ARGH!

GreeBo

<rant>
Right.
Last two games Ive played (both matches) I have made a grand total of 1 putt between 3-5 foot. One single bloody putt and even that was for a half.
I got hockeyed by a Junior Cert lad in the metro (he was +3 after 16 holes) and then last night lost club fourball on the 18th.
I had 5 putts of 3-5 foot and got one of them last night.
Missed 4 of the same length on Sunday.

I'm not whiffing them, I not choking on them, they are just not going in. burning the edge and ending up 1-2 foot passed the hole. I would call them good putts that just didnt go in...but none of them are going in.

I'm striking the ball better than ever (46% FIR and 49% GIR) and then 2/3 putting the whole time. Its so frustrating.

I think I'm hitting them firmer than before but still allowing for break...to hell with that from now on. Straight in the middle from 5 foot from my next game.

Anyone else ever go through such a slump?

ARGH. :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

</rant>

FANTAPANTS

come out for a round with me...you wont feel to bad then

TheDoc

My Da is in that sort of slump at the moment

He was always a solid putter, actually very good but hes putting " like a brazzer" at the moment, because according to him supposedly sluts are **** at putting?

Back to the point at hand there is a couple of directions to go and to do. Personally I try persevere. I was never a good putter, but since coming back and picking up a new putter, I'm putting shockingly, extremely well. Rounds that would be a 33 or 34 points are turning into 39's and 40's simply from holing putts.

Its tough to see my Da putting bad, but whats worse is to see him loose confidence in how he putts. Hes trying different stances, different grips, different strokes and evern considered changing his putter.

He thinks its too light, he thinks this he thinks that

The problem is hes thinking too much.

Putting is pretty simple when you break it down,

1) Move hands slighty ahead of the ball to close the face and promote better roll
2) Keep your stroke at a nice tempo
3) Ensure clubface is square on impact
4) Follow through

Three of those four, should just happen, without thinking. Point 3 we all suffer from time to time. Simply just having a bad stroke.

It seems your just suffering from the nervy putts as I call them, the short ones where your usually trying to make a birdie, save a par, or stop the rot with a bogey. And that tends to make the hole feel smaller.

That could be causing some tension, a bit of adrenaline, making your stroke stronger then intended. Would it be possible that perhaps you are playing the ball on the right line, but that bit of anxiety is pushing the ball past the hole, instead of calm steady hands making it drop?

There is a simple solution really.

Get to your putting green
Take out 10 balls and spread them in an arc around the hole, at the distance your suffering with.
Anytime you miss a putt, you start again
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10

And you keep doing it until you get 10 putts in the cup.

As time moves on, try bettering yourself, can I make 20 in a row? How about 30, maybe 40?

I used to struggle from short putts and it turned out to be Adrenaline, giving me a little rush that was causing me to hit putts harder then intended from close.

I just step back, take a breath and look down the putt, then get up and hit with soft hands.

But the 10 ball arc has helped me no end, its just something we used to do as kids for laughs but I started doing it more regularly wanting to improve my putting.

Epic long post, apologies

But in the end a putting stroke is the EASIEST swing to get consistent and right in golf, its minimal fuss, no hips, no legs, no head, its just shoulders rocking.

Sure give it a shot, if anything it will atleast give you a consistent feel, and when you bagging 20 putts in that arc in a row, trust me, you fear very little from small putts.

AldilaMan

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056619029

This deal in the above thread was the best cure to any putting difficulties cos it tells you the problem immediately instead of you second guessing and making all the wrong adjustments. It was €29 for 3 lessons but he tells me he'll be running it again for Father's day probably €29 for 1 lesson. To be honest 1 lesson tells you all you need to know and then practice it.

newport2

AldilaMan wrote: »

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056619029

This deal in the above thread was the best cure to any putting difficulties cos it tells you the problem immediately instead of you second guessing and making all the wrong adjustments. It was €29 for 3 lessons but he tells me he'll be running it again for Father's day probably €29 for 1 lesson. To be honest 1 lesson tells you all you need to know and then practice it.

Would agree. It's only €39 for a lesson anyway, if you ring them and ask for a better price I think they'll give it to you. They're eager for customers.

Do this quickly before your GIR stats start to fall!!

golfnut1

GreeBo wrote: »

<rant>
Right.
Last two games Ive played (both matches) I have made a grand total of 1 putt between 3-5 foot. One single bloody putt and even that was for a half.
I got hockeyed by a Junior Cert lad in the metro (he was +3 after 16 holes) and then last night lost club fourball on the 18th.
I had 5 putts of 3-5 foot and got one of them last night.
Missed 4 of the same length on Sunday.

I'm not whiffing them, I not choking on them, they are just not going in. burning the edge and ending up 1-2 foot passed the hole. I would call them good putts that just didnt go in...but none of them are going in.

I'm striking the ball better than ever (46% FIR and 49% GIR) and then 2/3 putting the whole time. Its so frustrating.

I think I'm hitting them firmer than before but still allowing for break...to hell with that from now on. Straight in the middle from 5 foot from my next game.

Anyone else ever go through such a slump?

ARGH. :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

</rant>

I'll take it so your not having much luck with 25 x 5footers in a row then!!

Seriously you can just have rounds like that when putts just don't fall. Don't let it get in on you. Protect your confidence with positives. I.e. good putts but just didn't fall.

If you do want to do a little work or a check on your stroke try this.

Find a straight putt about 6 foot. Place a tee right into the green a couple of inches behide your ball so its flush with the green and one 2 or 3 feet in front of your ball. You use the tees and the ball to get yourself perfectly aligned. You should see the ball rolling over the tee and into the hole.
This drill gets you use to correct alignment and will quickly show up any pushes or pulls. Even if your stroking good putts if your alignment is off your not going to hole too many.

ShriekingSheet

I find doing particularly easy drills is always a good way to get over a stint of poor putting.

Before you play, start your putting warm-up with four balls in the NSEW positions, but have them only 2 feet from the hole. Go through it three times. This way, you begin your putting for the day by bashing twelve putts into the back of the hole in a row. Only then you might move to a few 4 and 6 footers. It's better than starting with the 4 and 6 footers, and missing a few to begin with.

Also, try lining up a straight 6 or 7 foot putt very percisely, and putting a club or drill stick on the ground for your feet allignment. Check it from behind the putt, and knock a few in from 6 or 7 feet, feeling like your nicely lined up, and the blade is dead square to the target line. Again, this gets easy to putt a few in the hole in a row, which will build up your rythm and confidence.

After that, you might try some a small bit of long range stuff, but in a way that helps you get a feel for the speed. Drop six balls in groups of 2, at 20 feet, 30 feet and 40 feet on the same line. The aim is to get them all in to 2 feet. Start with the 20 footers, skip to the 40 footers, by which stage you'll be approaching the 30 footers with a real feel for the putt, and confidence. No a bad thing to be approaching 30 footers like that before you play.



I find this kind of approach good, by focusing on the short range putts, and getting confident of rolling the ball on the line you see. It's far better than what you see many people do, ie: knocking random putts from 20 feet or 12 feet around the green. They might think they're "getting the pace of the greens", but as I see it, they're just missing a load of putts in a row before they go into competition.

GreeBo

Cheers lads.
I actually bought the €29 quid putting lessons, I just need to find the time to book one!
Havent had time to do the 25x5 drill either.
I just dont get what has suddenly gone wrong though. As I said in the last thread, I was making 40 in a row from 3 foot 2 weeks ago...now I would struggle to make 2 in a row, even on the putting green so its not nerves, etc, Im just not getting them in.
This is putting (har har) huge pressure on my lag putting because if its not dead there is a good chance that I wont make the next one at the moment.


Before yesterdays match I was trying to just hole lots of short putts top build confidence...just couldnt bring it to the course...ahwell theres always the foursomes :eek:

FixdePitchmark

TheDoc wrote: »

My Da is in that sort of slump at the moment

He was always a solid putter, actually very good but hes putting " like a brazzer" at the moment, because according to him supposedly sluts are **** at putting?

That is funny stuff :D:D

TheDoc

GreeBo wrote: »

Cheers lads.
I actually bought the €29 quid putting lessons, I just need to find the time to book one!
Havent had time to do the 25x5 drill either.
I just dont get what has suddenly gone wrong though. As I said in the last thread, I was making 40 in a row from 3 foot 2 weeks ago...now I would struggle to make 2 in a row, even on the putting green so its not nerves, etc, Im just not getting them in.
This is putting (har har) huge pressure on my lag putting because if its not dead there is a good chance that I wont make the next one at the moment.


Before yesterdays match I was trying to just hole lots of short putts top build confidence...just couldnt bring it to the course...ahwell theres always the foursomes :eek:

That stuff happens

Here was my game before I quit

Driving - Long and drawing, happy
Irons - Controlled, accurate
Wedges - Bit iffy
Chipping - dirt
Putting - weak

Since coming back, with tbh not alot of changes the following is how I'd rate myself

Driving - Durt, but getting there
Irons - Just not happy, not striking well at all
Wedges - No idea where I learned to start hitting aggressive wedges
Chipping - I'm annoyed by anything outside of 4 feet now
Putting - Godlike

Its a funny game

Thursday I shot a 78 and was playing lovely, next day shot 30 points : /

So in other words it could just be a little slump, a little mental block. Could just keep doing what your doing, from your OP your making good putts and just arn't falling.

Maybe this weekend they will ?

PRAF

Just to make sure you are considering everything, if you are hitting nearly half of all greens in regulation and still leaving yourself lots of 3-5 footers, do you not have a problem with either your lag putting or your chipping. You shouldn't be leaving yourself those little nerve janglers in the first place

Bear in mind that I myself hit 10 greens a few weeks ago (in very windy conditions) and ended up with 42 putts including 5 3-putts. :mad: My problem was that I watched a Ben Crenshaw video where he said that most putting problems would be solved if you just held the putter a little lighter. I tried that and disaster struck. Never listen to Ben! I've now gone to a Paddy Harrington robot style setup and am back to around 32-35 putts and one 3 putt per round.

My tip for 5 footers is to line it up as usual and then totally commit to your line, just concentrating on making solid contact. In my new routine, I don't even give that one last look at the hole. I find that it just brings in doubts and encourages your body to make last minute changes and compensations to play more or less break. The one thing that'll kill your putting is indecision

Russman

From 3-5 feet try taking the break out and hitting them straight, at pace.

GreeBo

Russman wrote: »

From 3-5 feet try taking the break out and hitting them straight, at pace.

I think I have started doing that without realising it but mentally am still allowing for break...stupid game GreeBo.

newport2

GreeBo wrote: »

...stupid game.

:eek::eek:

Hey, I know you're upset, but there's no need for blaphemy

GreeBo

GreeBo wrote: »

I think I have started doing that without realising it but mentally am still allowing for break...stupid game GreeBo.

Better now?

Loire

I know this might sound mad abut it works for me (most of the time).

Before I hit a 2-4 footer I tell myself 3 times

"I LOVE these putts"
"I LOVE these putts"
"I LOVE these putts"

And I find I make more of them (the NSEW drill works too though )

BoardsMember

Loire wrote: »

I know this might sound mad abut it works for me (most of the time).

Before I hit a 2-4 footer I tell myself 3 times

"I LOVE these putts"
"I LOVE these putts"
"I LOVE these putts"

And I find I make more of them (the NSEW drill works too though )

That's a great suggestion.

I have problems with chipping, but I relish the chance of chipping so I can see if I can bring what I have been doing in practise onto the course. Same sort of idea - embrace the shots, especially if they are your weakness.

GreeBo

BoardsMember wrote: »

That's a great suggestion.

I have problems with chipping, but I relish the chance of chipping so I can see if I can bring what I have been doing in practise onto the course. Same sort of idea - embrace the shots, especially if they are your weakness.

The problem is that I dont have problems with these putts. Its not a mental thing (other than me being pissed off at this stage!)

I think its due to a change in technique meaning that I should not be allowing for as much (if any) break as I used to. Previously I would die the ball into the hole, now I am hitting them 2 foot beyond the hole.

Luckycharm

GreeBo wrote: »

Cheers lads.
I actually bought the €29 quid putting lessons, I just need to find the time to book one!
Havent had time to do the 25x5 drill either.
I just dont get what has suddenly gone wrong though. As I said in the last thread, I was making 40 in a row from 3 foot 2 weeks ago...now I would struggle to make 2 in a row, even on the putting green so its not nerves, etc, Im just not getting them in.
This is putting (har har) huge pressure on my lag putting because if its not dead there is a good chance that I wont make the next one at the moment.


Before yesterdays match I was trying to just hole lots of short putts top build confidence...just couldnt bring it to the course...ahwell theres always the foursomes :eek:

I am not the only one - our greens are ridicously quick though and so easy to 3 putt. Rest of my game was Cr*p last sat - had 5 ft put for 2 on 15th on Sat it teetered on edge of hole half over cup stayed out - did the same on 16th 5 seconds later fell

Tones69

Ur gonna think im mental but before any putts now i always repeat "big hole small ball" to myself.. Ive been holing it an awful lot better in the past few weeks. Putting is very mental, cant be one single doubt in your mind!

mikeunt

GreeBo wrote: »

The problem is that I dont have problems with these putts. Its not a mental thing (other than me being pissed off at this stage!)

I think its due to a change in technique meaning that I should not be allowing for as much (if any) break as I used to. Previously I would die the ball into the hole, now I am hitting them 2 foot beyond the hole.

Any improvement in the putting greenbo
it can sometimes be very hard to get the putting back once it begins to go id say

GreeBo

mikeunt wrote: »

Any improvement in the putting greenbo
it can sometimes be very hard to get the putting back once it begins to go id say

Yeah, 32 putts last weekend for a 67 with 1 three putt (45 foot across a two tier green so not that concerned)
Focusing more on trying to avoid mechanical thoughts...I still didnt convert any of 4/5 makeable birdie putts but maybe Im saving them up for an important event!:o
I wasnt leaving myself 3-5 footers after my first putts, so that certainly takes the pressure off.

With this weather who knows when I will get to hit a ball again though!

BigChap1759

Tones69 wrote: »

Ur gonna think im mental but before any putts now i always repeat "big hole small ball" to myself.. Ive been holing it an awful lot better in the past few weeks. Putting is very mental, cant be one single doubt in your mind!

Watch out Derren Brown :pac:

BigChap1759

On a serious note I'd highly recommend "Putting out of your mind" by Dr Bob - gets you away from mechanics