Help Me Design a Basement Putting Green

[Patch]

I have always believed that all putts were stroked straight to a point the is not always the hole. With this idea in mind, I always practice straight putts when in the house.

I figured being able to hit my chosen line was a big part of the battle of making putts.

 Another important part was stroking putts with consistent speed. 

Of course another part is the read of the putt. Being indoors,  the read was always a straight putt for me. I left all my break reads to the outdoor greens, utilizing real grass. 

My indoor putting green was pretty simple. All it involved was a 4"X 6"(?),  red, fire brick. I would putt to the 4" side with enough force, so when hitting the 4" face, the ball would return to me on the bounce back. I had 4 walls, so I used 4 bricks. Other times I might try to hit bank shots (ricochets(?) off the bricks. The idea there being to one putt each of the four bricks. 

I used this practice regimen for a few decades. It served me quite well. 

[iacas]

Well, @Patch, there are certainly a group of people who feel every putt is straight, yes. There is also a large group of people who feel that putts are curved, too, and they see things like the entry point of the hole or the curve of the putt. Generally speaking these people can be thought of as linear putters (every putt is straight) and non-linear or curve-style putters. Some might sub-divide themselves further into an "entry point" putter, but I consider that a fancy name for a non-linear putter - they're just focusing on the end of the curve rather than tracing it back all the way to the ball.

Knowing what kind of putter you are is important. If you tell a non-linear putter to aim at a target that's 3' right of the cup on a right-to-left breaking putt, they'll probably miss well right because they'll subconsciously want to curve the ball into the target.

But yes, generally speaking also, both groups can benefit from just working on their stroke, which straight putts can help with. But I also recommend adding break if you can, and particularly so if you're a non-linear putter.

[Ty_Webb]

Thanks Pretzel that’s super helpful. 

iacas, it looks like you made yours with four pieces on the long end. Why did you do it that way and not with one piece longways? Was it cheaper to ship like that?

also how did you attach the boards to the aluminum base? Screws somehow?

thanks!

[iacas]

44 minutes ago, Ty_Webb said:

iacas, it looks like you made yours with four pieces on the long end. Why did you do it that way and not with one piece longways? Was it cheaper to ship like that?

also how did you attach the boards to the aluminum base? Screws somehow?

First, please: https://thesandtrap.com/how-to/mention-members/ .

Second, yes, I made mine with four pieces on the long side. I didn't really consider shipping costs or anything like that. I probably could have/should have done it that way, but I like that if I want now I can have an 8' putting green, a pair of 6' sections… whatever. I went with solid 5' cross beams. The long side sections are all the same length (so there are 12 of them). Then I have shorter cross pieces ( (5' - 1.5" x 3) / 2).

I joined them with little V things that had holes in the top. Drill a hole in top of the plywood and secure it with a bolt into the V bracket.

[4right]

Late to the party as usual. I had an indoor chipping room. It was a single car garage that I used for a music and recording studio. The walls, floor and ceiling were covered with plush carpeting. I had a dart board on the end wall and nothing else. One day it was raining out so I couldn't hit into my driving net. I went into my studio to just putt on the carpet. My wedge was sitting there so I decided to try to chip a ball at the dart board. I hit it and it bounced back to me. I did it again and same thing. So I duct tape a few more targets on the carpeted wall. Some high and low. I would put on some music, have a beer and chip some balls. Then my mother-in-law moved in and the studio got converted to her new bedroom