Practice varying strike on putts?

[ZappyAd]

Does anyone actively practice hitting putts from different parts of the putter face?  e.g. the sweet spot, the toe, the heel, between the toe and the sweet spot etc etc  There are a couple of reasons why I've been thinking about this:

I read a book recently (I think called the practice manual) that talked about how the brain actually learns more effectively by trying out lots of variations rather than repeating a single thing lots of times.  I found the book itself quite difficult to get through but that concept seemed to make sense.

I've also been watching some of Mark Crossfield's videos on YouTube where he talks about the importance of practicing strike on the full swing and actively learning how to hit on various parts of the club face (I think he has read the same book or knows the author).  

Was just wondering if anyone has tried applying this idea to putting and has any opinions on the method or possible results.

[RayG]

I only practice hitting towards the toe end. IF I know that there are fast greens on the course that day, AND they might be full of different levels. Getting a consistent stroke off the toe will help me "throttle back" on putts going severely or moderately downhill.

[dchoye]

I don't with my putter. But with chipping with a low lofted iron I will try to contact more on the toe and try varies other ways like open the face and hit more on the center 

putting for me feels more like a belly wedge 

[iacas]

As an occasional drill to improve hand-eye coordination, I suspect it could be fine. Once in awhile.

I also strive to have students work on things for short periods of time, and give them multiple ways of working on the same thing. This helps stave off boredom.

But back to this drill… I tend to prefer simply learning to hit the center of the face. And, more often than not, I like to change the mechanics that are leading to, for example, someone to hit their irons off the toe repeatedly. Lessons where you just say "you're hitting the ball off the toe, so try to heel a few, then try to hit some out of the middle" often don't lead to lasting changes. They might get some nice immediate results, and the person might learn a little about what a toe hit feels like (or something along those lines), but they tend not to stick: the mechanics are still the same, and a week later, the guy's back to toe-ing everything.

[Mike Boatright]

Not really I understand concept for shots meaning maybe try to hit some wild hooks and fades to keep the brain from developing golf hypnosis and poor muscle memory but I never want to miss the sweet spot if I can. As for putting I have heard the toe theory and even seen Dave Pelz talk about cheating on breaking putts say hit of the toe on a left to right to cheat and still make the putt and hit of the heel to on right to lefters to make it more forgiving still I don't do this. I have a very small old putter so hitting the sweet spot is imperative. It's a Maxfli Tad Morre.

Edited March 17, 2016 by Mike Boatright

[ZappyAd]

On 17/03/2016 at 0:34 AM, iacas said:

They might get some nice immediate results, and the person might learn a little about what a toe hit feels like (or something along those lines), but they tend not to stick: the mechanics are still the same, and a week later, the guy's back to toe-ing everything.

My understanding of it was that it is about trying to teach the subconscious part of the brain (i.e. the bit that actually moves all the muscles when you hit a ball) in a more optimal way.  The theory is that the brain learns more effectively by trying something in lots of different ways, rather than just trying to repeat the same thing every time.  So the theory sounded like it would be something that would need to be practiced over a bit of time.

The example that is cited frequently is of a baby learning to walk - generally a baby doesn't get into perfect walking position and then just repeat that a lot of times, it attempts lots of different ways of walking and eventually the brain figures out a good way.  It also figures out the ability to walk in lots of other ways because, according to the theory, all that experimentation mixed with failures and successes gives it the tools it needs to adapt to any situation.

So going back to the golf swing or putting stroke it sounds like you would have to spend quite a lot of time deliberately hitting bad shots (and incorporating feedback effectively somehow) before it would give you the benefit of being able to hit a good shot (i.e. the shot you want) more often.  And of course the theory might be wrong!

[Marty2019]

36 minutes ago, ZappyAd said:

My understanding of it was that it is about trying to teach the subconscious part of the brain (i.e. the bit that actually moves all the muscles when you hit a ball) in a more optimal way.  The theory is that the brain learns more effectively by trying something in lots of different ways, rather than just trying to repeat the same thing every time.  So the theory sounded like it would be something that would need to be practiced over a bit of time.

The example that is cited frequently is of a baby learning to walk - generally a baby doesn't get into perfect walking position and then just repeat that a lot of times, it attempts lots of different ways of walking and eventually the brain figures out a good way.  It also figures out the ability to walk in lots of other ways because, according to the theory, all that experimentation mixed with failures and successes gives it the tools it needs to adapt to any situation.

So going back to the golf swing or putting stroke it sounds like you would have to spend quite a lot of time deliberately hitting bad shots (and incorporating feedback effectively somehow) before it would give you the benefit of being able to hit a good shot (i.e. the shot you want) more often.  And of course the theory might be wrong!

I thought that theory about varying your practice was more along the lines of switching clubs on every shot on the practice range, or hitting putts of different lengths instead of hitting the exact same 6 foot putt over and over and over.    I didn't think it meant practicing intentional mis-hits or intentional bad swings.  

[dchoye]

On ‎17‎/‎03‎/‎2016 at 8:47 PM, Mike Boatright said:

Not really I understand concept for shots meaning maybe try to hit some wild hooks and fades to keep the brain from developing golf hypnosis and poor muscle memory but I never want to miss the sweet spot if I can. As for putting I have heard the toe theory and even seen Dave Pelz talk about cheating on breaking putts say hit of the toe on a left to right to cheat and still make the putt and hit of the heel to on right to lefters to make it more forgiving still I don't do this. I have a very small old putter so hitting the sweet spot is imperative. It's a Maxfli Tad Morre.

I think newer mallet with higher MOI (like putting with a hybrid)would be easier to putt with because of larger sweetspot. not a blade putter.

I though old style blade putting more for people who like using the toe

Jackie Burke Jr advocates "rolling the ball off the toe"  with blade putter.

Edited March 18, 2016 by dchoye