thoughts on putting.

Hi folks .
This is an excerpt from one of my threads. I have posted this as a seperate thread because , hopefully , it will be availeable to more people.
Putting.
** my first tip is: always mark your ball, pick it up and clean it. You will be supprised at how many putts you will miss because of a dirty ball . Even if it looks clean, pick it up and give it a wipe.This also stops you from rushing your putt

** On long putts , if the green looks pretty level and you are having trouble findind the break, just aim directly at the hole. If you get the pace of the putt there or thereabouts, you won't be that far out and you will leave yourself a nice easey 2nd putt.

** Always let your through swing come to its own natural finish ( harvey pennwick always taught his students to keep the take-away and followthrough the same length. But i think this causes people to slow down through impact ,because they are concerned with the amount of follow through ), Let the length of backswing and speed of putt denote its own length of followthrough and you will find that you are putting with more freedom and fluidity.

** Always take a couple of practice putts to try and gain a feeling for the length.

** never let yourself feel pressured by playing partners into rushing your putt.

remember: treat a 2 foot putt exactly the same as a 6 foot putt, both need the same routine and amount of concentration.

aft

__________________
the dog wags the tail....the tail dosn't wag the dog

Those are all excellent thoughts.
I practice every one of the every
time -- or at least, try to.
The only thing I would add: if you
can't see a break, at least try to
find the high side. Nearly all greens
and all professionally built greens
were designed to account for drainage.
That's so play can continue asap
after a rain or watering. A straight uphill putt
does not have a high side. The rest
nearly all do.

hi edshaw
i'm lucky nearly all course's near me are links and all drain to the sea so like you said you know the hight points of the greens, other things to look for are lakes and river as most times they drain down to them.
great post aftford
bill

I saw a nice little hint on the golf channel.

They said to imagine that you are throwing a bucket of water on the green from where your ball is and try to figure out where the water will flow; and your ball too...

Chessbum...

Hi ed.
some good points there mate. ( Darn, why didn't i think of that )

Thanks for your input

aft

Hi guys,

I would just like to add my penny to this thread.

Putting, a lesson I have learned about putting is the less you think the better you putt, you can walk all around the putt looking at line and distance...........but you must not think anything, keep you mind completely blank..........................what you are doing is letting you eyes do their job, set up to the ball and don't think about distance or anything just a look at the hole and let you body go.

For example, If i throw a ball at you, your eyes tell your body to catch or duck in a split second, if you throw it back distance isn't an issue even if I am 80yds away, same with kicking a ball, you don't judge how hard to swing your leg to reach the player 60yds away...................so why try to tell your arms how hard to hit a putt.

Try this next time your out.................find a putt 20 feet away have a good look at it without thought, set up to the ball and close your eyes and hit the putt, the speed should be perfect or maybe a little strong because the body will try to hole it.


Ian.

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Once you learn the swing, your next step is mastering golf psychology................

Hi Ian ( great post by the way ).
I have a DVD box collection regarding Tiger Woods and on one of the Discs he hold a clinic. After a while he addresses the subject of putting and goes on to describe his thoughts and feelings he has before he makes a putt. Now many people were sat in the audience expecting Tiger to go into lots of technical detail of how he makes a putt. I bet they were very suprised when he said " I putt to the picture. i take a mental picture of the hole , then i read the break. I take another picture . i get a feel for the length, i take another picture. I take my set up , i take one more picture and then i putt".
Tiger has a great understanding of how the brain reacts to images when dealing with a specific target.

Try this experiment folks, next time you are on the practice putting green.
Place two balls on the ground. With the first ball i want you to make your normal putt while thinking of nothing but the hole.
Now with the second ball , before you make a putt i want you to place a white tee peg two or 5 or 6 feet to the left of the hole. Now , line up your putt to the hole ,take your address. Just before you start your putt, take a quick look at the white tee peg then put towards the hole.
You will be amazed at how the ball, even though you lined up to the hole, is headding towards the white tee. This is the power that images have on the brain and this why Ian , myself , and others are constantly stressing to people that you have to have a secific target in your mind every time you play a shot in golf.

cheers
aft.

__________________
the dog wags the tail....the tail dosn't wag the dog

hi fokes
just one point on size of the hole. its 4 1/2 inch but when you putt it can be 6 inch or 2 inch, let me explane.
if you hit at putt at left edge so it will stop only 12 inches past the hole if its 1/2 inch for lip it will fall in. if you hit the ball 24 inches past the hole on the same line it wont fall in, if you now hit the ball so that half ball is now over lip it still wont fall in, it will lip out. so how hard you hit a putt changes the size of the hole. try it and you'll see what i mean, it will drop in more times if its hit so it only runs 6/12 inches past the hole and that a inch each side. hope you understand what i'm trying to say, if you think the holes bigger then the putts get not so hard.
bill

Hi Bill
I get what you are saying and you are absolutely correct. I'm not to well read on the subject of physics. But i guess that if we could describe what you said in the form of an equation then two of the co-efficients would be velocity and gravity.

excellent reply mate

aft

yes you are spot on as always aftford and i do think if you realise how many putts miss because there hit so hard they never have a chance to drop in you start to understand why pace of the ball matters so much.
bill