Putting - No Practice Swing?

[Orikoru]

Tried it today. The greens had been hollow-tined and sanded so not the best test but it still didn't do me any harm - 32 putts for the round which is pretty decent for me. (I did have one chip-in though.) I think the simple fact of getting into the putt quicker is good for me, less time for any doubts to creep in. Just pick line and hit. So far so good.

 

[Crazyface]

There may be some out there that can do it but in my 30 years of playing I've seen very few practice swings that even resemble to one that hits the ball....

We got a fella at our place who we all say that if he his the ball with his practice swing it would go twice as far. (He is off 35). The two are nothing like.

 

[Orikoru]

Tried it today. The greens had been hollow-tined and sanded so not the best test but it still didn't do me any harm - 32 putts for the round which is pretty decent for me. (I did have one chip-in though.) I think the simple fact of getting into the putt quicker is good for me, less time for any doubts to creep in. Just pick line and hit. So far so good.

Tried it again today on the lovely, pure greens of Farnham and it worked very well indeed. 29 putts for my round! Really liking just picking a line stepping up and rolling the ball on it (or trying to). Seems to be working nicely. In fact, there was one putt where I forgot and starting doing a practise stroke like I used to, and it was probably one of my worst putts of the day. My only 3-putt was a bizarre one where I was literally putting down a two tier green from top to bottom and the ball somehow stayed eight feet short which seemed completely impossible.

 

[pendodave]

Apologies if this is linked to already, but there's a youtube vid with one of the experts referenced above (izzy justice).
Has a few thoughts which are relevant. Having said that, it's a 25 minute vid which could usefully be distilled to 5!
Tl:dr once you've worked out your target, your brain can only hold that info a short while. Time spent practuce stroking is time spent losing that internal picture.

Incidentally, I would pay good money to see the brain activity of some of our forum members. Both when they're putting, and when they're thinking up a reply on the footie thread.
My current putting strategy is more aligned with Noel Edmonds' cosmic ordering...

 

[simsini]

I don't take any practice putts, just pick a line and try to identify something on the grass a few feet in front of me that matches it.

 

[JonnyGutteridge]

There may be some out there that can do it but in my 30 years of playing I've seen very few practice swings that even resemble to one that hits the ball....

My mate swings so nicely as a practice swing, it’s smooth, the right length, looks on a good plane, turns through it nicely… He then steps up to the golf ball and does a completely different thing, overswing, stuck outside, no fluidity at all. He is adamant he’s not doing anything differently to the practice swing…