Putting is killing my game

Joeyjoejoe43

Hi,

Just wondering if any of you have any pearls of wisdom around putting?

It's killing my game at the moment. Tee to green, I'm playing as well as I ever have. I've practiced my chipping a lot recently, as that used to be my achilles heel. I'm now a lot more comfortable around the greens, but my cards are getting wrecked by loads of 3 putts and occasionally even a 4 putt.. and when I stitch a cracking iron shot to within 5 or 6 feet, I'm missing the putt lots of the time.

I'm off 18 right now, but feel I can get to 16 or below if I can just master the flatstick..

Any and all advise really appreciated.

I understand many will say to go to the pro and get fitted, which is something I'm planning to do in about a month anyway. So just looking for some pointers and tips for the short term, starting with this Sundays April medal..

Thanks in advance.

dan_ep82

Puttout for practice. Fantastic training aid.

Whats your miss? Short,long,left,right?

Berty44

Many people hold the putter far too tightly and don’t allow their natural skills to shine through . You should be holding the putter as lightly in your hands as possible.

Confidence is huge in putting. If you think you are going to miss you most likely will, if you think you are going to hole it, it improves your chances immeasurably. Change your grip, go to left hand below right and try that. I went to the claw grip many years ago after getting the yips, change it up and when you start holing a few putts confidence will come.

Not used putt-out as advised by previous poster but many I know love it.

backspin.

If you have a reasonably sound putting stroke I think a big part then is simply confidence. It comes and goes though. Right now I am putting really well and it's like I just see the putts going in. I don't spend much time manipulating the blade it's more feel.

A few months ago I couldn't sink a putt to save my life. Then I had a really good day on the greens and the confidence came back.

I'm not a technical putter though. Others probably are.

I'm not sure if that's any use but it's where I am with my putting at the minute.

newindublin

I am no putting zen master but i find my best putting comes when the following happens:

- I hit the ball well off the putter. Many people do not pay attention to the contact here, but i find without it there is no consistency. Once I am lined up and have a thought on distance it is all I think about as I swing.
- I genuinely believe in the putt going in the hold or past it

Loads more of technical stuff like controlling the left wrist and swinging through have helped from time to time, but those have been my top 2 when I fall off the most. I have been experimenting with left hand low for short puts recently too, I do find it works for me.

Tilikum17

Try a forward press. Putting would be the best aspect of my golf. I’ve been doing a forward press for 20 years.

FixdePitchmark

Try rotella and practice

Pudzianowski

Agree with posters above, read Bob Rotellas Golf is not a game of perfect, hold the putter lightly a possible & when you find a grip/technique you’re comfortable with, stick with it for a good few rounds no matter what results. A change of grip on your putter, to maybe an oversized one, may help confidence/mindset too. I shouldn’t be giving putting advice 🙈, but just these were the things that helped me a lot. Best of luck.

FixdePitchmark

Lads to against the grain.

I think holding the putter as lightly as possible is one of those old wives (sexist) tales of golf at this stage.

It all depends on stroke and putting style grip etc.

Hoboo

Rotellas 'Putting out of your mind' is a great book too. And practice. Lots and lots of practice. At home, work, wherever you can take 10 minutes. Putt Out training aid and mat has seriously improved my 2-6ft putts.

spacecoyote

One thing to do is try get super confident with putts inside 3ft. If you are confident of making putts from that distance then you can hit positive putts which will make it past the hole, knowing that you have a very good chance of making the putt back.

Was reading an article in GolfWrx that was interesting in the debate over Line vs Pace on putts.

A bit of paraphrasing here but it was basically about finding that tipping point where a putt goes from a realistically make-able putt to a target for a 2-putt.

The argument is that for a pro, they make about 50% of putts from 8ft, so from that distance they should be very focussed on line.

Similarly for an amateur, at your handicap level, the average distance where the make-rate is around 50% is 5ft. So from 5ft & in, your focus should be mainly on line.

But from distances longer than that, your primary focus should be on pace, more than line (not that you ignore line), to ensure that, at worst, you're leaving the putts dead & avoiding 3 putts.

I'm sure I'm getting plenty of details wrong, but that's the general gist of the article.

One thing from Rotella, as mentioned above, was an anecdote about Colin Montgomery (again, going from memory, so maybe a few slight incorrect details below).

Supposedly before he starts a round he makes 100 putts from 1ft. That way, he makes 100 putts in a row, with the sound of the ball hitting the bottom of the cup.

Its a confidence boosting thing.

See a lot of recommendations saying that, for your distance putting practice before a round, you shouldn't aim at a hole. The reason is that you're going to miss the vast majority of them which is not a feeling you want to bring on to the course. So throw down a different coloured ball, or some a tee, and aim for that instead for getting your pace putting practice in.

newindublin

Great advice from spacecoyote there. The 3 foot circle thing is something Phil talks about in his video too: https://youtu.be/GhzY7TIMnMU

GreeBo

Putt looking at the hole instead of the ball...
I cant think of another sport where the object is at rest or attached to the person and yet you dont look at the target!?

Snooker/Pool/Billiards
Darts
Bowling
Baseball (Pitcher)
Frisbee
Cricket (bowler and batter)


The ball isnt going anywhere, you dont need to watch it.

Hoboo

Following what spacecoyote said, try putting to the edge of the putting green fringe to work on pace, take the focus away from the hole. Another rotella pearl.

spacecoyote

Also, think I read somewhere that the average first putt distance for amateur golfers is somewhere around 22ft.

So when you're practicing, pace out a putt of roughly that length, uphill & downhill, and practice lagging to within a 2 feet of that distance (preferably within 2ft but past the mark, though short is OK to start with). Try get 10 in a row uphill & downhill within that mark before you go out.

Should give you confidence when you get those putts then on the course

Joeyjoejoe43

Lads, such brilliant advise all round here. I was hoping a couple of you might take the time to give me a steer. Really appreciate how many of you have and I now have some great food for thought and things to try.

I especially like the idea of not putting at a hole on the practice green and instead practicing distance control to a tee or similar. That putting contraption also sounds like a good investment. I have a putting machine but it just shoots the ball back to you if you hole it, so this other one sounds much better.

I'll let ye know how my putting goes on Sunday.

dan_ep82

Joeyjoejoe43 wrote: »

I especially like the idea of not putting at a hole on the practice green and instead practicing distance control to a tee or similar. That putting contraption also sounds like a good investment. I have a putting machine but it just shoots the ball back to you if you hole it, so this other one sounds much better.

I'll let ye know how my putting goes on Sunday.

I had the same one that spits the ball back but after 2-3 minutes I would get bored. I hate practicing putting to be honest.


The difference of the putt out is its really difficult, the hole your aiming for is about the size of a 2 euro and if the pace isn't right it won't stay in either. If you can consistently hit the smaller hole from 3ft a full size hole is easy. It's great for getting pace if you use it on the putting green but it works grand on a carpet.



I only change my stoke if I'm pulling or pushing the putts. Feel like the toe is touch the ground and not the heel to hit more right and toe up to hit more left. Basically changing the lie/face angle of the putter. I'd stand closer to the ball and grip down a bit when I go toe down.

Aliasjones

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kYNjoUqohc&t=5s


have a look at tigers routine a few years ago. look at the accuracy of the stroke never touching the tees. then he just putts with his right hand on the grip to make sure he releases correctly.
Guilty of it myself but how many of us practice on putting green right before the round from a different place for every putt where we're not sure if its a straight putt to the hole or not? A repeatable practice routine for putting on course and before the round is what I am trying to nail down at the minute.

Mac_Lad71

Putting is all about 'feel'....I struggled with my putting by being too technical.

I now look at the hole when I putt and it takes all the technical stuff out of my mind.

Managed 18 holes in a competition at the weekend without a 3 putt.

It takes a bit of practice but worth a try if your struggling.

bmay529

Putting is a challenge for most of us and that special feel comes and goes. Some people are blessed with a super smooth stroke and great confidence. If you watch them you will see their short puts (within about 8' - 10') ALWAYS run at the hole with a speed that were they to miss the hole would travel about 18" past (except of course if downhill). Try it. As previous posters have said practice those 3' puts with that in mind and build your confidence. You will find you will get far more than you will miss. Set yourself a challenge... count how many 3' puts you can get out of 20 tries. Repeat that every day trying to beat your score of the previous day. Target getting 15 out of 20... that's 3 out of 4... see how many you can get in a row. Then when putting from distance try to roll the put within an imaginary circle of 3' of the hole. I believe that when you have more confidence in your ability to get the short puts your long putting will improve greatly.

GreeBo

Mac_Lad71 wrote: »

Putting is all about 'feel'....I struggled with my putting by being too technical.

I now look at the hole when I putt and it takes all the technical stuff out of my mind.

Managed 18 holes in a competition at the weekend without a 3 putt.

It takes a bit of practice but worth a try if your struggling.

Exactly.
If you can roll a ball to the hole better than you can putt it ask yourself why you don't watch your hand while you do it.
Look at the target and all the rest of it goes away very quickly.

Mantis Toboggan

GreeBo wrote: »

Putt looking at the hole instead of the ball...
I cant think of another sport where the object is at rest or attached to the person and yet you dont look at the target!?

Most sports involving a ball the key is to keep your eye on the ball when striking ie, hurling football soccer volleyball etc. If you're hitting a wedge into the green you're not looking at the green when striking the ball. Pretty much all the pros look at the ball through impact.

john9876

My putting improved greatly when I thought of the stroke as a 'push' rather than a 'strike'.
I don't think it's illegal what I do, it's more in my head than anything visible.

GreeBo

Mantis Toboggan wrote: »

Most sports involving a ball the key is to keep your eye on the ball when striking ie, hurling football soccer volleyball etc. If you're hitting a wedge into the green you're not looking at the green when striking the ball. Pretty much all the pros look at the ball through impact.

As I mentioned in my post, in all those sports either you or the ball is moving, so you need to watch the ball to know where it is to hit it, this is not the case with golf, especially putting.
With a full swing the speed means small margins, again this is not the case with putting.

You can putt perfectly well (arguably better) by looking at your target isntead of the ball.

Would you look at the dart or the dart board?
The pins or the bowling ball?

valoren

Don't forget alignment.

You could make the perfect stroke but be aligned all wrong.
Develop a routine for makeable putts (i.e. the one's from 20 feet and in, anything longer and your focus is getting it within a couple of feet).

1. Get a ball marker with a solid line on it.
Something like this.


2. Determine the line for your putt and align the solid line of your marker to a piece of grass on your intended putting line e.g. centre cup, left edge, one ball left etc.

3. Align the line on your ball to the marker and take the marker away.


The benefit now is that you no longer need to worry about the line and your focus becomes solely about pace. You might miss the putt on a wrong line but you at least committed to a line. The above routine takes seconds and it helped my putting big time.

Don't feel put out (pardon the pun) about not making the 4 to 10 footers, I think even the Professional's miss half of their putt's from 8 feet for example.

Mantis Toboggan

GreeBo wrote: »

As I mentioned in my post, in all those sports either you or the ball is moving, so you need to watch the ball to know where it is to hit it, this is not the case with golf, especially putting.
With a full swing the speed means small margins, again this is not the case with putting.

You can putt perfectly well (arguably better) by looking at your target isntead of the ball.

Would you look at the dart or the dart board?
The pins or the bowling ball?

Taking a penalty in football or sideline in hurling the ball is stationary but best advice here again is to look at the ball when striking it.

You don't look at your hand when throwing a dart because it's a throwing technique - same reason why you don't look at your arm when you're throwing a ball. When there's an impact with a third party (golf club) it's best to keep your eye on the ball/impact.

GreeBo

Mantis Toboggan wrote: »

Taking a penalty in football or sideline in hurling the ball is stationary but best advice here again is to look at the ball when striking it.

You don't look at your hand when throwing a dart because it's a throwing technique - same reason why you don't look at your arm when you're throwing a ball. When there's an impact with a third party (golf club) it's best to keep your eye on the ball/impact.

You are not reading my posts properly.

in all those sports either you or the ball is moving

When taking a penalty or a sideline *you* are moving.

If you are treating the putter as a third party that would explain putting issues.
Its an extension of your arm, thats why you dont need to look.

Have you ever tried hitting a putt looking at the hole? did you miss the ball?
If you did then you have issues with your stroke, you didnt miss because you werent looking at the ball.

Keano

Do you putt not looking at the ball ever?

pakman

I never practice putting and it shows but as similar high handicapper I got great advice from pro in lesson.

He said I was controlling putting distance by decelerating as i swung at it as needed. He said it was really hard to control pace like that and I was doing the same with my chipping apparently.

Instead he made me hit through it with much smaller takeaway and I instantly had better distance control.

I find it really hard to commit to on the course but when I do it really works for me.

plumber77

GreeBo wrote: »

As I mentioned in my post, in all those sports either you or the ball is moving, so you need to watch the ball to know where it is to hit it, this is not the case with golf, especially putting.
With a full swing the speed means small margins, again this is not the case with putting.

You can putt perfectly well (arguably better) by looking at your target isntead of the ball.



Would you look at the dart or the dart board?
The pins or the bowling ball?

Do many pros putt like that? What about the old head still and listen for the ball falling into the cup theory.

ronnie3585

Have you any tips for getting better at reading putts?

My main difficulty on the green is with actually reading the putt properly. I used to play a lot of pitch and putt as a kid and was excellent at reading greens, but that skill appears to have left me!

spacecoyote

ronnie3585 wrote: »

Have you any tips for getting better at reading putts?

My main difficulty on the green is with actually reading the putt properly. I used to play a lot of pitch and putt as a kid and was excellent at reading greens, but that skill appears to have left me!

I've heard people say things like... imagine if you poured a bucket of water on the green towards the hole, and try picture what way the water would flow.

You wouldn't want to go overboard with it, but taking a look at a putt from behind/the sides can reveal a lot.

For me though, I get my best reads from directly behind the putt. Line up your putt with the ball logo & hit a committed putt on that line. I find I sometimes confuse myself by rethinking when I stand up to the putt.

GreeBo

ronnie3585 wrote: »

Have you any tips for getting better at reading putts?

My main difficulty on the green is with actually reading the putt properly. I used to play a lot of pitch and putt as a kid and was excellent at reading greens, but that skill appears to have left me!

You could try aim-point but risk annoying everyone else on the course.

Take some putts on the practice green and then look along the putt afterwards and see can you see why it broke that way?

How do you try to read them today?

GreeBo

Keano wrote: »

Do you putt not looking at the ball ever?

Is that a question to me?
If so, yes I do.

GreeBo

plumber77 wrote: »

Do many pros putt like that? What about the old head still and listen for the ball falling into the cup theory.

Spieth does it on shorter putts (where its arguably harder to stay down and not look at the hole since you can actually see the hole in your peripheral vision.)

Why do you think your head would be moving just because you are looking at the hole? Its easier to stay still since there is nothing to distract you, there is no desire to look up since you are already looking at the target.

plumber77

GreeBo wrote: »

Spieth does it on shorter putts (where its arguably harder to stay down and not look at the hole since you can actually see the hole in your peripheral vision.)

Why do you think your head would be moving just because you are looking at the hole? Its easier to stay still since there is nothing to distract you, there is no desire to look up since you are already looking at the target.

My point is that if that was the best way to do it; surely we would see a lot more pros use a similar technique.

GreeBo

plumber77 wrote: »

My point is that if that was the best way to do it; surely we would see a lot more pros use a similar technique.

They said that about right hand lower and 2 ball putters in the beginning too...

If you practice as much as a Pro would then you might not benefit as much, but as a casual, amateur I bet you will putt better looking at the hole, given a few rounds of getting used to it.

plumber77

GreeBo wrote: »

They said that about right hand lower and 2 ball putters in the beginning too...

If you practice as much as a Pro would then you might not benefit as much, but as a casual, amateur I bet you will putt better looking at the hole, given a few rounds of getting used to it.

Must give it a try out of curiosity

Mac_Lad71

plumber77 wrote: »

Must give it a try out of curiosity

Ive been using that method for a while now and it has definitely improved my putting.

The thing I found when I started was I had a tendency to hit putts too hard but with a bit of practice I improved.

I love the fact that when I get on the green I have no mechanical thoughts at all just roll the ball to the hole.

davegilly

On the whole looking at the ball/not looking debate. Below is from a teaching pro on the PGA tour. Take particular note of his last sentence!

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bwp5DU8nhDF/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=1xgbf783w018d

dan_ep82

I done it for over a year. Works quite well especially on short or very long putts.

I had an issue where if I wasnt feeling it I could duff it especially around fringes. Hitting it too hard would creep up now and again. Found it hard on faster greens.

GreeBo

davegilly wrote: »

On the whole looking at the ball/not looking debate. Below is from a teaching pro on the PGA tour. Take particular note of his last sentence!

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bwp5DU8nhDF/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=1xgbf783w018d

"Keep your eyes on the ball" is as valuable as "Keep your head down".

You want no movement, it doesn't matter where your eyes are.

GreeBo

dan_ep82 wrote: »

I done it for over a year. Works quite well especially on short or very long putts.

I had an issue where if I wasnt feeling it I could duff it especially around fringes. Hitting it too hard would creep up now and again. Found it hard on faster greens.

I find it excellent for pace putting (and short putts too tbh)
My reasoning is that most of the advice I read on long putting is to get a picture of where you want to hit it in your head, and then without much delay, make your stroke thinking about that picture.

But the easiest way to have a picture in your head is to be looking at the picture, why try to remember what you can just look at and judge? Then just make a stroke based on what your eyes are seeing, just like if you were rolling the ball with your hand, it would be much harder to do this looking down at the ground (for me anyway)

FixdePitchmark

I don't think looking at the hole is good advice for our level or unless you did it from day 1.

Good face contact is not as guarantee and is critical to a good putt.

The hole isn't going to move .

You have looked at hole to align.

It was made popular by spieth . But he is a total freak / outlier and doing it from day 1 . He has also put 1000s of hours into it. We don't have that time.

But whatever works.

SEORG

My approach to putting:
Figure out the low side of the putt.
Do a 360 of the hole & find where a straight uphill putt to the hole will come from, this helps me assess the break if there is one..
I'll always read the putt from the low side & behind the ball.
When over the ball it's all about the pace of the putt, my line/target is decided.
I make 2 practice strokes looking at the hole then take my putt looking at the ball.

For practice at home I use a puttout matt and training aid. Also a blast golf swing analyzer which is excellent for helping with tempo.

I don't think there is any one solution to being a good putter. Knowing what type of stroke you have (straight back & trough or an arc stroke) and match your putter type to that stroke certainly helps. I know that a toe hang putter suits my stroke better than a face balanced putter.

Joeyjoejoe43

I played 18 holes this morning to practice and try out some of the methods mentioned in the thread to date.

Went around in 89 strokes and started and finished with the same ball. It was nice and quite so I was able to drop some balls at 60 and 80 yards and try some different approach methods.. Got some great practice in. On the second hole I missed a hole in one by inches! Plug mark 2 foot on front of hole and ball finished 2 foot behind flag.. it would have rolled right by hole!

But anyway back to the putting, I scattered some balls around some greens to try out some of the methods and I must say the looking at the hole method is a revelation for long putts with very little break.. I was knocking most to a couple of feet and wasn't conflicted by line at all as I wasn't looking down..

I did notice downhill putts and ones with break were not great with this method and also 8 to 10 footers weren't great, but the shorter 5 footers and rakers were a great improvement and that's my first time ever trying that method!

Joeyjoejoe43

dan_ep82 wrote: »

Puttout for practice. Fantastic training aid.

Whats your miss? Short,long,left,right?

That's the thing. My misses were not consistent. They could be any of the above, but more inclined to be shirt than long.

GreeBo

Joeyjoejoe43 wrote: »

I played 18 holes this morning to practice and try out some of the methods mentioned in the thread to date.

Went around in 89 strokes and started and finished with the same ball. It was nice and quite so I was able to drop some balls at 60 and 80 yards and try some different approach methods.. Got some great practice in. On the second hole I missed a hole in one by inches! Plug mark 2 foot on front of hole and ball finished 2 foot behind flag.. it would have rolled right by hole!

But anyway back to the putting, I scattered some balls around some greens to try out some of the methods and I must say the looking at the hole method is a revelation for long putts with very little break.. I was knocking most to a couple of feet and wasn't conflicted by line at all as I wasn't looking down..

I did notice downhill putts and ones with break were not great with this method and also 8 to 10 footers weren't great, but the shorter 5 footers and rakers were a great improvement and that's my first time ever trying that method!

Important to note that you should only look at the hole if the putt is straight, you basically look at where you are aiming (that might be a spot 2 feet right and 2 feet short on a right to left down hiller) and dont always just look at the hole.

This technique is so good that if you are looking at the hole, thats where the ball will start and with that pace...even if you wanted to hit it left and softer/harder.
Which explains your poor results with downhill and/or breaking putts.
So figure out your "ghost" hole and look at that while you make the stroke.

For the shorter putts you need to make sure you are aligned correctly, as you will find that you hit the ball where you are pointing now, so if your aim is off on an 8ft putt you will miss it.

Joeyjoejoe43

GreeBo wrote: »

Important to note that you should only look at the hole if the putt is straight, you basically look at where you are aiming (that might be a spot 2 feet right and 2 feet short on a right to left down hiller) and dont always just look at the hole.

This technique is so good that if you are looking at the hole, thats where the ball will start and with that pace...even if you wanted to hit it left and softer/harder.
Which explains your poor results with downhill and/or breaking putts.
So figure out your "ghost" hole and look at that while you make the stroke.

For the shorter putts you need to make sure you are aligned correctly, as you will find that you hit the ball where you are pointing now, so if your aim is off on an 8ft putt you will miss it.

Ah of course!! Man I feel stupid now!! Ha ha.. can't wait to give this a go again.. I can't believe how close I'm getting the lag putts from 30 or 40 feet with this method!

mike12

ronnie3585 wrote: »

Have you any tips for getting better at reading putts?

My main difficulty on the green is with actually reading the putt properly. I used to play a lot of pitch and putt as a kid and was excellent at reading greens, but that skill appears to have left me!

Try Aimpoint it is simple to learn and easy to use.

mike12

GreeBo wrote: »

You could try aim-point but risk annoying everyone else on the course.

Take some putts on the practice green and then look along the putt afterwards and see can you see why it broke that way?

How do you try to read them today?

Aimpoint is quicker than the guys doing a 360 of the putt.