I'm a horrible putter!!!!

[ks8829]

I saw Steve Stricker on the golf channel "Playing With The Pros" and he suggest that you read greens by looking at the hole between you and the ball and visualize where the ball needs to enter the cup to go in, so you are working back from the hole to the ball.

It is also helpful to view the putt from the low side and of course from behind the ball.

Pick the speed you need the putt to go and allowing for slope up or down to determine how much gravity will effect your putt. Short of the hole for downhill putts and looking pass the hole for uphill putts to determine the distance you need to hit the putt.

With the speed and reading the break you need to visualize what the putts is going to do, remembering that putts break less on up hill putts and more on down hill putts and with some practice (lot of practice) you can putt like Loren Roberts, Ben Crenshaw or Tiger Woods!

[ctyankee]

I find it interesting that in three pages of threads on "Playing Tips" there are only four threads on putting (something like 4 threads out of 54 posts ... not counting the locked threads). My point being that we all know that putting is the biggest single factor in the game yet many of us choose to work on other things rather than the most important thing.

One tip is there is a difference between a four foot putt and a four foot putt under pressure of a match. A guy that never pulls a putt now pulls a putt and is amazed at that.

A couple things that help. Don't concede putts you don't want to take. Let's face it, people concede short putts because they really don't want anything to do with short putts, missing them and the embarrassment that comes from others knowing what you know ... that you choked. So people concede putts hoping that others will concede theirs. Heck, by me it has become almost an epidemic that someone will backhand a putt to that hole ... as if everyone doesn't know that's code for 'you don't want to make that putt.' So, when you get into a real match, with real rules they choke all over their shoes and act surprised about why. So, the thing you really need to get match tough in your casual rounds. Make the putts.

Find a pressure relaxing thing to do. Some tap straight down with the putter other strum with their fingers along the grip ... whatever helps.

A drill that really helps is putting five balls around a practice hole and doing this until you hole ALL five of the putts. Start in and then move farther away from the hole. Believe me, if you don't cheat making that LAST putt will put significant pressure on your putting without another soul in sight. Making them will give you great confidence during a round of golf.

[sonicblue]

IWith the speed and reading the break you need to visualize what the putts is going to do, remembering that putts break less on up hill putts and more on down hill putts

Erroneous! The rule of thumb is quite the opposite. We all know that you can putt 'through a break' with extra speed, and similarly, a putt that loses speed will tend to take an exaggerated break (e.g., a putt with not enough speed will fall rapidly to the low side).

You can extrapolate this to uphill/downhill as well. A downhill putt will maintain its speed, thus taking out some break, so a downhill putt will 'hold its line' longer. Conversely, an uphill putt, because it will tend to lose speed, will have an exaggerated break. Now, not that you can't hit an uphill putt like Zuback and ram it through all break, and you can certainly tap a downhill putt way too softly and it may break across the hole as well. However, all things equal, if you had two putts where the left/right 'tilt' was exactly equal, you would play less break for the downhill one and more break for the uphill one.

[ctyankee]

Now, not that you can't hit an uphill putt like Zuback and ram it through all break, and you can certainly tap a downhill putt way too softly and it may break across the hole as well. However, all things equal, if you had two putts where the left/right 'tilt' was exactly equal, you would play less break for the downhill one and more break for the uphill one.

There is much to what you said but as many golfers tend to putt more aggressively on an uphill putt then a downhill putt it will be hit with more pace thus holding its line better. So I question the importance of the 'all things being equal' factor as things aren't equal.

Moving to a different issue, I did hear on the Golf Channel someone saying (Haney, I think) that 80 percent (or something like it) of long breaking putts are under-read by amateurs with the ball ending on the down side of the hole. I don't know about that percentage but I would agree that most big breaking putts are under-read for break. YMMV.

[denver_nuggs_15]

Erroneous! The rule of thumb is quite the opposite. We all know that you can putt 'through a break' with extra speed, and similarly, a putt that loses speed will tend to take an exaggerated break (e.g., a putt with not enough speed will fall rapidly to the low side).

I remember reading Golf Magazine and Pelz said that downhillers break more than uphillers.

[sonicblue]

I remember reading Golf Magazine and Pelz said that downhillers break more than uphillers.

I tried to search online, but I'm almost positive that it was a Pelz thing I was reading that said downhillers tend to hold their line. Regardless, I've seen it in practice, I've seen downhill putts seemingly 'resist' taking a break. I'm going to try to search harder for the Pelz article...

edit: I found this: http://davepelz.com/golf_magazine_pe...ort-putts-easy , which also published here: http://www.golf.com/golf/instruction...59682,00.html#

Try this: On fast, downhill, sliding putts, take the high road. This means playing extra (maximum) break, but by using die-at-the-hole speed your putts will never race past the hole and leave difficult come-backers. On uphill breaking putts, take the low road. Jamming these putts to the hole allows you to play less break without fear of going too far past if you miss (although it will produce occasional lip-outs).

He doesn't say here that downhillers WILL break more. My interpretation, he's saying that, b/c he's recommending the LEAST speed possible for a downhill putt - that is, die it at the hole - you have to allow for the fact that, if you read the break properly, the ball will take that break the most as it dies, so you have to die it on the high side; putts don't generally die into the cup on the low side. Conversely, for uphill putts, b/c they won't run away, you can be aggressive, hit it hard, and take the break out, making it less important for you to have read the break properly.

edit2: http://davepelz.page12.net/golf_maga...up-for-success

If you’re having trouble making breaking putts, check these four facts of putting: The slower the green speed, the less a putt will break The faster the green speed, the more a putt will break The more uphill, the less a putt will break The more downhill, the more a putt will break

I stand corrected. However, in practice, I would have never guessed this was the case, and am still very curious about the physics because it does seem to contradict some conventional wisdom. If you can hit a ball hard (fast) to take break out, how do faster greens break more? Interesting, no?

[MackJL06]

I think I heard this on Playing Lessons but I dont know who it was with...What I do is look at the hole from behind my ball and imagine that somebody dumped a whole bunch of water or turned on a hose right at the pin...then I think "Where is the water going?" This makes me use my imagination and stop trying to find a line all the time and just understand the break...It works for me but I'm really not sure how well I explained it.

[sonicblue]

I think I heard this on Playing Lessons but I dont know who it was with...What I do is look at the hole from behind my ball and imagine that somebody dumped a whole bunch of water or turned on a hose right at the pin...then I think "Where is the water going?" This makes me use my imagination and stop trying to find a line all the time and just understand the break...It works for me but I'm really not sure how well I explained it.

I use that same image! I think it works great, although it really just tells you direction of break, not the amount. I agree, though, it takes the technical aspect out and reduces it to a feel thing, and most people will generally tell you that, when you're playing well, it just 'feels' right, and I think that goes for putting. You're 'seeing' the lines and 'feeling' the speed, not 'I calculated the break as 2.75" outside right," :lol

[mcman1]

Keep your head steady and rock your shoulders...as if there was a beam across them and you don't want it to fall off.

[Danattherock]

Lots of good advice before me. I suggest buying Phil Mickelson's new 2 dvd set. Great instructional dvds and the putting part was more than helpful for me. You can order them on Amazon, The Golf Warehouse, etc.... Great dvd set. Putting and short game.