Short Putts and Partial Wedges Are Killing My Game

[wetzel1592]

Wanted to get some thoughts on struggles I've been having with my game. 

1. Short putts - I'm a pretty good lag putter but when I get closer (10 feet and in) the ball just seems to come off dead, quickly trail off and miss on the low side. I feel like it's just a lack of acceleration causing the miss but wanted to see if it could possibly be something else. If it is an acceleration issue, any drills to help with this? 

2.  Partial Wedges (50 - 85 yards) - Any time I don't have a full wedge shot I struggle to make solid contact. 85% of my misses is the dreaded skull that barely gets a foot off the ground. The other 15% of my misses I'm laying the sod over the ball and it goes no where. Even when I practice these shots on the range, I'll hit some decent then the thin shot seems to come out of nowhere. Then I focus on staying down through the ball and hit one heavy. I do go through times where I hit these shots decent but I never have been able to get rid of these misses. I'm at a point of analysis paralysis and just need some thoughts on what to do to get these shots back on track. 

[Ty_Webb]

40 minutes ago, wetzel1592 said:

Wanted to get some thoughts on struggles I've been having with my game. 

1. Short putts - I'm a pretty good lag putter but when I get closer (10 feet and in) the ball just seems to come off dead, quickly trail off and miss on the low side. I feel like it's just a lack of acceleration causing the miss but wanted to see if it could possibly be something else. If it is an acceleration issue, any drills to help with this? 

2.  Partial Wedges (50 - 85 yards) - Any time I don't have a full wedge shot I struggle to make solid contact. 85% of my misses is the dreaded skull that barely gets a foot off the ground. The other 15% of my misses I'm laying the sod over the ball and it goes no where. Even when I practice these shots on the range, I'll hit some decent then the thin shot seems to come out of nowhere. Then I focus on staying down through the ball and hit one heavy. I do go through times where I hit these shots decent but I never have been able to get rid of these misses. I'm at a point of analysis paralysis and just need some thoughts on what to do to get these shots back on track. 

With the putts, are they coming up short of the hole? Or just missing low side, but going 10-15 inches past the hole? Generally speaking I think long putting is about speed control, while short putting is more about start line. Both matter to both types obviously, but I think that's where the more weight lives. If you're struggling on short putts but not long ones, I'd imagine that's more likely a starting line issue. Might be read or might be aim or might be stroke. If you're leaving the short ones short of the hole, then hit them harder. You don't want to be accelerating into impact. Just make sure your back swing is long enough for the speed you're hitting it.

For the wedges, I'll be interested to hear what people say because I have similar issues sometimes. Last fall, hit a good drive on a fairly short par 4. Had 60 yards in. Hit my second. Then had 50 yards in because I laid the sod over it. Then I had 40 yards back from the other side because I over corrected and bladed it over the green. Happens to the best of us 🙂 

[iacas]

Sorry for the very quick responses… busy night here, but I wanted to add quickly to what @Ty_Webb said:

2 hours ago, wetzel1592 said:

I feel like it's just a lack of acceleration

2 hours ago, wetzel1592 said:

2.  Partial Wedges (50 - 85 yards) - Any time I don't have a full wedge shot I struggle to make solid contact. 85% of my misses is the dreaded skull that barely gets a foot off the ground. The other 15% of my misses I'm laying the sod over the ball and it goes no where. Even when I practice these shots on the range, I'll hit some decent then the thin shot seems to come out of nowhere. Then I focus on staying down through the ball and hit one heavy. I do go through times where I hit these shots decent but I never have been able to get rid of these misses. I'm at a point of analysis paralysis and just need some thoughts on what to do to get these shots back on track. 

Control the distance of the swing by controlling the length of the backswing, not the speed with which you hit it.

[wetzel1592]

3 hours ago, Ty_Webb said:

With the putts, are they coming up short of the hole? Or just missing low side, but going 10-15 inches past the hole? Generally speaking I think long putting is about speed control, while short putting is more about start line. Both matter to both types obviously, but I think that's where the more weight lives. If you're struggling on short putts but not long ones, I'd imagine that's more likely a starting line issue. Might be read or might be aim or might be stroke. If you're leaving the short ones short of the hole, then hit them harder. You don't want to be accelerating into impact. Just make sure your back swing is long enough for the speed you're hitting it.

The putts are ending up right by the hole. Definitely not enough energy to get 10 - 15 inches past the hole. It’s almost like I’m hitting a long lag putt and trying to die it by the hole.

One of the biggest things I’ve noticed is that when I hit these putts they rarely feel solid and come off dead. I’ve done the putter gate drill so I feel confident that I’m hitting it near the middle. 

 

[iacas]

21 minutes ago, wetzel1592 said:

The putts are ending up right by the hole. Definitely not enough energy to get 10 - 15 inches past the hole. It’s almost like I’m hitting a long lag putt and trying to die it by the hole.

One of the biggest things I’ve noticed is that when I hit these putts they rarely feel solid and come off dead. I’ve done the putter gate drill so I feel confident that I’m hitting it near the middle.

This is the extent of my hard sale: Clarion isn't too far from Erie.

[wetzel1592]

22 minutes ago, iacas said:

This is the extent of my hard sale: Clarion isn't too far from Erie.

Haha. I’ve made the drive before. I’ll probably be up next spring to see you again. 

[iacas]

6 minutes ago, wetzel1592 said:

Haha. I’ve made the drive before. I’ll probably be up next spring to see you again. 

Yeah, but are you still using the Edel?

Even if you're hitting the gate, are you hitting it really low on the face?

Look at some of the putting videos at: 

30-Day Practice Plan - Golf Evolution

[p1n9183]

I'm exactly in the same train as you. Short putting is the worst of my game, is all about starting line and mine is pretty bad. I have really good lagging so speed is not the issue. Work at your home with your putt and try to hit a coin from 3,6,9 feet. Over and over again. If that is not the issue, then you probably are miss reading putts and you need to start giving them more break. 

I also struggle with partial wedges, my scoring average from 50-75 is worst than 75-100 so I tend to lay up to the 100 mark if I don't reach the green.  

[wetzel1592]

17 hours ago, iacas said:

Yeah, but are you still using the Edel?

Even if you're hitting the gate, are you hitting it really low on the face?

Yes I’m still gaming the Edel. 

I’ll have to see where I’m striking it on the face. I’m assuming if it’s low on the face my ball position is creeping too far forward?

[iacas]

2 hours ago, wetzel1592 said:

Yes I’m still gaming the Edel. 

I’ll have to see where I’m striking it on the face. I’m assuming if it’s low on the face my ball position is creeping too far forward?

Or you're just lifting up, or hitting up too much but still missing the ground, etc.

Record a video.

[wetzel1592]

I worked on the drills for the three putting days. After using the metronome to groove my ideal timing and teaming that with the drill of having a backswing equal to my follow through, my strike with the putter has really improved. 

I also worked on the drills for pitching by spending significant time letting the club drop and rotating through. While my strikes did improve, I still bladed a decent number of shots. Any other drill recommendations to work on? I have a history of letting my head fall back on these shots and I'm thinking this may be creeping its way back into my game. 

[saevel25]

28 minutes ago, wetzel1592 said:

I worked on the drills for the three putting days. After using the metronome to groove my ideal timing and teaming that with the drill of having a backswing equal to my follow through, my strike with the putter has really improved. 

Glad to hear it has improved. 

I do not think I am a fan of a metronome. Varying the length of the stroke, and how fast you make your putting stroke will give you touch. If you try to make every stroke to the same beat as a metronome, then it is limiting. 

I do think a good drill is setting out a visual or physical aid to train putting backstroke and forward stroke length. I think it is good from a technique standpoint and hitting the putt optimally (not accelerating). 

37 minutes ago, wetzel1592 said:

Any other drill recommendations to work on? I have a history of letting my head fall back on these shots and I'm thinking this may be creeping its way back into my game. 

First, make sure you do not mix up techniques. Chips and pitches are two separate things. 

The link @iacas posted above has some good chipping and pitching videos. 

If I had to guess, I would say weight is too far back, or it does not stay forward through impact. Ball might be too far back in the stance. Better pivot through impact. Usually if you stop turning, you will flip the club early. Pitching does have a release, but lack of proper pivot impacts low point control. 

 

 

[iacas]

23 minutes ago, saevel25 said:

I do not think I am a fan of a metronome. Varying the length of the stroke, and how fast you make your putting stroke will give you touch. If you try to make every stroke to the same beat as a metronome, then it is limiting.

I'm a big fan of the metronome.

I forget what my actual numbers were, but something like 0.59 seconds: my backswings, regardless of the length of the putt, is 0.59 seconds (or 0.72 or whatever the actual number was).

The period of a pendulum is determined by the length of the pendulum.

So, to hit a putt harder, you take it back farther… in the same amount of time. So you have to swing it faster, and thus, it comes through faster. The putter head has to travel faster to travel farther in the same amount of time.

Everyone tends to have a "beat" that they like. For some it's slower, and they have to make bigger backswings to make a putt go the same distance as someone like Brandt Snedeker.

23 minutes ago, saevel25 said:

The link @iacas posted above has some good chipping and pitching videos.

It also has a metronome IIRC. 😄 

[WillieT]

On 9/18/2024 at 10:18 PM, iacas said:

Yeah, but are you still using the Edel?

Even if you're hitting the gate, are you hitting it really low on the face?

Look at some of the putting videos at: 

30-Day Practice Plan - Golf Evolution

Was going to chime in on Erik’s videos - they were and are solid teaching on better putting.  

[Ty_Webb]

12 minutes ago, iacas said:

I'm a big fan of the metronome.

I forget what my actual numbers were, but something like 0.59 seconds: my backswings, regardless of the length of the putt, is 0.59 seconds (or 0.72 or whatever the actual number was).

The period of a pendulum is determined by the length of the pendulum.

So, to hit a putt harder, you take it back farther… in the same amount of time. So you have to swing it faster, and thus, it comes through faster. The putter head has to travel faster to travel farther in the same amount of time.

Everyone tends to have a "beat" that they like. For some it's slower, and they have to make bigger backswings to make a putt go the same distance as someone like Brandt Snedeker.

It also has a metronome IIRC. 😄 

I believe that 76 bpms is the tour average (or somewhere around that). I think that's from taking it back to impact. I'm not 100% sure of exactly how it works since a typical pendulum is already moving when it starts going back. The putter on the throughswing ideally would work pretty much exactly like a pendulum though. To get the exact same time period from starting the putter back to impact, you'll have to accelerate it a lot faster on a longer putt right at the beginning until it gets to the speed it needs to be to make the putter move the right distance. Probably all way too much to think about while actually hitting a putt, but bottom line is I agree entirely that a metronome is a good thing to use if you're working on your putting tempo.

As to the split between backstroke and downstroke, the tour tempo lot said 2:1 is the ideal. 3:1 for full swing. 2:1 for short game and putting. Whenever I go on a SAM I am about 1.7:1 I think and I can't for the life of me get my backstroke to be slow enough to get it to 2:1. Ho hum.

Last comment - if you do have a perfect pendulum putting stroke and you have the ball slightly forward of the center of your stance, then the putter should be just starting to rise again at impact and with the way that pendulum motion works, it should be very slightly decelerating at impact, which I believe someone may have suggested once 😛 

[saevel25]

2 hours ago, iacas said:

So, to hit a putt harder, you take it back farther… in the same amount of time. So you have to swing it faster, and thus, it comes through faster. The putter head has to travel faster to travel farther in the same amount of time.

Everyone tends to have a "beat" that they like. For some it's slower, and they have to make bigger backswings to make a putt go the same distance as someone like Brandt Snedeker.

It also has a metronome IIRC. 😄 

Ok, that makes sense. I was trying to wrap my head around that concept when I was writing my post. 

 

[Clemsonfan]

I used the Puttronome putting app for years! Highly recommended it and really cleaned up inconsistency in my tempo. My old stroke was always way too slow which leads to an overly long backstroke and steering.

[Herbie]

Good morning, on close wedge play (less than full club yardage)I have found that resorting to my seven, eight or nine iron is most helpful. If there’s no trap or other obstacle between me and the green I find that a low soft shot with a nice roll out is almost as reliable as a put 🙂. 
 

it certainly took some practice for me to get my distances right but it is quite reliable, I have found.