Putting Woes and the Claw Grip

[NM Golf]

For several months I have been in a putting slump. My scores have crept up slightly, as has my handicap index, and when I looked at my stats I did not see any big changes except my putts per round were up.  I thought possibly my proximity to the hole was to blame, but upon really reviewing my rounds, I didn’t see a big change in my iron game. About a month ago, during a golf trip to Colorado, my putting woes finally came to a head. During the trip I putted so poorly. We played on very fast greens where I normally excel, but I could not get a putt started on line.  It was frustrating; I struck the ball really well, but did not score.

Now, I realize I am not going to make that many 20 footers, I know from 5’-10’ I can only hope to make around half, but I wasn’t making half, I was making less than 25%. During my trip from inside 5’, not counting tap-ins, I was below 50%. Not good, not good at all. When I got home I really tried to dissect my issues, I got the alignment sticks out and worked on it to no avail.

So, I made a change. I have putted with a traditional grip my entire life. I have messed around with left hand low a bit, but I just have no speed control with it. So I gave the claw grip a try. I found it somewhat uncomfortable, but there was something there.  I decided to go all in, make the switch, and I spent probably 10 hours practicing with it over a couple weeks trying to get comfortable.

So this past weekend was the first time I have used the claw in real competition. I played in my club’s Fourball tournament Saturday and Sunday and saw huge improvement on the greens. I shot 67 on Saturday and 69 on Sunday. The 69 was with a double bogey on our last hole after my drive imbedded in a sopping wet fairway and we couldn’t find it. I had less than 30 putts in both rounds (27 Sat, 28 Sun). By the back 9 on Sunday I was putting with so much confidence, it was like the old days.

So was my putting a glaring weakness? I suppose it was, as I had to devote more than its fair share of practice time to it. I still believe that the full swing is more important to your score than putting, but this time was possibly the exception? I suppose it doesn’t matter, for the time being all is well in the golf game, full swing and short game alike.

[dennyjones]

This is a happy success story.    Thanks for sharing.

[Patch]

Glad you solved the problem. Tough to score well when one's putting isn't right.

I had some putting problems a few months ago, that were tough to figure out. Grip was good. Stroke was good. Alignment was good. All that good stuff, and I was missing makeable putts. Turned out, after a very close inspection, it was the putter head had become tweaked some how. Dissimilar metals separated. 

Went with another puttr I had, and that solved the problem for me. 

[VaughanH]

Well done!

I think that what also helps is that you practised for 10 hours on it. Most of us are far too imatient. We'll try something new like the Claw Grip. If it does not work immediately we look for a new solution. 
So we can definitely learn from you.

[jsgolfer]

19 hours ago, NM Golf said:

For several months I have been in a putting slump. My scores have crept up slightly, as has my handicap index, and when I looked at my stats I did not see any big changes except my putts per round were up.  I thought possibly my proximity to the hole was to blame, but upon really reviewing my rounds, I didn’t see a big change in my iron game. About a month ago, during a golf trip to Colorado, my putting woes finally came to a head. During the trip I putted so poorly. We played on very fast greens where I normally excel, but I could not get a putt started on line.  It was frustrating; I struck the ball really well, but did not score.

Now, I realize I am not going to make that many 20 footers, I know from 5’-10’ I can only hope to make around half, but I wasn’t making half, I was making less than 25%. During my trip from inside 5’, not counting tap-ins, I was below 50%. Not good, not good at all. When I got home I really tried to dissect my issues, I got the alignment sticks out and worked on it to no avail.

So, I made a change. I have putted with a traditional grip my entire life. I have messed around with left hand low a bit, but I just have no speed control with it. So I gave the claw grip a try. I found it somewhat uncomfortable, but there was something there.  I decided to go all in, make the switch, and I spent probably 10 hours practicing with it over a couple weeks trying to get comfortable.

So this past weekend was the first time I have used the claw in real competition. I played in my club’s Fourball tournament Saturday and Sunday and saw huge improvement on the greens. I shot 67 on Saturday and 69 on Sunday. The 69 was with a double bogey on our last hole after my drive imbedded in a sopping wet fairway and we couldn’t find it. I had less than 30 putts in both rounds (27 Sat, 28 Sun). By the back 9 on Sunday I was putting with so much confidence, it was like the old days.

So was my putting a glaring weakness? I suppose it was, as I had to devote more than its fair share of practice time to it. I still believe that the full swing is more important to your score than putting, but this time was possibly the exception? I suppose it doesn’t matter, for the time being all is well in the golf game, full swing and short game alike.

I made the change to the claw grip about a year ago and it has definitely done wonders for my putting.  Glad you found a solution to your putting woes.

[jamo]

I did something similar a few months ago. I went from a regular interlocking grip to a double interlocking grip. I'm not really sure if it's helped me statistically but every time I try to switch back to a single interlock it feels much worse.

[saevel25]

20 hours ago, NM Golf said:

We played on very fast greens where I normally excel, but I could not get a putt started on line.  It was frustrating; I struck the ball really well, but did not score.

Faster greens need more break to them. A big reason why Aimpoint is so useful. You could have been reading them with the knowledge of slower greens and just trying to adjust your speed.

20 hours ago, NM Golf said:

So was my putting a glaring weakness? I suppose it was, as I had to devote more than its fair share of practice time to it. I still believe that the full swing is more important to your score than putting, but this time was possibly the exception? I suppose it doesn’t matter, for the time being all is well in the golf game, full swing and short game alike

Possibly. If you are missing over 50% of your putts from inside 5 FT.

I grip with a reverse double overlap. I place the right hand on the grip, in the palm. Then my index finger and middle finger on my left hand overlap my pinky and ring finger of my right hand. This has helped me a lot. It freed up my wrist a bit and made me a bit less hitty at the ball with my right hand.

 

[NM Golf]

1 hour ago, saevel25 said:

Faster greens need more break to them. A big reason why Aimpoint is so useful. You could have been reading them with the knowledge of slower greens and just trying to adjust your speed.

No, the issue was just a complete lack of ability to get the ball on line. I normally putt much better on fast greens. I was missing straight putts by half a cup. I really don't know what happened to my putting, I mean I would never have called myself a great putter, but I wasn't just awful either. The past 3-4 months I have been awful. My three putts went up, my putts per round went up. I used to go several rounds without a three putt, now I was lucky if a went a round without a couple. 

My partner in the tournament this past weekend, whom I play probably 50 rounds a year with, even commented that he's never seen me putt better. And it's not like I made a ton of long putts, because I didn't. I didn't make any putts outside of 25 feet, but I made 3 of 12 from 10-20 feet. The big improvement was from inside 8 feet where I only missed 1 putt in two days. I had no three putts, my lag putting put me in a position to have short putts for par and I made them. 

 

[saevel25]

1 hour ago, NM Golf said:

No, the issue was just a complete lack of ability to get the ball on line. I normally putt much better on fast greens. I was missing straight putts by half a cup. I really don't know what happened to my putting, I mean I would never have called myself a great putter, but I wasn't just awful either.

Just curious. If someone messes up their aim, and don't realize it, it can influence their putting speed. Everything is linked together in putting.

It's good you go it figured out.

[p1n9183]

I´m on the same bote as you. Been strugling with my putter for a few years now.
I tryed left hand low and the claw, both of them take away my handsy accion while putting but both feel unconfortable. A don´t give them 10 hours like you and I should try it. 
Between the 2 i had the better results with the claw, maybe i will gave it another try and more time.

Just one thing, don´t be confused about just 2 good rounds putting. Sometimes when i change something and on the weekend I play 2 great rounds with my putter i think that i found the magic move.. but next weekend or the other the bad putting comes again.. that´s just because putting have a big share in luck. You could made 27 putts a round an 36 the other day from the same positions. You can only see if one method work after a lot of rounds with stats that support the improvement.
Hope this isn´t the case for you and the claw gave u real improvements on the long run.

[NM Golf]

Just now, p1n9183 said:

I´m on the same bote as you. Been strugling with my putter for a few years now.
I tryed left hand low and the claw, both of them take away my handsy accion while putting but both feel unconfortable. A don´t give them 10 hours like you and I should try it. 
Between the 2 i had the better results with the claw, maybe i will gave it another try and more time.

Just one thing, don´t be confused about just 2 good rounds putting. Sometimes when i change something and on the weekend I play 2 great rounds with my putter i think that i found the magic move.. but next weekend or the other the bad putting comes again.. that´s just because putting have a big share in luck. You could made 27 putts a round an 36 the other day from the same positions. You can only see if one method work after a lot of rounds with stats that support the improvement.
Hope this isn´t the case for you and the claw gave u real improvements on the long run.

It wasn't my first two rounds using the claw, it was my first two tournament rounds. I had 3 regular rounds and a couple practice rounds in before I used it in competition.

Practice helps, the claw felt weird, its the reason I had never really tried it before. But, while messing around with it it became apparent there was something about it that was allowing me to get shorter putts on line. The 10 hours I practiced, was broken into maybe 30-45 minutes at a time at the course and its a guestimate. I have putters stashed away where I work, at the house, I once practiced for almost an hour in the proshop where I work on a slow afternoon. I could have easily done the 5 minute challenge if I had thought about it, I practiced everyday for at least 5 minutes.