Putting woes!

[bwstokie]

Anyone hit the ball beautifully from tee to green, have a decent enough short game but are just absolutely appalling at putting. I find it so infuriatingly frustrating despite practice I just don’t get any better. I really struggle to read greens and what would be a tap in to most people just isn't for me. I’ve got a putt out mat and am fine with that but it’s very rare that you have a completely straight 6 foot putt. I think it’s completely psychological now, 3 putts are killing my scores and my matches. I’ve tried conventional, left hand low, all manner of different putters and grip combinations to no real avail. I play off 12 at the moment but that’s only going to continue to creep back up.

Does anyone have any tips or experience relating to something similar? I’m going to give the claw grip a whirl next week to see if that helps at all.

 

[KenL]

Have you read any books such as Dave Stockton's Unconscious Putting or something by Bob Rotella?

 

[Blue in Munich]

If you can consistently hole out on a putt out mat then stop wasting your time on different grips; if you can do that your mechanics are sound. It might be psychological or it might be a lack of feel. Is it only a lack of ability to read the greens or are there other causes of the 3 putts?

 

[bwstokie]

Have you read any books such as Dave Stockton's Unconscious Putting or something by Bob Rotella?

I’ll have a a look thanks!

 

[bwstokie]

If you can consistently hole out on a putt out mat then stop wasting your time on different grips; if you can do that your mechanics are sound. It might be psychological or it might be a lack of feel. Is it only a lack of ability to read the greens or are there other causes of the 3 putts?

Cheers!

A very consistent scenario is that I’m 30 feet plus from the hole. Should be a comfortable 2 putt but I have a real habit of either being too tentative or too aggressive with the first putt and not leaving a tap-in. I think I know it’s a combination of anxiety of not leaving a tap in and just general lack of confidence. I struggle to spend serious time practicing those types of putts other than when I play a round as my club doesn’t have practice greens unfortunately.

 

[Canary_Yellow]

I know this is hard, but try and judge your putting on the process rather than the outcome. As you can nail it with the putting matt you know you can putt straight, so now all you need to do is get pace and starting line right (easy....huh?)...

Line up the putt on the line you think it needs, then make a positive stroke making sure the ball gets there. Don’t look at the ball until it hits (or misses) the cup. Do the same thing every time and use the feedback to work out why you’re missing. For example, do you always miss left, do you not hit it hard enough, etc. With that info, you can do something to get better - i.e. do you underestimate / overestimate the break, do you need to work on the pace you hit the putts.

If you constantly tweak everything, it’s hard to know what is actually causing the misses in the first place.

EDIT: I like Dave Stockton’s approach of focusing on the hole at all times and then pulling the trigger. Don’t think about pace, just let your brain work it out. Works well for me on long putts, I’m not so good at 4 ft - 7ft putts, don’t hole enough

 

[Blue in Munich]

Cheers!

A very consistent scenario is that I’m 30 feet plus from the hole. Should be a comfortable 2 putt but I have a real habit of either being too tentative or too aggressive with the first putt and not leaving a tap-in. I think I know it’s a combination of anxiety of not leaving a tap in and just general lack of confidence. I struggle to spend serious time practicing those types of putts other than when I play a round as my club doesn’t have practice greens unfortunately.

Sadly that rules out the obvious advice. The problem is apparently feel/judgement based, but without practicing those putts I'm not sure how you can improve that, sorry. But if you are struggling to read greens, pay close attention to what the ball does when it passes the hole as it will give you a good clue about the one back.

 

[Curls]

Do you usually strike the ball out of the centre of the putter? Pace control can be as much about consistency of strike than reading the green etc.

I used to really struggle on the greens but realised that I spent more time trying to perfect the “standard” putting mechanics than imagining the ball rolling end over end and into the hole - and then making a strike that creates that. I’m putting better than ever and the ball is forward of centre in my stance. It’s not standard, but I’m not standard, it works and that’s all that matters

 

[Canary_Yellow]

Do you usually strike the ball out of the centre of the putter? Pace control can be as much about consistency of strike than reading the green etc.

I used to really struggle on the greens but realised that I spent more time trying to perfect the “standard” putting mechanics than imagining the ball rolling end over end and into the hole - and then making a strike that creates that. I’m putting better than ever and the ball is forward of centre in my stance. It’s not standard, but I’m not standard, it works and that’s all that matters

The only thing you need to be able to do from a technical perspective is roll the ball in a straight line. It doesn’t matter a jot how you do that. I was the same as you, I kept tweaking things from a technique perspective because I didn’t know why I was missing and blamed it on technique. Over lockdown, I practiced putting in my living room so I now know I can roll it dead straight. If I miss it’s because of I didn’t read it right or I didn’t get the pace right, but not a technical issue. It’s a total mindset shift for me and its making a difference

 

[tobybarker]

Cheers!

A very consistent scenario is that I’m 30 feet plus from the hole. Should be a comfortable 2 putt but I have a real habit of either being too tentative or too aggressive with the first putt and not leaving a tap-in. I think I know it’s a combination of anxiety of not leaving a tap in and just general lack of confidence. I struggle to spend serious time practicing those types of putts other than when I play a round as my club doesn’t have practice greens unfortunately.

This sounds like I could have written this post!

 

[bobmac]

Do you vary the length of your backswing for different length putts?

 

[Foxholer]

Cheers!

A very consistent scenario is that I’m 30 feet plus from the hole. Should be a comfortable 2 putt but I have a real habit of either being too tentative or too aggressive with the first putt and not leaving a tap-in. I think I know it’s a combination of anxiety of not leaving a tap in and just general lack of confidence. I struggle to spend serious time practicing those types of putts other than when I play a round as my club doesn’t have practice greens unfortunately.

Be aware that that the italicised text is 'not a given'!
But you definitely need to be able to practice your putting - even if it involves getting approval to do it on the course (because of the lack of practice green/s)!

 

[tobybarker]

When practice green is nothing like the real ones.....

 

[Orikoru]

I'm in the same boat, since I joined my new club for this year, coming back from lockdown I've hit the ball probably better than ever, but shooting mid-80s with 36+ putts. All the greens at the new place are rapid and on a side slope. I can never read them correctly, and the downhillers I just can't hit them soft enough at times. I've had at least 3 three-putts every round so far. These days I'm not confident in making a two-putt from anywhere, and not confident of holing anything outside of one foot.

I don't have any advice as I'm clueless as well, just showing solidarity. ???

 

[Curls]

I'm in the same boat, since I joined my new club for this year, coming back from lockdown I've hit the ball probably better than ever, but shooting mid-80s with 36+ putts. All the greens at the new place are rapid and on a side slope. I can never read them correctly, and the downhillers I just can't hit them soft enough at times. I've had at least 3 three-putts every round so far. These days I'm not confident in making a two-putt from anywhere, and not confident of holing anything outside of one foot.

I don't have any advice as I'm clueless as well, just showing solidarity. ???

If you want to make a good stroke on a fast side or downhill putt but not impart too much speed, practice striking the ball out of the toe of the putter. Also keep your head down until you hear the ball drop, lifting it to see how you’ve done is a no no on these ones (on all of them really but there’s no margin or error here!)

 

[Kennysarmy]

Maybe over-thinking.

I bet if I was stood 6 feet from you, you could toss a ball to me without having to think about length of how far back you'd take your arm etc.

I bet if I was stood 12 feet from you, you could toss a ball to me without having to think about length of how far back you'd take your arm etc.

I bet if I was stood 18 feet from you, you could toss a ball to me without having to think about length of how far back you'd take your arm etc.

I think you get the idea, you react instinctively. You don't over-think it.

 

[jmf1488]

I would say if your consistently 30 plus feet away from the hole then that is the actual problem. The tour average from putting at 30 feet is 1.978. Rocking up to weekend golf and expecting tour level performance on the green could be another problem.

 

[Orikoru]

Maybe over-thinking.

I bet if I was stood 6 feet from you, you could toss a ball to me without having to think about length of how far back you'd take your arm etc.

I bet if I was stood 12 feet from you, you could toss a ball to me without having to think about length of how far back you'd take your arm etc.

I bet if I was stood 18 feet from you, you could toss a ball to me without having to think about length of how far back you'd take your arm etc.

I think you get the idea, you react instinctively. You don't over-think it.

That's not the same if you're catching it is it?

 

[Boomy]

I 100% struggled with putting until I changed to a 2 thumb style grip, keeping my hands level on the grip and being able to rock my shoulders - it’s was like a eureka moment when I switched. My distance control used to be terrible but now I feel confident I’ll lag it to within the dustbin lid. Confidence is a massive things with putting. Maybe worth going with a putting specialist coach to find what and how works for you?

 

[Doon frae Troon]

Best putting tip I ever received was from an auld boy..
As a young teenager I was wingeing to him in a similar way to the OP.
His reply was, 'you seldom 3 putt from the middle of the green'
If you are putting badly, look at your club selection/accuracy.
Most of the time golfers club themselves to play to the front of the green