Putting Lesson

BigAl>>

I think its time to spend a little on improving my putting.

Can anyone recommend a good putting pro? (Castleknock area)

heviballs

i know this is no help at all to ya but i've gone through some bad patches with putting but still would never get a lesson,imo it's the most individual part of the game,personally i think practice is all you need,
that is presuming you are an ok player and know the basics,if you were an absolute eginner i would say go for it

stumpypeeps

Ben Crenshaw has some interesting thoughts on putting. You tube him. He's recognised as one of the greatest putters ever.

Basically, you should putt like you chip. I follow this method and have imprved no end. Open your stance a little.

stockdam

I can't help with a pro but I would get a lesson. Putting is arguably the most important part of the game. A pro will spot alignment issues quickly and will give you some drills to help.

A New earth

Sounds sensible alright

Putting
Keep it Simple

I suppose you'd have to say that one of the main reasons for my putting success is that I've tried to always keep my method simple. Leaning over the ball, I don't think precise or mechanical thoughts. I just stay loose, comfortable and easy. I think of the pace I want the ball to travel, then picture how far to the right or left the ball should travel around the hole. Think of it this way: the object is to see how close you can come to the hole every time. The bonus is when, and if, the ball falls. Putting is an entirely personal sort of thing and I believe it should be your own. There is really no right or wrong way to stand or set up. If you follow the sport, you know there have been many successful putters with radically different methods.

I will, however, share with you some helpful guidelines: First, get comfortable and relaxed. Consistent putts stem from consistent, solid strikes on the middle of the clubface. A solid hit is something you can usually hear and feel. So don't change your stroke too often, just try to meet the ball solidly. Make sure your tempo is even--back and through. Whether that tempo is fast, slow or in between, it's important to think of the back swing and swing through the ball. Don't be so anxious to see the results--stay down through the putt. I'll let you in on a secret--seven times out of ten, the reason I hit a bad putt is that I was too eager to see what happened to the ball. It's a natural impulse. By following these few simple guidelines... and remembering that the object is to see how close you can get to the hole... you should see marked improvement on the greens.

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Whyner

I had a lesson last night and at the end of it did a few minutess on putting. I wanted to do a full putting lesson but advance notice was required.


Anyway, he recorded my stroke and then put a red dot on my forehead and showed how it moved throughout my stroke. He said everyone moves their head a bit except Woods or Faldo, when he won the Masters in 96, try get a copy of that.

Another tip was to leave a little gap between your ball and your putter and fix your eyes on a blade of grass in between, especially after you have stroked the ball, could be a good drill for your living room or putting green

ShriekingSheet

heviballs wrote: »

i know this is no help at all to ya but i've gone through some bad patches with putting but still would never get a lesson,imo it's the most individual part of the game,personally i think practice is all you need,
that is presuming you are an ok player and know the basics,if you were an absolute eginner i would say go for it

I agreed with you for many years, but decided to give it a try early last season. It was the best thing I ever did.

I was always an okay putter, main strength was rarely three-putting. Never holed much from 15ft or so, but was strong from 4ft-8ft range. Essentially, I was a good "par putter".

Wasn't putting badly when i went for the lesson, but asked the pro why some guys (of all standards) just seem to hole a couple of long putts most times they played? I never seemed to.

He watched me putt, and immediately said I needed to roll the ball better. It was far from "engineering", he gave me a fluid, natural idea on the technique, and the ball just rolled forwards better. (We both think Pelz putting ideas are b*llox). It held it's line better, so I went from playing lots of break, dead-weight, to rolling the ball at the hole. I never realised how important the strike on the ball with the putter is.

Took some getting used to. But after about four games, I putted like a demon for most of 2009, especially in match play. I say go for it!

Par71

Best drill to get your stroke going is to put a tee either side of your putter face one at heal and one at toe, just have them slightly wider than the putter face. You would want to set yourself up for about a 6ft putt. Now you are going to have to sink 50 putts in a row, if you miss one go back to the start until you have 50 done. The biggest problem with practice putting is you dont really feel the pressure, but if you are out there for a couple of hours and you get to 40 putts the next 10 are going to be pressure putts.

Give it a go you will be very surprised.

Sionnachster

I had similar thoughts as you OP and like Sheet opted to go and get it sorted. Very glad I did as I was way off! I was cutting the ball which meant spin rather than roll which made the % of the hole open to me significantly reduced. As Sheet said, its all about getting a true roll as every putt is straight, it's just aligning it that is the difference.

Anyway, I went to GUI Academy at Carton and had lesson with David. Putting is €65 for the hour and rather than spending it all on the green, they have an indoor computer system, Puttlab or something, which shows everything you need to know about your stroke, plane, impact point, direction and so on. From this we got an idea that I was basically way off doing a figure of 8 stroke. Went back out to green then, worked on some drills and had another go on system to see a sense of improvement which was blatantly clear after 20 mins back out on the green stroking through tees etc....

Quick disclaimer - It doesn't solve your putting there and then. Mine is still very much a work in progress but now I know why the weaker efforts happen and can focus on a better technique where I need to. I found it very good but it has to be seen as a tool to highlight any problems and using the pro to share drills which will help.

heviballs

ShriekingSheet wrote: »

I agreed with you for many years, but decided to give it a try early last season. It was the best thing I ever did.

I was always an okay putter, main strength was rarely three-putting. Never holed much from 15ft or so, but was strong from 4ft-8ft range. Essentially, I was a good "par putter".

Wasn't putting badly when i went for the lesson, but asked the pro why some guys (of all standards) just seem to hole a couple of long putts most times they played? I never seemed to.

He watched me putt, and immediately said I needed to roll the ball better. It was far from "engineering", he gave me a fluid, natural idea on the technique, and the ball just rolled forwards better. (We both think Pelz putting ideas are b*llox). It held it's line better, so I went from playing lots of break, dead-weight, to rolling the ball at the hole. I never realised how important the strike on the ball with the putter is.

Took some getting used to. But after about four games, I putted like a demon for most of 2009, especially in match play. I say go for it!

fair points,ifor me personally i work on my putting more than anything else,i use the range up in Druids a lot as it has a decent green beside it,if i didn't work on it myself so much i would probably be all on for a lesson,

i have a very unorthodox method,i bring it a fair bit on the inside on the way back so maybe 'm just afraid to mess with a good thing

randomer

Another +1 for putting lessons. I went to the Pelz school and it made a major difference to my game. Have neglected putting practice for the last few months and focused on my irons and driver. This has resulted in vast improvements in my irons, but my putting has gone to pieces. Starting to focus on putting practice again from tomorrow. I had 26 putts during the week for 9 holes. Considering I scored a 45, if my putter had been on I could have had an awesome round!

Remember to set your expectations too. Hitting 50 six foot putts in a row is almost impossible. If you are looking to hit 50 putts in a row, hit from three or four feet. These are the ones that you should be getting very high percentages on

Here are the 2004 PGA Tour statistics. The pros only get 62% of 6 foot putts. The major difference is that they rarely three putt. The data for more recent seasons is available but I couldn't find it right now.

Distance Percent Made
2-foot putts 99%
3-foot putts 91%
4-foot putts 81%
5-foot putts 70%
6-foot putts 62%
7-foot putts 54%
8-foot putts 47%
9-foot putts 43%
10-14 foot putts 31%
15-19 foot putts 19%
20-24 foot putts 14%
25-foot & greater 6%

Kace

Par71 wrote: »

Best drill to get your stroke going is to put a tee either side of your putter face one at heal and one at toe, just have them slightly wider than the putter face. You would want to set yourself up for about a 6ft putt. Now you are going to have to sink 50 putts in a row, if you miss one go back to the start until you have 50 done. The biggest problem with practice putting is you dont really feel the pressure, but if you are out there for a couple of hours and you get to 40 putts the next 10 are going to be pressure putts.

Give it a go you will be very surprised.

I would be very surprised if you're still not out on the practice green right now still trying to get the 50 in a row from 6ft ;-)

stumpypeeps

heviballs wrote: »

fair points,ifor me personally i work on my putting more than anything else,i use the range up in Druids a lot as it has a decent green beside it,if i didn't work on it myself so much i would probably be all on for a lesson,

i have a very unorthodox method,i bring it a fair bit on the inside on the way back so maybe 'm just afraid to mess with a good thing

Are the practice facilities open to anyone? What sort of price is a period of time on the short game area?

JustMac

Up to last year putting was the single biggest problem with my game. Would consistently have 40+ putts per round. Sometimes I felt under pressure to 2 putt from inside 10 feet and ending up 3 putting. I had tried many different putters, including a broom handled putter, as nearly every golfer has. I tried several different putting grips, as many golfers have. I tried long strokes, short strokes etc. You name it and I tried it. Nothing worked.

My long game was equally a shambles after years of not getting regular practice and not getting a lesson. I went from an 11 handicap, about 15 years ago, to a 16 handicap which up to the end of the last year I coundn't even get close to playing to. I would regularly score less than 25 points in competition! Anyway I got 1 lesson for my long game and got a bit more practice than previous and it was rewarded with a more consistent long game with better results.

After that, I thought there would be no harm in trying out a putting lesson to see if it would help. I actually felt strangely embarrassed asking the pro for a putting lesson. Anyway just 1 putting lesson and he pointed out 2-3 things to work on.

I haven't looked back. I now have a set method/stroke to work on. I still dont practice as much as I should but at least I have some confidence that what I am trying to do is right. I cant say I've eliminated 3 putts but I'm like a new person on the greens. I'm sinking more 6-8ft putts and only making the odd 3 putt. I reckon I've definitely dropped at least 6 putts per round.

One difference I've noticed is that after I 3-putt I'm thinking that it was unfortunate that I 3 putted, I think of how the first or second putt wasn't actually that bad. I look for some positivies and believe that it won't happen again. Now when I'm faced with a 25ft putt the thoughts of a 3putt don't enter into my head, I'm thinking of stitching the first putt.

BigAl>>

Some great pointers there to work on. Cheers for tht lads.

After thinking hard about what needs to be done and based on some points mentioned here!

• I am going to go ahead with the lesson (pro still to be confirmed)
• will practise my putting every other day (instead of hitting the driving range......again and again)
• A little reading and study wont do any harm either.

This should improve things..... no point hitting the green in 2 if it takes you 3 to get it in the hole:eek:

Whyner

Sionnachster wrote: »

I had similar thoughts as you OP and like Sheet opted to go and get it sorted. Very glad I did as I was way off! I was cutting the ball which meant spin rather than roll which made the % of the hole open to me significantly reduced. As Sheet said, its all about getting a true roll as every putt is straight, it's just aligning it that is the difference.

Anyway, I went to GUI Academy at Carton and had lesson with David. Putting is €65 for the hour and rather than spending it all on the green, they have an indoor computer system, Puttlab or something, which shows everything you need to know about your stroke, plane, impact point, direction and so on. From this we got an idea that I was basically way off doing a figure of 8 stroke. Went back out to green then, worked on some drills and had another go on system to see a sense of improvement which was blatantly clear after 20 mins back out on the green stroking through tees etc....

Quick disclaimer - It doesn't solve your putting there and then. Mine is still very much a work in progress but now I know why the weaker efforts happen and can focus on a better technique where I need to. I found it very good but it has to be seen as a tool to highlight any problems and using the pro to share drills which will help.

So you'd recommend this? What drills did they advise you to work on? Would you consider returning in a few months time for a review? I'm considering this myself...

Figure of 8? I'm thinking but don't understand this...How is this made? Haven't heard this before.

ShriekingSheet

Whyner wrote: »

So you'd recommend this? What drills did they advise you to work on? Would you consider returning in a few months time for a review? I'm considering this myself...

Figure of 8? I'm thinking but don't understand this...How is this made? Haven't heard this before.

A "Figure of 8" putting stroke is a common technique alot of high (and not so high) handicap players have. It's considerd a poor technique - the complete opposite to what any good putter uses, with the exception of Billy Mayfair.

It's where the putter does not go straight back and straigh through, the head of the putter is taken back toward the right toe, then loops around, before striking the ball like a sliced drive, the putter-head moving toward your left toe. Think Roberto Carlos!

Sionnachster

ShriekingSheet wrote: »

A "Figure of 8" putting stroke is a common technique alot of high (and not so high) handicap players have. It's considerd a poor technique - the complete opposite to what any good putter uses, with the exception of Billy Mayfair.

It's where the putter does not go straight back and straigh through, the head of the putter is taken back toward the right toe, then loops around, before striking the ball like a sliced drive, the putter-head moving toward your left toe. Think Roberto Carlos!

Exactly this. It's agony at the moment asI've worked hard on other areas and am hitting most greens in regulation, inside 20ft and coming off with bogeys every 3rd hole. Pathetic stuff and I knew there was a fundamental flaw in my stroke, it just felt less like a singular movement recently and more like a couple of actions. The putting lesson helped me visualise it so in that sense I would defintiely recommend it. Whether I do it again or not I wouldn't be so sure as I am aware of the issue now and it simply involves hard work to move beyond it to a normal stroke. how I got that far off track I have no idea but it zaps the confidence on the greens....

dlegend3

Hi Big Al I've been working with Darren Mc Loughlin at Glenmalure Golf Club. He uses the Tomi putting system & numerous putting tools. He also does a test on you to see which eye is more dominant , so that you place your eyes correctly to read the line of the putt. Worth a call 0861713465 he charges €60 but does not time the lesson I was with him for over an hour.

BigAl>>

dlegend3 wrote: »

Hi Big Al I've been working with Darren Mc Loughlin at Glenmalure Golf Club. He uses the Tomi putting system & numerous putting tools. He also does a test on you to see which eye is more dominant , so that you place your eyes correctly to read the line of the putt. Worth a call 0861713465 he charges €60 but does not time the lesson I was with him for over an hour.

After Playing the weekend with the society and ending up 3rd overall:mad: I am now 100% sure tht its my putting costing me the points (missed sitters from inside 5ft).

1 of the things I noticed was tht I was reading the greens all wrong lately ball breaking left when I was sure it would break right!! was freaking me out. So with tht in mind I will surly give Darren a call and hopefully he can improve things slightly.


Cheers DL

dlegend3

Do , give him a bell I'm back with him 2morrow to asses have I improved.
Best of luck.

stumpypeeps

dlegend3 wrote: »

Do , give him a bell I'm back with him 2morrow to asses have I improved.
Best of luck.

Come on Darren, give it a rest.

PhilipMarlowe

Darren is the new

Barry

.