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Posted
  umpiremark said:
I have a question for you better (ace) putters out there ...

I'm not certain that I can even explain how I "feel" the distance on a putt. I don't have any measured marks, triggers or anything else that I use. The best I can describe it is I just translate what my eye sees into what my hands feel. That is why for long putts I still have the flagstick tended. My mind seems to "see" the distance better that way than if I'm just looking at the hole. But on shorter putts, 30 feet and less, it's just all feel. I look at the hole the last thing when I'm over the ball and ready to putt. Much like Davis Love, once I've addressed the ball I take one last look at the hole, follow the line with my eyes all the way back to the ball, then I pull the trigger.

I'm not a mechanical player in any aspect of my game, but especially not for putting and chipping. I don't know how I could possibly have such a fixed backswing point as you describe since you have to adjust for different speeds for different courses and the slope and speed changes for every putt. My brain just sort of takes in all the factors, then spits out a stroke that my body tries to execute. It's not always perfect, but I do ok at about 30-32 putts per 18 holes. I had what felt like a bad day putting yesterday on an unfamiliar course and I still just had 33 putts.

Rick

"He who has the fastest cart will never have a bad lie."

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Posted
A trick I like to use sometimes on the course is to imagine what it would feel like to actually try to roll the ball with my hand into the hole -

I even go as far as to mimic rolling the ball in my pre shot routine as I stand behind the ball. Its a very muted motion that most probably don't even notice, but I'm visualizing rolling the ball to the hole - it can help me with the line as well -

it was in some book I read, I think one of Rotella's where he described having someone who claimed to have no feel flip him a ball with their hands - and then noted how the person didn't think about how far they had to bring their hand back to make the throw the correct distance... they just did it with natural athletic instinct, and if you asked them how far they had to take the ball back to make the throw they'd have no idea.

By pretending to roll the ball with my hands, I'm trying to recreate this feeling.

its a quick fix I'd recommend trying if you feel like you have 'no feel' on the greens, heck you could even find a empty practice green sometime and try actually rolling the ball to the hole to prove to yourself that you do actually have feel
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Posted
I am similiar to Bigboy. I imagine making an underhand throw at the hole. I bring the club back to a fairly consistant point and accelerate through the ball. Mental ticks and measurements leaves a lot of room for error imo.

Posted
When you are putting before a round on the practice green, take note then of how far your back swing and forward swing are for certain distance putts. Using a standard back and forward swing distance for every 15 footer wouldn't work well from one course to another since it will depend on green speed course to course.

Posted
  umpiremark said:
KS8829 ... thanks ... I believe (note: believe) my tempo is pretty much the same - back and through - for all putts, just the length of back and length of through changes. My point was I don't know how far to go back for "x" feet of distance ...

I am no expert, my putting has improved dramatically recently. I got the Phil Mickelson DVD's and here are a couple things I took away that really helped me.

1. Continue your hands to the target. Don't break your wrists in the follow through. Your arms and the putter face must travel at the same speed through the target. Try really following through exaggerate it. 2.) You mentioned your follow through length determines the put length. I find that not to be true. It is back swing and effort through the ball. If your touch is poor I would keep the backswing length constant and only vary effort through the ball. Again continue your hands towards the target. Good luck.
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Posted


You get the idea I guess. Put out some strings and practice putting between each. Vary which you start with. Forget about the line, you just want to get between the strings.

When I hit a putt short or long I know it's because my mind was not focused on the distance. If I'm not confident my line is perfect and think about it, I can't focus on speed and I'm lucky if I get it right. Find your desired line, adress the ball and make sure you are on the line. From there, forget about it completely. Look at the hole a couple of times before you pull the trigger. If your line is good, it should end up pretty close.

It cannot be a mechanical swing, that is impossible, at least without some measurement of how far you pull the clubhead back. Feel is the key, and focus on the right things.

Also, don't try to speed up the arms. Let the length of the backswing and only the weight of the clubhead on the way down determine how far the ball goes. Just let the clubhead do the work for you and you will develop better feel.

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Posted
I tried to apply something similar to my putting and it was horrible, for me at least, especially on the course. Do you know if they were talking about doing this in practice or playing?

I haven't read Zen Golf (maybe I should - I am not a pariticularly good putter). However I am pretty confident of two related things.

1) The mechanics that "I just use" in throwing a ball underhanded to someone is "naturally correct". Just focus on doing it and it will mostly do well. 2) The mechanics that "I just use" when putting (or hitting a full shot for that matter) is not "naturally correct". Just focusing on doing it will not generate anything close to good results. What generates good results is not what is natural (for me, anyway). Maybe I am wrong in my own perceptions of myself, or maybe I am somewhat unique in this regard. But it seems to me that there is some significance to this "perceived fact". dave ps. I have done extensive work with both arc strokes and more "straight back/straight through" type strokes. It doesn't seem to have a big effect on my 'observation of myself'.

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Posted
I have been putting REAL good as of late, even though I am sure there are a ton of flaws in my putting stroke. I feel that if I step up to a put with full confidence that I am going to stroke it well, I do. Not all of them fall, but it is a vast improvement. Neway, I still recommend the book.

- Shane

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Posted
  umpiremark said:
KS8829 ... thanks ... I believe (note: believe) my tempo is pretty much the same - back and through - for all putts, just the length of back and length of through changes. My point was I don't know how far to go back for "x" feet of distance ...

I think this will change day by day on the course you play and each day if your tempo is the same you will judge the distance by how far you take the club in reference to the location of your feet. I would also watch different pros on TV and see how each one guages their distance on their putter backstroke

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