I play in California where we do not have grain except in the Palm Springs area. Most are bent grass here. I am a great putter but still lacking something. I notice the pros make their numbers from putts of 8' to 20'. I vision the putt, have generally good speed,but am off a little always around the cup. Anyone have any idea what I may be missing. I look for water, wind setting sun, mountains. HELP
First off, I thought I already responded to this post? but here it is again. Also, I love all of those courses in Palm Springs. I try to get down there every couple of years or so.
As for putting; Have you been fitted for your putter? A good fitting will help with accuracy. Also a good putter fitting might will tell you what style of putter fits your putting stroke. Remember, a good accurate putter does not have to cost an arm, and a leg to make a golfer a better putter. My present putter cost less than $50, and I average a little less than 30 putts a round. That is once I get on the green...lol
You did not discribe your missed putts. Are they missing left, right, short, or long? Again a properly fitted putter will help to solve these issues.
As for missing putts as they get close to to the cup, I would suggest spending more time looking at the area with in 3 foot of the cup. As a putted ball gets closer to the cup, it will lose speed, which also means any break, or green damage close to the cup will effect the roll of the ball more. The faster a ball is rolling the less effect the green's conditions will have on the roll of the ball. It takes nerves, and confidence to putt a ball hard enough to defend it's roll to the cup. If you miss you are usually looking at a 3 or 4 footer coming back. That is why those short putts should get a fair amount of practice.
Something I do on breaking putts is to aim higher than what I think is the correct amount. If my first impression tells me there is 12 inches of break, I will add another 3 to 4 inches to that number, since i always under estimate how much break there might be. By doing this I give myself more chance of making the putt simply because I am using more of the hole. It is better to miss a breaking putt on the high side, than on the low side.
Hope this helps. FHs
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Golf Should Be Played.......No Watched
Thank you the last part of your tips I will take into considration about the last 3 feet. Most of my putts are on the high side. I guess I am opposite of Pelz Theory of not playing enough break. My putter is custom fit and no it was not an arm and a leg. It was about $125. I did use a putter I made from Golfsmith which cost me about $26. to build. I used that putter for bout 5 years. I have built quite a few sets of clubs over the past 15 years. Also most all of my putts do go past the hole. Old saying"never up, never in." I always want to give it a chance to go in, unless it is of sum 50-80 feet, then I think of the 6 foot diameter hole which I usually am very good in. I did just recently went to the putting green and found that my eyes were too far over the center of the ball and not on my putting line. I made a change moving te ball 1 ball width forward and keeping my eyes over the line and hey I feel more comfortable over the ball and can really see the line I intend to use. My strokes were sooo much better with confidence and the ball really rolled over in line much better. Putts were dropping like flys on the putting green I can't wait to take it to the course next week. Thanks again
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Golf is my rush
I'm not one to give advice, but here is something that has helped me improve.
First, just having practice rounds on nine holes (by myself, near the end of the day) in addition to group rounds. By the time I get to the pin, I just line things up pretty quickly and go by my instincts. It's fun and informative. I find myself hitting down on the top of the putt (topspin?) something I read about that is supposed to cause the ball to screw into the hole from right or left. Some famous golfer did this back in the day.
One can of beer into about the third hole seems to help.
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I'm out on the back nine.
Tenthtee you are correct about hitting down on the putt. Most of the golfers prior to the 1970 (??) putted this way. I putt this way now myself. All I do is get myself aligned properly, then move my hands towards my foreward thigh. Much like we should do with our other clubs. What I am doing is rolling the face of my putter foreward with this set up, while still making impact just slightly above the equator of the ball. I still use the pendulum shoulder/arm swing, with little if any wrist action. This another reason you hear about having the loft of putter fitted to you putting stroke. In my case by leaning the shaft foreword I am changing the loft of my putter.
The arguement on many forums with this type of impact is that hitting down on the ball tends to drive it into the turf, causing it to bounce up, and hop before the ball starts it's rolling process. Also since today's greens are in much better shape than those of yesteryear, this type of putter impact is out dated. Plus most of today's pros do not use it. FHs
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Golf Should Be Played.......No Watched
I had 1 thought about "hitting down" with the putter. If you slow up your thinking process and put the image of a ball leaving the clubface of an iron in slow motion, it rolls up the face in a " backspin" direction when struck in a "downward" blow. Yes we are talking about a putter which is around 2-5 degrees of loft, but would'nt you think the putter could still produce a "backspin" effect in the first 3 inches of the putt, then skip into the forward roll? Just a little food for thought, and tell me what you think. I wish I had a camera that was capable of showing the roll off a putter face.
Also Dave Pelz made a comment about the area around the hole with in 6 feet of the cup being very bumpy due to people spending most of their time on the green standing in that concentrated area with their weight either cleaning up their putts or picking the ball out of the hole. Therefore most likely your ball is sitting in a foot impression and you need to strike the putt with more authority to get the ball to skid or glide above the surface for the first 1-3 inches so it has less time to get knocked off line due to these foot indentations. Please let me know on this thought also, thanks.
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Golf is my rush
A few thoughts on putting, with consideration of the above illuminating comments. First, I'm not an accomplished putter.
I'm working on assuming a more athletic putting stance, meaning, paying attention to how I grip the club, lining up over the ball, then "standing tall" to the putting position. Basically, extending my arms full length after gripping the putter and standing up to the ball. Feeling my arm muscles extend fully, then relaxing into a natural putting stance.
Before that, I have studied the green and the line to the hole from about ten feet behind the ball. Mentally, I "load in" the data: slight uphill, a break to the left, then a break to the right, but the left break is slightly more - and the grass conditions are already programmed in from the warmup or early practice holes.
Then, I groove a couple of practice swings, fire up the muscles to the right pitch.
Then, just stand up let your subconscious take over. I line everything up quickly, but the put itself if slow. As they say, "nobody cares how well you play, only how fast you play."
From my favorite book, The Secret of Golf, George Low,
"Strike your putts with a descending blow, just above the equator of the ball."
" The best putters in the game, with very few exceptions, have had a very deliberate takeaway. Jack Nicklaus is a prime example of this. Jack has said he stands over a putt as long as he does before stroking because he is waiting until he senses he is totally ready to move the club. I believe that this getting ready is tied up with his slow backstroke: He's waiting for the tension to drain from his arms and hands so he can take the club away smoothly and slowly. When you swing a putter back slowly, you have full control of the clubhead and that brings smoothness.
In a true pendulum stroke, the putter essentially just drops down on the ball, like and acorn free falling from an oak tree. It may appear that there is no acceleration at impact, but only to those not accustomed to seeing a truly evenly paced putting stroke. The majority of golfers, it seems to me, make too short of a backstroke-I believe because they feel this is the best way to keep the blade on line. Then, understandably, they think they must give the ball a little extra hit to get it to the hole. The result is rarely smooth, and frequently the ball goes the wrong distance and well wide of the hole."
And, the angle of the putting stroke, in relation to the target line, " that angle should always be to the inside of the target line on the backstroke, with a return to square along the target line at impact."
Of course, there are a thousand putting philosophies, I think you keep bringing new techniques and drills into awareness, always taking them to your own intuitive level. For me, do all the thinking stuff to set it up, then just let your instincts take over.
When you are making consistent misses, as opposed to inconsistent misses time to try something new. I have managed to get myself to be a much up and downer/two putter of recent by having fun trying new stuff.
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I'm out on the back nine.
First off I would never have an arguement on anything Pelz has to say about putting. The guy is a "putting guru" of the first magnitude.
As for the loft of a putter causing back spin, any club with loft will generate back spin. Especially if contacting the ball below the it's equator. I once tried my own expiriment on the putting green. I had read about this in an article in some golf magazine. This time of year you can find frost/dew on the greens. By taking the time to to try different impact position, you can judge what a ball does by looking at the trail it leaves in the frost/dew that is on the green. You can actually see how much it skips before it starts it's true roll. The skip I get with my putting stroke if anything, is less than contacting the ball on the up stroke trying to cause more top spin. There is not to much difference.
Another great use of frost/dew, especially if you have a group or two in front of you is that you can see the break the other players' balls took. Use that type of weather condition to your advantage when available.
I always pay attention to the area around the pin. Foot traffic damage is one reason, but also this is where the ball will be slowing down, and it's roll will be more influenced by the green's surface. Pelz is quite right about foot traffic damage, and that is one of his key reasons for putting 17" inched past the hole....should you miss the cup. By rolling the ball 17" past the cup, the ball's speed will roll it through most of the imperfections around the cup. It will also tend to roll the ball through any break that might exist.
FHs
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Golf Should Be Played.......No Watched
Good post, FHs. I am going to practice, practice, (did I mention, I promise to spend more time practicing my putting?) everything mentioned. When I get to scratch, it is hard to imagine that I will still seeking improvement. But it's obviously inevitable. Enjoying the journey.
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I'm out on the back nine.
Thank you both Froghairs and tenthtee for your imput. I guess there are 2 things I really need to keep in mind. 1 is that the putter is not being brought up above` my head therefore the "Downward blow" is not that severe. And 2 is that I need to not put too much thought into the downward blow aslong as I keep a good ball position and a smooth strike. I need to stick with concentrating on "line" and "speed".
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Golf is my rush
Yeah, it's more just like imparting some attitude to the stroke. You have all of the thinking and theoretical stuff (and just plain grooving the shots in practice) - the heavy investment in the skills.
And then, you just let it all go and be intuitive - really just letting the subconscious take over the motor skill part for the actual putting stroke. For me, that is what the "topspin" is for, to remind me to let go while I'm hitting, by imparting a little attitude. You take the club back slowly, and how it comes into the ball and through is all feel ... the takeback and the follow through is at once terrifying and exhilerating at the same time. It starts with loading a lot of green reading data into the brain, and ends with a trip to the mental void and back.
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I'm out on the back nine.
