Putting Rudiments #1

photo credit: flurdy     If your approach lands more than 30 feet from the cup, concentrate on making two putts, not one.   Doing so is a tension reliever.    If you three putt the green, the third putt is a wasted  stroke.    The real problem is judging distance.   Try the following:

  A.   Pick a target.   Draw an imaginary 6 foot circle around the cup in your minds eye.   If you hit your target you won't have any more than a 3 foot putt.   B.    Check the surface of the green, take several practice strokes to get a feel for  how hard to hit the ball.   C.    Aim  for the spot where the break is at it's extreme, because of it's speed, the ball won't break much in the first few feet.

Adjust Your Putting Stroke

photo credit: fredcamino     It's fair to say that the biggest problem most amateurs face on the putting green is their ability to judge distance.    Most three-putt greens are  caused  from  lack of distance control than for any other reason.   Judging  distance isn't really rocket science.  

Distance is all about controlling the swing of your putter.    Swinging the putter  at a consistent speed is critical when it comes to judging distance.    Distance should be controlled by how far the  putter is taken back.   The forward swing should be the same distance as the backswing.   For short putts  make a shorter swing and for long putts make a longer swing.

Next time on  the practice green don't  aim for the cup, place tee's in the green at  five foot increments  and  just work on distance control.

The Short Putt

photo credit: OCVA     There is nothing more embarrassing than to miss a 3 foot putt after hitting a 285 yard drive and  sticking your approach shot to within 3 feet of the cup for a birdie try.   On top of  all that,  your opponents are there watching intently.   A missed 3 footer  can  sometimes  demoralize a golfer and literally wreck their round if they allow it to.

There are several reasons for missing short putts:  stress, trying to steer the ball, the jitters (yips), hitting the ball off of the toe or heel of the putter and many others.    Try the following:    (1)   Take time to study the putt.   (2)   Make a very smooth stroke.   (3)    Make a shorter backstoke.   (4)      Hit the putt squarely on the sweet spot of the putter.

Playing the Break

photo credit: star5112     Putting Essentials:   1)   Direction   2)   length   3)   head steadiness.   If, and only if, you abide by those three prerequisites can you begin to devote your attention to “the roll of the green.”  

One of the most important things to remember, when playing a breaking putt, is to miss on the high side.”   If the putt breaks from left to right, make plenty of allowance for the break.   As the ball approaches the hole and slows, if it's played high enough, it just may dribble into the hole.   If you don't play enough break the ball misses the hole on the right  with no chance of dropping.

One of the biggest problems  on every breaking putt is not playing enough break.

Plumb-Bob Your Putt

photo credit: star5112     A.   Determine which is your dominant eye.   Don't assume that it's the same as your dominant hand.   B.   Stand behind your ball,   looking directly toward the hole.   C.   Hold your putter loosely from the top so that it hangs freely and the line of the shaft runs through the middle of your ball (or ball marker).   D.   Look at the shaft and the hole with your dominant eye.   If the hole appears to the right of the shaft, the putt breaks right;   if it appears to the left, the putt breaks left.

Dominant Eye:   Outstretch arms and form a triangle with your thumbs and forefingers.   Look through the triangle at a distant object.   Without moving your hands, close each eye alternately.   The eye that keeps the object in the triangle is your dominant eye.

Rules of Putting

photo credit: nsaplayer     In the game of golf, there are certain rules  that govern the set-up and swing.    Breaking  any of these rules results in flaws that  can have detrimental effects on the  golfer's ability to play the game well.    When it comes to putting, an entirely separate  segment of the game, there are no  governing rules, you might say “anything goes.”

Throughout golf's history,  there has never been one  putting style that  dominated the game.    From Arnold Palmer's pigeon toed stance to Fuzzy Zoeller's wide open  set-up.   Sam Snead started the side-step style (eventually banned),  which resembled  paddling a canoe.   As of late, the belly putter has become popular along with the  ”long  John,” sternum putters.

When putting,    what matters  is to get the ball in the hole in as few strokes as possible.

Putting Positive

photo credit: Kevitivity     Nowhere on the course is positive thinking more important, than on the putting surface.   You've got to “believe” you can make any putt you're faced with.   The greatest putters in  the history of the game,  have all used the power of positive thought.

The key to positive thinking is to stay  focused,  which is the key to good putting.   Focus gives you the ability to concentrate on a certain aspect of the putt.   Concentrate on specifics, such as, the line of the putt, the back of the ball, making a smooth stroke, squaring the clubface, counting “one, two” for tempo, not looking up etc. . . there are all sorts of details you can focus on which  will help you achieve a positive attitude.

Solid Putting Stroke

photo credit: tienvijftien     There are several important factors involved if you intend to be a successful putter.   You need a stroke that delivers the putter to the back of the ball on the correct line.   The putter-face has to be square and it has to be traveling at the right speed.  

A good putting stroke is a shoulder-controlled movement and what that means is that the shoulders rock to and fro while the hands and arms remain very passive.   The putter is an extension of the triangular shape of the shoulders and arms.

There is some question as to the correct ball placement, however.   Many fine putters believe in hitting the ball on the upstroke (playing it further left of center), while others feel that hitting on the downstroke is more productive.   You decide?

Judging the Speed

photo credit: jlastras     Putting is the easiest part of the game to practice, where improvement can occur the quickest with the least amount of effort.   Judging speed is the secret to good putting.   Speed is the determining factor as to the read and break of all putts.

The first step in reading a putt is judging how hard you need to hit the ball because the speed will determine the line.   When faced with a breaking putt, hitting the ball harder takes break out.   If softer contact is made, more break will occur.   The process of determining  the speed  of a putt, creates a mental picture with a set goal in mind; to make the putt.  

Make sure your practice swing/s replicate the actual stroke you are about to make.

Speed or Break?

photo credit: idovermani     Which is more important, the speed of a putt or the amount of break it has?   The answer is both !   How much a putt breaks depends on how fast the ball is traveling on it's way to the cup.   Calculating both speed and break can be quite complicated especially when all of the other variables are added such as, grain direction, green firmness, time of day, dampness  etc.

Well over 50% of all breaking putts are missed on the low side which usually happens because the putt was not hit hard enough or the break was not read properly.

A  breaking putt  should be planned to  die in the hole.   In order to take some of the break out of a short putts, however,  ”charging” the hole may be the answer.

« Previous Page — Next Page »