At what distance to you begin to "expect" to make putts?

[MrKadash]

Planning and expecting are two completely different things. a 10 footer, i always PLAN to make it... but I surely don't EXPECT to make every 10 footer...

Bingo... we have a winner. One goes through the necessary steps to make each and every putt they take. There are too many physical and mental variables to expect to make every putt, imo.

[iacas]

You can't tell me you step over a 50 foot putt expecting to make it.

Yes, I can, because I do.

And it's not about "hyping myself up." If I was "hyping myself up" all the time, I'd invariably crash at some point. As soon as the ball leaves the putter face, my control of the situation ends.

What about an 80 foot putt? 100 ft? 125 ft? What happens when you're playing the old course on some of those double greens and you have 150ft with some fringe in front of you? How can you make such blanket statements?

If you saw my first post in this thread, you'd see it doesn't end. If I have a putter in my hands, I expect to make it. Period. (And no, I don't use my putter to chip out from behind trees.)

By saying that I expect to make every putt, I'm simply displaying confidence in myself and my abilities. I'm not stupid - I know I don't make half of the 30+ footers I face on a regular basis (particularly given this information ) - but "expectations" are about future performance, not past performance. That's the key. For reference, an article I wrote on putting .

[shakogolfer78]

Hey if I'm on the green I'm going to make the putt! When I think this way they all begin to fall. I don't care if its 4 feet or 40 feet its dropping.

[Ben]

My previous answer to this question has changed. I'd originally put something like 12' and in. I'm now going with iacas' point of view. Today I made a birdie putt on 18 for the ages. Solid 35 feet with 1.5' of left to right break. Uphill. Greens were running slow all day and I finally knew the speed. (Yeah on the 18th, way to go me...) Anyway. I read the putt from the back, read it from the front, saw the line, set up and went. I knew it was in from the second it left my putter.

So yeah, I expect to make every putt I look at. I know I can.

[enduro]

My impression of the question is at which point does it turn into a 'lag' putt. I don't "expect" to make it at 15 feet, but I'm certainly giving it a roll to make it. At 30-40 feet I'm technically trying to put it on a line that it will go in, but I'm also trying to minimize mistakes and leave it inside of a 3 foot circle.

This is probably my favorite response and what I agree with. The last line, "trying to give it a chance" is what I go with most. The only thing I expect when putting is that I take due diligence and clean and place my ball, line it up, and do the whole routine. I know if I do this I can expect a positive result. Putting is all about giving your ball a chance. From different ranges I have different expectations. But all in all my only goal when putting is to give the ball a chance.

Those who say they sink 100% of putts from 6' away are delusional. You don't. You probably make 60% of them, tops, no matter how much you practice. Because every 6' putt isn't the same. Greens are different, grain is different, bumps are different, etc. No one makes 100% of 6' putts (or 90%) from 6' out during play. I can imagine people making 100 in a row practicing from the same spot, but not on random greens.

[Brakkus]

Before I read Bob Rotella 3 ft,but I'm with Iacas,every putt,because how do you expect to hit any shot in golf when you don't believe you can do it before hitting the ball.
When I used to play a lot of tennis and snooker it was amazing how many times you could hit that wonder shot.

If you believe you are not good enough then in effect you have programmed the mind to accept this truth.Tell yourself you are a great putter,and you may be surprised how many putts you start to hole.

[Brakkus]

I just remembered the story in putting out of your mind about Nicklaus during a Q&A.He; said that he never missed a putt inside of 5 ft on the 18th on the last hole of any tournament.

A man challenged him and said he saw it at the Senior PGA just that month.Nicklaus denied it.He said he never missed a putt inside 5ft on the last.

After the session this man spoke with Rotella and said why did he deny it.Rotella asks the man what handicap he is and he says I'm a 16.
Rotella says so you want the greatest golfer in the world to think about putting like you do.He got the point.

Of course we miss putts,but the way you think before the putt has more of a bearing on how many miss than you think.

[billysandy]

I expect to make putts of 4 feet but i probably miss 1 or 2 out of 10. Being totally honest.

[Robiola the Monster]

You expect all putts to drop don't you??? You don't stand over the ball saying/thinking "this isn't going to drop" or "i can't expect to make this".

Iacas is right, you know the chances of making the putt maybe low or you think the putt is hard but you still believe you can make the putt & you do everything you can to make the putt.

Negative mind sets are bad for your game.

[Zapticon]

I totally agree with you saying that you should expect to make every put. If you have a negative mind when standing over the putt, you almost certainly won't make it either, is that what you want? No, you of course want the ball to go in. But if you expect every put to go in, you also have to be aware of the fact that you really don't make every put, but to believe that you can when standing over that 50ft put, that's important.

Funny story about Nicklaus Brakkus, and he must have a brilliant psyke. I guess he knew he did not make that 5ft put on the 18th hole, but he made himself forget it and keep saying that he always make those putts, because if you're about to put, and that doubt pops in your head, you're screwed. This may be going of topic but I just want to use Tiger Woods as an example. After making a bad stroke, he takes 10 steps, and then he has forgot about it. That's the kind of mind I really envy, cause I find myself in situations where I really doubt that I will hit a good stroke. Why? Cause I can't focuse having a bad stroke in mind.

So I would recommend all of you to expect to make every put you make, and try to forget the fact that you really don't :P. It' really tricky actually.

[AmenCorner]

6-foot putts are tap-ins?? Dave Peltz accumulated data that show pros only make 50% of 6-foot putts! At 10-feet his data shows pros only making 10%.

I think you are looking at it the wrong way. The idea is that attitude is everything. A good friend of mine played pro baseball and retired a few years ago. He said something very similar. Basically if you don't walk into the ballpark everyday thinking you are the best hitter there, you are doomed to failure. And of course you know that the best hitters fail 7 out of 10 times.

[Fourputt]

6-foot putts are tap-ins?? Dave Peltz accumulated data that show pros only make 50% of 6-foot putts! At 10-feet his data shows pros only making 10%.

This kind of thinking is self-defeating. As others have pointed out, you will never be a decent putter if you approach it with a negative expectation.

[enduro]

I'm just not sure it is helpful to "expect" to make every putt. Expect means to have an expectation which means you assume something to happen with a statistical probability that would make unexpected events an anomaly. But then again, the human mind can delude itself into anything.

I mean, it's a false confidence. I can say I expect to do anything. But you're crazy if you keep expecting it when it doesn't happen enough to become something you expect. I expect to hit a hole in 1 every time I'm on a par 3? That would be insane. I only expect to go through my routine and give myself a good putting opportunity because that's a realistic result of fulfilling my expectations.

I think you can only expect to give yourself a good shot by setting up properly, doing your routine and committing to a shot so as to give the ball a chance. That's all you can expect to do. And I don't see how that's any less negative than having a delusional expectation of making every putt. In fact, I think it's much more positive as it is realistic and something you really can do. You can get through an entire round and be pretty happy with your putting regardless of the results because you know you did everything you could to give yourself the best shot. Some days they drop a couple standard deviations more than you would "expect" and other days they drop less. But that isn't important. I've been just as happy with some "missed" putts as made putts. In fact, I've made putts that I wasn't as happy with as putts I've missed. Making the shot doesn't have to mean making the putt.

"Expecting" to make every putt is false bravado and delusional. Expecting to give the ball a chance is realistic because you can control this.

[wrx_junki]

I only play on trampled muni greens for the most part so I can't really expect putts to go in besides the tap ins. Putts that are sent on line bounce offline or slow down and don't make it.

[fredloves2golf]

If it's in my peripheral vision, I expect to make it... doesn't always happen, of course.

[Leftygolfer]

Expectations and Beliefs are 2 totally different things. I believe and know I can make any putt. Do I expect to make a twenty footer? No, I think I can give it a good chance but that is all you can do. I don't think I have a neg.atitude with my putting. I know I am a pretty good putter. I expect 100% to make anything 5 feet and in. I am super disappointed if I don't. Do I want to give that kind of energy if I miss a 20 footer? No, I think if I putt a good roll, it has a chance, I am happy. A 60 footer, 3 feet is a great putt. I am trying to roll it close and if I give it a chance, great, a foot or two short, no big deal. I will take my par and try to hit it close on the next hole.

[Brakkus]

Actually I think this boils down to what the OP thought about the word expect and what you personally think the word expect means.I think the OP for him means a distance where it's an ironclad certainty it will go in.

If some chose to think of their putting that way then fine.These golfers probably think of long distance putts as lag putting,but others think they can hole any putt.I always putt to make it knowing if the speed is good then the putt has every chance of going in.

To me when a putt does miss,it was a great putt that didn't drop,if it does drop then it was because I played for it.There's no right or wrong if it drops or not,the point was that I putt to hole out,not to get it close.

Playing to get close is playing not to miss.Play to hole it and every putt is a good putt regardless of the result because you played to hole it.

[Greg]

Inside of 5 feet i feel pretty confident, putting is something ive improved a lot on this year. I have made some long ones but they're mostly luck as the ones Ive made were hit very firmly and the hole simply got in the way.