Improving putting

[Deleted member 23344]

Dave Stockton's book is worth a read.

Forget all the nonsense about putting a line on your ball. ?

Putting with a line on my ball, following a lesson with the club pro, has greatly improved my putting. Trust the line and just think about pace.

 

[spongebob59]

I did it at Bearsted golf club (Maidstone , Kent)... I paid for a 90 minute 1-1 session and ended up doing over 2 and quarter hours with the guy.

It was an absolute revelation for me, but I understand it may not work for everyone depending on how you feel the ground.

Walking up and reading a putt and giving a physical point to aim at gives my putting real purpose, rather than eye balling a putt and "guessing" it's going to move X distance.

For me, I can't speak highly enough of the technique and the theory. But I've read people rubbish it as it didn't work for them.

With Jamie ?
He's on MasterChef tonight ?

 

[Deleted member 29109]

Putting with a line on my ball, following a lesson with the club pro, has greatly improved my putting. Trust the line and just think about pace.

The other good thing about having a line on the ball is it gives you feedback on whether you put a decent stroke on it or not.

 

[Neilds]

Totally agree that pace is the key. I play with a guy who spends ages trying to work out the right line, but inevitably leaves it 2 feet short every time. I have tried telling him to forget the line and work out the pace but he never listens.

 

[Deleted member 23270]

People always ask about dropping handicap as though its some magic method. What it does do is give you the ability to read greens (at any course better) and have a better understanding of the effect of speed and break on a putt. It DOES give you the confidence to know you made a good read.

This sounds like a marketing disclaimer to me.

"Pay me 90 quid but there is no guarantee your putting will improve"

 

[Deleted member 23270]

Totally agree that pace is the key. I play with a guy who spends ages trying to work out the right line, but inevitably leaves it 2 feet short every time. I have tried telling him to forget the line and work out the pace but he never listens.

You need both line and pace correct, one without the other is no good.
I had a putt yesterday where I got the pace spot on but the line slightly off, the hole was cut right on the edge of a slope and I finished about 12ft away. Pin high though!

 

[Deleted member 29109]

You need both line and pace correct, one without the other is no good.
I had a putt yesterday where I got the pace spot on but the line slightly off, the hole was cut right on the edge of a slope and I finished about 12ft away. Pin high though!

Of course you need both, but the line is dictated by the speed you intend to hit the putt at.

 

[spongebob59]

Aimpoint isn't a putting lesson, it's abiut green reading and pace.

It's a prerequisite that you have a reasonable consistent putting Stoke.

 

[chrisd]

Here we go for the traditional "Annual Aimpoint Bashing Series"

But I'd just say, I've seen enough golfers have traditional golf lessons and have not improved, or, they've forgotten what they were supposed to do immediately they stepped on to the first tee. Aimpoint improved everyone's putting when we were on the green during the lesson and it's up to individuals if they adopted it afterwards - I, for one, found plenty in it to justify the cost.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

You can’t buy good putting - it will come from practise. Need to practise getting the putter square on impact , nice smooth stroke and concentration- there are a number of training aids which are useful

And Aimpoint can potentially help you read a green but it won’t help you putt better - played with people who have done the aimpoint course expecting it to make them sink putts from everywhere but still rubbish at putting - but they can tell where the break is - just haven’t got the ability to ball in the right place

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Here we go for the traditional "Annual Aimpoint Bashing Series"

But I'd just say, I've seen enough golfers have traditional golf lessons and have not improved, or, they've forgotten what they were supposed to do immediately they stepped on to the first tee. Aimpoint improved everyone's putting when we were on the green during the lesson and it's up to individuals if they adopted it afterwards - I, for one, found plenty in it to justify the cost.

Totally agree. Some people seem to think Aimpoint means they will make everything from 6 feet and out when the tour average for 5 feet is only around 72% https://www.pgatour.com/stats/stat.404.html. I am giving more putts more chances to drop with a good line and start point and not three putting anywhere near as often so in fact probably saving several shots per round just from that. Add in the work I have done to improve holing out from 2-3 feet and I am making gains on the greens

 

[Deleted member 23270]

Totally agree. Some people seem to think Aimpoint means they will make everything from 6 feet and out when the tour average for 5 feet is only around 72% https://www.pgatour.com/stats/stat.404.html. I am giving more putts more chances to drop with a good line and start point and not three putting anywhere near as often so in fact probably saving several shots per round just from that. Add in the work I have done to improve holing out from 2-3 feet and I am making gains on the greens

That stat you have quoted is 5 to 10 which is very different to just 5 feet.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

https://www.pgatour.com/stats/stat.343.html

 

[Orikoru]

Putting has always been a strength of mind, which is useful as off the tee I’m a car crash. For me, people hugely over complicate putting and become too mechanical striving for a perfect technique. Stay loose, light grip, fidget around if you need to so you’re not stood over it all tensed up. Pick your line (use a spot on the ground just ahead of you) and putt over that. Do not worry about what your stroke looks like, it really doesn’t matter, just make sure you start the ball on your intended line.

Keep it simple stupid.

I think there's plenty of truth in this. With my old putter I was doing some funky grip for a while where the butt of the grip was against my left wrist, and I had a bit of a forward press and all sorts. Got the new putter, Evnroll with a 'gravity grip' and it just felt more comfortable to hold it normally and stop arsing about, basically. Then the putting lesson I had then helped me get a nice smooth stroke back to roll the ball properly instead of stabbing at it. As you say, nothing fancy is really required, just to get comfortable with your putter and with your putting stroke - then it's down to whether you can read a green or not (this is where I still struggle at times).

 

[Deleted member 29109]

That stat you have quoted is 5 to 10 which is very different to just 5 feet.

Have you got anything meaningful to contribute that may help or answer the OPs questions? Or are you just going to snipe at other people as usual?

 

[Orikoru]

Putting with a line on my ball, following a lesson with the club pro, has greatly improved my putting. Trust the line and just think about pace.

Just on this, I actually tried drawing a line on the ball for my round yesterday. I can see that it would help some people but I didn't like it at all. For some reason it just put me off if anything. I'd line it up from behind the putting line, but then when I'm stood over the ball I'm thinking it looks wrong, but I can't adjust the way I normally would. Really didn't like it.

 

[RichA]

I think using the line effectively depends whether you putt with your eyes directly over the ball or not.
If you putt with the ball 6 inches outside your eyes and the line is top dead centre pointing at the hole when viewed from behind, you're going to get some kind of parallax thing going on.
There's an exercise you can do with tees and a piece of string that demonstrates how deceptive this phenomena is.
Even if you think the ball is vertically below your eyes, it's probably a couple of inches outside them.

 

[Deleted member 18121]

How much has your handicap reduced since you did the course?

13.6 > 9.1

 

[Deleted member 18121]

With Jamie ?
He's on MasterChef tonight ?

Yeah that's the guy, completely engaging way of teaching

 

[CountLippe]

Put a tee in your mouth pointing at the ball. Try and make a stroke without the tee moving. This should help keep the putter square at impact. Combine this with pace drills and your good to go!