Putting accounts for a lot of strokes during a round of golf. The key is to avoid any three putts and short misses. If you're having any trouble with your putter and missing more putts than usual, it might just be time for a trip to the optometrist.
Jim Periman has improved his overall game by leaps and bounds, but he's having a little trouble getting the ball in the hole. He might be having some trouble reading the greens correctly, but it could also be his eyes.
My golf swing is 500% better since I have been using the PPGS, but my putting leaves a lot to be desired. Sunday I played and hit 14 greens in regulation and never had a birdie. In fact, I had 37 putts which is normal for me. I have a 15 foot putting mat on my garage floor and I can consistently putt the ball in the middle of the cup. I even practice on the putting greens and make the same kind of misses that I do on the golf course. I'm 72 years old and have been playing this game a long time and my putting has never been this bad. Can you spend some time talking about putting? I have used a long putter, a belly putter, and 8 or 9 regular length putters with no success. HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jim Periman from Southern California
I've used my fair share of putters throughout my career and I've always been pretty good at getting the ball in the hole. But, I've had some issues over the years reading greens correctly. Sometimes when a putt calls for a right to left break, I see it the opposite way. DJ and my late brother, Kenny, always used to get on me about my reading abilities. It's just something I've always had to work on.
One of the biggest things that helps me is by taking regular visits to my eye doctor. As we age, our prescriptions can change and glasses or contacts that used to work may not do the job anymore. Instead of being stubborn, get to the eye doctor and see if there is something that he or she can do to help you get your clear vision back.
If you think your eyes are okay but you're still missing putts, it could be your setup and swing. But, Jim says he has no problem knocking down putts in his garage. So, I'm going to assume that his setup is good. This means that he might be having trouble reading putts. My advice would be to have your playing partner check out your putts the next time you go golfing. If he or she is seeing something different than you, it should tell you something!
Get to the eye doctor and then work on reading your putts. Take an extra look at the putt by going to the other side of the cup. Peer back towards your ball marker. Do you see something different in the break? Walk to a point between the cup and your ball. Stand over it like a putt and see if you still think it breaks the same way you thought from where your ball is. Which way is the grain running? All these little things can help you understand greens a lot better. But, you have to take the time to line up each putt and commit to your line. It doesn't have to be an arduous process, but it's good to develop some sort of routine that enables you to get a good read without taking up a lot of time.
Good luck and keep it vertical!
The Surge
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Comments
Part 2 of comments on eyes & putting
Because of my RA, I have limited strength in driving the ball (150 yds on a good day) or iron work. Thus I have concentrated on chipping and putting thus when playing in tourneys, my partners will have me chip and putt when they can. Unfortunately my best Bud passed this past Oct from cancer. I now have to work harder to make those successful putts. Enjoy your demos. Stay with it.
Missed putts
I've always said if you are going to make a bad read you better roll a bad putt to match it. Ha ha!
A perfect roll on the wrong line will miss 100% of the time. At least a bad roll has a 50% chance of being off line in the right direction.
A bad roll on a perfect line is more likely to miss than a perfect roll on a line slightly off of dead center (especially on Bermuda greens). Most of the bad putters I know have four major issues.
1. Alignment (of the foot line, the body, and/or the putter face).
2. Bad rolls (from bad mechanics or a putter that doesn't fit their stroke).
3. Tentative strokes resulting in bad distance control.
4. Underreading the break.
I play too much break on almost all of my misses but I'll take that any day over the low ones that have absolutely no chance from the moment they leave the putter.
On putts that break on the course it's very easy to get infuenced by the location of the hole instead of the point the putt needs to start on. Even good players occasionally have that problem.
Missed putts
Steve:
Right on Brother -- right on.
Specially #4 -- much better to over read a putt as opposed to under-reading.
As to alignment, I sometimes have the problem of standing about 1 inch too far from the ball, creating a parallax issue -- seeing a line that is slightly outside of the "true line", creating a miss of about 1 or 2 inches to the right of hole, on an otherwise perfectly read, well stroked putt. This tends to lead to "overcorrecting" , with the opposite result -- usually takes about 2 or 3 holes to get back to correct stance position, address.
Incidentally, isn't it fun to watch someone who "grew up on Bent grass greens" the first few times they putt on Bermuda? Almost like cruelty to dumb animals! LOL -- but the reverse is true also. When I "go North" in the Summer, it always takes 2 or 3 rounds to adjust the speed and break.
Keep hitting the STRAIGHT and LONG
Amos
A rare vision problem
About a month ago, I found out I had a rare vision problem that plays havoc with reading greens. When I look at something that is perfectly horizontal, I see it sloping down to the left at about a three degree slope. So, if I'm looking at a green that has zero slope, I see it sloping three degrees to the left. This may explain the putts that went straight when I saw a right to left break. I have to be diligent and look at the line from both sides and compare what I see.
Off Topic
Off topic, but I hope Dick Lee and family made it through the round of ugly weather that swept through OK.
Off topic
Lynn42;
My thoughts also.
Amos
Off topic
Lynn42;
Likewise here. Have a photo for Dick when I find out how to send it to him??? Stay safe, stay well and be happy Dick Lee.
DH in NZ
Putting
Like most golfers I go through phases of good and bad putting. Eye sight?Tried every form of glasses but not contacts. I have found that no glasses on the greens at all gives me the best chance. Oh yes, like Jim from todays topic I have several short putters, a belly and a long putter. Oh boy what fun. I keep going back to the shorties. Of course I've fooled around with many different grips too, both types of grips, thin and big/thick and the style of gripping, overlap, left hand low, claw, saw, et. Currently I am using my Dad's old Callaway blade with the original slender grip and a conventional over lap hands/style.
I have always been good at reading putts. My most common miss is long. Having 5,6,7 footers instead of a two footer left has added more strokes than any other mistake on the course. I have become more and more aware of the cause of this as of late, - stabbing or poking rather than smoothly stroking and rolling the ball.
????
If anyone has any additional distance control methods/ideas I am always open to more thoughts on this.
My brother gave me a bit of advice last week that seems to be helping and that is to feel that the stroke is the same pace both back and through to avoid the 'hit' at the ball. I guess it is the same as we apply to te normal swing of swinging through the ball and not at it. My distance has improved but now I am less line/target conscious and too stroke conscious. What a mental trip golf is. We'll see what tomorrow brings. Hopefully I can get back to target focus soon along with better distance judgement.
Same old story. if I can get my putting improved by just 2-3 putts per round I would break 80 every time out easily. If ......
putting speed control
Along with the drill I posted on Monday try to change the arm/hand movements to make the rock and string lengthen from the wrists to the shoulders.
Pull the club back with the back hand and through with the front hand. The back hand will constantly try to break down the front wrist angle causing an unnecessary hinge through the strike which adds too much force. Pulling through the ball helps effect your brother's advice to stroke the ball. It does take an increase of strength of the muscles to successfully stroke long putts or shorter putts on slow greens.
A second tip is to always pick a spot on the aim line. Even on putts under two feet. By fixating on the spot and rolling the ball over it you will find a focus to stroke the ball over it and not care if the cup is on one side of the aim line or the other.
P.S. the drill posted helps to learn distance control when done properly.
Good putting!
Thanks SGW
I do not think I ever got back with a thank you for the additional info on your putting drill. Thanks. I have worked with it a little already, and time permitting plan to give it some time again today before play. I have also been working with a training aid called The Putting Stick at home. This is a good aid for me because it seems to strongly address two of my main problems, having a square face and path at contact.
I am more angry with a slight miss due to a push or pull face than any other type of miss. Probably because it seems as though it should be the easiest to have control over. I don't mind the misses on the long ones, so long as I've made a good lag, and I don't mind the miss read well hit strokes nearly as much. To push or pull a 3' or so putt out of the hole just gets to me.
Robert, Don't have any good distance tips, other than using a light grip and trying to keep the bus and follow through the same length. As for the short one's, I became a believer or I should say re-believer recently in an old tip by Ken Venturi called The Daylight Stroke. Just take it back enough to see daylight and no further, but follow through to the hole. It is much easier to control the face and path of a short bus than a long bus. I also have an extra long OS Grip on a standard length putter and choke way down to the bottom of it on the short ones. The reason is similar, it is much easier to control the face and path of a short pendulum than a long one.
The putting is improving though and I am happy to be a short hitter playing from the Mens regular tees and scoring in the low 40's for now. Anytime I break 90 for 18 or 45 for 9, I'm a happy golfer. I hope I'm happy later today!
PS. For those who might have missed it, Ken has recently passed at the age of 82 just after being entered into the Hall Of Fame.
Good stuff
Thanks Terry for your input and sharing your latest journey in golfing adventures. It's Spring and many are finally getting into a groove and sharpening their skills. We tend to get more involved this time of year and our interchange of ideas is great.
Seriously considering getting that putting stick. looks like a winner .
Interesting points on length of stroke. Some have longer back and through and others like Snedeker have a short popping stroke. Smoother same back and same through works better for me. Though I continue o experiment.
Of course now I need to look for the tip from Ken Venturi you teased us with. Do you have the link to it? I'll do a search mean while.
Edit;
Quick thoughts on your occasional push and pull. Is it both or normally a pull or predominately a push? I found that my misses were usually pulled. One change that really helped me was adjusting my lie about 3 degrees more flat. additionally I had a tendency to peak especially on shorter putts. Motivated by a study of Tiger's putting I am learning to keep head still and not follow the ball until it is well past my spot.
Drill
Thanks SGW, I will go back and look at that drill and your prescription again.
As for the spot idea, yes that has been mine too for many years. i'm a spot putter. as I said, I am usually really close on the break but it's the speed, pace and distance that I sometimes muscle too far. My Father use to say I had the touch of a gorilla. Soft hands like Ben Crenshaw we seek. Any how thanks for your continued ideas and drills. Much appreciated:)
Simple but effective tip.
Took a tip from my brother-in-law when I was having trouble on long puts, and it pretty much goes with Surge's "feel the swing". You take your read, set up to the put, and while looking at the hole you do 2-3 practice swings. You get the feel, set putter down and swing the feel. 1. Your brain already connects with what you want to do with the stroke by your looking and feeling the swing. 2. You now focus on the swing you just practiced and not on all the what ifs. I try and focus only on the ball and making contact with the swing I just practiced. It seems to help with the tempo and a better take back and through swing.
It really helps on long lag puts. Just as when someone puts their hand up for you to throw a ball to, the brain knows how far and where to throw the ball without you over thinking. Best of puts to you Robert. Kevin McCarthy
Yes it is.
Thanks for this contribution. I like it a lot. Feel the swing, swing the feel. It is something I've been recently doing without realizing it, especially on the long ones.
Lags
Thanks Kevin. Another good idea. The only reason that one is a little bit challenging for me is that if I lose my spot and line by focusing only on the ball I can miss the hole by a wide margin. Your method make complete sense though and i will give it a try next time out practicing along with the others from SGW and T. Thanks for your thoughts.
Simple but effective
Kevin, Played today and tried your suggestion of 2-3 practice swings while looking at the hole. My distance control lately has been off. I didn't have a 3 putt all day and my longest 2 putt was no more than about 2 feet.
Pick a spot from behind the ball, line it up, setup beside the ball, 3 practice strokes looking at the hole and as you said "swing the feel". It's only one round, but today it worked.
On a more important note, my prayers are with all of the families in Oklahoma.
Putting
Ditto for me on the putting game Kevin. I have been taking practice swings while looking at the target for about six months now, & my putting has improved. When I get a chance to practice my putting, I always inclued a session of putting while looking at the hole only, after setting up to the ball. It will surprise you how many go in the hole. I prefer to stand as tall as my putter will allow, as I find it easier to judge the brake that way. I have just recently added the looking at target, while taking practice swings, to my pitching & chipping routine, in the hope it will improve my touch & feel there as well. Cheers Russty
Speed...Line...Tic Toc
Hi Robert. I think we've kicked this around before, but I had a really great 5 minute highlight from a PGA player that went something like this:
Simple is best. After getting my read, with eyes at target, I practice 1 or 2 strokes..."Speed, then Line"....and step to the ball....get my dominant left eye over the top of the ball and....
"Tic Toc".....It's a very quiet, usually very short stroke, with very slight acceleration. And of course, the cup is not always the target. BTW-I stand more upright on those really long putts.
I like "tic toc" because of the pendulum picture....unhurried with equal distance back and forward. With these 3 items, I've become a pretty decent putter. You've heard these tips before, so I simply wanted to re-share what has been helpful for me.
Isn't it funny the effort needed to achieve "simple" ?
Simple indeed
Yes, simple is not always so simple. Never worry about repeating anything of value here. With golf it is always about going back to basics, to standards that work well. We need the good stuff repeated again and again. That's why seeing Surge cover many subjects again and often is a good thing. "When the student is ready the teacher appears." I was ready for some putting feedback from my pals here. I have several ideas and reminders to try out now. When it comes to putting it is a different universe from the rest of the game. Hmmmnnn..."Tic toc" I like it. Thanks for chiming in. We all do our best to improve and help each other too.
Going to sink more putts this week, I can feel it:)
Breathing
Forgot to mention, but in re-building my pre-shot routine, an intentional deep breath is in the mix. That includes during putting.
You might have some thoughts on the subject of good breathing habits.
After a nice deep breath.....
Exhalation is my trigger to begin the takeaway. Can't tell you how many golf shots I've taken, putting included, where there is poor breathing. This simple thing can turn out to be a big thing.
Steady head putting
I eliminate head movement, by pretending that a hook is in my right ear lobe and any head movement during the stroke will hurt.
All my practice stokes are taken while standing behind the ball looking at the target line.
I always use a slight forward press, because it is hard to get the stroke started from a dead stop.
I stabilize the left hand with a reverse overlap grip and have the definite feeling of stroking with the right hand against a firm left index finger. This also gives me the feeling of a square clubface through impact and works well with any length putt.
I putted well for a long time, with the thought of matching length of backswing and follow through, but found myself missing short too often, because the tendency was to putt with a decelerating stoke.
Now I focus on having a forward stroke longer than the backstroke and keeping my head steady, with the "hook in the ear" visualization, when the pressure is on to make a good stroke.
I find a two part tempo thought causes me to be too focused on matching backstroke with through stroke which results in a loss of feel. The three part tempo mantra that I say to myself while doing the forward press, backstroke and forward stroke is, " SLOW..SLOW..LONG."
Ear lobe
Hook in the ear lobe, that was a new one but I can see and feel it. Interesting. I've got tic toc from SG and now slow..slow..long. Thanks for your method. Hopefully others may benefit from these ideas too.
Hey, just thought of "hook, line and sink it."
Thanks again for sharing what works for you
Gary Player
Gary Player gave some advice that has served me well concerning break. He says to always walk to within 6 feet to see what the break does those last few feet. I don't hit a putt until I plumb bob those last few feet. As we know it's the final part of the putt that makes it in or out. As it slows down it breaks more. So although I roll over a spot close to my ball it's the last 5,6 feet that I am seeing and feeling. Last week I had an eagle chip on my favorite par 5. I was above the hole pin high, right to left and down hill. I walked close to the hole and read it like a putt. Hit it soft and sweet at the selected spot. Just missed on the high side. Tap in bird. It's those last few feet. Take the time to walk close my friends. Stroking it soft with right pace is all that's left.
Like I've said, I am goodI at reading putts (and chips). Doing it? Well sometimes, but oh how sweet:)