Wet vs dry putting

[barrybridges]

Hello - I am new here so this is my first post (hopefully in the right place).

This might sound odd, but I have a split personality when it comes to putting and I'm not sure what to do about it.

If it's raining and the ground is wet, my putter is on fire. I find it so much easier when there's traction on the greens and the natural dampness of the green slows the ball.

When it's dry though, I'm always overhitting it and just can't get the pace of any green right.

I do make putting practice part of my regular work each week but I'm not sure what else I can do to improve my dry putting ability. Would a lighter putter help do you think?

It's like I'm two different people - when it's wet my distance is really good, but when it's dry I struggle to get the distance right.

 

[bobmac]

Hi Barry and welcome to the forum.
Without seeing you putt it's difficult to tell what you're doing but I do have one question.
How long is your backswing and do you vary it for different length putts?
Oops, that's 2

 

[robbest3offthetee]

Hi Barry,welcome to the forum,sounds like a mindset to me,you know you have to hit the putts a bit firmer when wet,then cant seem to adjust when its dry,try a slower putting stroke (maybe)..

 

[john0]

If you have a 15 foot put in the dry, cant you just imagine that it's a 10 foot wet putt?

 

[Robobum]

Putting in the wet is easy. No need to worry about break, aim inside the hole and smash it.

This method is not ideal for fast dry greens, it is embarassing to have to go back to your bag for a wedge to chip back on!!

 

[Oddsocks]

Barry, first of all welcome board mate.

I used to suffer with a distance issue with my putting and it turned into a stroke and ball position issue. I changed my putting grip and ball position and tweeked the stroke and it got alot better. the pro i was using at the time spent about 15 mins with me at the end of a lesson and it was remarkable how easy it is to fix putting issues compared with a swing issue.

After that my putting was alot better, but i still had a habbit of stabbing at putts, to get through this i opted for a heavier mallet style putter as a short term swap just to help with trying to get a pendulem motion going with my putts (IE the same follow through as back swing)

Within around 8-10 games i had this sorted and then come the summer with fast greens and i noticed i was always over hitting due to the heavier putter, ive now gone back to a lighter blade style putter and my putting stats are down from high 40's to low 30's per round, with my last round being only 31 putts.

i may have gone around it the long way, but the mallet putter was only ever to help establish a smooth and ever stroke, now im back to the blade id never change again.

 

[Robobum]

High 40's!!!!!?????

What were you doing, playing hockey with it??

 

[Oddsocks]

may as well have been, it wasnt uncommon for a 3 putt lets put it that way. long putts would be lagged half way, 9 footers would be on the gatwick express past the hole, was a friggin nightmere

 

[bignev]

Try getting hold of a putter you can change the weight of. I have a rife hybred putter and can reduce the weight of it for faster greens.