I was looking through a notebook I keep that contains notes from golf lessons I have taken. The last playing lesson I took emphasized the tee shot. My note says, "Tee shot is paramount to making par. Work on these." So work on your driver, but work on hitting it straight, not far. If you can hit your irons straight, but not your driver, get a lesson. You'll never figure it out yourself.
There are several other notes that pertain only to me, but another general note is, "Make your targets very precise from the tee and the fairway." Think not only of which direction you want the shot to go, but on what spot do you want the ball to land. And it's a spot, not an area.
You know the bottom of your swing needs to be ahead of the ball. How do you do that? I practice this indoors with a fairway wood. I set up and take note of the place where the leading edge of the sole is. Then I make a slow-motion swing and try to lightly tap the rug with the sole of the club ahead of that place when I swing through. Hint: if you're not getting your weight to the left in the forward swing, and early in the forward swing, you won't be able to get the club out there.
I've been playing around with a short stroke for short putts this past week. It started out as the old pop stroke, but I quickly found out that the rapid stroke and percussive hit the word "pop" suggests is the wrong way to go about it. I'm finding success with a rhythmic stroke that nudges the ball to the hole. That might be a better starting point for you if you want try this out. I should also mention my upper arms rest against my sides for security. The advantage of a short stroke (about six inches for a 10-foot putt) is that the clubface stays square throughout. I'm only using this stroke for short putts I think I can sink. For longer putts, I go back to my sweeping pendulum stroke and the TAP method.
I read a tip in a current golf magazine that I thought might help. So I went out and tried it. The results were terrible. What I realized very quickly is that I was already doing what the tip suggested. In trying to follow the tip I did more of it and that was too much. Beware of tips you read in golf magazines.
Showing posts with label putting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label putting. Show all posts
Thursday, December 7, 2017
Wednesday, November 15, 2017
Triangulated Approach Putting (TAP)
Often I will try something out for a few weeks and if it seems to be a good thing I will write a post about it. This one is different. I discovered it in 2015. I didn’t want to let you know about it until I was sure it was sound.
It is.
The method, which I call Triangulated Approach Putting (TAP) will revolutionize your approach putting.
The commonest reason you three-putt is that you leave your first putt too far from the hole. You get the distance wrong. TAP lets you leave that first putt right beside the hole. It is almost scary how good you will get.
TAP is based on this axiom: For any length of putt, if the length of the putting stroke is the sole distance generator, there is one, and only one, length of stroke that will send the ball that distance.
TAP shows you how to find the length of that stroke. I’ll explain the theory first and then get into the fine points.
In the diagram below, you see a line from the ball to the hole. That is the baseline of a triangle. The spot marked apex is where you stand to find the length of stroke. The line from the ball to the apex is the eyeline. The line from the apex to the hole, not being a factor, and is not labeled. Distances are exaggerated for clarity.
The apex is located at a standard spot, half the length of the baseline and offset three paces to the left (to the right for left-handed golfers). These distances are adjustable.
Stand at the apex and swing your putter back and forth while looking at the ball. Make a stroke such that the clubhead intersects the eyeline (an imaginary line coming straight at you from the ball). That stroke will send the ball the exact distance from where it now lies, to the hole.
That’s the theory. Here’s the practice.
(1) The length of the swing must be the sole distance generator. You cannot add any “hit” with your hands. That would be introducing another variable, which we do not want to do.
(2) You must hit the ball on the same spot of the putter’s face every time. The sweet spot is best. Erratic contact in this regard plays havoc with how much energy is imparted to the ball, and thus how far it goes.
(3) The speed of your putting stroke must be constant. Otherwise, you will unknowingly be imparting more or less energy to the ball, again affecting the distance it travels.
(4) The location of the apex is not fixed.
(a) If greens are slower or you are putting uphill, the apex must be more than halfway to the hole--point (A).
(b) If greens are faster or you are putting downhill, the apex must be less than halfway to the hole--point (B).
(c) Your putter can make a difference. If you are consistently leaving putts too long or too short, stand more or less than three paces from the baseline--closer to make putts go farther, or at more remove to make them travel shorter.
(5) An essential point is remembering the length of the stroke. After all, you have to walk over to the ball to hit the putt, and in that time you might forget. While at the apex, make several strokes that intersect the eyeline and pay attention to how that stroke feels to your body. There might be a slight stretching somewhere in your back, or your arms might brush against you in a certain way. When you get to the ball, recreate that sensation.
(6) Hit the ball with trust. TAP works if you let it.
Regarding the adjustments in (4), the more you practice TAP, the more accurate your adjustments will become.
Use TAP when distance is more important than line. How far from the hole that switch gets made is up to you, but ten feet is not too close.
I have tried this method on different practice greens, on different courses, and after I have adjusted to the conditions it always works.
You could take out all my posts from 2009 to date and nothing would be missing because you can read all of it somewhere else. I have just been adding emphasis or perhaps clarity.
But TAP is new. There is nothing remotely like it to be seen anywhere else. If you want to save strokes on the green starting almost overnight, here’s how. No kidding.
It is.
The method, which I call Triangulated Approach Putting (TAP) will revolutionize your approach putting.
The commonest reason you three-putt is that you leave your first putt too far from the hole. You get the distance wrong. TAP lets you leave that first putt right beside the hole. It is almost scary how good you will get.
TAP is based on this axiom: For any length of putt, if the length of the putting stroke is the sole distance generator, there is one, and only one, length of stroke that will send the ball that distance.
TAP shows you how to find the length of that stroke. I’ll explain the theory first and then get into the fine points.
In the diagram below, you see a line from the ball to the hole. That is the baseline of a triangle. The spot marked apex is where you stand to find the length of stroke. The line from the ball to the apex is the eyeline. The line from the apex to the hole, not being a factor, and is not labeled. Distances are exaggerated for clarity.
The apex is located at a standard spot, half the length of the baseline and offset three paces to the left (to the right for left-handed golfers). These distances are adjustable.
Stand at the apex and swing your putter back and forth while looking at the ball. Make a stroke such that the clubhead intersects the eyeline (an imaginary line coming straight at you from the ball). That stroke will send the ball the exact distance from where it now lies, to the hole.
That’s the theory. Here’s the practice.
(1) The length of the swing must be the sole distance generator. You cannot add any “hit” with your hands. That would be introducing another variable, which we do not want to do.
(2) You must hit the ball on the same spot of the putter’s face every time. The sweet spot is best. Erratic contact in this regard plays havoc with how much energy is imparted to the ball, and thus how far it goes.
(3) The speed of your putting stroke must be constant. Otherwise, you will unknowingly be imparting more or less energy to the ball, again affecting the distance it travels.
(4) The location of the apex is not fixed.
(a) If greens are slower or you are putting uphill, the apex must be more than halfway to the hole--point (A).
(b) If greens are faster or you are putting downhill, the apex must be less than halfway to the hole--point (B).
(c) Your putter can make a difference. If you are consistently leaving putts too long or too short, stand more or less than three paces from the baseline--closer to make putts go farther, or at more remove to make them travel shorter.
(5) An essential point is remembering the length of the stroke. After all, you have to walk over to the ball to hit the putt, and in that time you might forget. While at the apex, make several strokes that intersect the eyeline and pay attention to how that stroke feels to your body. There might be a slight stretching somewhere in your back, or your arms might brush against you in a certain way. When you get to the ball, recreate that sensation.
(6) Hit the ball with trust. TAP works if you let it.
Regarding the adjustments in (4), the more you practice TAP, the more accurate your adjustments will become.
Use TAP when distance is more important than line. How far from the hole that switch gets made is up to you, but ten feet is not too close.
I have tried this method on different practice greens, on different courses, and after I have adjusted to the conditions it always works.
You could take out all my posts from 2009 to date and nothing would be missing because you can read all of it somewhere else. I have just been adding emphasis or perhaps clarity.
But TAP is new. There is nothing remotely like it to be seen anywhere else. If you want to save strokes on the green starting almost overnight, here’s how. No kidding.
Sunday, April 30, 2017
Dawdling on the Putting Green
I have to be honest with you. If you have a 20-foot putt, your chances of sinking it are really small. Tiny. PGA pros sink about one out of ten of them. Your results might be half that.
What you should be thinking about is how to get down in two putts from twenty feet (or more), because amateurs are more likely to take three putts from longer distances than one.
So first, stop spending so much time reading the green and getting what you think is the exact line to the hole, which, unless you are very good at reading greens, it isn’t.
Just get a general idea of whether it breaks right or left, and especially of what it does around the hole. You can get all that standing beside your ball and taking a brief look.
Regarding distance, if you practice approach putting every time you go to the range, you will have a good sense of how to cover the distance as soon as you see what it is.
All that shouldn’t take very long at all, maybe fifteen seconds. Then step up to the ball, line up the putter, and go.
No time to worry, no time to second-guess yourself.
You see, the pros on TV aren’t really our model for what to do on the green. They have thousands of dollars riding on sinking every putt they look at, and since they’re good enough to do that just often enough, they take their time.
We, however, are barking up the wrong tree by imitating them. By making a putt less of a production, I believe you actually stand a good chance of putting better, and you will certainly spend less time on the green, which the groups behind you will appreciate.
(Then there’s the endless tweaking to line up the line you drew on your ball with the starting line of the putt. From 30 feet? Please!)
Ranting much this week? Maybe just a little, but not without good reason.
What you should be thinking about is how to get down in two putts from twenty feet (or more), because amateurs are more likely to take three putts from longer distances than one.
So first, stop spending so much time reading the green and getting what you think is the exact line to the hole, which, unless you are very good at reading greens, it isn’t.
Just get a general idea of whether it breaks right or left, and especially of what it does around the hole. You can get all that standing beside your ball and taking a brief look.
Regarding distance, if you practice approach putting every time you go to the range, you will have a good sense of how to cover the distance as soon as you see what it is.
All that shouldn’t take very long at all, maybe fifteen seconds. Then step up to the ball, line up the putter, and go.
No time to worry, no time to second-guess yourself.
You see, the pros on TV aren’t really our model for what to do on the green. They have thousands of dollars riding on sinking every putt they look at, and since they’re good enough to do that just often enough, they take their time.
We, however, are barking up the wrong tree by imitating them. By making a putt less of a production, I believe you actually stand a good chance of putting better, and you will certainly spend less time on the green, which the groups behind you will appreciate.
(Then there’s the endless tweaking to line up the line you drew on your ball with the starting line of the putt. From 30 feet? Please!)
Ranting much this week? Maybe just a little, but not without good reason.
Monday, April 24, 2017
A Few Swing Things
Not a very catchy title, is it? I couldn’t think of what else to call this post and still build in a little SEO. So no great ideas this week, just a few things I’ve been fiddling with, and a story.
1. Practice your putting stroke at home, maybe ten or so strokes a day. Not a lot, just enough to keep the feeling of how you do it from slipping away. Putt a ball to a target while doing this. I use a jar opener for a target. You can get one at a grocery store. It’s a thin sheet of rubber about five inches on a side, with a lot of raised bumps. If you trace out a circle on it using a 24-oz. can of tomatoes as your guide, you can cut out a “hole” just about 4¼” in diameter. You can also take this ersatz hole to the practice green and drop it where you want a hole to be, if the ones already cut out aren’t where you want to putt/chip to.
2. Lately I have taken to swinging a 7-iron in my living room late at night with the lights out. Don’t worry, you won’t hit the ceiling. Just make sure you’re clear of ceiling-mounted light fixtures. Swinging in the dark will improve your balance, since you don’t have the visual cues you normally use to stay in balance. It also slows down your swing so you’re actually swinging, not clobbering.
3. A little thought I’ve been using for a while concerning the driver is a way to make sure the clubhead is moving upward when it contacts the ball. Before I address the ball I think not about hitting it square on the back, but a bit below that, on the underside. Now I know that’s not possible, but it does give the unconscious mind a way to tell the body how to hit the ball with the clubhead on the rise. Make sure as well your hands lead the clubhead. By all means turn off the conscious mind when you swing. Just a smidgen of thinking about hitting under the ball will ruin the effort.
4. Once at the range my son asked me to hit a ball as hard as I could. I think I had a 6-iron or so in my hand. So I did, and it went a long way. Then, I said, “Watch this.” I put my normal swing on the ball, which doesn’t have any “hit” in, and the ball went five yards less. How much can you slow down your swing with a particular club and still get the same distance out of it? Try it.
Actually, I didn’t really hit the first ball as hard as I could. I did that another time while playing in a 4-club tournament. I was 170 yards from the green. I had a 7-iron, my 140-yard club, and a 19* hybrid, my 200-yard club, in the bag. I didn’t want to ease up on the hybrid, because you can really hit a terrible shot that way. So I had to clobber the 7. I stood beside the ball for about a minute, psyching myself to swing as hard as I could, yet still control the strike. I swung, connected, and the ball took off and landed on the green. I put the 7-iron back in the bag and promised myself I would never, ever do that again.
1. Practice your putting stroke at home, maybe ten or so strokes a day. Not a lot, just enough to keep the feeling of how you do it from slipping away. Putt a ball to a target while doing this. I use a jar opener for a target. You can get one at a grocery store. It’s a thin sheet of rubber about five inches on a side, with a lot of raised bumps. If you trace out a circle on it using a 24-oz. can of tomatoes as your guide, you can cut out a “hole” just about 4¼” in diameter. You can also take this ersatz hole to the practice green and drop it where you want a hole to be, if the ones already cut out aren’t where you want to putt/chip to.
2. Lately I have taken to swinging a 7-iron in my living room late at night with the lights out. Don’t worry, you won’t hit the ceiling. Just make sure you’re clear of ceiling-mounted light fixtures. Swinging in the dark will improve your balance, since you don’t have the visual cues you normally use to stay in balance. It also slows down your swing so you’re actually swinging, not clobbering.
3. A little thought I’ve been using for a while concerning the driver is a way to make sure the clubhead is moving upward when it contacts the ball. Before I address the ball I think not about hitting it square on the back, but a bit below that, on the underside. Now I know that’s not possible, but it does give the unconscious mind a way to tell the body how to hit the ball with the clubhead on the rise. Make sure as well your hands lead the clubhead. By all means turn off the conscious mind when you swing. Just a smidgen of thinking about hitting under the ball will ruin the effort.
4. Once at the range my son asked me to hit a ball as hard as I could. I think I had a 6-iron or so in my hand. So I did, and it went a long way. Then, I said, “Watch this.” I put my normal swing on the ball, which doesn’t have any “hit” in, and the ball went five yards less. How much can you slow down your swing with a particular club and still get the same distance out of it? Try it.
Actually, I didn’t really hit the first ball as hard as I could. I did that another time while playing in a 4-club tournament. I was 170 yards from the green. I had a 7-iron, my 140-yard club, and a 19* hybrid, my 200-yard club, in the bag. I didn’t want to ease up on the hybrid, because you can really hit a terrible shot that way. So I had to clobber the 7. I stood beside the ball for about a minute, psyching myself to swing as hard as I could, yet still control the strike. I swung, connected, and the ball took off and landed on the green. I put the 7-iron back in the bag and promised myself I would never, ever do that again.
Sunday, October 30, 2016
How I Putt (II)
A few weeks ago I went over my putting setup and stroke in detail. It's one thing to putt on your carpet at home. It's quite another to putt on live greens. This post is about how I get the ball in the hole.
For makable putts, of eight feetish or under, I am definitely challenging the hole. Putts around 15 feet and longer I am just trying to get the ball near the hole so luck can take over.
For the in-between distances, it depend on how I'm feeing that day. With a twelve-foot putt I might be go for it one day, or just try to get it close on another.
In any case, I use a spot putting system. When I line up my putt I will pick out a spot on the green about two inches in front of the ball. Dave Stockton likes one inch, but that's too close for me.
When I putt, all I'm concerned about is making that two-inch putt. Then, with the right pace and a good read the ball will go in the hole.
I find if I don't spot putt, but think all the way to the hole, I end up trying to steer the ball in, and that seldom works.
As for pace, you learn that only by practicing. I practice pace a lot, with 20- to 40-foot putts, because that is the way to avoid three-putt greens. I like to the ball to end up within five percent of the total distance.
The same goes for green-reading. You can only learn that from practice. So practice!
Good putting is as much in your mind as in all the technical matters. The one thought I have heard good putters talk about and which really works is this: as you are about to make your stroke, you cannot care whether the ball goes in the hole or not.
Get prepared for the putt, and think only about making that two-inch putt. As for the actual putt, you will either make it or miss it, and some of the difference is up to the putting surface, which you have no control over. You can hit the perfect putt and it might not go in.
So do all that, and apply the mechanics you learned in your back room, and practice!, and you'll be a much better putter.
And what do I mean by practice? Spend as many minutes on the putting green as you do on the mat hitting balls.
For makable putts, of eight feetish or under, I am definitely challenging the hole. Putts around 15 feet and longer I am just trying to get the ball near the hole so luck can take over.
For the in-between distances, it depend on how I'm feeing that day. With a twelve-foot putt I might be go for it one day, or just try to get it close on another.
In any case, I use a spot putting system. When I line up my putt I will pick out a spot on the green about two inches in front of the ball. Dave Stockton likes one inch, but that's too close for me.
When I putt, all I'm concerned about is making that two-inch putt. Then, with the right pace and a good read the ball will go in the hole.
I find if I don't spot putt, but think all the way to the hole, I end up trying to steer the ball in, and that seldom works.
As for pace, you learn that only by practicing. I practice pace a lot, with 20- to 40-foot putts, because that is the way to avoid three-putt greens. I like to the ball to end up within five percent of the total distance.
The same goes for green-reading. You can only learn that from practice. So practice!
Good putting is as much in your mind as in all the technical matters. The one thought I have heard good putters talk about and which really works is this: as you are about to make your stroke, you cannot care whether the ball goes in the hole or not.
Get prepared for the putt, and think only about making that two-inch putt. As for the actual putt, you will either make it or miss it, and some of the difference is up to the putting surface, which you have no control over. You can hit the perfect putt and it might not go in.
So do all that, and apply the mechanics you learned in your back room, and practice!, and you'll be a much better putter.
And what do I mean by practice? Spend as many minutes on the putting green as you do on the mat hitting balls.
Sunday, October 16, 2016
How I Putt (I)
A few weeks ago I mentions that I was practicing a lot for short putts and am getting REAL good at them. I’ve been putting in my back room since the middle of August, several times a day, and have refined my technique fairly well. The description that follows might get you thinking in detail about how you make your putting stroke.
First of all, I use my four-finger interlocking grip. This grip prevents one hand other other from dominating the stroke. Both hands work as one unit. My grip pressure is very light -- just enough to keep the putter from flopping around in my hands.
The ball is about two inches inside my left heel. I don’t pay much attention to where my feet go, but they almost always end up perpendicular to the target line, with the right foot more forward than the left by a inch or two.
Because I haven’t found the placement of the feet to be important, I place them before I aim the putter. I don’t want to aim the putter and then have the aim altered when my feet move.
I aim by placing the putter in front of the ball and aligning the face using a mark I drew on the topline of the putter.
I make sure the putter shaft and my forearms make a straight line. This causes me to arch my wrists upwards a bit. The effect is to make it easier to take the putter straight back and through. When your wrists are lower, you take the putter back and through in an arc, which is a less accurate stroke in my opinion.
Once I’m aimed, I put the putter behind the ball and make my stroke right away.
The takeaway is slow. That way I keep the putter swinging on line. I know that face angle is more important than swing path, but swing path still counts for something. By keeping the putter on the right path, I ensure all the more that the putter face stays square.
I also imagine that it is the sole of the putter that is being taken away from the ball. This make the takeaway smoother, preventing me from jerking the putter back.
The stroke is fairly short, straight back and straight through. If you hit the sweet spot, you don’t need a long backswing to get the ball to the hole.
I do what Gary Player wants us all to do -- keep your head down and not lift it to look as soon as the ball has been struck. Believe, me, this helps.
I am in continuous movement. The entire procedure, from setting my putter in front of the ball to aim it to hitting the ball, takes less than ten seconds.
First of all, I use my four-finger interlocking grip. This grip prevents one hand other other from dominating the stroke. Both hands work as one unit. My grip pressure is very light -- just enough to keep the putter from flopping around in my hands.
The ball is about two inches inside my left heel. I don’t pay much attention to where my feet go, but they almost always end up perpendicular to the target line, with the right foot more forward than the left by a inch or two.
Because I haven’t found the placement of the feet to be important, I place them before I aim the putter. I don’t want to aim the putter and then have the aim altered when my feet move.
I aim by placing the putter in front of the ball and aligning the face using a mark I drew on the topline of the putter.
I make sure the putter shaft and my forearms make a straight line. This causes me to arch my wrists upwards a bit. The effect is to make it easier to take the putter straight back and through. When your wrists are lower, you take the putter back and through in an arc, which is a less accurate stroke in my opinion.
Once I’m aimed, I put the putter behind the ball and make my stroke right away.
The takeaway is slow. That way I keep the putter swinging on line. I know that face angle is more important than swing path, but swing path still counts for something. By keeping the putter on the right path, I ensure all the more that the putter face stays square.
I also imagine that it is the sole of the putter that is being taken away from the ball. This make the takeaway smoother, preventing me from jerking the putter back.
The stroke is fairly short, straight back and straight through. If you hit the sweet spot, you don’t need a long backswing to get the ball to the hole.
I do what Gary Player wants us all to do -- keep your head down and not lift it to look as soon as the ball has been struck. Believe, me, this helps.
I am in continuous movement. The entire procedure, from setting my putter in front of the ball to aim it to hitting the ball, takes less than ten seconds.
Sunday, September 18, 2016
Make More Short Putts
Short putts are between two feet and four feet long. There is no reason you can’t sink them at professional rates. Here are four ideas on how to meet that standard.
1. Practice them. Hit putts from two to four feet over and over again. You can do this at home every day on a carpet. Hit ten putts or so. That will take you two minutes, tops. Put your putter down, come back a half hour later, and hit ten more. Repeat every half hour.
This is the “little and often” method that is used so effectively in foreign language learning. Do a little bit, but repeat it often.
2. Putt at an object. Do you have a water bottle that is about four inches in diameter? You can get one at an outdoor store.
In my first book, Better Recreational Golf, I suggested that you putt at a positive object rather than a negative hole. Putt to hit the water bottle. It is so easy you just can’t miss.
You’re training your mind to see a bottle rather than a hole. When you play, hit the ball against the imaginary bottle, and the ball goes in the hole, simple as that.
3. Start the putter back slowly, gradually. By starting the stroke very slowly you keep the putter under control. The face stays square, the putter goes straight back and naturally comes straight through.
There’s no need to rush your short putting stroke. On the other hand, don’t be deliberate. The entire stroke doesn’t need to be slow, just the start.
4. Take the putter straight back and bring it straight through. This keeps the putter's face square at all times. The short putting stroke is short enough that you can do that without having to manipulate the club.
1. Practice them. Hit putts from two to four feet over and over again. You can do this at home every day on a carpet. Hit ten putts or so. That will take you two minutes, tops. Put your putter down, come back a half hour later, and hit ten more. Repeat every half hour.
This is the “little and often” method that is used so effectively in foreign language learning. Do a little bit, but repeat it often.
2. Putt at an object. Do you have a water bottle that is about four inches in diameter? You can get one at an outdoor store.
In my first book, Better Recreational Golf, I suggested that you putt at a positive object rather than a negative hole. Putt to hit the water bottle. It is so easy you just can’t miss.
You’re training your mind to see a bottle rather than a hole. When you play, hit the ball against the imaginary bottle, and the ball goes in the hole, simple as that.
3. Start the putter back slowly, gradually. By starting the stroke very slowly you keep the putter under control. The face stays square, the putter goes straight back and naturally comes straight through.
There’s no need to rush your short putting stroke. On the other hand, don’t be deliberate. The entire stroke doesn’t need to be slow, just the start.
4. Take the putter straight back and bring it straight through. This keeps the putter's face square at all times. The short putting stroke is short enough that you can do that without having to manipulate the club.
Sunday, August 21, 2016
A Putting Drill
Go to Home Depot or Lowe’s and buy a 4-foot metal ruler. It’s just a couple bucks.
Lay the ruler down on the floor and put a golf ball in the center of the ruler at about the 40-inch mark or so.
Now putt the ball down the length of the ruler so it stays between the numbers on each side.
Try not to manipulate the ball down the ruler. The ball staying between the numbers is an indicator, not the goal.
Just staying on the ruler doesn't count. The ball has to run the length of the ruler in the center.
If you need to make a correction, do, but when you hit the ball, trust your stoke and see what happens.
The practice green, is for learning pace and green-reading. Develop your stroke at home. This is a good way to do it.
Lay the ruler down on the floor and put a golf ball in the center of the ruler at about the 40-inch mark or so.
Now putt the ball down the length of the ruler so it stays between the numbers on each side.
Try not to manipulate the ball down the ruler. The ball staying between the numbers is an indicator, not the goal.
Just staying on the ruler doesn't count. The ball has to run the length of the ruler in the center.
If you need to make a correction, do, but when you hit the ball, trust your stoke and see what happens.
The practice green, is for learning pace and green-reading. Develop your stroke at home. This is a good way to do it.
Sunday, September 13, 2015
Break-Even Putting
This is a factoid (does anybody use that word anymore?) I have mentioned before, but I want to develop the point today. There is a break-even distance in putting. That is the distance from which a golfer averages 2.0 putts.
From farther away, the player would average more than two putts (three-putt more often that one-putt). From closer in, the average would be less than two putts.
The break-even distance for the average recreational golfer is 15 feet. For touring professionals, the distance is just over twice that, about 32 feet.
What I get from this comparison is to try to push that break-even distance out as far as I can. I will never have a professional golf swing, but there’s no reason I can’t be nearly as good with a putter.
One of the putting drills I do occasionally is to hit ten fifteen-foot putts, without three-putting. Then I do the same from twenty feet, twenty-five feet, and thirty feet. Sometimes I do take three putts, but sometimes, one goes in!
If you try this drill, don’t putt from the same spot over and over. You can’t groove your stroke when you play, so you shouldn’t do it when you practice, at least not in this drill.
Oh, yes. You have to putt out. No fair giving yourself the leave. Sometimes you really blow it and leave your first putt four feet short. If you do it here, you’ll do it on the course, too, so you might as well get comfortable cleaning up your messes.
When you're finished and have hit your forty putts, test yourself. Put one ball on the green at each distance and putt them out in this order:
Twenty feet,
Thirty-five feet,
Fifteen feet,
Twenty-five feet.
As you do this drill, and start to get good at it, you’ll find yourself thinking deeply about how you putt from distance, looking for how to make long putts accurate and repeatable. That will only make you a better putter.
What I get out of this drill is when I have a long putt, I feel confident I can leave it close to the hole, and sometimes luck will take over.
That takes a lot of stress out of being on the green. Not to mention, it lowers your score.
From farther away, the player would average more than two putts (three-putt more often that one-putt). From closer in, the average would be less than two putts.
The break-even distance for the average recreational golfer is 15 feet. For touring professionals, the distance is just over twice that, about 32 feet.
What I get from this comparison is to try to push that break-even distance out as far as I can. I will never have a professional golf swing, but there’s no reason I can’t be nearly as good with a putter.
One of the putting drills I do occasionally is to hit ten fifteen-foot putts, without three-putting. Then I do the same from twenty feet, twenty-five feet, and thirty feet. Sometimes I do take three putts, but sometimes, one goes in!
If you try this drill, don’t putt from the same spot over and over. You can’t groove your stroke when you play, so you shouldn’t do it when you practice, at least not in this drill.
Oh, yes. You have to putt out. No fair giving yourself the leave. Sometimes you really blow it and leave your first putt four feet short. If you do it here, you’ll do it on the course, too, so you might as well get comfortable cleaning up your messes.
When you're finished and have hit your forty putts, test yourself. Put one ball on the green at each distance and putt them out in this order:
Twenty feet,
Thirty-five feet,
Fifteen feet,
Twenty-five feet.
As you do this drill, and start to get good at it, you’ll find yourself thinking deeply about how you putt from distance, looking for how to make long putts accurate and repeatable. That will only make you a better putter.
What I get out of this drill is when I have a long putt, I feel confident I can leave it close to the hole, and sometimes luck will take over.
That takes a lot of stress out of being on the green. Not to mention, it lowers your score.
Sunday, September 6, 2015
The Essence of Golf (Advice)
If I were to give recreational golfers advice on what would do the most good to get them hit the ball better, I would say these things:
Golf Swing
Get a good grip that fits your swing. This is two things. A good grip is one that has a chance of success. Many rec golfers I see play with a grip that is too strong or doesn’t leave the hands working together. See a pro, get a lesson, to be sure about yours. Also, you might have a fine grip, but it doesn’t go with your swing. If you have a neutral grip and a slice swing, that’s trouble.
Learn the correct rhythm, and the tempo that is right for you. Rhythm is the same for everyone. This blog post shows you what rhythm is and how to get it. Tempo is different for everyone. Yours is probably too fast. Try this post to find your best tempo.
Your hands must lead the clubhead coming into the ball. Most of you do the opposite, because you’re trying to hit the ball with your left hand. This is an easy idea to understand, but difficult to execute because our “hit” instinct is so strong. See this video.
Pitching and Chipping
This one is really simple. First, get lessons on how to hit these shots. One lesson for each shot. They are their own kind of shot and need to be learned that way.
Then, hit them using the iron method -- one swing, different clubs. For pitching, you really need two swings, of different length, but for chipping, only one. Calibrate each swing and you can’t miss.
Practice your standard strokes A LOT so they don’t slowly drift on you and make you wonder why you aren’t getting the ball close anymore.
Putting
I commonly spend an hour on the practice green chipping and putting, mostly putting. I see other rec golfers come on, putt for about ten minutes, and leave. Who is going to become the better putter?
Use a pendulum stroke that moves in one unit from your shoulders to the clubhead. Do not let your wrists get involved.
Find an alignment spot on the green in front of your ball and hit the ball right across it.
Practice short putts, from two and three feet, A LOT. Hit these putts with authority. Do not finesse them into the hole.
Calibrate your stroke so you can hit to fifteen feet, twenty-five feet, thirty-five feet, and forty-five feet at will. Practice these stokes at a hole to maintain them, and to learn how to add or take off a few feet because of differing green speeds.
That takes care of ninety-five percent of golf. Learn the other things, bunkers, uneven lies, wind, a multitude of short game shots, after you have mastered the material above.
Golf Swing
Get a good grip that fits your swing. This is two things. A good grip is one that has a chance of success. Many rec golfers I see play with a grip that is too strong or doesn’t leave the hands working together. See a pro, get a lesson, to be sure about yours. Also, you might have a fine grip, but it doesn’t go with your swing. If you have a neutral grip and a slice swing, that’s trouble.
Learn the correct rhythm, and the tempo that is right for you. Rhythm is the same for everyone. This blog post shows you what rhythm is and how to get it. Tempo is different for everyone. Yours is probably too fast. Try this post to find your best tempo.
Your hands must lead the clubhead coming into the ball. Most of you do the opposite, because you’re trying to hit the ball with your left hand. This is an easy idea to understand, but difficult to execute because our “hit” instinct is so strong. See this video.
Pitching and Chipping
This one is really simple. First, get lessons on how to hit these shots. One lesson for each shot. They are their own kind of shot and need to be learned that way.
Then, hit them using the iron method -- one swing, different clubs. For pitching, you really need two swings, of different length, but for chipping, only one. Calibrate each swing and you can’t miss.
Practice your standard strokes A LOT so they don’t slowly drift on you and make you wonder why you aren’t getting the ball close anymore.
Putting
I commonly spend an hour on the practice green chipping and putting, mostly putting. I see other rec golfers come on, putt for about ten minutes, and leave. Who is going to become the better putter?
Use a pendulum stroke that moves in one unit from your shoulders to the clubhead. Do not let your wrists get involved.
Find an alignment spot on the green in front of your ball and hit the ball right across it.
Practice short putts, from two and three feet, A LOT. Hit these putts with authority. Do not finesse them into the hole.
Calibrate your stroke so you can hit to fifteen feet, twenty-five feet, thirty-five feet, and forty-five feet at will. Practice these stokes at a hole to maintain them, and to learn how to add or take off a few feet because of differing green speeds.
That takes care of ninety-five percent of golf. Learn the other things, bunkers, uneven lies, wind, a multitude of short game shots, after you have mastered the material above.
Sunday, August 2, 2015
The Forefinger Interlock Putting Grip
I was at the range a while ago fooling around on the putting green. I like to try different things out there and see what happens.
Remember in the British Open a few weeks ago, the amateur Paul Dunne had this putting grip where both hands were side-by-side?
I thought I’d try that, but I couldn’t make it work. There wasn‘t enough of the putter grip in my fingers to control the club when I swung it. But I didn’t want to give up, so I tried and interlocking grip with my right forefinger between my left middle and ring fingers.
That didn’t work. I still didn’t have control of the grip. There’s one more finger to go, I thought, so I put my right index finger between my left index and middle fingers. Bingo.
That brought my hands neatly together and put the grip in my fingers the way I was looking for. I call it the Forefinger Interlock grip. (You heard it here first.)
Notice in the second photo how close together my thumbs are. The right thumb nestles into the pocket of my left palm, and the pad under my left thumb fits right on top of my right thumb. The effect is that you hold the putter entirely in your right hand. The left hand provides stability.
Both thumbs point directly down the shaft.
Notice also how square my hands are. I don’t try to do this, it’s just what happens when I take this grip. That’s where my hands end up.
One of the problems with a standard putting grip, where one hand is lower on the shaft than the other, is that you have two hands that you have to keep working together so one hand, usually the left, doesn't run off and do its own thing.
That problem disappears with the Forefinger Interlock, that problem goes away because all you have down there is one clump of hands -- one thing moving the club, not two. In this way the putter face does not twist out of square. You get a swinging stroke, not a hitting stroke. Your hands are taken out of the stroke entirely.
Results? I’m putting just as well on average days as I did on good days. Because my hands are not involved in the stroke, I’m more relaxed mentally. That gives me more confidence, which leads to better putting.
So. Is the Forefinger Interlock the grip of the future? The grip that will take five strokes off your score? The grip that will take the Tour by storm? Maybe.
But it is definitely something for you to try. Can’t hurt, and it might help. A lot.
Remember in the British Open a few weeks ago, the amateur Paul Dunne had this putting grip where both hands were side-by-side?
I thought I’d try that, but I couldn’t make it work. There wasn‘t enough of the putter grip in my fingers to control the club when I swung it. But I didn’t want to give up, so I tried and interlocking grip with my right forefinger between my left middle and ring fingers.
That didn’t work. I still didn’t have control of the grip. There’s one more finger to go, I thought, so I put my right index finger between my left index and middle fingers. Bingo.
That brought my hands neatly together and put the grip in my fingers the way I was looking for. I call it the Forefinger Interlock grip. (You heard it here first.)
Notice in the second photo how close together my thumbs are. The right thumb nestles into the pocket of my left palm, and the pad under my left thumb fits right on top of my right thumb. The effect is that you hold the putter entirely in your right hand. The left hand provides stability.
Both thumbs point directly down the shaft.
Notice also how square my hands are. I don’t try to do this, it’s just what happens when I take this grip. That’s where my hands end up.
One of the problems with a standard putting grip, where one hand is lower on the shaft than the other, is that you have two hands that you have to keep working together so one hand, usually the left, doesn't run off and do its own thing.
That problem disappears with the Forefinger Interlock, that problem goes away because all you have down there is one clump of hands -- one thing moving the club, not two. In this way the putter face does not twist out of square. You get a swinging stroke, not a hitting stroke. Your hands are taken out of the stroke entirely.
Results? I’m putting just as well on average days as I did on good days. Because my hands are not involved in the stroke, I’m more relaxed mentally. That gives me more confidence, which leads to better putting.
So. Is the Forefinger Interlock the grip of the future? The grip that will take five strokes off your score? The grip that will take the Tour by storm? Maybe.
But it is definitely something for you to try. Can’t hurt, and it might help. A lot.
Sunday, April 12, 2015
Leaving Approach Putts Short
I'm sure you've heard the old joke, "95% of all putts that come up short don't go into the hole," so I don't have to say it here. Oh, wait... I just said it. Sorry.
If this is you, if you have a bad case of the Shorts, let me give you a cure.
You don't leave thirty-foot putts short because you don't judge distance well. If that were the case, you would be leaving them long, short, and in the middle. But they all seem to come up short.
What is likely going on is that you fear the putt going past the hole. You feel safer sneaking up on the hole. Even though you know five feet short is the same as five feet past, you are more comfortable with five feet short. The prospect of going five feet past just gives you the willies.
That's fine. We don't need to change that feeling. All I'm going to ask you to do is change the way you stroke the putt.
Even if you have the speed perfectly judged, at the last instant you flinch and pull back, hitting the ball softer than you had planned. What I want you to do is change the point of impact to take out that flinch.
You think now that the putter hits the trailing edge of the ball, the one next to the putter when you address the ball. And that's true, it does.
What I want you to do instead is look at the leading edge of the ball, the one closest to the hole, and think about hitting that edge. Think that the ball is transparent to the putter and you will hit that edge when you hit the ball.
By doing that, you will hit the ball before you expect to. You won't flinch because by the time you mind is ready for the "hit" sensation, the ball has already been struck.
The result? The ball gets to the hole and goes in. If it misses it goes maybe a foot or two past. And you didn't hit it any harder. You might have hit it exactly as you had planned.
Give this a try. You have nothing to lose but four strokes.
If this is you, if you have a bad case of the Shorts, let me give you a cure.
You don't leave thirty-foot putts short because you don't judge distance well. If that were the case, you would be leaving them long, short, and in the middle. But they all seem to come up short.
What is likely going on is that you fear the putt going past the hole. You feel safer sneaking up on the hole. Even though you know five feet short is the same as five feet past, you are more comfortable with five feet short. The prospect of going five feet past just gives you the willies.
That's fine. We don't need to change that feeling. All I'm going to ask you to do is change the way you stroke the putt.
Even if you have the speed perfectly judged, at the last instant you flinch and pull back, hitting the ball softer than you had planned. What I want you to do is change the point of impact to take out that flinch.
You think now that the putter hits the trailing edge of the ball, the one next to the putter when you address the ball. And that's true, it does.
What I want you to do instead is look at the leading edge of the ball, the one closest to the hole, and think about hitting that edge. Think that the ball is transparent to the putter and you will hit that edge when you hit the ball.
By doing that, you will hit the ball before you expect to. You won't flinch because by the time you mind is ready for the "hit" sensation, the ball has already been struck.
The result? The ball gets to the hole and goes in. If it misses it goes maybe a foot or two past. And you didn't hit it any harder. You might have hit it exactly as you had planned.
Give this a try. You have nothing to lose but four strokes.
Sunday, February 22, 2015
To Sink Putts, Practice Sinking Putts
I’ll tell you what got me from being an average recreational putter to a very good recreational putter. I practiced sinking putts. That’s what we’re trying to do, so that’s what I practiced.
To be sure, I changed my grip, my stance, and my stroke in order for my mechanics to allow me to hit the putt where I want it to go. You have to have the technical points down or you’re not going to get anywhere.
But beyond that, I trained my mind to see a putt as a ball going into the hole. I did this by sinking three-foot putts all over the place on the practice green. Dozens and dozens of three-footers, all going into the hole. By now it's hundreds and hundreds.
You might say, it’s pretty easy to sink three-foot putts one after the other, and I would say, You’re right. But …
Because I’ve done it so often, and continue to do it so often, with such frequent success, my subconscious mind doesn’t know anything else about a putt except that it goes in the hole.
Your subconscious mind is not subtle. It is black and white. All it knows is the putt went in the hole or it stayed out. When the ball goes in all the time, the mind comes to believe that’s what the ball is supposes, and does not question it.
Believe me that changes everything. The body starts executing the stroke on that basis, and Voila! Putts in the hole all over the place.
Oh, I know, you have to read the green and get the pace right for the ball to have a chance. But when it comes time to hit the ball, it all comes down to believing in what you’re doing. Having sunk oceans of putts creates that belief.
Don’t just practice putting. Practice sinking putts.
To be sure, I changed my grip, my stance, and my stroke in order for my mechanics to allow me to hit the putt where I want it to go. You have to have the technical points down or you’re not going to get anywhere.
But beyond that, I trained my mind to see a putt as a ball going into the hole. I did this by sinking three-foot putts all over the place on the practice green. Dozens and dozens of three-footers, all going into the hole. By now it's hundreds and hundreds.
You might say, it’s pretty easy to sink three-foot putts one after the other, and I would say, You’re right. But …
Because I’ve done it so often, and continue to do it so often, with such frequent success, my subconscious mind doesn’t know anything else about a putt except that it goes in the hole.
Your subconscious mind is not subtle. It is black and white. All it knows is the putt went in the hole or it stayed out. When the ball goes in all the time, the mind comes to believe that’s what the ball is supposes, and does not question it.
Believe me that changes everything. The body starts executing the stroke on that basis, and Voila! Putts in the hole all over the place.
Oh, I know, you have to read the green and get the pace right for the ball to have a chance. But when it comes time to hit the ball, it all comes down to believing in what you’re doing. Having sunk oceans of putts creates that belief.
Don’t just practice putting. Practice sinking putts.
Monday, October 13, 2014
Notes From the Green
Final day! If you haven't already, go to www.therecreationalgolfer.com and subscribe to my newsletter. That will get you FREE access to my latest writing, Six Fundamentals in Search of a Golf Swing. Oops, sorry. That's Six Fundamentals of the Recreational Golf Swing. Words, movies, music, you'll love it. Might even help you play better, too.
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Most of putting is mental. A good stroke is vital, but technique is not enough. It’s the little things that make the difference, and those little things are in your mind.
These are notes I have made to myself in the past month around the practice green.
1. Downhill putts can be scary because we fear the hill taking the ball away from the hole if we miss. While that can happen, think of the slope differently. Think of how it will help you feed the ball into the hole. When you line up your putt, think of how you can make the slope your partner in sinking the putt.
1. I do not like my putts to die slowly at the hole. For every one that lipped from the side, two have gotten knocked off their line in the last few inches. I like to hit a putt that rolls in positively into the hole instead of apologizing its way in.
1. When you take a last look you take before you start your putter back, firmly feel the ball going in. This connects your putter with the hole. Then stay out of the way and let this feeling of connection guide your body to making it happen.
1. Make every putt under twenty feet threaten the hole. Never up, never in.
1. Your entire putting process must be based on how to make the ball go in, rather than how to avoid missing. We do the latter more often than we think we do.
1. Don't let slope intimidate you on short putts. Up to about two feet, forget the slope and knock the ball straight in. From three or four feet, look at the part of the hole where you know the ball will be entering. Give the ball to the green and let the slope do the work for you.
1. However, unless the green slopes severely, there really isn’t any break in an uphill putt of four feet or less. Just ram it in there.
1. Leaving longer uphill putts short? That’s because the slope is pushing the putt back toward you. Just think of pushing back at the hill and the ball will get there.
1. You might think you have to hit long putts (>40 feet) hard. If that makes you add a little extra with your right hand, that will throw off your stroke. Instead, think that the ball is transparent to your putt and that you will first contact the ball on the inside of its leading edge. You will hit the ball smoothly and with much better distance control.
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Most of putting is mental. A good stroke is vital, but technique is not enough. It’s the little things that make the difference, and those little things are in your mind.
These are notes I have made to myself in the past month around the practice green.
1. Downhill putts can be scary because we fear the hill taking the ball away from the hole if we miss. While that can happen, think of the slope differently. Think of how it will help you feed the ball into the hole. When you line up your putt, think of how you can make the slope your partner in sinking the putt.
1. I do not like my putts to die slowly at the hole. For every one that lipped from the side, two have gotten knocked off their line in the last few inches. I like to hit a putt that rolls in positively into the hole instead of apologizing its way in.
1. When you take a last look you take before you start your putter back, firmly feel the ball going in. This connects your putter with the hole. Then stay out of the way and let this feeling of connection guide your body to making it happen.
1. Make every putt under twenty feet threaten the hole. Never up, never in.
1. Your entire putting process must be based on how to make the ball go in, rather than how to avoid missing. We do the latter more often than we think we do.
1. Don't let slope intimidate you on short putts. Up to about two feet, forget the slope and knock the ball straight in. From three or four feet, look at the part of the hole where you know the ball will be entering. Give the ball to the green and let the slope do the work for you.
1. However, unless the green slopes severely, there really isn’t any break in an uphill putt of four feet or less. Just ram it in there.
1. Leaving longer uphill putts short? That’s because the slope is pushing the putt back toward you. Just think of pushing back at the hill and the ball will get there.
1. You might think you have to hit long putts (>40 feet) hard. If that makes you add a little extra with your right hand, that will throw off your stroke. Instead, think that the ball is transparent to your putt and that you will first contact the ball on the inside of its leading edge. You will hit the ball smoothly and with much better distance control.
Thursday, March 20, 2014
Leave Approach Putts Close to the Hole
The main reason you have three-putt greens is that you leave your first putt too far from the hole. That has to do with touch; some days you have it, and some days you haven’t a clue.
There is a way to always have it, though. When you move the putter back, your body changes shape. Some muscles contract, other muscles flex, and if you are aware enough, you can feel all this. The trick is to identify the physical sensations that are related to a certain size of backswing, which is the regulator of distance in putting.
I will describe my own sensations as an example. Yours might be different.
I keep my upper arms close to my body, but not touching it, at address. When I take the putter back and feel my left upper arm start to press against my left side, that is the length of backswing for a putt of about 15 feet.
When I take the club back further than that, and feel a stretching on the left side of my torso, near the hip, that is a backswing for about a 30-foot putt. If I continue to take the putter back beyond that sensation, I will eventually feel the same kind of stretching in my torso on the right side. That is the backswing or a 40-foot putt.
There’s one I left out, because it’s subtle. When I take the putter back past the pressing of my upper left arm, but before I feel the stretch on my left side, there is a point of what feels like ease, like a natural place to stop swinging the club. That backswing hits the ball just over 20 feet.
With these longer putts so calibrated, I never have to guess how hard to hit a putt. I just read my own body.
I developed these indicators on the practice green at my driving range. Most golf courses I play on have greens faster than that one. All I need to do is re-calibrate each sensation on the practice green at the course, before I tee off, and I’m ready.
Relying on your mind to “feel” the length of the stroke leads to inconsistency from round to round. This method gives you something that is tangible and repeatable to gauge its length. The more of that you can put in your golf, the better.
Visit www.therecreationalgolfer.com.
There is a way to always have it, though. When you move the putter back, your body changes shape. Some muscles contract, other muscles flex, and if you are aware enough, you can feel all this. The trick is to identify the physical sensations that are related to a certain size of backswing, which is the regulator of distance in putting.
I will describe my own sensations as an example. Yours might be different.
I keep my upper arms close to my body, but not touching it, at address. When I take the putter back and feel my left upper arm start to press against my left side, that is the length of backswing for a putt of about 15 feet.
When I take the club back further than that, and feel a stretching on the left side of my torso, near the hip, that is a backswing for about a 30-foot putt. If I continue to take the putter back beyond that sensation, I will eventually feel the same kind of stretching in my torso on the right side. That is the backswing or a 40-foot putt.
There’s one I left out, because it’s subtle. When I take the putter back past the pressing of my upper left arm, but before I feel the stretch on my left side, there is a point of what feels like ease, like a natural place to stop swinging the club. That backswing hits the ball just over 20 feet.
With these longer putts so calibrated, I never have to guess how hard to hit a putt. I just read my own body.
I developed these indicators on the practice green at my driving range. Most golf courses I play on have greens faster than that one. All I need to do is re-calibrate each sensation on the practice green at the course, before I tee off, and I’m ready.
Relying on your mind to “feel” the length of the stroke leads to inconsistency from round to round. This method gives you something that is tangible and repeatable to gauge its length. The more of that you can put in your golf, the better.
Visit www.therecreationalgolfer.com.
Thursday, January 9, 2014
Reading Subtle Breaks in the Green
Subtle breaks can easily be read if you know how to look. This new video shows you.
See the rest of my YouTube videos at my YouTube channel.
Visit www.therecreationalgolfer.com
See the rest of my YouTube videos at my YouTube channel.
Visit www.therecreationalgolfer.com
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
How not to practice putting
See what I have to put up with when I try to practice putting at home?
Visit www.therecreationalgolfer.com
Visit www.therecreationalgolfer.com
Thursday, October 3, 2013
Approach putting - refining your touch (video tip)
I use these two drills to keep my sense of touch in approach putting in good shape. They're easy to do and have an incredible payoff on the course.
Visit www.therecreationalgolfer.com
Visit www.therecreationalgolfer.com
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
A few putting tips
The following are recent putting tips from my Facebook page:
There comes a point in your putting when your stroke is good enough, and the reads you make are good enough, that you should be sinking putts. If you are not, check to see whether it's because you don't feel the ball falling into the hole before you start the stroke. I don't mean visualizing the ball falling in, but feeling in your body the impact of the ball on the bottom of the cup liner.
To avoid getting a sore back when you practice putting, use just one ball. That way, you have to get out of your crouch after every putt, to stand up and go get your ball.
If you're just missing makable putts, I'll bet it has more to do with speed than line. If you can hit your putts from twenty feet in so they all roll at the same speed when they get to the hole, you have that much more clarity about how to pick the right line, and confidence that that line is the right one.
I found my blade opened on the backswing, but wasn't always closing. This made me miss putts to the right. I started hooding the putter, just a bit, on the way back to keep the blade square. It works.
One of the questions surrounding putting is whether to charge to putt or let it die into the hole. The pros can die the putt at the hole because they play on greens that are flawless and true. Our greens aren't that good, so we have to hit the ball a bit harder.
A 40-handicapper and a scratch golfer have the same number of two-putt greens in a round of golf. Records bear this out. The scratch golfer, though, will have three fewer three-putt greens and three more one-putt greens. A word to the wise: It is much easier to learn how to putt like a scratch golfer than to swing like one.
I would much rather leave a 20-foot putt dead on line and two inches short than burn the edge of the hole and leave it four feet past. Ben Crenshaw once said that for him, any putt outside eight feet is a speed putt.
I think it's important on the green that once you have found the starting line and feel the speed, you stand over the ball and forget about the hole completely. Just hit a straight putt the same as you do on your living room carpet. Thinking that there is more to do than that this point is a major reason why you miss putts you should be making.
The reason you rarely miss a three-foot putt on the practice green is that you don't care if it goes in or not. The reason you miss them when you play is that you do.
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There comes a point in your putting when your stroke is good enough, and the reads you make are good enough, that you should be sinking putts. If you are not, check to see whether it's because you don't feel the ball falling into the hole before you start the stroke. I don't mean visualizing the ball falling in, but feeling in your body the impact of the ball on the bottom of the cup liner.
To avoid getting a sore back when you practice putting, use just one ball. That way, you have to get out of your crouch after every putt, to stand up and go get your ball.
If you're just missing makable putts, I'll bet it has more to do with speed than line. If you can hit your putts from twenty feet in so they all roll at the same speed when they get to the hole, you have that much more clarity about how to pick the right line, and confidence that that line is the right one.
I found my blade opened on the backswing, but wasn't always closing. This made me miss putts to the right. I started hooding the putter, just a bit, on the way back to keep the blade square. It works.
One of the questions surrounding putting is whether to charge to putt or let it die into the hole. The pros can die the putt at the hole because they play on greens that are flawless and true. Our greens aren't that good, so we have to hit the ball a bit harder.
A 40-handicapper and a scratch golfer have the same number of two-putt greens in a round of golf. Records bear this out. The scratch golfer, though, will have three fewer three-putt greens and three more one-putt greens. A word to the wise: It is much easier to learn how to putt like a scratch golfer than to swing like one.
I would much rather leave a 20-foot putt dead on line and two inches short than burn the edge of the hole and leave it four feet past. Ben Crenshaw once said that for him, any putt outside eight feet is a speed putt.
I think it's important on the green that once you have found the starting line and feel the speed, you stand over the ball and forget about the hole completely. Just hit a straight putt the same as you do on your living room carpet. Thinking that there is more to do than that this point is a major reason why you miss putts you should be making.
The reason you rarely miss a three-foot putt on the practice green is that you don't care if it goes in or not. The reason you miss them when you play is that you do.
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Monday, August 19, 2013
How I'm Trying to Simplify My Golf Game
The more I investigate my golf game, the more I throw out complications that get in the way of the basic objectives of golf: hit it straight from tee to green; hit it close from off the green; hit it close or in from on the green. Really, that's all there is. I'm trying to figure out how to do all that as simply and reliably as possible.
Here is what I have come up with so far.
As regards the swing, it is easy to think of it as a circular movement. If you look at the path of the clubhead, that's almost exactly what it is. That's a complication, though.
I prefer to think of the swing as linear. The club gets taken straight away from the ball and swing straight back through it.
That's a feeling, not a physical fact. The physical fact is that the clubhead does circle above my head and does circle back down through the ball and on into the finish.
What I feel is that my hands go straight back and they bring the clubhead through the ball going in a straight line, not on an up-and-down curve. My hands never lose their connection with the ball. They arrive at the ball before the clubhead does, and lead it into the ball. Everything is moving along the line that I wish the ball to travel on as well.
As for the short shots, I'm just trying to pinch the ball into the ground and let it fly, or run, straight to the hole. Again, it's a linear-feeling stroke aimed at the hole. One pitching stroke, one chipping stroke, used as much as possible.
Putting? There are two kinds of putts: the ones you think you can make, and the ones you just want to get close. For the first kind, I hood the club a bit going back to keep the clubface square. For the other kind, I open my stance and use a modified chipping stroke.
It's a simple game. Don't make it hard for yourself.
This all works, by the way. I only play nine holes in an outing, but I'm always at 40 or under and I don't hit great shots. I just hit very few bad ones.
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Here is what I have come up with so far.
As regards the swing, it is easy to think of it as a circular movement. If you look at the path of the clubhead, that's almost exactly what it is. That's a complication, though.
I prefer to think of the swing as linear. The club gets taken straight away from the ball and swing straight back through it.
That's a feeling, not a physical fact. The physical fact is that the clubhead does circle above my head and does circle back down through the ball and on into the finish.
What I feel is that my hands go straight back and they bring the clubhead through the ball going in a straight line, not on an up-and-down curve. My hands never lose their connection with the ball. They arrive at the ball before the clubhead does, and lead it into the ball. Everything is moving along the line that I wish the ball to travel on as well.
As for the short shots, I'm just trying to pinch the ball into the ground and let it fly, or run, straight to the hole. Again, it's a linear-feeling stroke aimed at the hole. One pitching stroke, one chipping stroke, used as much as possible.
Putting? There are two kinds of putts: the ones you think you can make, and the ones you just want to get close. For the first kind, I hood the club a bit going back to keep the clubface square. For the other kind, I open my stance and use a modified chipping stroke.
It's a simple game. Don't make it hard for yourself.
This all works, by the way. I only play nine holes in an outing, but I'm always at 40 or under and I don't hit great shots. I just hit very few bad ones.
Visit www.therecreationalgolfer.com
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