How can you tell when someone is a good putter?

Screwback, playing off of 1 you must be a better putter than you give yourself credit for.

I agree putting is an area which we all put to much pressure on ourselves. Mindset is a big part of putting IMO!
 
Swinger, you must be one of the most talented golfers out there, I see from your signature that you play off of 4 yet you only carry a 3 wood, 7 iron and a putter!

Awesome shot manufacturing and ability by yourself!
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Thanks, nobody else ever picks up on that unless I'm playing with them. Truth be told I did buy a lob wedge two weeks ago but only use it in very sticky situations, so about once or twice a month!
:D

I only carry half a set normally, so another 4 clubs then advertised. Just my childish behaviour sometimes leads me so put silly things up!
 
Screwback, playing off of 1 you must be a better putter than you give yourself credit for.
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I hope i am improving but when i have a bad score its generally my putting that lets me down. i had few scores last year shooting 74/75s and having 34 - 36 putts so there is definately room for improvement. :D

But like you said a big part off putting is mindset and putting to much pressure on ourselves.
 
Found this little graph which shows the probability of pros holing putts of different lengths:

GolfChart.jpg


It came from this article. (It's a pdf file). Interesting reading.
 
Wan't it in the Bob Rotella book (The 15th Club, I think) where Dr Bob mentions that he'd take an amatuer putting from 5 feet over a pro from 10 feet?

I think the distances I quote may be wrong, but you get the idea.
 
Away from stats for a minute.
Im sure this has happened to others, walking off the first green you can just tell.
They dont faff about trying to see every possible angle, they just have a an air of being at ease on the greens.
I have certainly quietened my habits round the greens (I was never a shouter or a chucker, more a case of not pacing round the hole like a bull and checking angles etc like ronnie o sullivan!) Its all in quiet technique.

Same as Folks who are good with their long irons or short irons, wedges etc. Its the feeling you get that the guy is more likely to get a positive outcome from the shot.
Watch camillo villegas and then watch someone like corey pavin or the Ernie Els of old, none of this crouching nonsense.
 
Very interesting thread this one. Some excellent replies that have got me questioning my own putting ability and expectations of that ability.

I certainly think that we put far too much pressure on ourselves to hole out well. If I miss from 6ft I do get annoyed with myself and maybe thats why I missed in the first place...hmmmm...

We all want to beat our h/c I guess and reading this forum over the last year it seems that most people arent happy to shoot bang on their h/c. This means we expect too much when on the greens as we feel we can make up or lose ground depending on how our putting goes.

How often do we bemoan our 'luck' around the greens after a round ? I had 'x' lip-out and left 'x' teetering on the edge , if only.....then i'd have shot well under h/c.

Should we accept that we putt how we putt and leave it at that ?
 
A bit of that certainly. I think we expect our putting to make up for other mistakes. Poor drive, poor second, ok ish chip, damn, if only I could putt that would have been a par.

It wasn't the putting, it was the other 3 shots!
 
It's no bad thing to have a high expectation when you are putting but when you analyze it you need to be reallistic.

Somebody who is a 28h'capper and says they are a good putter is just glad not to have any (or many) 3 & 4 putts. Whereas someone like Screwback sees themselves as a poor putter despite averaging less than 2 putts per hole even on a "bad" putting day.

We can only control the bit upto when the ball leaves the putter head and as long as we can feel we are doing that bit well then there is a decent putter in there somewhere.

Green reading and judgment of pace are equally key factors but only come with experience and practice and ultimately just a plain old "knack"
 
A bit of that certainly. I think we expect our putting to make up for other mistakes. Poor drive, poor second, ok ish chip, damn, if only I could putt that would have been a par.

It wasn't the putting, it was the other 3 shots!
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I'd like to think that I'm slightly more realistic than that but I do agree. I've played with people who've been on for six and moaned about the eight they end up with. If I'm battling the hole then I'll still look for 2 putts - one putt is a big bonus.

Where I feel I need to improve is being on a relatively flat green for two and walking off with a five/six. That is poor and incredibly frustrating.

The irony is that I tend to putt well on par threes......one for the mind gurus I reckon.

In my experience, the best putters are juniors, ladies and seniors. They may take three/four to get on the green but they're putts are like heat seeking missiles.
 
Seniors, maybe if it is their home track, kids, yes, they practice all day, women? Never yet seen one who could putt. Even on tour.
 
Seniors, maybe if it is their home track, kids, yes, they practice all day, women? Never yet seen one who could putt. Even on tour.
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Actually, I just like seeing them bending over as they line up their putts - particularly the OAP ones...... :o
 
Seniors, maybe if it is their home track, kids, yes, they practice all day, women? Never yet seen one who could putt. Even on tour.
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Eh???? :D :D :D :D

I'll raise you Annika Sorenstam. One of the best putters I have watched, she was not just a good putter but a great putter.
 
Provide me with evidence, a quote would be better as quite frankly Ernie would not come out and say that about a fellow professional golfer no matter what the sex.
 
Another answer to the OP, is that you can tell a bad putter, by his weapon of choice. If he pulls out the comedy putter, then you know it isn't going to be pretty.
 
She said it herself and that is why she approached Tiger @ Isleworth to help her with her short game.

(Annika leaves the game to have baby shortly afterwards!! :eek: :eek:)
 
Annika putting average

2008 28.110 putts
2007 26.210
2006 29.600
2005 29.560
2004 29.790

Hardly a shocking putter.
 
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