Putting - DO NOT Accelerate Through the Ball

[joekelly]

Long ago i could buy fat lead wire for melting then molding into toy metal soldiers.  Maybe plumber's shop still carry lead for soldering.  Or try fishing tackle shop for lead sinkers, which are easy to mold.  Heavy and cheap.

[boogielicious]

Long ago i could buy fat lead wire for melting then molding into toy metal soldiers.  Maybe plumber's shop still carry lead for soldering.  Or try fishing tackle shop for lead sinkers, which are easy to mold.  Heavy and cheap.

Great tip @joekelly .  Which thread was this intended for? BTW, it is real tough to get 50/50 lead solder now unless you know a plumber.  they can only use it for commercial non-potable water and drains.

My speed control has been very good this year.  I am down to 31.5 putts per round.  I definitely prescribe to this technique.  I have been careful on really long putts not to let my brain make me give a little extra.  My buddy on the other hand has a very choppy Snedeker type of stroke and has a lot of trouble with speed control.

[FooFader]

I have also seen success in my distance control after reading this thread. I was also discussing adding weight to my putter which i have done in the form of two strips of lead tape on the bottom of clubhead, this has really helped with keeping a steadier feeling stroke.

Still thinking of going with some counterweight but shall leave tinkering with that for a while, i need to really work on my start lines now. Been missing 3 footers more than i should. I am going to be finding some elastic and two knitting needles as per Erik's advice for a good visual for practicing.

Here is a picture of my handy work in the lead tape incase it is of interest to anyone.

[boogielicious]

I have also seen success in my distance control after reading this thread. I was also discussing adding weight to my putter which i have done in the form of two strips of lead tape on the bottom of clubhead, this has really helped with keeping a steadier feeling stroke.

Still thinking of going with some counterweight but shall leave tinkering with that for a while, i need to really work on my start lines now. Been missing 3 footers more than i should. I am going to be finding some elastic and two knitting needles as per Erik's advice for a good visual for practicing.

Here is a picture of my handy work in the lead tape incase it is of interest to anyone.

I have the same thing on my Scotty Newport Beach.  Mine cover the whole bottom.

[FooFader]

I have the same thing on my Scotty Newport Beach.  Mine cover the whole bottom.

That must be a lot of weight! I am going to add another strip tonight, i like the extra weight and think i could go a step further

[boogielicious]

That must be a lot of weight! I am going to add another strip tonight, i like the extra weight and think i could go a step further

I don't think it is that much, maybe 5- 6 grams.  I will take some tape to work and get and actual weight on a digital scale.

[iacas]

That must be a lot of weight! I am going to add another strip tonight, i like the extra weight and think i could go a step further

Lead tape doesn't weigh much. We often have success fitting people into putters with 30, 40g more weight than the putters they previously owned.

[FooFader]

Lead tape doesn't weigh much. We often have success fitting people into putters with 30, 40g more weight than the putters they previously owned.

Yeah i sort of came to that conclusion. As i was saying earlier in thread but messing around with weight and taping pound coins to the head i put on a good 20-30g extra and it felt good albeit a bit odd. I think so far the added weight from that tape was in the region of 4g which actually makes a bigger difference to feel than i expected. I am going to keep adding tape until i either run of tape/space to put it on the head or i get to a point where it feels too heavy in the head.

The lead tape is also really just a temporary fix. Long term i will probably change putters to something heavier and counterweighted a tad. I really wish i could get to an edel fitter, would make finetuning the weight pretty easy and i'm pretty sure I suck at aiming the putter. I think i aim right so would like something that fits my eye and aim a little better but without a good fitter I don't know how i could go about that?

[nilssoa]

Yesterday I started wondering if I´m even striking the ball in the correct way when putting. Would really like to hear your thoughts about it.

I use to have the putter resting on the ground behind the ball, make my pendulum and try to return the putter to the same position, kind of brushing the grass. Most of the time it works ok, but sometimes I duff it.

I started thinking if it may be better to aim the middle of the clubface at the middle of the ball? I guess I´m hitting the ball more on the upper part of the clubface as is. What is the "correct" way to do it, brush the grass with the putter or trying to hit the equator of the ball?

Hitting the ball a little higher gives room for more leadtape under the club :)

[Lihu]

Yesterday I started wondering if I´m even striking the ball in the correct way when putting. Would really like to hear your thoughts about it. I use to have the putter resting on the ground behind the ball, make my pendulum and try to return the putter to the same position, kind of brushing the grass. Most of the time it works ok, but sometimes I duff it.  I started thinking if it may be better to aim the middle of the clubface at the middle of the ball? I guess I´m hitting the ball more on the upper part of the clubface as is. What is the "correct" way to do it, brush the grass with the putter or trying to hit the equator of the ball? Hitting the ball a little higher gives room for more leadtape under the club :)

The middle of the face and slightly below the vertical centerline of the ball seems to work best for me. The ball seems to control better on a slight upswing as well. BTW, The lead tape and coins thing that @FooFader is attempting might not work correctly depending upon the balance point of the additional weight. It might feel heavier, but if the weight is in the wrong place it might not be a fully optimal stroke.

[Matt Mangold]

Geoff Mangum is a big proponent of a "gravity sponsored putting stroke" - I tried letting gravity kind of "just do it's thing" and I was real inconsistent, I felt like I had to take a huge stroke, but I was playing on very slow greens.  I'm going to practice this some more and try it again.  I've always tried to make a short compact stroke like Tiger and I end up popping it too much.  I was watching the tour pros tonight and Phil who said he switched to the claw to keep from hitting it, is still recoiling and I don't think you can recoil if you are just using pendulum stroke.  Maybe he should be doing this haha....

[Jakester23]

Geoff Mangum is a big proponent of a "gravity sponsored putting stroke" - I tried letting gravity kind of "just do it's thing" and I was real inconsistent, I felt like I had to take a huge stroke, but I was playing on very slow greens.  I'm going to practice this some more and try it again.  I've always tried to make a short compact stroke like Tiger and I end up popping it too much.  I was watching the tour pros tonight and Phil who said he switched to the claw to keep from hitting it, is still recoiling and I don't think you can recoil if you are just using pendulum stroke.  Maybe he should be doing this haha....

I think the bold is more so due to course conditions not because he's taking a short stroke and accelerating through on his putts.  The tour greens are rolling a lot faster than most of the courses we play.  Stick with this method of putting you will notice your speed control is much better especially on longer putts.

[Matt Mangold]

I think the bold is more so due to course conditions not because he's taking a short stroke and accelerating through on his putts.  The tour greens are rolling a lot faster than most of the courses we play.  Stick with this method of putting you will notice your speed control is much better especially on longer putts.

I'm definitely going to work on it for a couple months and see how it goes.

[Jakester23]

I'm definitely going to work on it for a couple months and see how it goes.

When I first started trying to do this I went to the putting green closest to my house and practiced doing this on shorter putts(5-7 footers).  Then I went to about 10-15, then 20-25.  I was only concentrating on controlling how far back I took the putter and making sure I didn't push the putt on the down swing.  It really only took me maybe 3 trips to the putting green to get the hang of it.  Most of our actions are feel based anyway (throwing a ball, shooting a basket ect...) so its more just trusting yourself that you made the correct backswing. You will get it and once you do it will make a world of difference especially on your longer putts.

[CarlSpackler]

I'm definitely going to work on it for a couple months and see how it goes.

It will be a great investment of time.

[iacas]

I'm definitely going to work on it for a couple months and see how it goes.

I'd be surprised if you didn't get it down in a week or two.

Post a My Swing thread and put up video of your putting stroke.

[vangator]

I'm still working on it. Not doing great. I have a big match next weekend, so I'd better keep working. BTW, wouldn't it be better to put the lead tape on the back of the head? You may mess up the tape with it on the bottom.

[Zeph]

I've actually thought about this myself. I was out practicing putting one day, and noticed I putted better with a longer backswing, where I let the clubhead do some pulling on the way down, and feel like I'm not accelerating through the ball. It feels like I'm controlling the speed better around the optimal point, instead of speeding up and having a larger variation in swing speed over the same period of time.