Dr. Sasho Mackenzie on Putting

[saevel25]

I really enjoyed this podcast interview with Sasho MacKenzie (co-founder of the Stack System). 

1082: The Science of Putting with Dr. Sasho MacKenzie

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Podcast Episode · No Laying Up - Golf Podcast · 10/15/2025 · 1h 30m

Some key points he discussed. 

1. Speed control is the most important part of putting. One thing he brought up was that if you mishit a putt, it doesn't really influence the line or speed that much. Like 1" over 100". 1" over an 8-FT putt. 
2. He believes strongly in heads-up putting. His studies on this show that majority of golfers should be looking at the hole when putting. Though he made the caveat that on straighter putts it is less significant, but on breaking putts, heads up putting is better. Primarily because people lose that reference if they are looking at the ball. All other sports, where you are moving an object towards a target, the person is never looking at the object. They are focusing on the target. He said that people don't really lose their mechanics either. 
3. He believes in random practice for putting. You shouldn't just drop 100 golf balls at 15-FT.  
4. How you set up is very important. If you set up a few degrees open right, you will hit it a few degrees right. 

A lot of other stuff as well. 

[Shindig]

I will add this to my podcast queue, will probably listen during a morning walk tomorrow.  Thanks for letting me know about this. 

[iacas]

It's just his 2015 talk, basically. Good to hear, but not much new info.

[colin007]

3 hours ago, saevel25 said:

 

1. Speed control is the most important part of putting. One thing he brought up was that if you mishit a putt, it doesn't really influence the line or speed that much. Like 1" over 100". 1" over an 8-FT putt. 

How does that work? If I mishit a putt it might be 15 feet short or 15 feet long

[2-PuttMcGee]

GREAT stuff! Thanks for sharing 🙏

[saevel25]

3 hours ago, colin007 said:

How does that work? If I mishit a putt it might be 15 feet short or 15 feet long

The putter is just a piece of metal. Ive hit putts off the initials on my putter face (way towards the heel), and it ends up a tap in. You shouldn't see 15-Ft difference. 

[Clemsonfan]

A couple of years ago, I saw a video of Dr. MacKenzie espousing the virtues of heads-up putting. I practiced for weeks. Outdoors with both clock drills and random distance putting; indoors through gates. I was never as proficient with the clock drills and gate drills as I was looking at the ball, but not far off. Lag putting was awesome, and particularly so with putts that broke in the last 5’-10’ of the hole.
 

Decided to try it in my next round with two friends. First hole I was putting for birdie from 13’ and hit the putt fat! Left it 7’ short and bogeyed the hole. Haven’t tried it again during a round. I love the idea of putting this way but that memory looms large. I am a good athlete with good hand-eye coordination so that result was a surprise- at least to me. I do use a claw grip after developing the yips in 2016, but don’t think that was an issue at that time. I don’t get to play very much, and very little this year, but I would like to putt this way because it feels more athletic. Good luck 🍀 if you pursue! 

[Shindig]

I just heard the episode this morning.  Well, I'm revisiting a lot of putting anyway, maybe I should try it this way?  Undecided at the moment.

[colin007]

On 10/17/2025 at 7:38 PM, saevel25 said:

The putter is just a piece of metal. Ive hit putts off the initials on my putter face (way towards the heel), and it ends up a tap in. You shouldn't see 15-Ft difference. 

Yeah I think I misunderstood, I meant hitting it too hard or too soft, not mishitting it on the face

 

Anyways my challenge is that I've lost most of my field of vision, about 80% is gone, so if I look at the stick then I can't see the ball at all, and I know y'all would say that you don't see the ball either but you actually do, it's in your peripheral vision, but I don't have any vision there so it's kind of unnerving for me to take that strike looking at the stick