Putting

[Jack Watson]

For me,  its this...

 

And My technique(not ever to be discussed with anyone)....And roll the ball with the stick

Cant stand elk.  

This is nothing just an attempt to spark discussion.  I've never and never will try to talk about mechanics in putting.  It's just weird.  For me what Burke shows is what I do.  I've putted my whole life and no I don't practice and no I am not a pro.  I do find putting very engrossing though when I play and take it seriously.  

Distance control?  I have no idea.  Line?  I couldn't explain it.

For me it's roll the ball.   Found the grip I like and the putter I like and that's it. 

Sounds ridiculous.  Roll the ball with the stick.  It's not explainable.  

 

[iacas]

27 minutes ago, Jack Watson said:

It's not explainable.

Sure it is.

It's teachable, and learnable, too.

If your purpose is not to start a discussion, why are you posting it on a discussion forum?

Good putters tend to…

• Read - Read greens well.
  • AimPoint
  • or Green charts
  • or a lot of experience
• Speed - Hit the ball the proper distance.
  • Hit near the peak velocity.
  • Have a fairly uniform backswing and follow-through length (ties into #1).
  • Hit the ball with 1-2° loft and 2-3° AoA.
• Bead - Control the start line
  • controlled rates of rotation
  • not flipping the wrists/yipping
  • good aim

[Piz]

Of course it's explainable.  Trouble is...it is difficult to "explain" the ball into the hole until after the fact.  Then it all makes sense; as it invariably does when it doesn't go in (Gosh...that breaks more/less than I thought).  File under: predicting history.

[Jack Watson]

Ok,  NOTE I am not saying this is good.  I hate forward press.  I mean movement in putting?  Wtf!

For me,  I can't explain my own putting or anyone else's.  I've seen people teach putting and cause big improvement to poor putters.

Distance and line yes putterface at impact yes

Theoretically I grasp the importance of these things,  but in reality when putting (which I enjoy) for myself the first video is it.  It is asinine almost.  

I mean the modern aimpoint and that is proved to work.  It's all phenomenal what is happening these days with the quality of info.

I thought about a birdie putt I made from about 10-12 feet after my last round.  No idea how far to take it back nothing.  For me outside five feet I think I just kinda roll it.  Probably dumb luck.

[Vinsk]

1 hour ago, Jack Watson said:

I've never and never will try to talk about mechanics in putting.

So.....the title. refers to what? Let me guess, "Putting...by Immanuel Kant."

[saevel25]

Outside of coming up with a system to chart greens, Aimpoint is the best green reading system out there. It's simple and effective. 

Speed control isn't something you think, "Ok this putt I need to take it back 12 inches." It's pretty much all feel based on experience. It comes from being able to read putts and start them on the target line. People with good speed control can pick up the speed of the greens quickly. 

 

 

[Piz]

15 minutes ago, Vinsk said:

So.....the title. refers to what? Let me guess, "Putting...by Immanuel Kant."

I prefer Heisenburg (sic)...It is impossible, often enough. to determine both the speed and the line simultaneously.  The putt is there; but (going back to Kant) reality and perception intrude on one another.  The result is a "putt of faith"...a Kierkegardian (sic) abstract.

[Shindig]

1 hour ago, Piz said:

I prefer Heisenburg (sic)...It is impossible, often enough. to determine both the speed and the line simultaneously.  The putt is there; but (going back to Kant) reality and perception intrude on one another.  The result is a "putt of faith"...a Kierkegardian (sic) abstract.

Well, I was going to make a Metaphysics of Natural Putting reference but ... yours is so much better.  Just like if we were comparing putting skill.

[David in FL]

Putting is one of the few things in this game that is pretty easy to explain...

[Wally Fairway]

20 minutes ago, David in FL said:

Putting is one of the few things in this game that is pretty easy to explain...

Putting is also one of the easiest things to practice. I can practice bead if I'm having trouble with getting the line right, and there are many effective drills for distance.
Sometimes I'll just hit putts for 5-10 minutes and other times it will be for up to an hour if I'm working on several things (each one individually if I really want to get proper results)

[klineka]

7 minutes ago, Wally Fairway said:

Putting is also one of the easiest things to practice. I can practice bead if I'm having trouble with getting the line right, and there are many effective drills for distance.
Sometimes I'll just hit putts for 5-10 minutes and other times it will be for up to an hour if I'm working on several things (each one individually if I really want to get proper results)

I agree with this. Sometimes just spending 5-10 minutes each night putting to an object on the floor in the living room is enough for me to work on the stroke and reinforce good habits in between range sessions/rounds. I dont use this to work on speed, I pretty much stay in the <6 ft range, but this has helped me build a ton of confidence with those putts

[Jack Watson]

I wonder if Zeno golfed?  

Wouldnt wanna get stuck behind that group!  "Zeno foursome you're on deck"  lol

Schopenhauer proved the folly of worrying too much about results in putting.  You never know what could happen.

 

 

[billchao]

Putting is a skill, or even a series of skills that are identifiable and can be improved. Some people are naturally better at it than others so they don't really have to work on it, but it's not some kind of magical art or anything.

[Wally Fairway]

12 hours ago, Vinsk said:

So.....the title. refers to what? Let me guess, "Putting...by Immanuel Kant."

When it comes to the philosophy of putting I'm more of a zen guy and I like what Basho said "a flute with no holes is not a flute & a donut with no holes is a Danish"

 

[saevel25]

There is something to not taking too long between the time you take your practice stroke till you actually hit the ball. Tiger Woods was consistent with how much time it took him from taking his practice strokes till he hit the putt. It wasn't that much time.

If a person stands over the ball too long they could lose the feel for the distance.

[Kalnoky]

2 hours ago, billchao said:

Putting is a skill, or even a series of skills that are identifiable and can be improved. Some people are naturally better at it than others so they don't really have to work on it, but it's not some kind of magical art or anything.

I never took a putting lesson and I avg 32 putts a round. I think that's not bad.

I think LSW has some good advise about putting speed. If the speed is right the hole becomes bigger. The toughest putts are the ones where you have to put a tempo on it (to negate the break) knowing if you miss it's an automatic 3-putt. I admit I will "lay-up" on those :)

[Patch]

I always looked at a putt as a ball rolled on a straight line to a point that is not always the cup. That if I picked the correct line, or point of aim, with the correct speed, the rolling ball would find it's own way to the cup, based on how the green's surface made it move.

Over the years, I developed a sense for putting the ball the distanced required. As for calculating any break, I found I never saw enough break, so I would add two fingers width to the break I saw.  This served me quite well over the years. Obviously I didn't make everything, but most of my misses were pretty close. 

 

Edited August 15, 2017 by Patch

[Shindig]

1 hour ago, Kalnoky said:

I never took a putting lesson and I avg 32 putts a round. I think that's not bad.

What's your strokes gained/lost on putting?  I think that's a far more meaningful statistic than putts per round.