would this be worth it?

[Dr. Slice]

its my last lesson that i have paid for and right now my iron game is great and my driving is sub-par, but today i just golfed 5 holes because thats all the time i had and i 3 putted 3 times out of the 5 holes and every time i had GIR.

like my putter didnt even feel good at all, it just felt like my alignment was off and i couldnt take the putter back in a straight line even.

how much help could my instructor give me on putting? would it be worth it?

[JML22]

He can show you some drills and setup things but that takes liek 5 minutes
the rest is up to you to learn distance control.
Having a putter you like helps a lot - i just replaced mine and it is night and day.
But putting is such a personal thing he can only help you so much
you gotta put the work in.... a lot of it too

[Dr. Slice]

yeah i just got a new putter about a month ago and ive had days where i putted great but today was just terrible, i do like the putter though

[daveo2]

I dont know how tall you are but pros usually use a 34" or 35" putter.

[JML22]

What was terrible?
missing like 3 footers? distance control on long putts? yips?

[The Recreational Golfer]

If this is how you normally putt, a lesson or two would make a world of difference. Putting is not that simple. It's a part of the game where little differences in what you do can make big differences in the results you get. It would be more than worth it.

[Shanks A Million]

yeah i just got a new putter about a month ago and ive had days where i putted great but today was just terrible, i do like the putter though

Yeah, but you have a Seemore, which is a different putter than most. Heck, it may be the next putter I try, it's a great putter, but it's got a few unique idiosyncrasies. First off, your putter has the riflescope on it, so you should be able to practice keeping that dot hidden throughout the stroke. But that's not the most important factor. The important thing to know, is that Seemore's have very little loft, you can't quite deloft them like you can most putters. Your hands need to be almost behind the ball at impact.

[chaptowngolfteam]

The important thing to know, is that Seemore's have very little loft, you can't quite deloft them like you can most putters. Your hands need to be almost behind the ball at impact.

Hence the way that zach johnson putts.

[Dr. Slice]

okay so if my hands need to be behind the ball, then i should be able to see some red right?

[senorchipotle]

dude... get your driver straightened out, then your putter. what's the point in hitting good iron shots if you can't put the ball in the fairway off the tee? driver, then putter.

[Kieran123]

I disagree. If he's hitting GIR, but 3 putting, then putting will benefit him more.

[Tomboys]

A good putting lesson never hurt anyone. But, there was a story once given by Harvey Penick. He said a student came to him for a putting lesson complaining that he would often 3 putt. So, he took him to the putting green and watched him putt for a bit. After a while, he told the student to meet him at the range with his irons. The student was perplexed and asked why he needed to be on the range with his irons when his problem was 3 putting. Penick responded by saying that his putting was fine and that the only reason why he was 3 putting was because he wasn't hitting his iron shots close enough to the hole leaving himself extremely long putts to negotiate.

So, I would say if you're often 3 putting from 15 feet or in, then yes, take a putting lesson. However, if you're 3 putting from 30 feet, then work on your iron game first, then your putting.

[Shanks A Million]

A good putting lesson never hurt anyone. But, there was a story once given by Harvey Penick. He said a student came to him for a putting lesson complaining that he would often 3 putt. So, he took him to the putting green and watched him putt for a bit. After a while, he told the student to meet him at the range with his irons. The student was perplexed and asked why he needed to be on the range with his irons when his problem was 3 putting. Penick responded by saying that his putting was fine and that the only reason why he was 3 putting was because he wasn't hitting his iron shots close enough to the hole leaving himself extremely long putts to negotiate.

Penick was a smart man. Too many people place emphasis on short game when ballstriking is the problem. A lot of people on here claim they're 15 handicaps because they have no short game, but if you're not regularly reaching the green in regulation, then of course it's going to seem like your short game needs work. Short game is important, but if your ballstriking sucks, it will seem much more important.

[Kieran123]

Yes but this guy is hitting his greens. Unless he's putting from 40+ feet then he should be 2 putting

[Dr. Slice]

yeah the greens i was playing at were very small, with the flag positions being pretty much in the middle i dont think there would be enough green to have a 30 putt.

i would almost rather be just off and do a bump and run that be stuck with a 20-25 foot putt

[Shanks A Million]

yeah the greens i was playing at were very small, with the flag positions being pretty much in the middle i dont think there would be enough green to have a 30 putt.

Oh, I thought you said you only hit 3 or so greens in 18 holes. But still, my statement was more general.

[Tomboys]

Penick was a smart man. Too many people place emphasis on short game when ballstriking is the problem. A lot of people on here claim they're 15 handicaps because they have no short game, but if you're not regularly reaching the green in regulation, then of course it's going to seem like your short game needs work. Short game is important, but if your ballstriking sucks, it will seem much more important.

I agree whole-heartedly. I shot a 96 this weekend from the back tees in 20mph winds. I used my driver on 14 holes and found the fairway 8 times (@57%). The other drives were just off the fairway in the light rough on the left or right, and I had one OB. I had 34 putts. I was in 3 greenside bunkers and got out in one shot on each with the ball stopping within a 15' radius of the hole. My GIR? One.

Based on the above, do you think this week I'll be working on my driver or short game? Nope, the shots that killed me were my punch iron shots--including the ones to the par 3s. I was woefully short on all of them forcing me to add an extra stroke to each hole to get the ball on the putting surface. And, those shots weren't short because I didn't know the distances. Rather, I was making poor contact resulting in shots that were short and off my target line. So, the agenda for this week are contact drills where I work my way up from chips to pitches to punches to full swing. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that my chipping and putting couldn't be better, they most certainly can. But, the biggest culprit to my nasty weekend score was poor iron play. Bottom line; the squeaky wheel gets the oil. And right now, the squeak from my iron play is deafening.

[Shanks A Million]

I agree whole-heartedly. I shot a 96 this weekend from the back tees in 20mph winds. I used my driver on 14 holes and found the fairway 8 times (@57%). The other drives were just off the fairway in the light rough on the left or right, and I had one OB. I had 34 putts. I was in 3 greenside bunkers and got out in one shot on each with the ball stopping within a 15' radius of the hole. My GIR? One.

It can be hard to make solid contact with a knockdown shot. I practice them fairly regularly. You have to just hold on for dear life to that club.