The shape of the putt

[B-Con]

Reading some of the discussion in another [url=http://thesandtrap.com/t/53237/the-relevance-of-the-dominant-eye-in-green-reading]thread[/url] of whether the ball's path, in a putt, travels in the shape of a parabola, reminded of this scene from Phil Mickelson's instructional DVD. This screenshot shows the exact path his ball takes on a putt. The angle isn't ideal (would prefer straight down), but it's half-decent. The dotted line perfectly follows his ball's path. [IMG]http://bradconte.com/files/images/articles/phil-mickelson-overhead-putt.jpg[/IMG] (Had he missed it had the speed to go about another foot and a half beyond the cup, so it hadn't entered it's most extreme dropping.) For distance reference, note that Phil stands about 6' tall and in the video he said that the aim point (tip of the yellow line) was two feet above the cup. The putting distance (along the yellow line) looks like it is about 13 feet, based on Phil's height. It should be clear that by rotating farther overhead the beginning half of the putt would appear longer and straighter and would produce less of a parabola shape. Pardon my poor Paint-style artwork, but I think it'd look something like this: [img]http://bradconte.com/files/images/articles/phil-mickelson-overhead-putt-trace.png[/img] I rounded the distance down to 12 feet to be safe, and so I drew the length and drop of the putt as a 12:2 ratio with the yellow line being the aim line in the screenshot. Note that the ball has dropped half of the break in the last 3ish feet of the putt (using the aim line from the screenshot as a base of 2ft), leaving the other half to drop in the first 9+ feet. Note also that his putt in the screenshot (and my drawing) enters the cup just barely above the 45* entry angle. The ball definitely follows an arc-ish path, but it doesn't resemble this: [img]http://www.hiveworkshop.com/forums/attachments/tutorial-submission-283/85085d1278611558-about-movement-good.png[/img] , from any angle, no matter how flat you make that parabola, strongly enough to use the term. Anyone have any better overhead views showing the exact path of a putt? :whistle:

[iacas]

I was waiting for someone to tell us how reading the putt like as if it would break in a parabolic shape is helpful.

FWIW, putts can often break in something "similar" to half of a parabola, but that's not what that particular individual was saying, either.

And really, all of this applies to simple planar surfaces. Putts can have all kinds of shapes when you introduce more green geometries.

[Spyder]

I did thoroughly enjoy reading through "that other thread". It was pretty funny to see someone back peddle as hard as they could when cornered with simple facts. Thanks for that, Erik.

I really did not understand the overall point of that thread though, not to go off topic and start up another thread-riot. I can literally imagine any shape that I want and change the imagery in my mind to manipulate the shot. I can say "This putt is going to break similar to half an octagon, however picture it more smooth around the edges". lol I mean you can call it what you want but it's still needless thoughts in your head. I'm starting to like the whole AimPoint ordeal though. Still somewhat confused, but I guess it's like anything else where once you learn it, you can start reading putts from the beer cart.