Improving putting

[Tashyboy]

I think the old adage line and length sums it up. Most folk go for length being the most important. To a large extent I would go along with that on the pretext that you can be 3-4ft short or long but not 3-4 ft left or right of the pin. Now that’s ok if you are putting on flat greens. And I have played a few courses where they are flat so unless you have eyes like Clarence the lion you will never be 3-4 ft left or right of the pin.
But our course the greens are like the Matterhorn. In the summer they are brutal. The green keepers have a habit of sticking pins on top of slopes and the old adage of “never up never in” means if you are 12” past, you could end up 6ft past.
That don’t even mention the breaks that we have on some holes.
My advice, get a lesson from your pro on your course and use the practice green before you go out to get some idea of speed. Last off practice 3-4 ft putts before you go out.

 

[Tashyboy]

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!

Strange you mention that, I went through a stage where I was pulling everything left when doing 3-4ft putts. A guy at American golf said “ it’s because I am looking at the ball as soon as I am hitting it and my head turns left which turns my left shoulder causing me to pull”. I had a quick play on there mats and I was. ??
keep your head still

 

[azazel]

Like much of golf, make a smooth stroke, pick your line and commit to it, don't fear the one back if you miss it. Oh and use an Odyssey tuttle putter and the triple track alignment Callaways!

 

[spongebob59]

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

Going for a refresher myself soon.

 

[Orikoru]

I think the old adage line and length sums it up. Most folk go for length being the most important. To a large extent I would go along with that on the pretext that you can be 3-4ft short or long but not 3-4 ft left or right of the pin. Now that’s ok if you are putting on flat greens. And I have played a few courses where they are flat so unless you have eyes like Clarence the lion you will never be 3-4 ft left or right of the pin.
But our course the greens are like the Matterhorn. In the summer they are brutal. The green keepers have a habit of sticking pins on top of slopes and the old adage of “never up never in” means if you are 12” past, you could end up 6ft past.
That don’t even mention the breaks that we have on some holes.
My advice, get a lesson from your pro on your course and use the practice green before you go out to get some idea of speed. Last off practice 3-4 ft putts before you go out.

Think of it this way though. If you think back to every time you've ever three-putted - what percentage do you think came from hitting it long / leaving it short as opposed to aiming too far right or left? For me I'd say probably 90% came from being short or long. That's why I'd say pace is the most important. If you're talking about holing them then both are important obviously, but if we're talking three-putt avoidance, then it's pace.

 

[phillarrow]

Putting has always been the weakest part of my game, but I do feel like I am slowly improving and I put it down to three things:

1) Regular work on distance control - if I can get every putt outside of 10 feet to within 3/4 feet than I'm making huge gains on where I used to be, and therefore 3 putting far less often.
2) Daily practice from 3-6 feet at home using the Putt Out thingy. I do about 10-15 minutes a day from 3 - 6 foot range and the same from about 15 - 20 foot range.
3) Getting fitted for a putter that suited my stroke and stance. (Cue the expected responses from those that feel all fitting is witchcraft and/or marketing nonsense! Don't bother replying or questioning me about my fitting, here is my answer to all of your questions - )

I did buy the Putt Out mirror with the bars and gate, and the Visio T bar thing. They are useful every now and again for direct feedback on starting point of the putts, but I find they make me too mechanical and less natural, which I find hard to translate to the course.

 

[Backache]

Think of it this way though. If you think back to every time you've ever three-putted - what percentage do you think came from hitting it long / leaving it short as opposed to aiming too far right or left? For me I'd say probably 90% came from being short or long. That's why I'd say pace is the most important. If you're talking about holing them then both are important obviously, but if we're talking three-putt avoidance, then it's pace.

I think pace is important but from a personal point of view, I think I 3 putt most commonly from missing short ones rather than leaving long ones too far away.

 

[Orikoru]

I think pace is important but from a personal point of view, I think I 3 putt most commonly from missing short ones rather than leaving long ones too far away.

I suppose I forgot missing tiddlers from the equation, but if it was say, how many times do you leave it 5 feet short/long vs how many times is it 5 feet left/right, surely short/long is higher for most people?

 

[Backache]

I suppose I forgot missing tiddlers from the equation, but if it was say, how many times do you leave it 5 feet short/long vs how many times is it 5 feet left/right, surely short/long is higher for most people?

I certainly agree that pace is important and at fifteen feet is more important than line.
I was talking about my experience of three putting.
Clearly if I hit them all dead weight to within a foot I would virtually never three putt.
However on a practical level comparing my putting with other people I golf with my distance control is reasonable but I miss a lot of short ones.
I suspect it would be easier to improve my putting with better face control than better distance control.
I am not saying that for others it is not the other way round or that my distance control is impeccable but it does appear that way to me without a formal strokes gained analysis.

 

[Crow]

Change your putter every week, familiarity breeds contempt.

 

[phillarrow]

I certainly agree that pace is important and at fifteen feet is more important than line.
I was talking about my experience of three putting.
Clearly if I hit them all dead weight to within a foot I would virtually never three putt.
However on a practical level comparing my putting with other people I golf with my distance control is reasonable but I miss a lot of short ones.
I suspect it would be easier to improve my putting with better face control than better distance control.
I am not saying that for others it is not the other way round or that my distance control is impeccable but it does appear that way to me without a formal strokes gained analysis.

Lucky you...I've had a tendency to be rubbish at both! And I'm not kidding!
My best ever round of golf was an 82...that included four putting the first, 37 putts in total, and nine chips from just off the green!!!
This is why I've been working on both distance and holing out from a few feet.

 

[Backache]

Lucky you...I've had a tendency to be rubbish at both! And I'm not kidding!
My best ever round of golf was an 82...that included four putting the first, 37 putts in total, and nine chips from just off the green!!!
This is why I've been working on both distance and holing out from a few feet.

Mmm I think you can learn at least a bit, It's hard to generalise but because I agree with the statement about distance control being very important I have practiced it a fair bit and it has definitely improved.
I've tried to practice my face control as well but it remains a lot shakier for me.

 

[RichA]

Change your putter every week, familiarity breeds contempt.

I'm not sure if you're joking.
I rarely use the same putter for three consecutive rounds. I've got four on a rotation and I'm waiting for the fifth to arrive from a recent eBay purchase that I hold you responsible for.

 

[Springveldt]

I think pace is important but from a personal point of view, I think I 3 putt most commonly from missing short ones rather than leaving long ones too far away.

This is my issue currently. I can usually put it within 2 or 3 feet on long distance putts but then I'll pull or push the short one. Doing this 2 or 3 times a round. Missed one from around 1 foot and another from less than 2 foot at the weekend. One a push, the next one a pull.

During the week I'll then get the PuttOut mat and pressure putter out and hole 25 in a row from 5 feet without an issue. Last time I did the 1/2/3/4/5/6 foot drill, holed them all and 3 of them where the "perfect putt" that stayed in the little hole.

I think at this point it's all mental with me, it's like I'm waiting to miss a short one so I can go "I always miss one of these a round".

 

[BiMGuy]

This is my issue currently. I can usually put it within 2 or 3 feet on long distance putts but then I'll pull or push the short one. Doing this 2 or 3 times a round. Missed one from around 1 foot and another from less than 2 foot at the weekend. One a push, the next one a pull.

During the week I'll then get the PuttOut mat and pressure putter out and hole 25 in a row from 5 feet without an issue. Last time I did the 1/2/3/4/5/6 foot drill, holed them all and 3 of them where the "perfect putt" that stayed in the little hole.

I think at this point it's all mental with me, it's like I'm waiting to miss a short one so I can go "I always miss one of these a round".

It’s the shorter putt I find having a line on the ball really helps. You know you are lined up so the only thing to worry about it the stroke.

Do you always putt out when playing? Even in non competitive rounds?

 

[Tashyboy]

Think of it this way though. If you think back to every time you've ever three-putted - what percentage do you think came from hitting it long / leaving it short as opposed to aiming too far right or left? For me I'd say probably 90% came from being short or long. That's why I'd say pace is the most important. If you're talking about holing them then both are important obviously, but if we're talking three-putt avoidance, then it's pace.

That’s what I was trying to say re ours, ( and yours). Line is as important as pace because if you do not get the right line even if the pace is right or wrong you can still three putt. when I do our pit society day. The lads laugh about how brutal the greens can be. It was also why I mentioned having a lesson at his place.

 

[Springveldt]

It’s the shorter putt I find having a line on the ball really helps. You know you are lined up so the only thing to worry about it the stroke.

Do you always putt out when playing? Even in non competitive rounds?

I seem to alternate between using a line and picking a spot on the ground. With the line, sometimes I just get over the ball and think "that line is not pointing at the hole but I'll hit it anyway".

I do hole out most times. Even in a friendly game I'll try and knock them in.

I've changed the grip on my putter to a Super Stroke and even with the 2 missed ones at the weekend it does feel better and I think it's improved my putting so far. Over the last 2 rounds I've holed more in the 5-10 foot region than I normally do and I'm getting more putts past the hole. The first one I missed was all on me, I didn't take my time and just tried to use my wrists to knock it in for some stupid reason. The next one was on the very next hole and probably a reaction to pushing the first one so ended up pulling it. After that I was solid, didn't miss from 3-7 foot range and I had 5 of them.

I'll give it some more rounds but if I'm still missing them come the start of the comp season I think I'll need to go for a lesson or something just to get some confidence.

 

[phillarrow]

This is my issue currently. I can usually put it within 2 or 3 feet on long distance putts but then I'll pull or push the short one. Doing this 2 or 3 times a round. Missed one from around 1 foot and another from less than 2 foot at the weekend. One a push, the next one a pull.

During the week I'll then get the PuttOut mat and pressure putter out and hole 25 in a row from 5 feet without an issue. Last time I did the 1/2/3/4/5/6 foot drill, holed them all and 3 of them where the "perfect putt" that stayed in the little hole.

I think at this point it's all mental with me, it's like I'm waiting to miss a short one so I can go "I always miss one of these a round".

I had to check this to see if it was written by me!

 

[Springveldt]

I've just read this on the Shotscope blog...

https://shotscope.com/blog/stats/putting-make-percentages-by-handicap-how-do-you-compare/

It would seem I really suck at 6-12 foot more than the 0-3 footers I'm complaining about. Over the last 15 rounds I've made only 16% of putts from 6-12 foot. The mobile app gives a breakdown and I've made 5 of 19 from 6-9 feet and 1 of 15 from 9-12 foot. According to Shotscope a 25 handicapper is making 35% of them. I know the GPS isn't super accurate with Shotscope and that could be throwing some of this out but I do usually count the number of steps I take on the longer putts and edit the round afterwards.

35% for a 25 handicapper from 6-12 feet seems ridiculously high to me or maybe my putting really is that bad.

 

[bobmac]

If you're missing the short ones there's a good chance your backswing is too long or/and you have too much lower half movement.
Try this with a chair/wall/fence or whatever and keep the pressure the same on both 'cheeks'. That will stop your hips turning.