Putting help

[Golf'nBiker]

I kno I'm not a regular poster here, but Im sure some may benefit from my request.  My putting has gone to hell in a hand basket.  i have lost all confidence and can not judge distance-speed, etc.  The greens are/have been somwehat irregular, but all players have the same dis-advantage.  I either blow it past the hole or come up quite short.  my usual 'play' is an inch take away per every step to the hole from my ball...meaning 3 paces from ball to hole, 3" take away/follow thru..  I hit GIR on 8 holes and had 24 putts. 3 pars, 1 double bogey!  ANy advice to re-gain some confidence or drill to geestimate speed will sure be appreciated.  thanx in advance.

[jshots]

Hey Golf'nBiker

I always think that its nice to be able to go on ANY forum and be able to post and get nice people to respond. There is so much information inside some forums that some people can give.I think it is important for a community to respond to people even if its the only time they've posted because I would appreciate the same treatment if I were to go to a forum I don't normally post on. Forums are a great way to get help from people more knowledgeable than yourself and in my opinion as long as you contribute somewhere, you should be able to go to any of them for help.

Anyways more on topic.

I am not super knowledgeable on exactly how far you are supposed to take back the putter head, I just go off of feel I suppose. I can tell you however some things that I know I have done wrong in the past and what I did to improve.

When i had distance control issues I was tending to deccelerate into the ball, its important to have a nice smooth acceleration into the ball. Another problem was far too strong of a grip on my putter, I think a putting grip should be a fairly light grip.

I don't know why but sometimes my feel for distance just goes away at random times and i'm not sure what causes it. To get it back I will just go to the putting green. I get 5 or 6 balls out and do several different drills. One of them I putt a ball out and then putt each of my next putts just a few feet past that ball, and really put some thought into how hard you are hitting each one. Walk up to those balls and pick out a spot somewhere else on the green and hit all of the previously putted balls to that same spot without moving them from the first part of the drill. I do a few other drills to.

I think you should make sure you are stroking the ball well, and then it is just a matter of practicing to get feel. In my opinion you can do whatever drill you want as long as you are varying the length, and ultimately should get to the point where you only hit one ball at a time to a hole of different length since that is how it will be in an actual round.

[Golf'nBiker]

JS, thanx for the input. I'll give that a try.  My attempted fixes have been 2 rubberbands in the putter to ensure a center strike, a band aid on the putter face, tucking the elbows to the body, etc.  As you kno, approaching the ball w.the "how am I going to miss this one"..dosent help any either! ;-)

[Ctp722]

Are you trying aggressively to make the putts, or is your goal more/less to 2-putt every green?

I am asking because if as you say the greens are inconsistent once you find your speed you should be able to AIM for a 3-4 ft circle around the hole to be in position for a 2-putt. I do this if my putting is way off or I am unfamiliar with the green.

[ND Fan]

Putting is 100% between the ears.  I really don;t care how you putt physically.  There have been great putters in history and rarely do they all do the same thing physically.  What they all have in common is a steadfast belief that they can make anything and everything.  Repetitive practice is the only thing that will get your confidence back.

[Jack]

  ND Fan said:

Putting is 100% between the ears.  I really don;t care how you putt physically.  There have been great putters in history and rarely do they all do the same thing physically.  What they all have in common is a steadfast belief that they can make anything and everything.  Repetitive practice is the only thing that will get your confidence back.

This. Get out there and knock in a 100+ 3ft putts. Then practise knocking the ball from one side of the green to the other. If you can do this (and you will be able to), then you can control the distance. Remember to be athletic and just focus on getting the ball in the hole. Most importantly believe and have confidence that every putt is going to go in! There is no substitute for practise to get the confidence back when it goes.

[PaladinsPhotographer]

My putting went way downhill a few weeks ago....I went from averaging 1.6 putts per hole to 1.9.

In my case, I lost confidence after a really unlucky round. I lipped out 7 or 8 putts over 18 holes. Following that round, I unintentionally stopped fully accelerating through my putts. Lately I've started aiming at a spot 2 to 3 feet short of the cup and focusing on accelerating through the stroke. It seems to be working well and my average is down to 1.5 per hole.

One of the tips Pelz had was to focus on your takeaway speed. It should be half that of your follow through speed. Or look at it in reverse, your follow through should be twice the speed of your takeaway.....

[Golf'nBiker]

CTP, yessir, agressive enough to a foot-18 in past if I miss.

NDFan, you are right on..I havent believd I could hit a bushel basket lately.  Which has only been the past couple weeks. I was very confident that if on the GIR, I WILL make no worse than par.

JACK and Paladins, thanx for the input...I'll practice thru the weekend as my next round isn't until Tue.  thanx fellas.

[Kieran123]

Golf'nBiker : Your current process of 3 paces from ball to hole, 3" take away/follow through won;t work on all greens ( they all have different speeds, direction of grain etc and that will even change during the day )

I used to be a TERRIBLE putter and the only piece of advice I have ever taken that has worked is to imagine rolling the ball with your hand to the hole while you stand over the ball. It's like throwing a ball to your friend 30 yards away - 99/100 you will throw it the right distance. Same goes with rolling a ball at the hole. On the practice green I will sometimes try it out to see how accurate my speed is and it actually does work. You get a batter feel for the speed. So then I can picture and feel how fast the ball needs to roll to get there and can generally ( not always ) hit the putt the speed I want.

Last year I averaged 34 putts per round ( total 32 rounds ) which actually came down after using this idea. This year I am averaging 31.1 through 9 rounds

It may or may not work for you, but give it a shot.

[pond prowler]

Thanks for the insight and OP.

A couple of drills I like for better feel of distance:

I like to gradually move farther away from the clubs as feel improves.  (I think jshots referenced this drill among others above).

Another drill is to try to hit three putts the same distance with the same stroke WITHOUT looking up at the end results until ALL three putts are hit.  Try to get the end results as close together as possible upon repeating the drill.  Vary distances.

I try to practice with the same brand/model balls I play with to fine tune feel.  Probably more of a confidence thing, but that's a major reason for drills right?

Good luck!  I look forward to seeing what works for you.

[akim1220]

The speed of the green will be different everyday and even throughout the day. If it rains the night before it will be soft and slow, if it's been 100 degree weather for the past week it will be hard and fast. One thing I like to do before a round of golf is go to the practice green and hit 3 balls to begin with. The 1st ball I'll have a back stroke to my big toe and than follow through the same distance. The next ball I'll have a back stroke to the outside of my right foot with the same length follow through and same thing with the 3rd ball but with a longer backstroke. This will help you to get a feel for the speed of the green for that day.

[turtleback]

I'm convinced that for me putting distance is completely mental and completely feel.  What I do on anything over 20 feet is stand behind the ball facing the hole and take 2 practice strokes (at right angles to the target line) while looking at the hole.  I am trying to visualize the roll and feel the proper distance.  Then I move to the ball and take one more practice stroke along my intended line still looking at the hole.  Finally I put the putter behind the ball and make sure the putter-face is aligned to my intended path.  I let the putter rest on the ground and let go and re-grip with a very light grip.  As I re-grip the putter I do a small forward press and pull the trigger.  For "makable" putts of less than 20 feet I use the same routine but with one practice stroke from behind the ball and 2 practice strokes at the ball.

Since I adopted this routine my lag putting has gotten a lot better and I actually have started to make some of those long putts.

It works for me.  Your mileage may vary.

[Golf'nBiker]

Again, thanx to all for your input.  I have been making a 'circle' w/8 tees around the hole to 3 feet.  Taking 2 large paces from the circle and placing another tee, 2 more paces from that tee and yet another.  From each tee position I am putting 4 balls into the circle, finish by cupping and repete.  i also have tried the forward press of the club and accelerating thru the shot.  Seems to be working...I'll continue more regularly w/my putting practice.  Putting was beginning to be a drag...now its becoming a LAG!!

[Golf'nBiker]

OK guys, tomorrow is show time.  Practiced 9 holes today working on the lag putt. Gotta admit, w/out the visual aids of the tees for a 3" ciircle sure changes things.  Will let y'all kno how it worked out, again, a very hearty thank you to those who suggested tips.

[Ringworld]

stroke the ball.  Don't jab at it.  Jabbing at it gives you inconsistent distances.  Stroking the ball provides a consistent strike at the ball.  At least when I stand over the ball, I keep telling myself to stroke the putt.  It helps me keep my putting consistent.

[Golf'nBiker]

4 bogey's 1 bird.  Of the bogies, only 1 was a 3 putt.  That forward press seems to work well, and the 'stroke' is comfortable.  Never shot a 75 before!  Was 1 over at the turn...thanx again fellas!  Going back for more on FRI

[turtleback]

Good job!!

[Golf'nBiker]

UPDATE: Whata funny game we're hooked on. Putted well today, had just two 3 putts, however couldnt't hit a GIR for love nor money. 13 bogies, 5 pars!! Guess it's time for chipping practice!!