Feel for the long putts

[scratcher]

How do you gauge downhill/downgrain, uphill/into the grain putts? Do you go by percentage, distance adjustment or just plain old feel?

Recently had a horrible putting round on a golf course that had lots of grain and very undulating greens. Just looking for answers!! UGH!!!

[Jimdangles]

Pretty much my entire putting stroke is feel. I rarely even take a practice swing. I may give one or two if its an important putt just to make sure I have the feel right but for the most part I trust my "feel" to get me within a few putts.

[lumpuckeroo]

Originally Posted by Jimdangles

Pretty much my entire putting stroke is feel. I rarely even take a practice swing. I may give one or two if its an important putt just to make sure I have the feel right but for the most part I trust my "feel" to get me within a few putts.

Same for me, putting for me is all feel.  If I'm having issues leaving putts short or running them by to far, I spend a little time on the putting green and that usually resolves the issues.

[iacas]

The weight of your putter can actually have a fairly significant effect on your putting stroke and your ability to "feel" the proper distances. I'll write more about this later. I'm heading out the door now. If you're interested post again and I'll see it as new and be reminded to talk more about it later.

[Jimdangles]

Originally Posted by iacas

The weight of your putter can actually have a fairly significant effect on your putting stroke and your ability to "feel" the proper distances. I'll write more about this later. I'm heading out the door now. If you're interested post again and I'll see it as new and be reminded to talk more about it later.

REEEEEMINDER!!!

On this subject my putter feels fairly light. I was practicing with one at roger dunn that was quite a bit heavier. I liked it alot as far as feeling the club in my hands but I felt like it might be to heavy and do some dictating in my speed if I'm off my game.

[iacas]

Okay here's the slightly longer response.

A putter that's too heavy or too light will be tough for your body to sense properly. Your pace will be off. With a putter that's too light often you'll accelerate too quickly and then have to try to slow things down towards the hit, and with a putter that's too heavy, the opposite: it'll be going to slow and you'll "add some hit" at the last moment before impact.

Both of these lead to poor distance control.

Try this. Put a piece of string down at 15 feet or so. Hit three or four balls trying to stop them ON the string.

Tape some quarters to the bottom of your putter. Try again. Tape some quarters to the grip or halfway down the shaft. (Obviously if you don't have quarters use something else that's reasonably heavy and can be taped or something - magnets, perhaps). Keep changing the weight in all three locations until you can stop the ball on the string the most consistently.

Don't worry, you're not just monkeying around until you "improve" your feel from that distance. If you find that you need a putter that's "four quarters heavier in the head and two heavier in the grip" if you take the quarters off you'll find that your original putter is still going to produce lousier distance control, and if you put them back on you'll find your distance control again gets better.

We see it time and time again when we do our Edel fittings. The distance control portion is almost as impressive as the alignment fitting portion.

Find a putter that fits YOU with the proper weight. Most people like a heavier overall putter, with these guidelines:

- People who "drive" the grip a little bit (Nicklaus, etc.) tend to favor weight in the grip.

- People who really just pendulum the heck out of it (fewer people than you'd think) tend to prefer a heavier head.

[TourSpoon]

Definitely observation and feel. When I putt my best it's look at the hole and feel the distance with the right hand. Currently I am using a 41.5 inch belly putter with a left hand low grip. Left hand low s the way to go, IMO.