Where to Look When Putting?

[Chris Sturgess]

Where do you guys look or where have you heard tour players look when you are standing over the ball about to hit a putt. Let's say it's a 10 foot putt that breaks 6 inches left. I look at a spot six inches left. Seems to work pretty well. But sometimes if the green is unblemished it's hard to find a spot to focus on and I get fuzzy about it which isn't good. Then, what if it is a 40 foot putt that breaks 15 feet. Where do you look then, 15 feet left of the hole, the apex of the break wherever you think that may be, visualize the whole line peripherally, just look at the hole? I can't decide what to do.

 

[puttmad]

Chris,

Once you have made your mind up on the line, pick a spot (blemish, mark, etc) on your line, anywhere between 1-3 feet in front of the ball. It doesn't have to be exactly on the line as you can aim 1,2,3 inches etc, to the right or left of the blemish, mark, etc. to give you the correct direction..
Then hit the ball over that spot at the pace you think is correct for the putt.
The objective with all putts (including your example above) is to see a straight line you set the ball off on. Then all you have to worry about is the pace....
I never see the hole after I have picked my line on a breaking putt as it tends to make you pull/push the putt if you do keep focussing on it...
For amateurs it is much easier to see everything as straight lines...

 

[dmurfet]

Chris,

I never see the hole after I have picked my line on a breaking putt as it tends to make you pull/push the putt if you do keep focussing on it...

Good advice - I'll try this as I do tend to second guess myself on short putts with breaks outside the hole.

 

[Chris Sturgess]

So pick a spot that's close huh, interesting, I will try that.

 

[tchilds]

So pick a spot that's close huh, interesting, I will try that.

It's just like all the guys do on full shots...picking a spot a few feet/yards in front of them, which makes it much easier to get lined up at your target...same principle here.

 

[puttmad]

Chris, thia is also especially important when you have a short breaking putt, when the hole is within your periferal vison and where your start line is outside the hole....

You can witness even the best players every weekend inadverdently opening and closing the blade (by mentallly "pulling towards the hole") and missing these "easy" putts..
Take the pressure out of it. Pick a spot on your start line and don't let anything interfere with striking the ball directly over that spot....you WILL make more putts...

Chris, this is a photo of my putter (it is legal BTW... I checked with the R&A):

I added the three black lines and the red line...do you understand what all the lines are for?..

 

[Chris Sturgess]

I mean, I'd say 'for alignment' but that is not very specific. How about you just tell me.

 

[Chris Sturgess]

I tried the close spot putting method today on the putting green. I like it, good tip. But sometimes is makes getting the speed of the putt right a little difficult because I'm not looking at the distance I'm trying to hit it. Also, do you still look at a spot a couple feet in front of the ball on a 10 foot or even 5 foot putt that only breaks an inch or so, or do you start looking at a spot next to the hole once you get inside ten feet or so.

While we are talking about putting I'll throw this out there too, I have recently been trying to eliminate any twitching or jabbiness from my stroke. I'm not some freakshow who's got tourets out there or anything, I'm just talking about minute little blade twitches that are enough to make me miss a putt offline or jabbed through the break. Any ideas on that one? I've been doing the old 1-2 count which is decent but the problem still exists. And I'm not going to lie, I twitch more on birdie putts, which is kind of pathetic. I want to find a way to have a smooth stroke under all conditions.

 

[bts]

The hole, apex and ball.

Where do you guys look or where have you heard tour players look when you are standing over the ball about to hit a putt. Let's say it's a 10 foot putt that breaks 6 inches left. I look at a spot six inches left. Seems to work pretty well. But sometimes if the green is unblemished it's hard to find a spot to focus on and I get fuzzy about it which isn't good. Then, what if it is a 40 foot putt that breaks 15 feet. Where do you look then, 15 feet left of the hole, the apex of the break wherever you think that may be, visualize the whole line peripherally, just look at the hole? I can't decide what to do.

I look at the line going to the hole when reading the putt.

I look at the apex of the line to the hole, if there is a break, when addressing the ball.

I look at the ball when putting.

 

[bts]

Steering.

Chris,
................
I never see the hole after I have picked my line on a breaking putt as it tends to make you pull/push the putt if you do...........

Or "steer/guide/will" it and miss it to the low side.

Neither should one do for shots other than putts.

 

[puttmad]

....

I tried the close spot putting method today on the putting green. I like it, good tip. But sometimes is makes getting the speed of the putt right a little difficult because I'm not looking at the distance I'm trying to hit it. Also, do you still look at a spot a couple feet in front of the ball on a 10 foot or even 5 foot putt that only breaks an inch or so, or do you start looking at a spot next to the hole once you get inside ten feet or so.

While we are talking about putting I'll throw this out there too, I have recently been trying to eliminate any twitching or jabbiness from my stroke. I'm not some freakshow who's got tourets out there or anything, I'm just talking about minute little blade twitches that are enough to make me miss a putt offline or jabbed through the break. Any ideas on that one? I've been doing the old 1-2 count which is decent but the problem still exists. And I'm not going to lie, I twitch more on birdie putts, which is kind of pathetic. I want to find a way to have a smooth stroke under all conditions.

Chris,
If you've got a six foot piece of carpet at home, use it for practicing a 5-6ft putt. You will find you have a natural rhythm after a while and the stroke becomes automatic for that distance (at home on that carpet)..Then practice making partial strokes bases on you original putt (reduce/slow down your stroke)..
When you get to any course, use tha practice green and do EXACTLY the same automatic stroke and see how far it travels. Do it in two directions to get an average level distance.
You may find your home 6 ft putt goes 7-8 feet on a faster green. Therefore you have a basic criteria you can use on that course for level short putts (obviously you have to add/subtract for gradients) and this makes the whole process of adjusting your putt speed easier.
For the smaller putting action, to smooth it out, I dare say you have a smooth action during your practice strokes, but it gets jerky when the ball is there..
Here's how you can make both strokes the same:

Re the marks on my putter, the red and two short black lines are obvious...The line right along the front face of the putter is used in two ways (I consider this to be the most important line on my putter)..
At address, once I have lined my putter towards the start line, I use it to visualise a line at the back of the ball parallel to it.. During the stroke I don't see the ball at all. All I do is match the line on my putter with the line at the back of the ball I visualized at address. I know if I match them, I will have returned my putter blade back to the correct position it was at address...
Some people call this manipulation, but I have proved over and over it is superior to trying to allow your shoulder turn/putting pivot, or whatever you like to call it, square the club for you...
So basically, if you can automate your distace control by doing a few putts at home and then focus on accuracy by using the procedure above, there will be nothing else for you to think about during the stroke. This should remove the jerkiness you get (which is a version of the YIPS)...
Rome wasn't built in a day tho...don't expect instant rsults. You need to ingrain that home putt...

 

[patty]

I use a the method when putting. Similar to Puttmad..

The Alignment line on my putter (your Red line) I imagine putting this through the ball (like a nail). So the nail will pass completely through the centre of the ball.

This forces me to not quit on the putt. And keep my head and eyes Still.

I don't focus on the ball too much just the alignment going through it.

I have found excellent results using this putting thought.

Patty

 

[puttmad]

PS Chris,

If you print a sheet out with two lines on it.
Long horizontal line, which is your "target" or "start direction" line..
Second shorter line which which is verticle to the target line and bisected by it....call this your "blade line"..

Align your putter just behind the blade line so you can see the front of your blade and the blade line parallel at address.
Practice your stroke by concentrating on matching the front top edge of your putter with the blade line as the putter passes through on the forward stroke...don't wory at this stage about "straight-back, straight-through" or any of that, just make sure you match the two lines..
When putting, visualize the blade line is at the back of the ball and do the same matching process on the forward stroke..
You will now see why I have the lines on my putter..

 

[Chris Sturgess]

Interesting ideas, I'm going to try some of this stuff next time I play, which may be today.

 

[Chris Sturgess]

I played doing the close spot putting today. Worked better than normal for getting the line right, but was worse for the distance. Puttmad, ingraining a 6 foot or so long stroke is not going to help for putts that are not of that length, which is a lot of them. The problem with the close spot putting technique for distance control is that the last thing you are looking at is only a couple of feet in front of you instead of the distance that you want the ball to go. So you have to remember for longer and it's not as fresh in your head. As everyone knows when the distance is off just a little bit that means the line is off too. How can I stay really clear on the distance on all length putts with this method?

 

[puttmad]

..

I played doing the close spot putting today. Worked better than normal for getting the line right, but was worse for the distance. Puttmad, ingraining a 6 foot or so long stroke is not going to help for putts that are not of that length, which is a lot of them. The problem with the close spot putting technique for distance control is that the last thing you are looking at is only a couple of feet in front of you instead of the distance that you want the ball to go. So you have to remember for longer and it's not as fresh in your head. As everyone knows when the distance is off just a little bit that means the line is off too. How can I stay really clear on the distance on all length putts with this method?

Chris, you are obviously a total "feel" player when it comes to distance control..
You should check out "core" putting for distance control. Try the puttingzone.

However, barring that, there is a way you can achieve both..
You do practice swings, right? Use the practice swings to establish the actual putter speed you are going to use for the stroke. THEN set up to the ball using the alignment point and perform the stroke by reproducing the same putter speed you used on your practice strokes...I have been told that true "feel memory" only lasts about 10 seconds, so don't piddle around once you are over the ball, hit the damn thing, the same as your practice strokes.
Therefore, you don't really need much vision of the hole once you set up to the ball...
If you feel you do need to look at the hole once you are set up, then look along your START line to a point of equivalent distance to the hole.
BTW once you are set up to the ball, concentrate on the putterface angle and visualising a line parallel at the back of the ball. You should not need to look at the alignment point again....

 

[puttmad]

Chris,
Re the "6-ft putt" I suggested to you...
It is a very useful tool in a world of so many variables, to have a constant..
You can use your constant basic home 6-ft putt to get instant feedback about how fast/slow greens are on a certain course..
You can mimimally adjust the backswing to cater for putts shorter than 6-ft. Also you can adjust your backswing (compared to your "constant" length) toaccount for longer putts..
Let's say (this is just an explanatory example) you have a 12 foot put (level). You can now find out (and compare) how far you need to move the putter back to achieve that distance...you may (or not) find you simply double your backswing distance to double the length of the basic level putt.
By spending a bit of time at home and on the practice green you can eliminate many of the variables involved with just "feeling" the distance of a putt.
To me, anything that can eliminate one of the putting variables, or provide a constant in an unconstant world, has to be a good thing, right?...

 

[Chris Sturgess]

That's interesting what you said about the ten second limit. For me I think it might be 5 seconds even. I was doing what you were saying about repeating the practice stroke, but I think the fact that the close spot putting method was new to me distracted me further since I needed extra concentration to follow it. I was lipping out some 10 footers because I hit them to hard and then on a few others I left it a foot short. After some practice and getting more familiar with it maybe my distance control will get better. I do feel like my stroke was freed up a little with the close spot method, which I liked. Btw, I think I heard Brad Faxon does this, that's got to be a good sign.

 

[mb6606]

For me the key to good putting is vertical hinging - layback only - clubface control.
I believe the reason people miss putts right or left is not due to eyesight/alignment problems but rather lack of clubface control.
No different than the full swing - clubface control - Imperative #1 the flat left wrist.

 

[puttmad]

...

For me the key to good putting is vertical hinging - layback only - clubface control.
I believe the reason people miss putts right or left is not due to eyesight/alignment problems but rather lack of clubface control.
No different than the full swing - clubface control - Imperative #1 the flat left wrist.

I agree with you on the clubface control mb, but disagree about the #1 imperative as you stated..
Now if you had said a flat right palm..... a right-hander's feeling is in the right hand/arm, yes?...not the left hand..this will lead to conflicting thoughts i.e. weight against clubface control during the execution of the stroke..
I have proved conclusively, to myself and others, over the last 12 years or so, that maximum control of BOTH speed and clubface resides in correct use of the RIGHT hand.
Try using your right palm "as your clubface". I think you will find it far superior (and natural) than placing attention on you left hand during the stroke......if it was good enough for Jack, it should be good enough for us mere mortals...