Perfect Putting Roll

[mgranato]

I don't think about 'hitting up' with the putter. I just take my stroke and if hitting up is a problem I may do something like move the ball slightly more forward in my stance.

However, you sort of contradicted yourself in your response to DSmith if you read all of Damon's post:

If you are going to pursue the route of acquiring more roll, get a putter with the right amount of loft for your kind of stroke, but which also allows you to aim well, and go from there. Bending a putter changes your aiming perceptions, so be careful. - Damon Lucas

That's a lot different from manually de-lofting your putter and hitting more up on it.

I guess I'd have to see what the studies Damon is talking about have in regards to what the subject is doing.

From my experience, I started to make more putts simply by bending the lie angle and loft which reduced the skid. My *guess* is that bending the putter didn't effect my aim and then with less skid and not hitting the putts off-center, more putts were made. But had I reduced my skid and hit more putts on the sweetspot, but at the expence of aim, my guess is that I would see no improvement.

That being said, I cannot fathom why more skid would be helpful, mainly because when I had issues the ball would hit off the putterface and start out in all different directions.





3JACK

Well said, 3Jack.

In my case, I first picked a putter that I could aim straight (I'm a natural left aimer). Then came loft. I also don't make an effort to hit up on the ball, my stroke has the proper amount as is.

As far as skid goes - we know that putts with a good bit of "bounce" to them don't tend to have consistent lines or speed. It would seem that working towards the purest roll would produce more consistent putts.

Puttmad's comment about having a consistent setup should produce a playable amount of skid every time is probably ture. However, I don't think "playable" should be the goal. Optimal should be what we're after.

 

[softconsult]

Like many golf topics, you can find seemingly opposite recommendations. The DVD that comes with a "Yes" putter preaches an upward stroke as I recall. Utley preaches flatter lie angle, more putter loft (5 degrees) and a downward strike, again from memory.

I have a "Yes" putter that I putted well with. I currently have a Cameron Red X bent to 68 degree lie and 5 degrees loft that I putt well with.

I also have a brand new Rife long putter. Simply couldn't make it work on the course, so it's in the closet.


So who knows what is the best.

 

[savydan]

The DVD that comes with a "Yes" putter preaches an upward stroke as I recall

Finally....a golf club that comes with instructions!!

 

[Richie3Jack]

Like many golf topics, you can find seemingly opposite recommendations. The DVD that comes with a "Yes" putter preaches an upward stroke as I recall. Utley preaches flatter lie angle, more putter loft (5 degrees) and a downward strike, again from memory.

I have a "Yes" putter that I putted well with. I currently have a Cameron Red X bent to 68 degree lie and 5 degrees loft that I putt well with.

I also have a brand new Rife long putter. Simply couldn't make it work on the course, so it's in the closet.


So who knows what is the best.

Yes! putters are usually much more upright (I think standard for them is 72*) and have a lower loft than Cameron's (usually the Yes! putters have about 2.5* of loft).

Yes! claims their putters will not skid the ball, but that's because they measure skid differently. They measure 'roll' as once the ball starts moving forward by any amount. Most OEM's and clubmakers measure 'roll' as once the ball rolls over 90*.





3JACK

 

[savydan]

In terms of putting, what are the definitions of: skid, roll, and bounce?

 

[mgranato]

In terms of putting, what are the definitions of: skid, roll, and bounce?

In our group they would be defined as:

skid - misread
roll - nice putt
bounce - must've hit a spike mark

 

[savydan]

Good one.

 

[mclare]

How do you create that much rise in your putting stroke? Mine is relatively flat through impact (I'm sure I'm doing something not right). How do I get my putting moving up at approx. 4* at impact?

 

[Richie3Jack]

How do you create that much rise in your putting stroke? Mine is relatively flat through impact (I'm sure I'm doing something not right). How do I get my putting moving up at approx. 4* at impact?

I'd check out with a SAM Puttlab first. Because if you hit 3* upward, that's not much visually to see. The SAM Puttlab can tell you exactly the degree of upward (or downward) hit along with a bunch of other dimensions. It's the Trackman of putting.

The big thing is that purposedly trying to hit upward on a putt is usually not advised. You could play the ball further up in your stance, but the type of putting stroke you employ has a bit to do whether you should play the ball more towards the middle of your stance or up further in your stance.





3JACK

 

[birdie_man]

Ball position, spine tilt.

 

[mclare]

I'd check out with a SAM Puttlab first. Because if you hit 3* upward, that's not much visually to see. The SAM Puttlab can tell you exactly the degree of upward (or downward) hit along with a bunch of other dimensions. It's the Trackman of putting.

The big thing is that purposedly trying to hit upward on a putt is usually not advised. You could play the ball further up in your stance, but the type of putting stroke you employ has a bit to do whether you should play the ball more towards the middle of your stance or up further in your stance.





3JACK

SAM Puttlab results are:

0.7* up at impact currently with 2* loft putter....

No real spine tilt, but have ball about 1.5" in front of sternum.