Putting etiquette - how much time?

[timgolfy]

How much time do you spend looking at a putt before playing?

Looking at the golf on TV today and seeing the pros checking and double checking breaks and lines - I wonder how many of us would be upset if a playing partner did the same?

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I guess it depends on the pace of play. If the course is relatively empty I've no real problem with a guy studying their line in depth providing they can then put a decent stroke on the end of it. On a Saturday morning or a competition I can see where it would become a real issue. Take the time to have a look by all means but don't take all day looking at it from different angles.

 

[DCB]

The Pros will have an allocated time on their Hard Card so they'll all be taking as long as they are allowed.

 

[fundy]

at my home course prob approx 10 seconds, unless a medal and may take a little longer. At a course i dont know as well i can take a lot longer until im happy i know the line

 

[timgolfy]

I wonder if this is one of the reasons that pros are much better at putting.

Take a perfectly flat green and draw a chalk line to the hole 10 feet away, and I bet even most amateurs would be able to putt along that line 19 times out of 20. Now take the line away and I bet the success rate drops to about 12. And a break and suddenly it will have dropped right off to about 7 out of 20.

Using this (above) scientific hypothesis surely the toughest part about putting is reading the greens, choosing a line and pace, then being able to spot that line when standing above the ball. Yet this is the area of the game which the amateurs rush because of time pressure.

 

[bladeplayer]

Its about been ready to play when its your turn & what you were doing when your playing partners were playing there shots ,, in a 3 ball when player 1 is lining up his putt the other 2 should be studying theirs..all you have to do then is place your ball have a quick look to reafirm what you had looked at & play.. same goes all over the course

 

[pokerjoke]

I take my time putting,theres nothing worse than 3 stabbing.

 

[Tommo21]

Putting......putting. Todays comp 440 yard par 4, dogleg tree lined, drive, iron, single putt. Next hole 176 par 3 back of the green, three shots from there. Never took my time over the first downhiller....never learn eh. Should have took longer.

 

[CrapHacker]

I don't mind if my partner takes a long time over their putt if the results are worth it. If they then get it to within gimme/tap in range then it's time well spent.

But if they spend ages looking at line and length and then stab it short and left, there WILL be a comment.

I find that it doesn't really help me to look from different angles etc. so I don't see the advantage of taking longer over any given putt. But then, I'm a pretty poor putter tbh.

 

[bobmac]

I wonder if this is one of the reasons that pros are much better at putting.

Nope, it's because they practice and play 6 days a week.

Take a perfectly flat green and draw a chalk line to the hole 10 feet away, and I bet even most amateurs would be able to putt along that line 19 times out of 20.

Nowhere near it. More like 10-12

Now take the line away and I bet the success rate drops to about 12.

8-10

And a break and suddenly it will have dropped right off to about 7 out of 20.

4-6

Yet this is the area of the game which the amateurs rush because of time pressure.

Nope. they miss putts because they may know the line but get the pace wrong, the aim wrong or they pull or push it due to a bad technique.

 

[Imurg]

I wonder if this is one of the reasons that pros are much better at putting.

Nope, it's because they practice and play 6 days a week.

Take a perfectly flat green and draw a chalk line to the hole 10 feet away, and I bet even most amateurs would be able to putt along that line 19 times out of 20.

Nowhere near it. More like 10-12

Now take the line away and I bet the success rate drops to about 12.

8-10

And a break and suddenly it will have dropped right off to about 7 out of 20.

4-6

Yet this is the area of the game which the amateurs rush because of time pressure.

Nope. they miss putts because they may know the line but get the pace wrong, the aim wrong or they pull or push it due to a bad technique.

Damn you Bob...
I was going to say that.
Taking too long over a putt can lead to more doubt, you start seeing breaks that are not there.
Over 15 feet, the chances are you're not going to hole it. Concentrating on not 3 putting takes over. From 30 feet it's the same.
Obviously you try to hole every putt but not at the expense of missing badly and 3 putting as a consequence

 

[timgolfy]

Bob, are you serious in saying that only 50% of people can putt a ball along a 10ft white line? Holy cow! That is shocking.

 

[Imurg]

It wouldn't surprise me to if it was even less.

To putt along a given line everything has to start square to the target and - more importantly - be square at impact, just like a normal golf shot.
Add into that the minute (sometimes not so minute) bumps on even the smoothest of greens can offer up and it's easy to believe.
And when you start bringing judgement of pace and line on a slope into the equation, its a miracle anyone ever gets the ball in the hole.
In addition, line isn't everything. You can pick the correct line but if your pace doesn't match then the ball wont go in. There will be several lines you can take depending on how hard you're going to hit the putt.

Putting's probably the hardest part of the game to get consistently right.

 

[bobmac]

Bob, are you serious in saying that only 50% of people can putt a ball along a 10ft white line? Holy cow! That is shocking.

You should get out more

Maybe if they got a few practice goes, some could.
Have you never heard commentators on tv say "he pulled it or pushed it"?

 

[HawkeyeMS]

Its about been ready to play when its your turn & what you were doing when your playing partners were playing there shots ,, in a 3 ball when player 1 is lining up his putt the other 2 should be studying theirs..all you have to do then is place your ball have a quick look to reafirm what you had looked at & play.. same goes all over the course

Exactly right, this is what everyone should be doing. On top of this, 99% of the time your first read is the right one, reading it over and over again is increasing the probability you're gonna miss IMHO

 

[timgolfy]

Bob, let me tell you about my observations as a new golfer.

The carpet in my house has aligned small patterned squares which gives a line to the end of the room. I can put with high consistency along that line, even up to 20 feet. Spin me round a couple of times and take the line away (move me to a different room with no pattern on the carpet), and I find it much more difficult to align. Take that to the golf course and greens with variations in grain, break, shadows, etc, and suddenly alignment for that 20 footer becomes increasingly difficult.

In short, for me putting a line is the easy part. Standing above the ball and being able to see that imaginary line is the difficulty.

When I see the Tour pros on telly missing 4 footers I can't help but think that it's not faulty swing mechanics - but a simple miss-alignment (caused by the angle of the surface/shadows/grain/tricks of the eye/any other excuse). Would you agree?

Is there a putting aid which can train the visualisation of that line? (I'm getting a clip-on laser for my putter, but not sure if that works outdoors).

 

[bobmac]

It's lovely putting on your carpet when you dont have millions of people watching you and the wind isn't blowing you around and there's not £20,000 resting on each putt and your opposition has just holed one from 30 feet.
Do tour pros miss putts due to a poor swing? absolutely.
Do you think the demise of Tiger's putting is because he's forgotten how to read greens?

 

[timgolfy]

Hmmm. So you're saying that being able to imagine a line from a 3 inch cup 20 feet away whilst stood with eyes 5 feet about it is the easy part, making the club face square to that line is the hard part?

Would putting be easier if we were allowed to use laser alignment gadgets? I know it would be for me.

 

[bobmac]

You've got to do it all.
Get the line and pace right. Aim it properly stand to the ball properly, swing the putter where you want it to go and control your nerves.
It's not as simple as drawing lines and buying lasers.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Timmy

Try one of these. When you can make 100 on the spin without hitting it overly hard to use pace as the only means of getting it to the end, i.e. hit it dead weight then you will probably be good on the 3 footers

http://www.perfectmygolf.co.uk/acatalog/Yes_Putting_Rail.html