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1 putt vs 3 putt


stealthhwk
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Go for the one putt or avoid the three putt  

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  1. 1. Do you try to make your first putt or avoid the three

    • I try to make the first putt
    • I try to get it close to avoid the three putt


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8 hours ago, dave s said:

Yes, for many players that range does cause 3-putts. That's why I practice that range ... so I rarely miss when the 2-5' range putts show up during a round.  Gotta be consistent on the greens.

I think you missed the point: the better idea is to practice their distance putting so that they don't end up with the 3-5' putts in the first place.

Practicing your distance control will help you on ALL putts on EVERY green. Practicing your 2-5' putts will only help you on your 2-5' putts, which you won't have many of if you practice your distance control in the first place (with the distance control still helping those 2-5' putts, just not to as great an extent). Of the 30-45 putts a golfer has during a round, I would imagine a fair bit less than half of those are from 2-5', while all of those putts can benefit from increased distance control since better distance control equals shorter putts afterwords.

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2 hours ago, Pretzel said:

I think you missed the point: the better idea is to practice their distance putting so that they don't end up with the 3-5' putts in the first place.

I agree.

Practicing your 2-5' putts so you three-putt less often is not fixing the problem.

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8 hours ago, Strandly said:

Trying to make the first putt automatically avoids the 3...

Not necessarily.  Making the first putt automatically avoids the 3.  Running the first putt 5 feet past makes the 3-putt more likely

 

Dave

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I've never understood how aiming at a 3 foot circle can be more accurate than aiming at 4¼ inch hole.  The logic escapes me. :hmm:  

You may hit the 3 foot circle more often than you do the 4¼ inch hole, but that doesn't mean that you are getting closer to the 4¼ hole in the middle of that circle.  Aiming at the smaller target gives me a finer focus.

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Rick

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On 9/7/2016 at 11:18 PM, stealthhwk said:

Ive been three putting all of a sudden and I wonder if its technique or poor strategy. Thought Id start a poll to help me figure it out. Here goes nothing: 

This is hardly the black-and-white situation you're proposing. If I'm 10 feet away, I'm trying to make the putt. If I'm 40 feet away with 2 feet of break, I'm trying to avoid 3-putting. There are a million other scenarios that could affect my thought process, as well. 

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My home course has three severely sloped greens.  If I get a sidehill putt on those greens, I'll often play more break, not giving the putt a chance of going in to try and make sure I keep the first putt in the vicinity of the hole.  If I get a downhill putt on one of these greens, I'll usually try and make it because the ball isn't probably stopping near the hole regardless of how soft I hit it.  On normal greens, I generally try to make the first putt if I'm inside 20-25 feet.  Beyond that I'm just trying to get the speed right to give myself a makeable two-putt.

John

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On September 9, 2016 at 9:29 PM, iacas said:

I agree.

Practicing your 2-5' putts so you three-putt less often is not fixing the problem.

After reading LSW, the only time I do a 20 foot putt is to determine green speed on the practice green before a round. Even then it's only one or two. I warm up with a couple of short ones to make sure my aim is on. Then longer ones to gauge green speed and my AimPoint read. Lastly, I do a few long lag putts up and down hill or over ridges to get dialed in.

I never think about 'not three putting'. My objective is to have the ball die into the cup on long putts. I know the odds are against me, but it is a better mental approach.

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On 9/8/2016 at 10:19 AM, Golfingdad said:

The poll has a false premise that those two options are mutually exclusive, so I didn't answer.

The best way to expand the size of the hole, and thus make more putts, is to have it traveling slowly as it passes, which means it stops close and you also avoid three putts.

The answer is BOTH. :)

Good post.

Perfect speed is a very good target on most putts. That said, a little aggressiveness when you're inside ~ 15 feet can help avoid leaving potentially makeable putts short if you misjudge the speed or mishit the putt. Maybe only a bit (6") past at 15' to firmly past (12") inside 5' would be how I try to approach it.

Something I think the OP is getting at, but did not address directly is the expectation that - for some - may go with the intent to make a putt vs. lag it. If you try to make long putts, but get frustrated when you don't succeed and then over-correct with your speed on subsequent holes, that's a recipe for increasing your 3-putts. Recognizing a good vs. a bad miss depending on the initial distance and break you're putting across is helpful for keeping your frustration low and approach consistent with smaller corrections.

Edited by natureboy
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Kevin

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On 9/9/2016 at 6:58 PM, Pretzel said:

I think you missed the point: the better idea is to practice their distance putting so that they don't end up with the 3-5' putts in the first place.

Practicing your distance control will help you on ALL putts on EVERY green. Practicing your 2-5' putts will only help you on your 2-5' putts, which you won't have many of if you practice your distance control in the first place (with the distance control still helping those 2-5' putts, just not to as great an extent). Of the 30-45 putts a golfer has during a round, I would imagine a fair bit less than half of those are from 2-5', while all of those putts can benefit from increased distance control since better distance control equals shorter putts afterwords.

I didn't miss the point at all.  Do you honestly think I ONLY practice short putts and miss 20 footers by 3-5 feet EVERY time?  I can tell you I most certainly DON'T.

Also, I can't tell you the last time I had 36 or more putts in an 18-hole round.  It's been years. That's because I chip them close, (note: to within FIVE FEET most of the time) and MAKE the putt.  20-30 footers are left inside that range as well.  And I MAKE the next putt because I PRACTICE 2-5' range putts.

What I can't understand is some of you guys disagreeing with PRACTICE on a specific area of the game.  Players miss those putts because they don't practice them regularly or they simply take them for granted.  For goodness sake, I just saw Rory two-putt from three feet Saturday.  I also saw Brandt Snedeker practice 2, 3, 5 and 10' putts for 30 minutes at Firestone two months ago.  Maybe show up to Brandt's gig and tell him he needs to get better at 30 footers so he can eliminate short putting practice.

Nobody will ever convince me that short game practice, and short-range putting practice is a bad idea.  When those 2-5' putts show up during my round, they go in.  It's not because I'm a crappy lag putter, it's because they're going to show up during a round. Sheesh.

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On 9/10/2016 at 10:08 AM, Fourputt said:

I've never understood how aiming at a 3 foot circle can be more accurate than aiming at 4¼ inch hole.  The logic escapes me. :hmm:  

You may hit the 3 foot circle more often than you do the 4¼ inch hole, but that doesn't mean that you are getting closer to the 4¼ hole in the middle of that circle.  Aiming at the smaller target gives me a finer focus.

I tend to agree more with this mentality: "Aim small, miss small". If you putt with the intention of putting it in the hole, even if you don't, you'll end up closer than if you told yourself "just get it close".

The only situation where a "just get it close" mentality is more likely to give you a better result is when the hole is badly positioned on the green, such as being too close (per USGA regs) to a severe slope on the green. Trying to put it in the hole might mean you miss the line, or misjudge the power, in the direction of that slope and your ball goes to the other side of the green. A "get it close" mentality focused on putting the ball onto a safe spot on the green within a couple feet of the hole will turn out better on average than trying to hole out, unless you're just that good.

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1 hour ago, dave s said:

Nobody will ever convince me that short game practice, and short-range putting practice is a bad idea.  When those 2-5' putts show up during my round, they go in.  It's not because I'm a crappy lag putter, it's because they're going to show up during a round. Sheesh.

We weren't arguing that it wouldn't help you. We were merely stating that practicing your distance control is a better use of your time if you have a limited amount of time to practice, since it will be more beneficial overall to your game than 2-5' putting practice. I also never made a claim that you only practiced from 2-5', just mentioned that perhaps you were overvaluing how much it could influence your scores.

Practice rarely hurts you, but optimizing your practice to get the most benefit out of the smallest time investment is what most people are interested in so they can improve the most in what time they have available to them. Lag putting, in terms of a time/benefit ratio, is more effective practice than putting from 2-5', plain and simple. 

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17 hours ago, Pretzel said:

Lag putting, in terms of a time/benefit ratio, is more effective practice than putting from 2-5', plain and simple. 

I agree with this. If your GIR is low - particularly for your HCP - then chipping work can help too. But if your GIR is low then your first putt distance is likely to be high on average as well.

Kevin

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Well you should always TRY to make the putt. But sometimes its not practical. Especially when you get over 25 feet or so. 

I completely disagree with the comment that somebody posted that one should practice long putts more than short ones. You should practice draining putts. Not lagging them. You're going to make a lot more 3 footers than you will 40 footers. You hunker down on a practice green and drain 20 to 30 3 and 4 footers at a time and eventually you end up having no fear of that putt. 

Spend some time practicing lags, of course. But if you're going to go out to a practice green and not work on mechanical things, id spend most of the time on making short ones. 

Edited by Groucho Valentine
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On 9/8/2016 at 9:19 AM, Golfingdad said:

The poll has a false premise that those two options are mutually exclusive, so I didn't answer.

The best way to expand the size of the hole, and thus make more putts, is to have it traveling slowly as it passes, which means it stops close and you also avoid three putts.

The answer is BOTH. :)

Ditto

 

aim small, miss small

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Nothing is more demoralizing to my game than missing 2 to 5 ft putts.  I tend to run enough lag putts on the practice green before a round to get a feel for the speed.  However, most of my putting practice is aimed at putts inside 6 feet and making them as automatic as possible.

John

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i agree with both.  i want to make the putt obviously.  and if i miss then i want to avoid a 3 putt.  to me its not exclusive.  having said that i understand the percentages.  in my mind i might be thinking more about a good lag then sinking the putt per say, but im not trying to miss it.

i dont spend much time practicing putting.  when i do its mostly about my technique and speed control.  if i have a round or two that i feel like something was off.  say i missed too many inside 3ft, or my speed was really off leaving myself bad second putts etc, then i spend a little extra time on it.  

i also dont keep track of how many putts i have a round.  its too dependent on other factors to mean much to me.  alot of my rounds in the 70s included putts in the 34-37 range.  i was hitting alot of gir and making a bunch of 2 putt pars.  with a few 1 putts and maybe a few 3 putts mixed in.  

  unless something is off with my aligment or grip.  the shorties are more about concentration to me.  if i get sloppy then i will miss.

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6 hours ago, Groucho Valentine said:

I completely disagree with the comment that somebody posted that one should practice long putts more than short ones. You should practice draining putts. Not lagging them. You're going to make a lot more 3 footers than you will 40 footers. You hunker down on a practice green and drain 20 to 30 3 and 4 footers at a time and eventually you end up having no fear of that putt. 

I agree with a lot of this, but I'm a decent putter.  If I make all (or even most) of my 5-footers, that decreases pressure on every other part of the game. 

However, in my experience, more 3-putts happen due to poor speed than any other single cause.  Its really hard to miss a read/aim by 5 or 6 feet, but its not uncommon to leave a long putt 5 or 6 feet short or long.  Consequently, for someone who has a lot of 3-putts, I believe the best way to improve is to practice longer putts in order to improve distance control.  A part of that practice is to learn to hit the longer putts exactly hole-high, and not worry about getting past the hole.  In essence, getting the speed right is more important on longer putts than "giving the putt a chance to go in."

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Dave

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