Is putting becoming more science than art

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percy_layer

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Traditionally, putting has been regarded as more of an art than science. Good putters were always highly skilled at judging pace and line.
But with new analysis techniques used by Aimpoint (green reading) as well as the work by people such as Dave Pelz and Paul Hurrion (putting stroke and practice), is good putting becoming more of a case of quantifiable deduction than 'looking and guessing'?

Curious to know what everyones thoughts are
 
I think as with all aspects of the game, everyone has their own way.
You have the scientist, the engineer who wants to know how everything works. Facts, figures, numbers.
Then you have the artist, the person who does it by eye, feel and imagination.

I think it's the coaches job to know which is which and change their methods to suit the pupil.

When people are new to the game, putting on the whole seems the easiest skill to master, I mean how hard can it be? Point it over there somewhere and hit it the right distance.

I believe if you can groove a stroke that is reliable and repeatable under pressure, then you've gone a long way to being a good putter.
 
Green reading, actually lining up properly, hitting at the correct pace... nothing to it really. How wrong can a stroke be that's only 5" long? :)
 
JustOne said:
Green reading, actually lining up properly, hitting at the correct pace... nothing to it really. How wrong can a stroke be that's only 5" long? :)
Click to expand...

my mate has been playing over a year and ive just recently got him to stand square to a putt. he used to aim right of the hole and flick his wrist to make it go towards the hole. absolute bonkers! got him sorted now. he seen how insane his way of doing it was.
 
I am a scientist by trade, I can tell you that apart from knowing your yardages golf is about feel...

Let me explain:

In practice your body, your mind and your central nervous system learn by feedback. This feedback is in turn reproduced in commands to your muscles when you next attempt a task.

In green reading its all about getting as much visual information so your body can naturally work out how hard to hit the ball. You can probably say "I will give this 30%" but 30% of what? That is just a command to the body to feel out how hard to hit the ball!

So in summary it is really about the "art" of teaching your body how to turn feedback into the correct action in the future.

In the full swing or part swing ie pitching this is again all about feedback and learnt behaviour.

From this you could conclude that you should practice with the least forgiving clubs and play with the most forgiving you can get away with ;)
 
garyinderry said:
my mate has been playing over a year and ive just recently got him to stand square to a putt. he used to aim right of the hole and flick his wrist to make it go towards the hole. absolute bonkers! got him sorted now. he seen how insane his way of doing it was.
Click to expand...

I reckon it's by far the BIGGEST REASON why people miss putts... then off they go to by a putting aid which fecks up their natural swing which wasn't broken in the first place :confused:....

If I could have someone standing behind me lining up my putts I would, every time, and I'm a pretty good putter on my day (just can't get the pace on some slower greens if I've been playing on faster).
 
Not heard of it Smiffy, currently reading a book on 'people skills' called "Did the wife eat all the pies?" :whistle:
 
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JustOne said:
I reckon it's by far the BIGGEST REASON why people miss putts... then off they go to by a putting aid which fecks up their natural swing which wasn't broken in the first place :confused:....

If I could have someone standing behind me lining up my putts I would, every time, and I'm a pretty good putter on my day (just can't get the pace on some slower greens if I've been playing on faster).
Click to expand...

To add another thought on the back of Justones thoughts - the nearest we can get to having someone behind us is by putting a line on the ball. I always do this. Anyone else?

One further thought, which I have always wanted to know the answer. If you had complete control of how hard you hit a putt, and complete control of the line (i.e. you drop a ball down some guttering!) would this beat our proper putting stats?'
 
In my opinion putting will never be science. Despite all the training aids, technical wizardry and engineering it will always come down to two things: judging pace and green reading. In my eyes both of those two elements are art forms.
 
Saw a guy with the aimpoint app on his phone and he showed me what it showed for a putt on the putting green. I had this 6 foot putt about 2 balls wide of the left edge. This thing said 4 inches. Nonsense said I. He put a marker down the said 4 inches left and roled it in first time. I tried it and in it went. Definitely something in it
 
HomerJSimpson said:
Saw a guy with the aimpoint app on his phone and he showed me what it showed for a putt on the putting green. I had this 6 foot putt about 2 balls wide of the left edge. This thing said 4 inches. Nonsense said I. He put a marker down the said 4 inches left and roled it in first time. I tried it and in it went. Definitely something in it
Click to expand...

It was 3" if you took a bit of break out and didn't hit it like a girl :D
 
HomerJSimpson said:
Saw a guy with the aimpoint app on his phone and he showed me what it showed for a putt on the putting green. I had this 6 foot putt about 2 balls wide of the left edge. This thing said 4 inches. Nonsense said I. He put a marker down the said 4 inches left and roled it in first time. I tried it and in it went. Definitely something in it
Click to expand...

for £15 id expect the app to knock the bloody putt in for me and all! :eek:
 
Interesting post.

Just thinking over the years of the guys who have had reputations as being great putters, Bobby Locke, Bob Charles, Ben Crenshaw, Seve, Loren Roberts, Tiger, what do they have in common if anything?

I've heard that even a putting machine set up to hole a particular putt on a real green won't hole every one.

It is funny how such a short simple motion can be so susceptible to technical glitches, let alone the impact of the "art" of reading greens which of course is magnified on the pro tours by their speed, then of course there's nerve. Nicklaus was a great putter, down the stretch, because he was so mentally tough.

As I'm rubbish in all 3 areas I'd be interested in people's views on this.
 
ScienceBoy said:
I am a scientist by trade, I can tell you that apart from knowing your yardages golf is about feel...

Let me explain:

In practice your body, your mind and your central nervous system learn by feedback. This feedback is in turn reproduced in commands to your muscles when you next attempt a task.

In green reading its all about getting as much visual information so your body can naturally work out how hard to hit the ball. You can probably say "I will give this 30%" but 30% of what? That is just a command to the body to feel out how hard to hit the ball!

So in summary it is really about the "art" of teaching your body how to turn feedback into the correct action in the future.

In the full swing or part swing ie pitching this is again all about feedback and learnt behaviour.

From this you could conclude that you should practice with the least forgiving clubs and play with the most forgiving you can get away with ;)
Click to expand...
So ends the science lesson on feel :D:D
Just kidding i agree 100% with you , its all about feel ,& i would also add confidence .. playing well you just get in a groove, when you get a feel for the greens putts either drop in of are very close , you can teach many things but not "feel" for the game, for me you either have it or you dont , feel is a natrual thing .. .. as far as i can tell you can practice & practice & you will get better but it will always be mechanical rather than natrual , Is it possible to practice so much that it will become natrual ? cant answer that one ..
 
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I have a Peltz putting aid where there is no room for error on the line you start your putt. On the putting green i can hole 20 in a row and miss the next 5 starting the ball on the same line.
When most of us started out playing you had a choice of a Blade or a Blade putter with a thin grip on it, now there are thousands of different models and loads of grip options so it has got more scientific.
On the greens we play on most of the time they are a bit bobbly or uneaven and i'm sure i saw a comparision in a mag at some stage about the % of putts amatures miss compare to the pros just due to the condition of the greens. So starting the putt off with the perfect pace and line won't always mean a holes putt.
Mike
 
I think putting is all down to visualising the put, forget about all those putting aids. Watched a video of Tiger giving a lesson on putting once, he told a story about what his Dad said to him when he was young, about visualising the the ball rolling across the green into the hole, works for me.


Mind you saying all that, if you cant read a green, then your stuffed ;)
 
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