Putting One-Handed

[Ernest Jones]

Then, you would say the same about Snedeker's pop putt? His putt is the same as mine, except he has little more arm movement.

You said that at 60' you expect to lag to 6'. At the risk of sounding like a superstar, I would find that unacceptable. If my miss was leaving 6', fine, a miss is a miss, but to expect a 6' leave as a good result? Nope, totally unacceptable. Granted, it's fairly rare that I'm faced with 60' for a first putt, that's more often than not a chip from off the green, but I regularly face 30'-40' putts and through practice and a properly fit putter I expect all misses to be within 2-3 feet at the absolute worst and 18" or less in general. Of course, I can hit an absolute shit putt as well and leave myself 5' short on a 20 footer but those are very much the rare outliers where you say, "aw CRAP!!", the instant you make contact. My take on this is you're probably using a putter whose weight profile is way off for you and have had to come up with bizarre compensations to get halfway decent results. Experiment with different putters at a shop, or even better, if you have the cash, go see an Edel fitter and have a life altering experience. ;-) Your game will thank you.

[Joe Mama]

I know what Sned's looks like and his setup ... I have no idea about what you think you do and what you do. That's not a knock on you or anyone else -- too many times, I've heard what guys think they do and when they see what they do on video ... they can't believe what they see ... me included.

OK. The best way I can describe what I think my snappy putts are like is refer you to the website provided in a previous post in which Snedeker describes his putt. I think I do what Snedeker thinks he does, except I think I don't move my shoulders or arms as much as he says he thinks he does. What you feel isn't real.

[BENtSwing]

What you feel isn't real.

ZING!!

[Joe Mama]

You said that at 60' you expect to lag to 6'. At the risk of sounding like a superstar, I would find that unacceptable. If my miss was leaving 6', fine, a miss is a miss, but to expect a 6' leave as a good result? Nope, totally unacceptable. Granted, it's fairly rare that I'm faced with 60' for a first putt, that's more often than not a chip from off the green, but I regularly face 30'-40' putts and through practice and a properly fit putter I expect all misses to be within 2-3 feet at the absolute worst and 18" or less in general. Of course, I can hit an absolute shit putt as well and leave myself 5' short on a 20 footer but those are very much the rare outliers where you say, "aw CRAP!!", the instant you make contact. My take on this is you're probably using a putter whose weight profile is way off for you and have had to come up with bizarre compensations to get halfway decent results. Experiment with different putters at a shop, or even better, if you have the cash, go see an Edel fitter and have a life altering experience. ;-) Your game will thank you.

I didn't mean to imply that the average distance from the cup from 60 feet is six feet; that would mean some putts would be 8, 10, 12 feet from the cup. On a level green, the ball from 60 feet will normally fall within a circle of radius six feet, centered at the cup. That means that sometimes the ball will be four, three, two feet, even 18 inches from the cup. By my standards, that is a wonderful result. Snedeker uses the putt, too, so one would expect it to work, wouldn't one? On tricky breaking greens, my green-reading skills are the main cause of poor lags, I think, not poor technique or a poorly fitted putter. I would prefer to believe, though, that whatever putting problems I may have are due to having a poorly-fitted putter. If I knew what a Edel fitter is, I might go see him. (I will google the term.)

[Mr. Desmond]

OK. The best way I can describe what I think my snappy putts are like is refer you to the website provided in a previous post in which Snedeker describes his putt. I think I do what Snedeker thinks he does, except I think I don't move my shoulders or arms as much as he says he thinks he does.

What you feel isn't real.

Actually, that's the point I was making with your posts ...

Snapping? Just do not see a lot hinging-unhinging here.

[Joe Mama]

[URL=http://www.golf.com/instruction/brandt-snedekers-putting-secrets-0]http://www.golf.com/instruction/brandt-snedekers-putting-secrets-0[/URL][quote name="Mr. Desmond" url="/t/76599/putting-one-handed/18#post_1042235"]Actually, that's the point I was making with your posts ... Snapping? Just do not see a lot hinging-unhinging here. [/quote] The first video betrays not even a faint hint of the type of mostly wrist only putt I've been talking about, and that I believe Snedeker was describing in the website at [URL=http://www.golf.com/instruction/brandt-snedekers-putting-secrets-0]http://www.golf.com/instruction/brandt-snedekers-putting-secrets-0[/URL] I see zero wrist action in the first video, so I can see why you wonder why I think Snedeker uses as much wrist as I claim he does. The second video, however, shows pretty much what I am talking about. I see a putt in which much of the arc back and forth is caused by the wrists hinging. There is very little hinging in that putt because it was such a short putt. I use the wrists only putt for very long lags, which require much greater wrists hinging. Even my putt is NOT like Snedeker's "pop" (his term) putt (I believe it is), the long lag putts I have success with are ones in which I think only my wrists move. I recommend that curious forum readers try it. I think you'll be astonished at how STRAIGHT and far you can roll the ball.

[Joe Mama]

Meant to write, "Even IF my putt is not like...."

[Ernest Jones]

I think you'll be astonished at how STRAIGHT and far you can roll the ball.

Here's the disconnect...I agree you can hit the ball far and straight like this. My question is this, how consistently can you control your distance?

[Zeph]

Straight? Very few of my putts are straight. My only care about the line is a spot a foot in front of the ball that I want to roll it over. After that, my green reading skills takes over.

I've tried putting with more wrists, but it was terrible. I prefer the conventional putting style that 99.99999% use.

If this works for you, by all means, but I would not recommend any of the things you've mentioned in this thread to anyone. And you're still only handicap 17. One could question how effective it really is.

[Joe Mama]

Here's the disconnect...I agree you can hit the ball far and straight like this. My question is this, how consistently can you control your distance?

I can control distance almost as well as I can using a conventional stroke, but this downside is made up for, and more, by increased accuracy in direction. With a shorter swing in time, and in space, there is less chance for the club face to travel off-line. I don't use the snap swing exclusively to lag long distances. Often, I will use my three or four hybrid when I'm on the green and facing a long putt, or a medium-long uphill putt. A long putt from the taller grass next to the green I use a six-hybrid.

[billchao]

Here's the disconnect...I agree you can hit the ball far and straight like this. My question is this, how consistently can you control your distance?

By the length of the backswing, but you knew that already. Edit: I'm sorry, I thought you were asking about one-handed putting. I didn't realize this thread devolved into some other topic... Which reminds me... Guys, I thought this thread is supposed to be about one-handed putting? This two-handed "Snedeker" style putting isn't the topic of the thread. I suggest we stick to the topic, or we can change the thread to "How I putt ( @Joe Mama )" or something.

[Joe Mama]

Which reminds me... Guys, I thought this thread is supposed to be about one-handed putting? This two-handed "Snedeker" style putting isn't the topic of the thread. I suggest we stick to the topic, or we can change the thread to "How I putt ( @Joe Mama )" or something.

I think we're pretty much done with both the one-handed putting topic, as well as the snappy putt. For those who may not have closely followed this thread, here is what I believe is the nearly unanimous opinion of forum members who responded: 1. The suggestion I made that some players might profit from one-handed putting at distances less than 20 feet is not worth consideration. 2. The suggestion I made that some users might benefit from a certain type of wrists-only putting for distances greater than 50 feet was worth even less consideration. I've said all I wish to say on both topics, and I very much hope others have, too.