Measuring First Putt Length

[Jack]

Do you measure it? If you do... how do you do it? Pace it out or just look at it and take your best guess? Do you measure before or after you have taken the putt?

The reason I ask is that I am interested in recording this stat, but I am not sure how it will affect my pre putt routine. I have just finished reading "Putting Out of Your Mind" by Dr. Bob Rotella and my putting has dramatically improved now that I just step up to the ball with a consistent routine and focus on just getting the ball in the hole. I don't think about the length of the putt, nor do I need to. I just let my brain work it out and stroke the ball.

I wonder if I start thinking about the distance of the putt by measuring it I might not be able to just focus on the hole anymore and stroke it freely and confidently. Which, if you have read the book, you will understand is a key part of Bob's method.

[iacas]

We have this stat in Scorecard and I just estimate. Count your paces to the second putt and you should be awfully close to getting the number right.

[Jack]

Yep, Scorecard was really the reason I asked. If I make the purchase I would like to make use of all the features.

Pacing to the next putt sounds like a good idea. I was interested to see whether others made measurement a part of their routine or not.

[iacas]

  Jack said:

Originally Posted by Jack

Yep, Scorecard was really the reason I asked. If I make the purchase I would like to make use of all the features.

Pacing to the next putt sounds like a good idea. I was interested to see whether others made measurement a part of their routine or not.

FWIW, I do, because it's really just one of five stats you write down, and one of those is your score. :-) Just guess. Even if you're off five feet on a 30-foot putt it's not going to affect your stats much.

[596]

Interesting, I've not read Rotellas book, that I don't measure the length of putt, nor do I even estimate it.  Before its my turn to putt, I stand near my ball and stare at the back of the hole.  My mind now knows where the hole is as I line up the putt.  I then take 3 practice swings while, again, staring at the hole.  Then I just choose the line and putt away without much more thought as my mind knows the distance to the hole.  Seems to work for me.

[Ignorant]

  596 said:

Originally Posted by 596

Interesting, I've not read Rotellas book, that I don't measure the length of putt, nor do I even estimate it.  Before its my turn to putt, I stand near my ball and stare at the back of the hole.  My mind now knows where the hole is as I line up the putt.  I then take 3 practice swings while, again, staring at the hole.  Then I just choose the line and putt away without much more thought as my mind knows the distance to the hole.  Seems to work for me.

It's all about the feeling ;-)

[B-Con]

A long stride for me measures almost exactly 3 feet, and the length of my shoes is almost one foot, so pacing off distances is not difficult. Still, I don't do it for my first putts because getting to the green is not my strength, and by the time I'm there I usually feel rushed to start assessing my line of putt and aligning my shot. I shouldn't do this, though. I'm going to try to start measuring my first putt this year. Especially now that I actually hit a couple GIR per round, it'll be helpful.

[jamo]

My stride is about a yard, so I use that to pace off yardages and get first putt distance.

  B-Con said:

Originally Posted by B-Con

A long stride for me measures almost exactly 3 feet, and the length of my shoes is almost one foot, so pacing off distances is not difficult. Still, I don't do it for my first putts because getting to the green is not my strength, and by the time I'm there I usually feel rushed to start assessing my line of putt and aligning my shot. I shouldn't do this, though. I'm going to try to start measuring my first putt this year. Especially now that I actually hit a couple GIR per round, it'll be helpful.

It's a really good stat to measure. I find it the Up and Down First Putt stat especially helpful (because it shows you whether you are/aren't getting up and down because of your chipping or your putting), and the GIR First Putt stat is a great measure of ballstriking.

What's funny to note is that in my stats, I actually made a higher percentage of putts from 16-20 feet than from 11-15 feet this year. Go figure.

[The Recreational Golfer]

If you're sly about it, you can step off the length of your first putt from the ball to the hole while the other players in your group are getting ready to putt, and they will never know what you are doing nor be disturbed by it, and you won't hold anybody up.

With a little practice, you can learn quite precisely what a three-foot putt and a six-foot putt look like on the ground, in order to accurately interpolate the other distances within these ranges.

I haven't seen Scorecard, but page 187 of The Search For the Perfect Golf Swing has a chart that shows the leave from any given distance, and the number of putts to get down from any given distance. With a little ingenuity, you can build a spreadsheet that compares your putting to this chart, as the data were recorded during a professional tournament.

[cPar]

As your walking up to your ball, you can always guestimate it?

I was using the GolfLink App and so it tracked each putt with its corresponding length. So I would look as I approached the ball and take down a rough estimate of length for each, than coordinated my pre-shot routine when I was ready to address my ball.

[Aquaguru]

I always line up my putt from behind the hole when others in my group are either putting or lining up themselves.  When I walk back to my ball I start counting my paces once I get to the hole (stride is ~3ft).  This just gives me a good idea on how far I have have and this is how I practice as well.  It works great for me my putting has improved a lot this past year.  Also if your thinking I don't walk right over the hole and in everyone's line I tend to move out to the left or right 5-10 feet depending on my partners balls.  I'm pretty accurate with this as well.

[zeg]

It varies between three methods for me.  If I am on the other side of the hole to read the putt, I'll usually count paces on my way to the ball.  I don't worry about being near the line, just try to walk parallel to it.  If I either forget or don't find myself on the other side of the hole for the putt, after I putt it I will pace to the hole (or to the ball) and count then.  If I forget that, after I hole out I try to pace back to about where I had my first putt (if it's on the way to my bag).  If none of these work, I make a best guess in 5 foot increments.

[Fourputt]

  596 said:

Originally Posted by 596

Interesting, I've not read Rotellas book, that I don't measure the length of putt, nor do I even estimate it.  Before its my turn to putt, I stand near my ball and stare at the back of the hole.  My mind now knows where the hole is as I line up the putt.  I then take 3 practice swings while, again, staring at the hole.  Then I just choose the line and putt away without much more thought as my mind knows the distance to the hole.  Seems to work for me.

Yep.  I don't even try to put a number on it... just "feel" the distance and stroke for what I feel.