been fit for a putter. How can you honestly say that him getting a new putter won't matter? You don't know that for a fact.

Starting at a baseline of 9 three putts per round - practice is key. Focusing on new equipment is just a distraction. (And alignment and speed control are part of practice.) 

[iacas]

6 minutes ago, reidsou said:

Starting at a baseline of 9 three putts per round - practice is key. Focusing on new equipment is just a distraction. (And alignment and speed control are part of practice.) 

You missed his point.

Absolutely practice will help. If he aims his current putter 6° right, or it has poor weighting for him, so can a new putter.

[klineka]

4 minutes ago, reidsou said:

Starting at a baseline of 9 three putts per round - practice is key. Focusing on new equipment is just a distraction. (And alignment and speed control are part of practice.) 

But if he practices aligning "straight" with his current putter and he is actually aiming say 6 inches to the right of where he thinks he is aiming, then that practice could be doing more harm than good. 

I don't see how a putter fitting could hurt, and I don't see how you have enough information from this post to determine that a new putter won't matter and that focusing on new equipment would just be a distraction.

[StuM]

@dennyjonesshared a link to a Strokes Gained Putting calculator in another thread I found useful.  Just track the length of your 1st putt and number of putts on each hole.  That will tell you if you are in need of "Fixing" your putting.  That being said, I am proof of the 65-20-15 practice routine.  I spent a lot of time to improve my putting earlier this year but my Tee & Approach shots are lacking so even with improved putting I am not seeing as low of scores as I would like.  I see no problem spending time to focus on putting for a little while but agree you cannot ignore tee and approach shots and eventually need to get back to focus on the tee & approach shots.  The reason is that, no matter how good a putter you are, if you are not nGIR or GIR you cannot count on draining a lot of 1-Putts for Par/Birdie.  Getting on or near the green in regulation is paramount.

 

.

[mohearn]

13 hours ago, ZANDER1994 said:

I kept stats as part of this new habit and again was really disappointed to see: 

10/18 GIR

...

Bleh. Just really disappointed in myself. Back to the practice greens I guess. Does anybody have any putter suggestions? Thinking it’s time for a change.

 

 

I wish I had your GIR numbers, I hit the first 6 GIR the other day and it was like a new game, but like someone said down-thread, if you're hitting GIR and your first putt is 60 feet, you gotta expect some 3-putts. 

Now, sounds like you want a new putter!  Go for it, many deals on slightly used putters available. Go to Dick's or wherever, try some out, they do feel different. For example I've got both a Odyssey Rossie (soft insert) and a Ping Anser 2 (hard insert) and they feel quite different. Neither was bought brand new(Rossie was $20 and I put a new grip on it), both work fine. Lots of choices...

[Pretzel]

13 hours ago, ZANDER1994 said:

Bleh. Just really disappointed in myself. Back to the practice greens I guess. Does anybody have any putter suggestions? Thinking it’s time for a change.

Pretty sure this just means you need to go get yourself a Scotty, Bettinardi, or custom-fitted Edel. Expensive putters are the only solution, right?

On a serious note, I would recommend that you at least do a basic putter fitting to find what style of putterhead you can aim most correctly and consistently. I know the Edel fittings are more in-depth and include different types of alignment markings as well, but for most people the shape of the head and the type of shaft neck will make the biggest differences.

[StuM]

22 minutes ago, Pretzel said:

On a serious note, I would recommend that you at least do a basic putter fitting to find what style of putterhead you can aim most correctly and consistently.

I 100% agree with this.  I did a putter fitting this spring and was told that they way I was stroking the putt along with my putter I was actually lofting the putts @ 4 degrees and putting back spin on them.  That explained a lot of short putts over the years.  The fitter worked to get me in a putter that I simply did not loft that much.  I never would have know that without the fitting.  Nice thing, of all the putters he had me hit he recommended one of the lesser expensive ones.  So much for the Scotty Cameron I had looked at and liked so much 😥.  

[NM Golf]

2 hours ago, dennyjones said:

Do you know the distances of your first putt?   Of your 7 3 putts, were they from 90' or 21'?   It really does make a difference.   Nobody likes 3 putts but it's not unrealistic to 3 putt from a very long distance.

^^This^^

Everyone wants to blame the putter, but if your long game consistently puts you in the three putt range then all your practicing is for not. Start looking at your proximity to the hole stat as well the get a better idea of whats really going on. A little improvement in your ball striking can go a long way to improve those putting stats. You will three putt a lot less from 20 feet than you will from 40 feet.

[Double Mocha Man]

Have you looked into and read about all the nuances of reading a green?  Maybe your putting stroke is OK (acceptable) but reading of greens comes up short.

[mcanadiens]

Not sure about anyone else, but I find that I'm very home course dependent with putting.

My old home had slow greens. My new one has fast, undulating greens. I adapted reasonably well to both and don't three-putt very much. 

On the road and it's like I got a sack over my head and got skulled with a hammer.

[dennyjones]

1 hour ago, mcanadiens said:

Not sure about anyone else, but I find that I'm very home course dependent with putting.

I found this to be very true for myself.  I play multiple courses throughout the year.   I don't spend enough time getting the green speed correct before playing and my distance control suffers.    I've been using that online strokes gained putting calculator and my rounds have varied from +3.6 to -4.8 compared to a scratch golfer.