Putting looking at the hole not the ball

hi panman
think you picked me up wrong, i do use the look at hole for all putts now, but i find it works out as good as looking at ball from 6 feet in, i look at hole on all putts as it would confuse me using looking at hole from 6 feet out and at ball 6 feet in,try putting looking at hole then closing your eyes and putting and then thinking about where ball finishes, after about 6/8 putts you seem to feel it and can almost see the put in you mind and you tend to be closer to hole as your feel gets better.
bill

Thanks Bill

Actually, I do use the 'close eyes' putt for practice as well....not quite good enough yet, to try it on the course.

As an extra thought also, has anyone noticed how many people who leave a 3ft or shorter putt, just step up to the ball and tap it in without thinking or even setting up for a putt - sometimes in frustration at having missed one from the other side of the cup! I've done it myself many times! 99 times out of a 100, they go in!

cheers

Pan

Hey, I think the reason that technique might work in the short term is that it gets you away from too much ball or stroke concentration and into the main determinate of distance, whiich is how hard you hit the ball. Anther factor is how well you judged the distance and the speed of the green. Uphill, downhill, are green speed factors. Then you got the break. When all three of these factors are judged well, you pretty well have it together with the putter. When you are looking at the hole, your mind and body are free to rehearse and feel the pressure in the big muscles that you want to create in the real putt. I think of a penny pitcher or horseshoe player. He or she isnt thinking about the grip, stance, and all that. It's an instinctive reaction built on knowledge obtained or guessed at in the process of looking the situation over. I thought of that Armour article, too, right away. My opinion: use it as long as it works. But don't think of it (meaning, putting by looking at the hole) as a cure all. Sooner or later, most people's eyes return to the same old tried and true routine: ball, hole, line, ball, hole, line, back of ball, go.

hi
i have changed my putting so my body,face and feet all face the hole.
i have a broomhandled 50" putter that goes from my right hand up to my right shoulder, i put my left hand across my chest to top of putter at my right shoulder, then just swing my right arm, back and forward, no wirsts or sholder movment, works great, lots of people say it to easy to put like this and it should be banned, but it does workand it allowed under r&a and usga rules, but looks weird.
bill

Hi Ed

I totally agree.....like I said before, I only use it on the long putts where I'm just trying to get it close....judging the pace with my normal putting technique is (for me) a lot harder to do. The closer I get, I revert back to my normal putting technique for accuracy.

After all, how many Tour Pros do you see use the 'look at the hole' method?

Cheers

Pan

OK>........I tried this "looking at the hole" putting today for the first time. Right now, I'm not that overly impressed with it, but it wasn't bad enough where I won't try it again. What I found the hardest was not trying to take a peek at the ball through impact. I think this caused me to push a few off line. The biggest thing in this putting style is that you really have to TRUST YOUR STROKE if you're not going to be looking at it. I had a 29 putt day on a 76 game. I average around 27 putts per round, so to me it's not really something that I think I'll stick with as it didn't really show me any great improvements over my old style. One thing that I did like about this was on the long putts, the distance was generally pretty decent.

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What do you do when you know you've got a really slick downhill one? I found myself in this situation recently and didn't know whether to allow for it (by looking at a spot 6ft closer) or just trust it. I did the latter and putted it off the green which severely shook my faith in this method, I also mishit one a little later (hit the ground first and left it half way)
The shots it saves me on really long putts are probably worth it, but I find I've stopped using it because of these two incidents.

hi mariner
i find it i look at hole and not ball my brain seens to tell my arms how hard without thinking to much about it, i think more about pace to get 6 inches past the hole than line, i have a quick look and line when i'm looking at hole thats all, think only pace when putting, works great for me, i was always a poor putter, not now i am best in out 4some now and was bad at times before.
bill

Mariner:
I don't think there is any help for the
slick downhill putt. I watch The Masters
every year, some of the world's greatest
putters reduced to idiots by greens
on which gravity is greater than friction.

Hi,

My putting has been a little off par recently so after reading this thread I decided to give looking at the hole a try on the practice green, I could not believe what was happening, I was putting 20 ft puts within 6 inches of the hole consistently , 4 to 6 foot puts were mainly dropping in. I then played a round using the technique, first aligning the ball, taking a few practice strokes to feel the distance, my putting was greatly improved, some of my colleagues in the round were astounded with it.

It went against everything I have been taught and believed but worked, I had the feeling that the feedback through my vision was allowing my brain to make the necessary adjustments to my stroke automatically, I will persevere with it to see if it stands the test of time.

Regards
Brian

I think it's the same onboard computer that makes it easy to toss a cricketball/baseball straight into someone's chest (while looking at the target of course - you wouldn't want to try it while looking at your hand)

Yes, well put Mariner

Brian

hi
yes i agree i think we think to much about doing something the body does for us without us thinking about it, yes well put.
bill

Johnny Miller putted looking at the hole and not the ball for one or two of the tournaments that he won.

I'll practice my putts on the practice green looking at the hole to get the feel for the speed of the greens.

Once on the course, I line up the putt, stare at my spot, look down at my ball and fire. I found the longer I waited to putt the more indecision krept into mind.

The looking at the hole with the dominate eye will give the brain the information to stroke the correct speed. Which is all of us amatuers should do. If you take a 2-4 second stare with the DOMINATE EYE at the hole or spot you want to hit at depending on the break you will do the same. Then stare are the ball during the stroke. You will have only the sound to confirm you made the put, but don't move the head. Isn't the sound of a putt clanking around in the cup better than seeing it? We don't trust the stroke, trust what you do and LOOK AT THE BALL. Looking at the hole DURING PRACTICE is a good thing, only if you have great muscle memory and know you ar e going to have the same longish putts. But then think about it, how many long birdie putts do we have? Looking at the hole during practice is great, on the course I wont do it. Peace

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