My lag putt technique - is this decent? or should I go back?

[jkelley9]

I've been trying to go out to the course and practice on the practice green with varying conditions the past month or so, and really focus on good putting technique. I've been doing various drills and I believe they are helping me a lot. 

I've read LSW twice now. On the putting section, I'm really trying on short putts (maybe 0-10 ft uphill, 0-20 ft downhill) on palm grip to reduce face turning which seems to be working, putting the ball slightly forward in my stance and the technique of my distance control coming from the length the putter face is from the ball and letting it come down with gravity.

But when it's coming to lag putts 20+ feet, I've noticed that I'm shifting more towards pulling the club back a much shorter distance and "pushing" the club face forward. I seem to be having a lot of success with this method, only for the lag putts though. And it hasn't just been one day and one set of conditions. This has been over several practice sessions under varying conditions. I'm applying a large amount of forward momentum to the club face into the ball in a short distance. When I do this, I'm much more frequently striking the ball well and it's starting the correct roll. When I go back to the pendulum way, I'm having to bring the club head up so high that I lose the angle or impact zone on the face and I'll get hops, sidespin, etc much more often.

If my current way is successful, should I keep doing it? Or would you recommend going back and learning the pendulum way because it will be much more "tried and true?" I think I know the answer... but maybe the technique I've kind of developed myself is already a valid technique that some players use and are successful long-term with it?

Thanks! :) 

[dchoye]

there are so many different ways to putt that if it works for you keep doing it 

I really believe in a distinct method for lag putting vs short putts 

[saevel25]

1 hour ago, jkelley9 said:

But when it's coming to lag putts 20+ feet, I've noticed that I'm shifting more towards pulling the club back a much shorter distance and "pushing" the club face forward. I seem to be having a lot of success with this method, only for the lag putts though.

When I go back to the pendulum way, I'm having to bring the club head up so high that I lose the angle or impact zone on the face and I'll get hops, sidespin, etc much more often.

I wonder if it is a technique issue with the more pendulum stroke. Are you trying to be too much straight back straight through? The only way to gain clubhead distance in the backswing to compensate for it not going moving on a natural arch is to gain height with the clubhead. 

Idealy you want the backstroke to be as long as the forward stroke. 

[Ernest Jones]

I recommend working on developing a feel for how heavy the putter head feels in the BS for any given distance. The farther back you take the putter head, the heavier it will feel. Try to find the correlation between "weight" and distance.  This concept works very well with the pendulum technique where you do not accelerate through the ball. 

 

[x3nt0n]

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Seems to be working for you, so I'd stick with it.

[dchoye]

For lag putts I try to die the ball to the hole . I like Dave Stockton's idea about calculating the length of putts into 1/3 . this helps me with figuring out speed.  I tend to pick a spot roughly 1/3 from the hole to aim at and let the ball die to the hole 

the caveat to this method is that it doesn't work for two tier green as well as planar greens . 

Edited January 3, 2016 by dchoye

[jkelley9]

I've been trying the pendulum stroke, but without success on lag putts. It may just take more practice, but I'm having a very difficult time getting the face back down to the correct lie/angle while letting the face come down from the back swing without mishitting. I just finished my best round today (43) using the technique that's been working for me, it helped in almost all lag putts and I even sank an ~18 ft and a ~25 ft putt today. But I also understand that that doesn't make it the best technique for me... since it was only one round. I'm worried I'll lose the feel for my current method and I'll have to transition to a more quantitative method. I'm thinking what I'll do is continue with my current method... but I'll spend half of my putting practice for lag putts on the pendulum method. I think it's just a body technique I need to complete the stroke, rather than the "distance feel." I feel like the method is the BEST way to proceed in golf since it's measurable, just difficult for now.