Jeff Ritter Instructional Piece on Putting

[billchao]

http://www.golfdigest.com/blogs/the-loop/2014/08/make-the-turn-challenge-23-shi.html

Quote:

Does being a lousy green reader make you a terrible putter? Not necessarily. In order to make putts, you simply have to be able to compensate to maneuver the ball to the proper line. As it turns out, some people are just better at compensating than others. During my time at the Pelz school we tested a number of tour players who didn't read greens much better than the average Joe. Still they putted pretty darn good. One player, after learning how far off he was, remembered how as a kid he would play the course early in the morning before the greens had been mowed. He said he would make putts, but would then be surprised at how the ball's track mark through the morning dew was always way higher than he had intended. I found this to be a pretty cool point that I remembered experiencing as well.

So what's the best way to improve your putting? For the majority of my clients, I start with learning how to create a quality roll that lends itself to reasonable distance control. Next is learning how to better understand the slope for a more accurate read. The final step is tuning up issues associated with direction. Why is direction last? If you're not consistently seeing the proper line, a repeatable directional pattern is of no use.

I don't usually like golf magazine instructional pieces, but I thought this one was pretty interesting. Not sure about the technique in the video, though.

[boogielicious]

Sounds like read, speed, bead to me.

[billchao]

Sounds like read, speed, bead to me.

Yup. I was surprised that they had good information there, although this seems to counter the advice I heard a certain well known instructor has been touting... :whistle: Any thoughts on the technique for reading short putts?

[boogielicious]

AimPoint!  On short putts with even a lot of slope, it is a matter of reading the slope and seeing where the entry point is.  It is going to enter on the high side, so visualize it like that.

[billchao]

AimPoint!  On short putts with even a lot of slope, it is a matter of reading the slope and seeing where the entry point is.  It is going to enter on the high side, so visualize it like that.

I remembered now that you're an AimPoint guy. I only did the super condensed quickie express read from the Erie outing, so I don't have AimPoint for the shorter putts.

[deronsizemore]

AimPoint!  On short putts with even a lot of slope, it is a matter of reading the slope and seeing where the entry point is.  It is going to enter on the high side, so visualize it like that.

Agree with AimPoint. I almost don't even want to recommend it to my friends; it feels like that much of a secret!

I've always felt that reading greens has been my downfall. Speed is usually decent but I never really made a lot of putts; just all around the hole kind of thing.

Since taking AimPoint Express a month or so ago, I bet I've made more putts in the last month than I did the last four years combined. It's been that big of a change. I'm not even an expert with it, but I'm competent enough to know what I'm doing. I still have to force myself to trust it on long putts as sometimes what AimPoint gives me is vastly different than what my eyes see, but I just try to tell my brain/eyes to shut up and do what AimPoint says and it works. On anything six feet and in, I've been automatic lately and since taking AimPoint it's obvious to me now why I never made a lot of putts. Ono short putts, I've always played way too much break and on long putts I've never played enough.