Putting - Swinging vs. Hitting

[Clemsonfan]

I recently read an article on Substack by Bruce Rearick, Bargolf on several forums, regarding finding the proper way to make a putt. Bruce suggested using a dry erase marker and make a spot on your ball.  

Then hit putts as if you were driving a nail into the back of the ball gradually adding distance and note where the marks are on your putter. This is a hitting stroke. Then take practice swings without a ball with your eyes close to take the hit out of your stroke. Once comfortable with this method add the ball and check your strike pattern. Direction does not matter. The goal is to identify which stroke has a tighter impact pattern.

As a lifelong swinger I was startled to discover my impact pattern was much tighter with a hit stroke. I use the Stack Putting app and only gained strokes once vs. a tour player with my swing stroke. My last two times putting with a hit stroke I have gained .02 (on Friday) and .21 tonight.  As a 7-handicapper I was very happy. The first time I used a center shafted putter and my miss tendency was left.  With a plumber’s neck tonight, my miss was to the right.

In practice I have had a tendency to miss long, but make the comebacker. I have putted great with tonight’s putter for several rounds back in August, but yips returned and I had to revert back to the claw, where my results were not as good. This putter feels a little heavy, which may have caused the right miss, along with the additional toe hang. I am eager to see if I can take this method, and results, to the course.

Any confusion regarding Bruce’s instructions would be my paraphrasing. He does a great job on his Substack.

[iacas]

A link would help, but also… I'm not really a fan of a "hit" in the putting stroke, and think that if you ask most people to "hit" it, they'll get some pretty bad results.

Also, impact location isn't super important. It takes a fairly big miss for the ball speed to change a bit.

I like Bruce, but I'd need more info on this one before I could really give a full opinion. The above is just based on your summary.

[Clemsonfan]

Learning to Putt - Lesson 19

---

Finding your stroke!

Hopefully, others can access this link. My curiosity pushed me to at least attempt a hit stroke. The next lesson helps you put that stroke on play. Something, admittedly, I did not do in my initial attempt on the green.

Learning to Putt - Lesson 20

---

Developing a "Strategic Phylosophy"

 

[p1n9183]

I think hitting is good for short putting, focusing on face control, and swinging is good for lag putts focusing on speed. I hit inside 15 feet, I swing outside 15 feet. 

I agree with the fact that center face consistency is not that important unless you are way off center.  

[Clemsonfan]

8 hours ago, p1n9183 said:

I think hitting is good for short putting, focusing on face control, and swinging is good for lag putts focusing on speed. I hit inside 15 feet, I swing outside 15 feet. 

I agree with the fact that center face consistency is not that important unless you are way off center.  

Bruce mentioned that Tiger does both methods, but has a lifetime of practice to do so. You are a much better player than I am. For my handicap, I have underperformed on the greens, regularly falling in the last quartile for my handicap since developing the yips about 6 years ago. The claw helped but I don’t make as many putts.  That said, I practice well. I am eager to see how I do on the course when I care about the outcome.

My experience with off center strikes is that I tend to miss short and distance control becomes an issue.

[iacas]

I've referred people to @Bruce Rearick and will continue to do so, but here are my thoughts as I read these articles (19 through 23).

Quote

Some players perform best when they swing the putter through the ball. Others have a hit instinct. Are you Arnold Palmer or Loren Roberts? Mr. Palmer used the thought of driving a nail into the back of the ball. Putter square to the nail. Loren Roberts had a flow in his stroke. No extra effort anywhere. Which one suits you? The only way to know is to try both. 

Putters were super wristy back then, too. But greens were much slower, and the depth of competition is better, and we know and have learned a lot more. Saying that someone who is now dead from old age did something isn't a very good argument.

That doesn't mean the idea is wrong, it just means I don't take the Arnie thing as support.

Quote

Set up to a putt, then swing the putter with your eyes closed.

What? I get what he's saying with the next part of the post, but that's not how we putt, and my contact suffers (I swing the putter head) if I close my eyes when putting. Why don't we close our eyes when we hit?

If he's saying to keep your eyes closed only during the "swing it without a ball" part of the thing, then that's probably okay, but he never says to actually putt the ball with your eyes open.

From the next article:

Quote

Pop stroke is a common term used to describe this action.

I wonder if Brandt Sneaker would be classified as a "hitter" because his SAM PuttLab data looks a LOT like mine if you adjust for the tempo of his stroke.

Quote

“Given the choice of a broom or a hammer to roll the ball at a target, which would you chose?”

I'd swing the hammer. A broom sounds like a horrible way to try to roll a ball because the bristles will be pretty ineffective.

Quote

Can you swing the putter slow enough and short enough to control speed on a putt of less than 8 feet?

I can, but I also don't mind if someone's stroke adds a little dash of "hit" on a putt of ≤ 8 feet.

Quote

How big a swing is required to control the distance the ball rolls outside of 8 feet.

Depends on your tempo. Swinging is not purely gravity.

Quote

This is where we see “hitters” struggle. The often develop short backswings that require more effort than they can control to roll the longer putts. Can they match the effort and subsequent speed created with the trail hand required.

I find this to be true pretty frequently.

Quote

The best putters I have ever known or witnessed did some things in common. One of which pertains to our recent discussion. Instead of choosing between swing through or hit the ball, they used both techniques as the circumstances demanded.

…

One of the notes that stuck with me, and I use it often in my advanced courses, “Hit the short putts and swing at the long ones.” 

Yes.

---

Now, this could very easily (and possibly even is likely) just be my bias. I prefer to swing the putter head, not hit with it. And I prefer to teach it that way, as I've seen more students be able to control distance by swinging over hitting.

And as we get to in the end… hitting shorter putts is totally fine.

[Clemsonfan]

Real life has happened the past few weeks since reading these articles (which I had read years ago, and ignored because I was certain I was a swinger). Illness, funerals, weddings and visiting with my almost 2 year-old grandchild. Given these, I have not had the chance to attempt during a round.

For me, I have had eye-opening success with the pop stroke in practice using the Stack putting module as a measuring stick. In my last session, I gained 1.86 strokes versus a tour player! 
 

I have toned down the wristiness. Initially, if I missed I could roll as much as 7’ by on a downhill 15’ putt on a fast green. Watching as many Snedeker videos as I could find, he doesn’t seem to use as much wrist action as I was. Replicating this has helped. 
 

All that said, I am one of the best imitators I know on the putting green. On the course is a different story, as is maintaining it. I was fitted earlier this year for a plumber’s neck TM Spider GTX using a double reverse overlap grip (as opposed to the claw). I immediately improved my putts/GIR by 10% and started recording rounds just over par. After 4-5 rounds I could feel the yips trying to return, and had to revert to the claw. My putting stats immediately returned to my old levels.

When it comes to playing golf, i am a process-oriented player. When it comes to analysis I am focused on results and improving incrementally each practice session. I am in the lowest (read as worst) quintile for putting in my current handicap rating for both total putts and putts/GIR. IMO, putting improvement represents my quickest method to reaching my goals as a player. GIR is one of the best for my handicap, but i don’t really make anything. I almost never come close to matching my score to 95-2(GIR), and find the model that incorporates putting generally matches my score.
 

All that said, I am eager to try on course. I regularly play at a course with a 155 slope that exposes all my weaknesses as a player, which is generally on the green. I should learn quickly if this method can work for me.