Make more putts!

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By Deron on June 22nd, 2005 | 3 Comments - Add yours

Lately my putting has become better but still not where I want it to be. I give up a few strokes every round on just either mental or physical breakdowns with the flat stick.

I was pulling or pushing putts and had almost zero confidence in my putting. I am gaining some of it back now, but for about three weeks I was scared to putt, even little tap ins!

So here is what I’ve been doing to get over my putting woes, maybe it will help someone reading this as well.

Everyone has read before to use the logo on the golfball to line up your putt I am sure. We me being like most other golfers I to had heard this, but it seemed when I tried it I never got the ball online and as you know if you don’t get the ball online it doesn’t matter how good of a stroke you have, you wont make the putt.

I was thinking about this technique the other day since my way of putting was going down hill and it hit me how hard it actually is to line up a putt using the logo on the golf ball by lining the logo up at the cup. Say if you have a 20 foot putt that is straight in its difficult to get the logo lined up exactly and even harder if there is break.

So, the way I’ve found to make this technique a lot easier is to find your line and find something about an inch in front of your ball (fuzz, light spot in the green, etc ) that is also in the line and line the logo up with that. Its a lot easier to line your ball up with something right in front of it then it is to line it up with something twenty feet away. Since I’ve done this my putting has greatly improved. As I said its still not where I’d like it to be, but that’s golf. I don’t think any aspect of out games will ever be where we want them unless your name is Tiger.

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3 Comments to “Make more putts!”

Colin D. Devroe

June 23rd, 2005

Putt confidence can be really hard to muster - yet it is very beneficial. All day long during the Open this last weekend you heard the commentator (some being Pros) “Tiger needs to attack the hole.” and that’s very true. If you are timid, the ball will never reach it’s target.

Bryan

June 23rd, 2005

Colin, thats true….to a point.

However, just like The Masters, the television camera does NOT do Augusta or Pinehurst any justice.

Alot of the hole placements are near ridges, and if your ball even goes by the hole 3 feet, it will continue rolling until it stops 40 feet away.

So on one hand, you want to be aggressive, on the other, you don’t want to completely screw yourself.

As I have said in a couple previous posts, my first time at Pinehurst, I 6 putted the first green, and then on the 5th hole, I watched a kid have a 15 footer for birdie that ended up in the bunker.

Alot of the putts you just have to touch, and they are gone.

Now, in general, the advice is perfect, but in the case Pinehurst and of Tiger not being aggressive enough, well, just look at the winning score. Even. You can tell from the score alone that players weren’t aggressive, or maybe they were TOO aggressive.

Oh, and I personally recommend also using the LINE of words on your ball, in my case, its the Pro v1X. In college, I used to draw a line on part of the ball and when putting, just simply tried to get that ball to roll over itself on a perfect line. Range balls work well.

Grab a range ball, and work on putting and getting that red line on the ball to rotate smooth. No wobbling. Once the ball is rolling smooth and that redline is staying consistent as the ball rolls, you are putting a very good putt on the ball.

Also, DO NOT watch your putting stroke when over the ball. Focus on the back of the ball and focus on letting your arms and shoulders make a smooth back and forth pendulum motion. I am SO guilty of watching the putter head move back and I start the stroke, and 9 times out of 10, it will allow me to miss the putt. Your eyes should be on the back of that ball and keep them there until you have finished the stroke.

Watch a pro and and amateur putt sometime. The amateur most often will raise their head just as the ball leaves the putter.

A pro won’t raise his head until the ball has traveled 3-4 feet.

Deron

June 23rd, 2005

Bryan,

That’s another I forgot about…watching the back of the ball. I make a lot more putts (usually closer in putts) when I do this. If I don’t watch the back of the ball I tend, like you said to watch the club going back. Not really moving my head with the putter but my perifial (spelling?) vision sees it.