Help me become a "Bad Putter"

[blehnhard]

You say What??

If I could move up from absolutely horrible to just Bad, I would save 3 or 4 strokes a round.

I can roll the ball quite nicely and pretty much on line with good speed on anything outside of 15' to 20'.

Anything from outside of 1' to up to 4 or 5 feet is a disaster. I have to "work" on 1' putts and just barely can squeeze them into the sides of the hole - never goes in the middle.

At 2' to 4', even on a straight putt, I am odds on to miss the hole by 3 to 4 inches to the right and generally way to hard - this is particularely bad on slight right to left putts. After several of these misses, I am a sure bet to start a putt several inches left and way to easy. I am much better at left to right putts (I putt right handed).

On the "push blasts" it seems my left hand just "races" out in front of the stroke leaving the clubface open and with too much speed. On the "dying pulls", the left hand never gets started forward and the blade just dies do the left before impact.

Any help in raising my level to being just a "Bad" putter would be appreciated.

I am a scratch to +2 hdcp and even my good scores of a couple under usually have 32 to 34 putts per round.

The group of guys I play with agree that I will have a better round of golf if I never hit it inside 10' feet all day

Thanks - Bruce

 

[GPM1985]

How often do you practice your putting? For how long? Do you practice short putts a lot?

It sounds to me as if you're scared of short putts, especially short birdie putts if you're going under par with 34 putts per round. Why? If you're that good of a ball striker, you're going to have a lot of them. No sweat if you miss one. I can understand my father, who rarely hits the green in regulation and almost never has a first putt of less than ten feet, being scared of short putts, but that's only because he's scared that the 8-footer for birdie he's looking at might be the only one he gets all day (maybe all month).

To me, short putts are like free throws. Easy points. What would I tell any NBA star who gets to the line a lot and shoots less than 75 percent? Practice, practice, practice. You too. Practice the short putts. Putt little two footers for an hour. Do whatever it takes. It's boring but necessary.

 

[curtisj76]

I am a scratch to +2 hdcp

You must be exaggerating on your "bad" putting right? I can't realistically envision someone with that hdcp not being able to putt. If you are seriously a poor putter, you must have some amazing iron shots into the greens. But even a great iron shot would put you 3 foot from the hole which you say you can't hit. I don't get it???? You can't be that bad.

 

[blehnhard]

I practice short putts a lot. I am generally fine on the putting green (an occassional slight push or pull - nothing as drastic as what occurs on the course). On average, I play twice per week and practice on day per week for 3 hours. On "play" days, I practice putts for 10 to 15 minutes prior to play. On "practice day", I putt for at least an hour - generally 30 minutes when I first arrive and another 30 to 45 minutes at the end.

When practicing short putts, I work on the 2' to 4' range and add some 6' to 10' from time to time. I roll the ball good speed on short putts when practicing and even work on varying speed on breaking putts to vary the line. I have excellent touch on long putts (60% short to 40% long).

 

[mcncpa]

Two choices

Bruce,

I know you posted about this before and you are frustrated. If you want to use a conventional length putter - I would recommend a "large face balanced" putter and hit all putts inside of 8 feet looking at the hole.

Second choice would be a pole.

You are so anxious on the short putts that you should consider a totally different stroke.

Good luck - the putting game is a mental challenge.

Marty

 

[blehnhard]

Hi Curtis - my hdcp stays low due to my ability to have a few good rounds (upper 60's to low 70's) from time to time. However, I can have a good ball striking day and shoot 78 in a heartbeat.

I am a golf professional and former exempt player on the Sr Tour (1993 and 1998)

 

[Tball88]

I feel your pain. I shot 82 this week from 7000 yds with 5 three putts. My problem is complete opposite of yours, I can't lag for sh&*.

Anyway, i have gone to a belly putter and I do feel like money from inside 10 feet. I'm practicing a ton to get a feel for the lag putting though.

Maybe I need to carry two putters, a blade for lagging and abelly for anything inside 10 feet

 

[curtisj76]

Hi Curtis - my hdcp stays low due to my ability to have a few good rounds (upper 60's to low 70's) from time to time. However, I can have a good ball striking day and shoot 78 in a heartbeat.

I am a golf professional and former exempt player on the Sr Tour (1993 and 1998)

Man, that's crazy. I'm like a 12 and get nervous on those 3-5 footers as well.

Do you think it's more mental for you?

 

[mb6606]

Bruce are you right or left eye dominant??

 

[needham]

angle hinge stroke for putting ...........of course getting the shierff would help too

 

[Richie3Jack]

Understand the 'fall line.'

Then understand where your ball is in regards to the fall line. Think of it like a 'clock.' The top of the fall line is 12 o'clock and the botton is at 6 o'clock. Anything from 1-5 o'clock breaks right to left. Anything from 7-11 o'clock breaks left to right. Stay committed to that. Get an Exelys Breakmaster to help better read the fall line if you have to.

I also seperate breaking putts into 'benders' and 'sliders.' 'Benders' have bigger pronounced breaks. 'Sliders' have those subtle breaks. If I find the fall line and say I'm at 2 o'clock, which is a downhill right-to-left putt. I understand it is going to be a 'bender.' OTOH, if I'm at say 7 o'clock which is an uphill left-to-right putt, then I understand that is a 'slider.' Uphill breaking putts 'slide', downhill breaking putts 'bend.'

Next, get a laser for your putter. The LPAS (Laser Putting Alignment System) works fine and costs about $40. This will help you understand where your putter is aligned at address. If it's aimed right of the target, then some changes in your address and putter (more offset) may help. If it's aimed left, then changes in address and putter (less offset or mid shaft) may help.

Lastly, focus on speed. Probably the most important of the bunch. I used to play with a guy on mini-tours about 10 years ago who had a plain goofy putting style. Closed stance, long putter. But he was an unbelievable putter, arguably the best I ever saw. After first I chalked it up to his ability to read greens, which he was excellent at. But after thinking about it long and hard over the years, I think his SPEED and CONSISTENCY with his speed is why he was such a great putter. He actually hit the ball a little harder than recommended, but he pretty much always hit it with that same speed regardless of the putt. Let's say his average putt went about 20" past the cup, I believe that the range was very close to that 20". Just remarkable speed. Not only did that eliminate 3 putts, but I think because his speed was so consistent, he knew how the ball was going to react time and time again so it made his green reading much easier.




3JACK

 

[niblick1]

Ok, just some things to play around with. I'm not the best putter in my state, or at my golf club, but I'm pretty decent, at times, and have also had the yips in the past.

I have sometimes been a very good putter (on long lag putts I've always been very good my whole golfing life but have never been really good from intermediate range like a pro). I've also sometimes been a little yippy on the short ones and stood over a 3-foot putt and felt my hands shake under just a little pressure. I have experienced the fleeting yips even though it's just in my podunk handicap club match play events, scrambles, etc. Lately when I put well. I never worry about anything inside 3-4 feet (not saying I make them all, I just don't get worried and I do make a decent amount, which is a big improvement over being yippy)

One of the most valuable things I ever learned from Brian was to have no "bounce back" in my stroke. All the energy of the backstroke gets used in the downstroke, and I try to never let the putter bounce back from the finished position to back away from the hole (zero rebound). I also tell myself, either I've read it right and the natural gravity downswing momentum and path knock it in or they don't. It's like I'm just an innocent bystander on the downstroke and if i try to manipulate things it's only going to get messy. I'm just curious to see if it goes in but if i get overly worried I'm only going to make things worse on the downstroke.

And my basic idea after practicing on the sheriff a decent amount is if I choose the right length backswing and know where the face is pointing by monitoring the putter sweetspot/face, I will make a decent percentage and try not to sweat the ones that don't go in. Easier said than done, I know.

I played a lot over winter with a stroke that is almost just one-handed (right-handed) with the left hand hanging (left-hand low) that's just on the grip for show, with tons of free flowing wrist break that makes the stroke very on plane on the sheriff. I think of it as my early Arnold Palmer stroke. My distance control is great that way but face isn't as good as i needed so I use a little less free wrist inside an area around impact but try to keep the flow I'd have with my one-handed stroke. (I've been very very tempted to just putt one-handed many times - talk about on-plane and good flow...)

Sometimes I tell myself that if the putter is going the right speed and facing the right way the ball will go in no matter what, no matter how nervous I am. The ball has no idea about any of that stuff, which is a BIG relief.

I try to do everything by feel and turn off my analytical brain when I putt. I sometimes think to myself, "let's see what that dumb guy who putts good does with this one." Then try to feel only how much speed I need and where the face is pointing. I have no idea how far my putter goes back or where it's facing at the end of the backstroke. If i think, "swing back two inches and aim three inches right of cup," then the wrong part of my brain is engaged and the not-so-dumb guy who generally over thinks these things is likely to screw it up.

Feel, not thinking, momentum and face, no bounce back. The locked down shoulder stroke killed my putting for years. Way too mechanical for me and killed my feel.

All this may sound stupid, but it's actually how I approach putting. It's a long and rambling account, but putting is a weird weird thing.

Good luck.

 

[ggsjpc]

Blenhard,

I'm sure you know your major problem is the putter face. Here's a drill that may help reeducated your hands to what the putter feels like when the face is square to the hole.

Set up a chalk line on a straight three 3 footer. Set the ball on the line and push the ball into the hole. Take no back swing. Slowly and smoothly push the ball along the line with no hit. You'll need to keep the face square to the line much longer than a normal stroke and having that feeling longer may help you create it more regularly during a stroke.

 

[puttmad]

Blenhard, you have a PM...