Aim for the back of the cup

[golfaddiction]

Last time I played, I hit almost every putt short. When I go out tomorrow, I'm going to think to myself "aim for the back of the cup." In basketball, shooters always aim for the back of the rim, so I figure maybe using the same mentality will help my putting.

Does anyone else do this? Are there other things you guy think about when swinging the putter?

[Mjohn]

I usually aim for a spot a few inches in front of the cup. I would imagine you might put to much speed on the ball. Try both and see what works best!

[uttexas]

I think aiming for the ball to drop in at the back of the cup is good for uphill putts.

[Leftygolfer]

What kind of putt? Anything inside of 20 that isn't a dangerous putt I try to hit it around 18 inches past the hole.

[Gibby]

Putting is something that you have to be able to adjust to round to round. Speed of greens is a huge factor. You might find yourself hitting a lot of putts long tomorrow. Just learn to adjust after the first couple of holes.

And btw, no one that's good at basketball aims for the back of the rim...you aim to make it, not clang off the back. You either aim at a spot off the glass, or you aim to make it nothing but net.

-Gibby

[Rexx]

Concur with Gibby about basketball... just horrible advice. I think its point was to give focus to your shot, since your real target is some empty space, but still it's a bit odd to have a target that if you hit, you'll miss. For golf, whatever works... I guess. However, the back of the cup advice seems only to be relevant to straight putts -- and probably only shorter putts of less than 5 or 6 feet. The idea of having enough speed to roll a foot or so past is probably better. But I'm a terrible putter, so...

[Mrd19abhs]

Putting is something that you have to be able to adjust to round to round. Speed of greens is a huge factor. You might find yourself hitting a lot of putts long tomorrow. Just learn to adjust after the first couple of holes.

obviously youve never played basketball before competeivly or taken any camps or clinics. ask any basketball coach what they want you aiming for when you shoot and they will all tell you the back of the rim. so before you go off and tell ppl they dont know what they are talking about make sure that first you know what your talking about.

[sacm3bill]

obviously youve never played basketball before competeivly or taken any camps or clinics. ask any basketball coach what they want you aiming for when you shoot and they will all tell you the back of the rim. so before you go off and tell ppl they dont know what they are talking about make sure that first you know what your talking about.

As a long time basketball player, I agree with you Mrd19abhs. May not work for everyone, but it's a commonly used and taught technique.

[Jay-Bird]

First I assess the speed, then I think about the line.
I aim for a spot behind the cup - on the line according to speed. I am rolling the ball to that point - if the putt is true, the ball falls into the cup.
Nothing worse than having a ball stop short when it's on the right line.

[iacas]

Concur with Gibby about basketball... just horrible advice. I think its point was to give focus to your shot, since your real target is some empty space, but still it's a bit odd to have a target that if you hit, you'll miss.

You can't miss if you hit the back of the rim with the middle of the ball. Since the ball's going downward it HAS to go in. No ifs, ands, or buts.

As for the 17" or 18" past the hole, that's bunk too. Dave Pelz knows it and Geoff Mangum doesn't like that he hasn't ever come out and admitted that's junk science... I putt with what I feel is the ideal speed for any given putt. Ideally every putt will just fall over the edge without hitting the back edge at all. More putts fall in if you get the weight just right... But yeah, you've gotta get the putt to the hole. If I'm leaving putts short, I just consciously adjust my feel to remind myself to give it a little bit more...

[Rexx]

Anyways, back to putting... why is the Dave Pelz stuff bunk? I don't have much opinion either way, and I've never seen much argument against it until now. I'm guessing he's not advocating 17" in every situation (e.g. uphill/slower greens would be less than 17" and downhill/faster greens would be more than 17" inches), but I've only seen the abridged version in articles.

[B-Con]

When it comes to putting, I don't like trying to find just the right amount of power to have the ball just drop into the cup, I prefer to aim to hit a little long. Not necessarily 18 inches long, but maybe 4-6. First, if I mis-power the putt (which is very plausible) short, then I have no buffer and I'm guaranteed not to make it. Second, there can be so many little hiccups in the ground around the hole that are practically impossible to account for. A ball that's just barely rolling can veer 60* off course for the last two inches of the roll. A ball moving with a bit more speed is more likely to fight over those little hiccups and still hold it's path to within a reasonable error margin.

That said, I should try looking at different points on the cup to aim at. Currently, I don't pick any specific spot, which is probably a bad idea.

obviously youve never played basketball before competeivly or taken any camps or clinics. ask any basketball coach what they want you aiming for when you shoot and they will all tell you the back of the rim. so before you go off and tell ppl they dont know what they are talking about make sure that first you know what your talking about.

As another long-time basketball player, this is definitely true. You usually either hear to "aim for the back of the rim" or you hear to "focus your eyes the back of the rim when you shoot". Same idea either way.

[groovezilla79]

My rule of thinking has always been simple:

1.) Get it there. It won't have a chance to go in if you don't
2.) If you're putting a slider, don't miss it on the low side. Again, no chance to go in.

I think if you worry about how far past the hole your putt will go if you miss, (18" or whatever) you're in the wrong mind set to being with. Think about and feel what it would take to get it in the hole, not past the hole.