Putting Tips

[ScottyT]

Putting is so fickle.  I've found that those 8-10 footers are the most problematic for me.  I've tried many, MANY techniques and putters.   I lag putt well and can usually get within 3 feet from just about any distance inside 40 feet regardless of slope.   Those 8-10 footers for me are usually for a birdie or scambling par,  adding a little pressure to the putt.  There is no magic answer but I do offer this.  As a 5hcp, you have a good game.  My guess is that you're putting pressure on yourself with those 8-10 footers.  So relax.  Don't linger over the putt or second guess yourself; that only builds pressure and anxiety.   Pick a line and hit the damn putt.   One of the best putting tips I ever got had nothing to do with technique or method.  That advice was:  Putt like you're a kid again.  Don't worry or over think it.  Just put it in the hole.  Pretty simple. 

[Dunit507]

This is the part of my game that is holding me back. To put it in perspective I shot my 1st 18 even on 7/4 of this year. I played the front -1. I had a 2 putt birdie on 6. I made birdie on 8. I missed 8ft or less birdie putts on 7 and 9. Point being I was on fire but my putting still held me back. If I make anything at all I’m a couple under: this was the day I really 1st thought about switching putters and trying to start over with the putting stroke.

 

 

 

[iacas]

1 hour ago, Dunit507 said:

This is the part of my game that is holding me back. To put it in perspective I shot my 1st 18 even on 7/4 of this year. I played the front -1. I had a 2 putt birdie on 6. I made birdie on 8. I missed 8ft or less birdie putts on 7 and 9. Point being I was on fire but my putting still held me back. If I make anything at all I’m a couple under: this was the day I really 1st thought about switching putters and trying to start over with the putting stroke.

PGA Tour players average 50% from eight feet.

Perception is often not reality.

[Dunit507]

I said 8ft or less. After missing an eagle on 6, that I was ok with considering it was over 10 ft and a nice break. Lag close for a bird was fine. But then I smoke a drive and have 65 yards in at 7. I stick one in there to prob 4-6ft and I straight up yank it. No break just a bad bad putt. I feel like the putt on 7 I should make.

[billchao]

1 hour ago, Dunit507 said:

I said 8ft or less. After missing an eagle on 6, that I was ok with considering it was over 10 ft and a nice break. Lag close for a bird was fine. But then I smoke a drive and have 65 yards in at 7. I stick one in there to prob 4-6ft and I straight up yank it. No break just a bad bad putt. I feel like the putt on 7 I should make.

Can and should are two different things. Just because you can make it doesn't mean you should. The birdie putts probably stick out in your head because you struck it so well on the approaches, but you probably made one or two other putts from the same distance in the round or previous rounds that you didn't think twice about. Sample size matters.

[iacas]

18 minutes ago, billchao said:

Can and should are two different things. Just because you can make it doesn't mean you should. The birdie putts probably stick out in your head because you struck it so well on the approaches, but you probably made one or two other putts from the same distance in the round or previous rounds that you didn't think twice about. Sample size matters.

Yep.

@Dunit507, a lot of people think that they should make a lot of putts that they can. But as the 8 foot/50% thing illustrates… can ≠ should.

Without understanding strokes gained putting or something similar, you really are gonna have a hard time understanding whether your putting performance(s) are better or worse than they "should" be.

[boogielicious]

8 hours ago, billchao said:

Can and should are two different things. Just because you can make it doesn't mean you should. The birdie putts probably stick out in your head because you struck it so well on the approaches, but you probably made one or two other putts from the same distance in the round or previous rounds that you didn't think twice about. Sample size matters.

Great motto for science!

[billchao]

1 hour ago, boogielicious said:

Great motto for science!

It's something we talked about a lot in stats class with probability, too. Just because you can flip a coin and land on tails six times in a row doesn't make tails the expected outcome on a coin flip.

Same thing in golf. One round is not statistically significant. You can get hot and make 100% of your 8' putts in a round, but it doesn't really say much about your putting and the chances of you making an 8' putt.

People's perceptions aren't based on numbers, though. They see an 8' putt and they think, "I made a bunch of these last week so I should make this one," and that's not really how that works.

Even if it's something like a 5' putt where a tour pro is 75% from, if he misses one it's an expected outcome despite the fact that he could have made it.

[Dunit507]

Golf is such a funny game. Last couple rounds been putting great. This morning I one putted 4 of my 1st 6 greens. Granted only one of those was a birdie since I hit one of the 1st 6 greens. I end the day hitting 53% fairways. No 3 putts. Lots of one putts but only 5 greens. For some reason distance control with wedges was non existent today and wasn’t able to get the ball on the floor. Typically that’s a strength of my game. Oh well. That should be easy to fix. Assuming I do the confidence is high at least for upcoming rounds.

[Zekez]

On 8/19/2018 at 8:05 AM, Dunit507 said:

Appreciate the responses. I went out after work yesterday and averaged 1.7 putts per hole. Good day for me. Typically I’m 1.8-2.0. Actually made a couple. Was really close to making a few more. Dropped one of those 8-10ft birdies. Lags were all within a couple feet on longer putts and the one 3 putt I had was a wedge from 75-80 that I gave a little too much juice on and left myself a long bender from above the hole, which i nearly holed, but lipped out the 5ft comeback.

The main reason I was looking for some advice is I’m basically rebuilding my putting stroke. I’ve gone from an anser that I’ve been using for about 2 years (and a Pal prior) to a Cra-ze. Give myself a different look. I’ve also gone with a shorter putter. I wanted to try going with something that allows my arms to hang freely and lower opposed to the longer shaft on my previous putters. The reason for my change is that I’ve considered myself serviceable but not good at putting. I score despite of my putting and don’t feel like I’m getting any better.

Anyhow I do believe that there is some truth to the idea of not giving up the hole as often. I do think I’ve been playing the ball too far outside. The swing thought that I went with yesterday for putting was to really made a stroke as opposed to hitting the ball.... get the thing rolling. I think I’ve been kind of stabbing at it instead of stroking it. I also really focused on the lower body and keeping that still. Focused on hitting the sweet spot. 

 

I have the club championship in a little over a month and I feel pretty good about being able to make this change and getting my putting to where I want it to be for the weekend. I’ve been playing exclusively on my home course and really trying to make sure I maintain the feel for the speed of the greens. The greens there are the quickest of any of the courses i routinely play so I’ll be limiting myself to that course only to be sure I’m as comfortable as possible going into the event. 

All in all I think I had a putting day that will give me confidence yesterday. I had a week and a half off. Didn’t strike the ball well. Only hit 3 fairways. Only hit 6 greens. Managed to get up and down 4 times and shoot an 80. Ball striking will come back with consistent play but building confidence with the putter will be the key. Think I have a lot of good advice to think about in the quest to become a better putter. 

What club do you golf at?

[Dunit507]

Called Norvelt. Little town in western PA. Whites play 129/69.3. Blues are obviously a little higher. Not an overly long golf course but off the tee you can find trouble on pretty much every hole. Even if you don’t go into a hazard or OB there are plenty of trees lining fairways. Greens are relatively quick and some are multi tiered. Some have severe slopes/false fronts etc.

[NM Golf]

On 8/20/2018 at 12:59 PM, iacas said:

Perception is often not reality.

Quite quite often not reality. I see guys do this all the time. They have 5-6 birdie putts from approx 10 feet make none and blame their putting. Heck I used to do it. 

The announcers do it on TV all the time. They talk about how the putter let someone down because they missed most of their 10-15 footers. They are supposed to miss a majority of them.

On 8/20/2018 at 9:11 PM, billchao said:

Can and should are two different things. Just because you can make it doesn't mean you should. The birdie putts probably stick out in your head because you struck it so well on the approaches, but you probably made one or two other putts from the same distance in the round or previous rounds that you didn't think twice about. Sample size matters.

This is why people overestimate the importance of the short game.

[Deauxrite]

I use a mirror mounted on my putter..and a laser (Home Depot) to insure that my 10 foot putts are properly lined up.  I practice in the house for just that putt.  With enough repetition, the line begins to really appear for a 10 footer.  I have gone from  32 putts to 28 average and am now making more of those "easy" birdies that I used to leave as tap in pars.  As someone earlier said, "at 10 feet it is more about the read and bead..get that putt on the line and they will start going in.

[MrGolfguy67]

On 8/19/2018 at 7:05 AM, Dunit507 said:

Anyhow I do believe that there is some truth to the idea of not giving up the hole as often. I do think I’ve been playing the ball too far outside. 

Thanks for the confirmation. I'm glad to know that you tried the advice i gave you and had positive results with it.

[Dunit507]

2 hours ago, MrGolfguy67 said:

Thanks for the confirmation. I'm glad to know that you tried the advice i gave you and had positive results with it.

When I’m putting well I’m confident. I’m playing most putts from 3-4 feet inside the hole and hitting them into the hole without too much fear of running the putt a couple feet by. Aggressive putting. When I struggle is when I’m tennative. I deaccelarate. I lose confidence and am afraid to hit the putt. That’s when it goes bad. Putting aggressive you put enough pace on short putts that you rarely give up the hole. Obviously every putt isn’t inside the hole but I do think maybe was reading too much break into longer putts.

[iacas]

On 8/18/2018 at 3:35 PM, MrGolfguy67 said:

I've found that a surprising amount of putts in the 8-10 ft range can be played 'inside the hole', that is they don't break very much.

4 hours ago, MrGolfguy67 said:

Thanks for the confirmation. I'm glad to know that you tried the advice i gave you and had positive results with it.

1 hour ago, Dunit507 said:

When I’m putting well I’m confident. I’m playing most putts from 3-4 feet inside the hole and hitting them into the hole without too much fear of running the putt a couple feet by.

[boogielicious]

9 hours ago, iacas said:

Maybe they only play putt putt greens with slopes less than 1%. 😜

[Dunit507]

I don’t think going in with a strategy of not ever giving up the hole is the best plan but I do think that reading too much break is a common problem for a lot of people.