Time to give up golf

[Williamevanl]

And take up putting.
I had the absolute worst half round today. The course I play now is really easy and short *5500 yards* but I three-four and could have five putted on this course! *conceded 5th putt* I think I actually averaged somewhere around three puts per hole. The course has really fast greens that are sloped in really funny ways. I often start with a 4-5 foot breaking putt and then just play up and down the hills. My 5 foot tapped lightly as humanly possible birdie putt misses by .5 inches 'extreme downhill with crazy break' turns into a 12 foot par putt 'uphill have to hit it firm but for the love of god don't end up where you were' then a 4 foot *three putt* bogey and I sometimes miss that.

For whatever reason the rest of my game has improved drastically just from playing every other day but my putting is definitely lagging behind if not stopping completely and telling me to go $@$ myself.

Anyway I shot a 48 and I just realized thats a 39 if I could just average two putts. So the question for you guys that are good, How much time or percentage of the time playing did you have to set aside for putting outside of just playing golf.

[Cut Back....]

I always just try to aim for a 2-putt, but sometimes I have days just like you, where I putt really bad. Whenever i can, I just putt on my carpet, into a cup.

Old saying: "Drive for show, Putt for dough"

[ks8829]

I putted for about 45 minutes today and sometimes practice putting for 1 1/2 hours at a time.

I start by making 3 foot straight putts on level or slightly uphill and focus on my mechanics and make sure that my putts are straight

then I will focus on lag putting at long distance to get use to my alignment and distance control.

remember putting is 50% of your game if you 2 putt every green that is 36 strokes.

I try to keep my putts at 30 or under. the short game around the green for up and down will help bring your putts down when you can one putt for par or birdies.

tips
1) forward hand grip should be on the lineline and not on your fingers
2) the putter and your arms should not have a bend but an extension of your arm.
3) keep the putter low to the ground especially on your back stroke
4) judge distance control with the length of your back stroke and equal distance forward stroke.
5) keep the same tempo stroke
6) light grip pressure
7) putt with your shoulder and not your arms or wrist
8) keep your head behind the ball

[timwalsh300]

My home course plays the same way on a bad day. On a lot of the holes you can lip the ball out and then watch it roll completely off the green. Or come up a few inches short and see it roll right back to where you started. I have always wondered whether or not such designs are really within the spirit of the game.

When I have buckled down and focused on putting for a few weeks I have improved, but I found it's a very perishable skill. You need to keep focusing on it.

But my focus right now is on getting more GIR. When I'm getting closer to 50% GIR I'll worry more about putting. It's just not much fun when you're always dropping and hitting 3 from the tee or chunking your irons, taking par out of the question after only 1 or 2 strokes.

Tim

[DavidFehertysBike]

I putted for about 45 minutes today and sometimes practice putting for 1 1/2 hours at a time.

Pretty good advice, there. Especially holding the putter in your palms, not your fingers. Though i do bend at my elbows some, i feel it gives me more leverage and i dont have to put as much effort into my strokes. You somewhat have to hit agaist your left side when you putt, just like all of your other clubs. This may be a mental image that is particular to me, but i really like to feel the arms and hands swinging on the inside path of the ball. Its probably what is supposed to happen anyway, but i get more of a sentation of the putter head doing the work instead of trying to hit the ball with my hands.

[wachesawgolfer]

Bad putting is the result of bad setup to the line and deccelerating slaps at the ball. You need to be able to see the line to your hole and then square your putter face to that line. I see so many people with a toe up putter which closes the putter face or grounding the putter on a sloping green so that the face opens or closes a hair with the slope and is no longer square to the line. Remember a downhill lie goes right and an uphill goes left of line whether its on the fairway or on the green.

Then people take the club back quick and too far so they have to slow it down through impact which results in a weak slap at the ball which never goes in the hole. Take the club back an inch and through the line a few inches and see how far the ball rolls and work up from there concetrating on hitting the ball on the sweet spot of the putter.

[madcityscott]

My putting went from awful to good recently. The things that helped most were lightening my grip pressure, pointing my thumbs straight down the shaft, and making sure to not move my head (stare at the spot where the ball was).

Take a look at the Winn jumbo putter grip, too. I love it (even though it's a b!tch to get the putter back in my bag...)

http://www.bestbuygolfsupply.com/win...tergripred.htm

[verse214]

tips

To add to this.. when I was in Vegas playing at the Wynn course my caddy gave me the best piece of putting advice ever... this was a few months ago and it turned my putting around ( I still suck though, haven't been playing for too long) When you are putting on greens with a Stimpmeter of 10, for every inch that you take on your back stroke and follow through, the ball will travel 3 feet. So if you want to make a 6 foot putt, you take your putter 2 inches back and 2 inches follow through. Of course you adjust here or there for slope, etc. So essentially you take the length of your putt, divide by 3 and that's how many inches your back stroke and follow through should be. Lower the stimp, the more inches you add.... It works!