TST Member Review - Half-Cup Putting Aid

[No Mulligans]

Product Name: Half-Cup Putting Aid
Product Type: Putting Training Aid
Product Website/URL: http://halfcupputting.com/
Cost: $12.99

Ratings (out of 5):
Quality: 4
Value: 4
Effectiveness: 5
Durability: 3
Aesthetic Appeal: 4 

 

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My Member Review

Pros:

• Increased focus on short putts

• Fits perfectly into the hole of my indoor practice green

• Provides an additional way to practice

• For me, it has made me more aware of and focused on technique

• Not just for short putts!  You can jam it in from 4 feet with a 12 foot stroke and it won’t pop out (12 foot stroke from 4 feet seems to be the limit for it not popping out).  So in a sense you can practice a longer putting strokes with the Half Cup from close distance. Why not just putt from a long distance? That’s an awfully small target and I get frustrated missing so much.

• It weighs practically nothing and it’s small.  Perfect to carry in your bag.

 

 

Cons:

• Capture speed becomes much less of an issue on a real green with slight imperfections, I’ve had more success making a putt that would go two feet by than on putts that would go only ½ foot by.  This is because Capture speed hardly matters with the Half Cup and any tiny movement off-line caused by green imperfections will cause the putt not to drop.

• Getting the ball out of an outdoor hole is a bit of a hassle .  I had to remove the Half Cup from the hole, retrieve the balls, and replace the Half Cup.  This is not an issue for the shallow hole of an indoor putting mat.  This is really a very minor issue that doesn’t affect my rating of this product.

 

Additional observation:

• I’ve discovered that my first several putts of a session go about ¼ inch to the right from 4 feet after which I seem to compensate for.  I probably wouldn’t have been aware of this had I not practiced with the Half Cup.  For me, this alone is worth the price of admission.

• (Maybe it’s time to get an Edel fitting)

 

Conclusion:  I like the product and have already learned and improved from it. I will continue to use the Half Cup.

 

[David in FL]

What happens with a breaking putt?  It seems as if anything other than a relatively straight putt would come in from an angle that the device wouldn't allow into the "hole"...

[iacas]

8 minutes ago, David in FL said:

What happens with a breaking putt?  It seems as if anything other than a relatively straight putt would come in from an angle that the device wouldn't allow into the "hole"...

You can turn it so that it's open at the entry point.

[David in FL]

5 minutes ago, iacas said:

You can turn it so that it's open at the entry point.

Yeah, I get that, but that still strikes me as a detractor.  A favorite drill is to place ring of balls around the hole from varying distances to help judge/practice differing breaks.  This device won't accomodate something like that.

Just strikes me as a limiting factor....

[No Mulligans]

12 hours ago, David in FL said:

Yeah, I get that, but that still strikes me as a detractor.  A favorite drill is to place ring of balls around the hole from varying distances to help judge/practice differing breaks.  This device won't accomodate something like that.

Just strikes me as a limiting factor....

Read, bead, speed...

I see this tool as an aid for practicing hitting it where you are aiming (bead).  I only use it for straight putts.