ScienceBoy
Money List Winner
You don't even need to shorten your putter, don't use that as an excuses.
Grip down and get your eyes over the ball.
Grip down and get your eyes over the ball.
length of putting stroke
- Thread starter garyinderry
- Start date
With a standard length putter and putter grip, you can't grip down that far without ending up with your bottom hand on the metal shaft. I have come across many players who putt like this, but if you do you would be better off either shortening your putter or fitting a longer grip. For people under 6ft tall, standard 34 or 35" putters are too long. I am 5'10" and I normally cut my putters down to 33".
kerber0s1983
Assistant Pro
I used to struggle with exactly the same thing, making too long a backstroke and slowing down through impact.
I bought this http://www.perfectmygolf.co.uk/track-putting-mat.html and its the best thing i have bought for my putting, i now have a much tighter stroke as using the lines gives a visual guide - plus being able to practice on different speeds.
I've only had it about 6 weeks, and practice indoors on it for about 30mins a day with different breaks etc
My putting was never terrible, averaging 36-37 putts a round, but since i have been using this i'm averaging 32-34 putts a round which i will take after a few weeks
I bought this http://www.perfectmygolf.co.uk/track-putting-mat.html and its the best thing i have bought for my putting, i now have a much tighter stroke as using the lines gives a visual guide - plus being able to practice on different speeds.
I've only had it about 6 weeks, and practice indoors on it for about 30mins a day with different breaks etc
My putting was never terrible, averaging 36-37 putts a round, but since i have been using this i'm averaging 32-34 putts a round which i will take after a few weeks
3565
Journeyman Pro
Personally I see far too many players from 10ft and under take too long a backswing. No need for it IMO, I was working with a 3 hc player this week on putting who was struggling and got him to shorten the backswing but to make sure his follow through was twice as long. He was amazed how little effort it needed for the ball to travel and how well the ball rolled to the hole.
One of my favourite drills from 10ft and under is to address the ball and push it to the hole and how well it rolls.
One of my favourite drills from 10ft and under is to address the ball and push it to the hole and how well it rolls.
ScienceBoy
Money List Winner
But how many do cut it down, they probably should get it to the right size but its no excuse for not trying.
Foxholer
Blackballed
This is purely using a concept (longer follow through) to sort out the actual fault (dodgy stroke to impact)! Once the putter has struck the ball, the putter and length of stroke has absolutely no further effect!
3565
Journeyman Pro
I kind of disagree, how many have you seen that have far to long a swing then decel at impact then come up short, if the thru swing has no effect at all after impact then we all should be doing the pop method with no follow thru at all and why do we have a follow through on our main swings as that would be the same would it not where the follow through and club head has no effect.
The push the ball method is to control the putter with the bigger shoulder muscles and control.
ScienceBoy
Money List Winner
I agree that the follow through has absolutely no effect on the ball, only impact conditions. Follow through is just a consequence of all that came before it.
I still would tell anyone to take a follow through twice as far as their backswing. This mainly stops the backswing being too long and promotes acceleration into the ball.
If after learning that you choose to remove most of the follow through that is fine, you will be left with a controlled backswing, good technique and a good contact.
Foxholer
Blackballed
Does the thru-swing have any effect after impact? No!
Does the anticipation of a thru-swing have any effect on pre and actual impact Yes! It's the deceleration before/at impact that is the issue. A way to eliminate that is to think 'long follow thru', but that uses a 'concept' to overcome the issue - which is fine if it works, but is not a solution per-se! And if the deceleration can be corrected another way, then that's fine too - and possibly better!
One Planer
Global Moderator
That's interesting as I've just been fitted and moved from a 33" to a 36".
My aim and alignment is now much better.
I'm 6ft.
3565
Journeyman Pro
And got a quality putter too:thup: and the weight of it you have to follow through whether it has an effect or not.
One Planer
Global Moderator
That's just an added bonus :thup:
I initially started wit a 35" putter when I took up the game. That went to 34", then to 33".
While my stroke improved my aim didn't, despite practice. With a longer putter I'm not so much 'over the ball'. My posture is much better, much taller and my aim is massively improved, as evidenced with a Quintic laser.
TBH, it's human nature to think we know what suits us but quite often it's counter-intuitive.
What is best rather depends on your body type and posture, but to get your head over the ball, a putter length of about the same as your floor to wrist measurement is about right. Mine is 33" and I always struggled with 35 or 36" putters that were normal when I first took up golf. This might have contributed to me developing the putting yips in my mid fifties. My current putter is 33" long and fitted with a SuperStroke Slim 3.0 grip, and I am pretty comfortable with that.
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bobmac
Major Champion
Doesn't that depend on what your elbows do?
chrisd
Major Champion
This Peter Finch video suggests that getting your eyes over the ball isn't the best stance for putting
https://youtu.be/NGZCS_4kVos
One Planer
Global Moderator
I agree to a point, but look at Keegan Bradley.
When he used an anchored belly putter his eye line was no where near over the ball. Intact it was massively inside the ball. He was a pretty solid putter, especially in his major win and Ryder cup play.
Now he's had to switch a conventional type putter. He is closer to the ball. His eyes are more over the ball.
What's happened to his putting? He certainly hasn't got any better, if anything he's got worse.
I'm not saying he's a bad putter as there's no such thing on tour but he is certainly worse than he was. He could have stood closer to the ball and still used an anchored putter , a la Webb Simpson (below), but he didn't.
I don't doubt that getting over the ball is a bad thing but it isn't, IMHO, and absolute must to be a solid putter.
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Your putting stroke will have fewer moving parts if your arms are reasonably straight. Certainly Phil Mickelson achieves this. 🙂
One Planer
Global Moderator
the_coach
Journeyman Pro
putter length real key to help deliver good posture so putter largely remains true to lie angle (as a norm putter lie angle around 71º but can't exceed 80º - governed)
to get posture a bend from the hips, slight flex point at the knees, & upper arms in contact with chest puts slight bend at elbow so the shaft runs pretty parallel to forearm angles - has to be someways around this given lie angle and ball on ground in front of player
putter length so distance the hands away from the ground to get set-up in a sound posture that has sole pretty parallel to ground in order to then have the eyes someways over inside half of ball to putter hosel so just a tad inside target line - this posture not a ways too bent over with too short a putter length as that makes the motion a ways difficult & a ways more difficult the longer a putt is
my take speaking to stroke length - it should be reaction to target and of good rhythm
- to have good rhythm so smooth putterhead pace no over-accel it's a deal better to have a throughswing that at least mirrors takeback in order to have tha similar pace of putter head from end of takeback back through impact
- study of a number of tour pro's putting data showed pretty much a parity between swing from end of takeback to through impact to end of stroke - so more a constant delivery of speed flow for any particular putt with little or no variance
the rhythm tempo the individual '1 -- 2' (whatever that is) remains constant from 3ft to whatever length that '1 -- 2' end of takeback to impact remains remarkably constant - in the best putters
just as the putt gets longer the stroke gets longer and the overall speed of the putter head is quicker to still meet that '1 -- 2' beat
would say rhythm essentially comes from a 'rotation' of shoulders/upper chest - pivot point being the 7th cervical vertebrae (that kinda knobly shaped bump inbetween the shoulder blades)
any hit instinct/over-accel into ball can real easy interfere with face alignment, path, angle of attack which never ends up too good with face to ball contact being only around half a millisecond
posture, balance, stability at set-up and rhythm of motion key to the ability to make a decent stroke on the ball - to hole it just gotta 'simply' add green reading, aim, alignment, and mental strength ..... pace & line
to get posture a bend from the hips, slight flex point at the knees, & upper arms in contact with chest puts slight bend at elbow so the shaft runs pretty parallel to forearm angles - has to be someways around this given lie angle and ball on ground in front of player
putter length so distance the hands away from the ground to get set-up in a sound posture that has sole pretty parallel to ground in order to then have the eyes someways over inside half of ball to putter hosel so just a tad inside target line - this posture not a ways too bent over with too short a putter length as that makes the motion a ways difficult & a ways more difficult the longer a putt is
my take speaking to stroke length - it should be reaction to target and of good rhythm
- to have good rhythm so smooth putterhead pace no over-accel it's a deal better to have a throughswing that at least mirrors takeback in order to have tha similar pace of putter head from end of takeback back through impact
- study of a number of tour pro's putting data showed pretty much a parity between swing from end of takeback to through impact to end of stroke - so more a constant delivery of speed flow for any particular putt with little or no variance
the rhythm tempo the individual '1 -- 2' (whatever that is) remains constant from 3ft to whatever length that '1 -- 2' end of takeback to impact remains remarkably constant - in the best putters
just as the putt gets longer the stroke gets longer and the overall speed of the putter head is quicker to still meet that '1 -- 2' beat
would say rhythm essentially comes from a 'rotation' of shoulders/upper chest - pivot point being the 7th cervical vertebrae (that kinda knobly shaped bump inbetween the shoulder blades)
any hit instinct/over-accel into ball can real easy interfere with face alignment, path, angle of attack which never ends up too good with face to ball contact being only around half a millisecond
posture, balance, stability at set-up and rhythm of motion key to the ability to make a decent stroke on the ball - to hole it just gotta 'simply' add green reading, aim, alignment, and mental strength ..... pace & line
Beezerk
Money List Winner
Sounds good, gonna try that one tomorrow.
