Putting - DO NOT Accelerate Through the Ball

[saevel25]

IMO one of the worst tips I got in putting. Was "releasing" the putter. I know that might mean different for different folks but that thought lead me to over accelerate and miss putts I think "release" is better term to use for the full swing

I don't think release is a good term for any part of the swing, but that is a different topic all together

[Slice of Life]

I don't think release is a good term for any part of the swing, but that is a different topic all together

THANK YOU! I thought I was alone there...I hate that term. The ball doesn't release, it keeps rolling. You don't release the club...if you did, it would fly 80 yards through the air.

[mvmac]

[saevel25]

True. And if you look at the graphs posted of swing speeds, you are actually supposed to decelerate after contact? Or that is how I understand it. But then that drill is not completely correct? You should be stopping before te last coin to have a "Good" swing.

How far would you say should I put the coins from eachother? Have done it with about 2 putterhead lengths between each.

See the quote below from the first post on this thread. I isolated the response for your question.

I don't think it matters how far you put the coins apart. Practice different lengths for different putting distances.

The best putters almost all tend to have a decelerating putter head at or even slightly before impact. Their putting stroke resembles a pendulum, reaching maximum speed at or slightly before impact.

[natureboy]

I've been working on this on the carpet and had two feel thoughts I'll share them in case it's of help to anyone else, or in case the mods see a potential error with them.

1. Practice the downswing as a half swing. Just slowly take the putter back to the correct height for the distance and stop . After an actual pause with no arm-club movement, let them fall keeping wrists soft so a little lead (L) wrist bow forms. (Just a drill to focus on the feel of the non-accelerating drop with gravity and avoid the 'quick' & 'OTT' tendencies of an early / overactive trail (R) arm - not a suggestion for actual swing)

2. After taking the club back I think about allowing my trail (R) shoulder to replace my lead (L) shoulder (letting weight of arms moving back down do it rather than actively moving / forcing it there).

[natureboy]

Related video supporting OP.

[Play4Fun]

I often read in putting book the best putter feels like the putter moves the hand , Gravity stroke . So the putter will accelerate till near perpendicular point and start deceleration . Does that mean de elation is a gravity stroke or deliberately deceleration ? Sorry if this covered so many pages to scroll I might have missed them . I'm catching stuffs in fragments

[iacas]

I often read in putting book the best putter feels like the putter moves the hand , Gravity stroke .

So the putter will accelerate till near perpendicular point and start deceleration . Does that mean de elation is a gravity stroke or deliberately deceleration ? Sorry if this covered so many pages to scroll I might have missed them . I'm catching stuffs in fragments

Both.

Some players use more of gravity, some "magnify" gravity somewhat. The best putters tend to have a fairly uniform stroke, though, as it accelerates and decelerates at near equal rates.

[trickyputt]

[QUOTE name="Play4Fun" url="/t/74295/putting-do-not-accelerate-through-the-ball/270#post_1105919"] I often read in putting book the best putter feels like the putter moves the hand , Gravity stroke . So the putter will accelerate till near perpendicular point and start deceleration . Does that mean de elation is a gravity stroke or deliberately deceleration ? Sorry if this covered so many pages to scroll I might have missed them . I'm catching stuffs in fragments[/QUOTE] Both. Some players use more of gravity, some "magnify" gravity somewhat. The best putters tend to have a fairly uniform stroke, though, as it accelerates and decelerates at near equal rates.

I can see this. When I putt, my thought is to swing back until I can come forward with smooth momentum and let the putter do all the work.

[DaBush87]

So this is the reason I putt brilliantly on slow greens and then terribly on average or fast greens. That's a lightbulb for me.

[Torres9]

This also is great advice in my opinion. Should be pendulum.

[iacas]

I had a PGA Tour hopeful player in today. He thought his backswing was longer than his follow-through. I tested a bunch of guys who had read this thread in and tested them on the SAM as well.

None of these fifteen people had a graph resembling "Good" or "Great." They all had that "bump" after impact showing that they were still accelerating or speeding up the head of the putter after impact.

It always amazes people when I ask them to make a 3-foot-long backswing, but then only hit the putt five feet. That's extreme, and forces them to actually decelerate into impact, but it's the fastest way to gain a feel for what they need to do a LOT more of on their regular strokes.

The PGA Tour hopeful today put up some of the best numbers I've ever seen on the SAM… and yet, he had a pronounced bump after each of his strokes. You probably do too. If I'd wagered 10:1 every time I've tested someone, I'd still be winning big. If you think you hit the ball at about your peak speed, you probably still don't; you're probably still accelerating after impact.

[joekelly]

The worst part of putting is all the time available, to think about so much.

I made a good improvement last week and it's  a grand feeling to change the course of the round after 13 holes.  Until then putting very lousy, missing left and right.  I'm forever moping around searching to a smoother, cleaner stroke and sometimes within that search i find a few hours of success.  But last week i consciously went back to step one and went down a mental list of yes/no.  Once i stopped moving my lower body, even a inch, in went the putts.

I guess for a more skilled player those mechanical thoughts of the stroke are no-more and only the picture of the ball rolling into the hole remain.

[iacas]

The worst part of putting is all the time available, to think about so much.

I made a good improvement last week and it's  a grand feeling to change the course of the round after 13 holes.  Until then putting very lousy, missing left and right.  I'm forever moping around searching to a smoother, cleaner stroke and sometimes within that search i find a few hours of success.  But last week i consciously went back to step one and went down a mental list of yes/no.  Once i stopped moving my lower body, even a inch, in went the putts.

I guess for a more skilled player those mechanical thoughts of the stroke are no-more and only the picture of the ball rolling into the hole remain.

Let's stick to discussing the actual topic. It's not "putting"; it's a bit more specific.

[PatrickB]

Excellent thread!  This thread made me join up here as it's working excellent on my practice putting mat that I have.  I have played golf off and on over the years and never played enough to break 100 consistently.  I plan to get a membership and play as much as I possibly can this year.  I will be highly motivated to do everything I can to improve.

Anyways, I'm finding my ball striking is much more consistent with this.  My distance is very consistent and I'm also not pushing or pulling it as much so I'm sinking most putts from 7 or 8 feet.  I don't know the speed of my mat compared to most of the greens around me as I haven't played in a while, but I'm finding I need just about a full back swing to get to the cup.  I'm not adding any power to my swing so I feel like I'm going to need to figure out how to add some power to assist the stroke.

How do I go about consistently using the same power to assist the pendulum?

I can't wait to get on the course!  I'm already feeling some confidence as I've been researching anything and everything I can think of to better understand all areas of the game.

[CarlSpackler]

I was thinking of this thread yesterday watching Ryan Moore putt. He appears to have a short back swing with a much longer through swing.

[iacas]

I was thinking of this thread yesterday watching Ryan Moore putt. He appears to have a short back swing with a much longer through swing.

It's certainly possible to do this and hit the ball at the peak speed of the putter (or very close to it). My putting stroke used to look like this:

I just demonstrated this for a student on Saturday.

As you can see, I still hit the ball at peak speed, but I "carried on" my putting stroke for a long time (I didn't slow down at the same rate on the through-stroke at which I accelerated on the downstroke). I think my putting is a bit better now, but I have always had pretty good distance control.

Of course, maybe Ryan Moore could stand to work on his acceleration profile a little bit, too?

[CarlSpackler]

It's certainly possible to do this and hit the ball at the peak speed of the putter (or very close to it). My putting stroke used to look like this:

I just demonstrated this for a student on Saturday.

As you can see, I still hit the ball at peak speed, but I "carried on" my putting stroke for a long time (I didn't slow down at the same rate on the through-stroke at which I accelerated on the downstroke). I think my putting is a bit better now, but I have always had pretty good distance control.

Of course, maybe Ryan Moore could stand to work on his acceleration profile a little bit, too?

I certainly looks like he is pushing through the stroke to my "highly calibrated" eye. It would be interesting to see his stroke on the puttlab.