Putting looking at the hole.

[delc]

On our practice putting green today I experimented with putting while looking at the hole, a la Jordan Spieth. Seemed to work quite well, despite a few that felt like slight miss-hits, which still went near to the hole. Does anybody on here use this technique for real out on the course?

 

[Region3]

I tried it and it worked very well at stopping me steering the ball the first time.

The second time I missed two short putts early on and never tried it again.

 

[chrisd]

I did once and nope it didn't work

 

[AmandaJR]

Tried it once and wasn't even close so that was that!

After they mentioned it at Masters I watched him carefully and it seemed more often than not he didn't look at the hole. Only on short straight putts it seems?

 

[monktonhallgc1882]

Currently do it from inside 10 ft with some insane results getting me cut as much as I have this season. Doesn't work for all but definitely worth giving a shot

 

[bladeplayer]

Mate of mine trying it , it working great for him ..

not for me tho

 

[HawkeyeMS]

Tried it once on the practice green, I think it would take a long time to be confident using it on the course.

I would have thought it would be bad for you, there'd be a voice in your head saying "the hole is too small, the hole is too small"

 

[snell]

I've started using it for putts inside 7ft and it's working a treat to be honest.

 

[garyinderry]

Not for me. Tried it without much success. My contact never mind direction suffers.

 

[peter1962]

After missing far to many short putts I gave it a go....so impressed! Time will tell!

 

[la_lucha]

I've done it since I started golfing three years ago (before I knew who Spieth was). It works well for me. I used to play crown green bowls and when bowling you look at the target and not where you drop the ball.

 

[G_Mulligan]

I used to do it quite a lot from 12-15 feet and it worked well, also putt quite a bit with my eyes shut on the practice green to get a feel for the stroke and distance.

 

[Foxholer]

On our practice putting green today I experimented with putting while looking at the hole, a la Jordan Spieth. Seemed to work quite well, despite a few that felt like slight miss-hits, which still went near to the hole. Does anybody on here use this technique for real out on the course?

Tried it years ago and it wasn't for me!

With those results, it doesn't seem to me that it's right for you either!

 

[Deleted member 15344]

Nope - always look at the ball to ensure I get the right contact

 

[Simbo]

I should probably try this as sometimes I have a bad habit of following the putter head with my eyes.
Didn't Dave pelz say Tom Watson or someone shot the course record somewhere doing this after pelz convinced him to?.

 

[Region3]

I should probably try this as sometimes I have a bad habit of following the putter head with my eyes.
Didn't Dave pelz say Tom Watson or someone shot the course record somewhere doing this after pelz convinced him to?.

I think it was Rotella and Hal Sutton. Shot a course record 63. Apparently he never used it in competition, it was just an exercise to get him focussing on the target when he putted.

A good way I've found of preventing yourself following the putter with your eyes is to leave a gap between putter and ball, and focus on a piece of grass in-between them.
In my case, when I focus on the ball my brain knows it's going to move and my eyes anticipate that. Focussing on the grass between works for me to stop me following the ball.

 

[3565]

Been doing it myself for the past 2 weeks, from 7ft and under and also on breaking putts. I've holed more then I've missed and have used it in comps, won my scratch singles 6&4 using this method and shot 69.

 

[gazr99]

I get the feeling this technique by Spieth will become over used or used wrongly. He only does it 4 feet in, on straight putts

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhogoOVJCHs

The funny thing is, with in particular putts from 8 or so feet and more, I like to keep my head down even after hitting the ball. I just find I seem to make better contact, when doing this. Could be a mental thing

 

[HomerJSimpson]

More putting mojo. Never tried it and seems nonsense. Would you drive and not be looking at the ball. Keep still and focus on line and length. Putting isn't that hard unless people make it so

 

[snell]

More putting mojo. Never tried it and seems nonsense. Would you drive and not be looking at the ball. Keep still and focus on line and length. Putting isn't that hard unless people make it so

Yeah it definitely seemed nonsensical when Spieth romped it at Augusta