Putting Science

Whenever I see an amateur player sizing up a lengthy putt, or one that features several awkward slows and borrows, my immediate reaction is to think that he or she has a very good chance of three-putting. Why? Because amateur players hardly ever practice these putts and as a result, have poor feel. They tend to hit at the putt as opposed to stroking it.

Great putters not only hole out regularly from within six feet of the hole - that vital scoring distance - but they also have great touch and feel for distance on long putts. They realize that their goal from say, 30 or 40 feet is simply to 'lag' the ball close enough to the hole to have reasonably simple second putt. If it goes in, that's a bonus. Keeping those three putts off the card is a must.

FIX NO.45
Improve your touch

There are several things youcan do to become a good lag putter mentally and physically. (1) On facing a putt upwards of, say, 40 feet, make the most of positive mental imagery - not only the line of the putt but also by visualizing a bigger final target. Imagine a circle with about a two-foot radius painted around the hole, and simply try to roll your approach putt within that circle. If you do, the longest putt you can have left will be two feet. (2) Be conscious that pure technique here on these lengthy putts is not a prerequisite for feel. Stand a little taller at address andencourage a long, free stroke back and through, and allow a little wrist action to help with acceleration. Your left wrist should, in fact, be a little cupped at the completion of the stroke.

(3) Practice long putts with your right hand only. This will give you the feeling of releasing the putter head. (4) Hit putts from one side of the practice green to the other, aiming to get each ball as close to the fringe as you can without ever going off the edge. (5) When confronted with a long lag putt on the course, take plenty of practice strokes to sense the stroke needed to execute the putt at hand. With these keys, you could surprise your friends with your new found touch on long putts.

Think back to the last time you three-putted. What let you down? Your accuracy, or your inability to stroke the ball the desired distance? I'm prepared to wager that nine times out of ten, it's the latter.

On any putt over, say, ten feet, getting the distance right is much more important than direction. Even a beginner can hit a putt reasonably close the right line, but the chances of him rolling the ball the right distance are slim. Without the experience of 'fee', he's much more likely to rap the putt miles past, or leace the ball woefully short of the hole.

To a much lesser extent, the same is true of more advanced players. Many golfers have a tendency to hit a putt 'hard' or 'soft' depending on its length. That's asking for trouble. The 'hard' and 'soft' approach is too difficult to judge; you'll never develop a consistent feel for distance. And without that, you'll always be leaving your first putt too far from the hole to be sure of getting the next one in.

FIX NO.44
Longer putt, longer stroke

One of the golden rules in putting is that the length of your stroke should always control the distance you hit the ball. A relatively long putt requires a relatively long stroke, and vice versa. But there's a clause that you must adhere to: no matter what the length of the putt, your tempo - that is, the time it takes to complete your stroke - should remain constant. Thus, the pace of your stroke on a short putt will appear appreciably slower than that on a longer putt.

Good putters who seem to regularly hit their putts the proper distance have great tempo. With this in mind, practice putting to random targets to increase your awareness for the length of your stroke. Place tees in the green at distances of 10, 20 and 30 feet from your ball, and hit putts to all three, varying the length of your backswing for each, and making your follow-through at least as long - if not longer - than your backswing.

Always try to hit a putt firmly enough that, should it miss, the ball will finish about 18 inches past the hole. That's the optimum speed for the ball to hold its line, yet still fall in if catches any part of the cup.

Finally, be aware that you must take into account the condition of the green and the nature of your putt - ie. uphill or downhill - when determining speed.

Nothing ruins the consistency of a putting stroke like unwanted wrist action through impact. This breakdown can often be seen to occur in conjunction with a shoulder motion that has either stopped or is decelerating, and is one of the most common causes of a poorly struck short or medium length putt - and this applies equally to the pros. With this fault, judging the pace and controlling the direction of your putts can prove to be a real problem. Because of the uncertainty that surrounds this type of wrist action in terms of the strike you impart on the ball, rarely will you release the putter with any confidence. You end up decelerating the putter through impact, which makes it virtually impossible to put a good roll on the ball.

FIX NO.43
'Pull' and 'Push'

To help protect yourself against any unwanted hinging in the left wrist, hold the putter so that the shaft runs high across the palm of your left hand, resting against the fleshy pad below the thumb. Then close your hand, draping your left index finger over the fingers of your right hand. Doing this forms what's known as the 'reverse-overlap' grip; the left hand is now effectively locked in place on the club.

Now let's put your grip to the test. Remember, in a solid pendulum stroke, the shoulders control the motion from start to finish while the hands remain passive. Try this drill: address a straight three-foot putt, and without a backswing, 'brush' the ball towards the hole. Make the follow-through by 'pulling' with your left arm and left shoulder and 'pushing' with your right arm and right shoulder. Focus on keeping your left hand firm as you accelerate the putter past your left foot, and check to see that the putter-face is looking directly at the hole on the finish.Repeating this drill regularly will give you the correct feel, eliminates the 'wristiness' in your stroke, and should get those putts dropping.

Holing putts on a regular basis is all about having the putter-face square to the intended line at the moment it contacts the ball. To do this, most good putters predominantly use a pendulum-like, arm-and-shoulder action, in which the triangle that is formed between the arms and shoulders at address can be seen to remain intact as it moves past a steady head. In other words, there is little wasted motion.

Putting problems aris when you try to 'help' the ball into the hole. WHen that happens, your head and upper body tend to move out of position through impact, which inevitably disrupts the alignment of the putter-face. The result is an inconsistent strike on the ball, and little or no control over the direction or the pace of the putt.

FIX NO.42
Rock your shoulders to control your stroke

In putting, the fewer moving parts there are , the simpler and more consistent your method will probably be. To that end, I encourage you to work on building a stroke that is controlled by the shoulders.

To promote this pendulum-type action, try the following exercise. Take your address position, and place your palms together in a downward praying position. Focus on the triangle that is formed between your hands, arms and shoulders, and then, keeping your head and lower body perfectly still, rock your shoulders so that you move the triangle smoothly back and through

(1). Create an under-and-up pendulum motion with your shoulders, where your chest stays square to the target line, as opposed to opening your body to the hole. Feel that your left shoulder works down on the backswing, then up on the throughswing. This will control the path of the putter-head and keep the putter on line through impact

(2). On the follow-through - particularly on the longer putts - allow your head to rotate down the line towards the target after you have completed your stroke. That enables your triangle to work correctly, and thus allows you to follow the progress of the ball all the way to the hole without lifting your body out of position.

By its very nature, putting is a hugely personal matter. But whatever style you choose to trust on the greens, I believe it's important that you develop the ability to repeat a stroke which produces overspin; one which guarantees a consistent roll on the ball. Naturally, the quality of your address position has a direct bearing on your ability to achieve this. The way you set up dictates how easily your arms and upper body are able to work together, which in turn determines the path of your stroke and the position of the putter-face at impact.

There are two common faults that I see. First, there's the example of the player who stands very tall at address, with his legs stiff, his arms straight and his eyes outside the ball-to-taarget line (1). Then there's the player who does just the opposite; he tends to sit down too much, his elbows are usually very bent, and his eyes too far inside the ball-to-target line (2). Neither of these positions does much to encourage a uniform stroke. The arms and hands tend to work independently, rather than as a single unit in tandem with the chest and sholders.

FIX NO.41
Get set for a rock-steady stroke

I believe that the shoulder-controlled, pendulum-type stroke is the most effective for consistent putting. But for this method to work, your posture must allow your arms complete freedom of movement.

Let's build it from the ground up. In front of a mirror, take a comfortably wide stance, and flex your knees a little, as if you were just about to sit down.Feel that your weight favours your left sie a touch, and keep your elbows relaxed and spread to the point where your upper arms rest lightly on your rib cage (1). Your eyes should be directly over - or very slightly inside - the ball-to-target line; the ball itself should be opposite your left eye. (Quick check: test yourself by dropping a ball from your left eye, and noting where it lands.)

Next, your alignment. Following the example that we set in the full swing, aim the putter-face squarely to your target line, and then try to align your body parts - ie. your feet, knees, hips, forearms, shoulders and eyes - parallel to it (2). As long as you stay relaxed, your hands comfortably positioned either in line with, or slightly ahead of the ball (and directly beneath your shoulders), you are now in the perfect position to make a smooth stroke in which your bands, arms and shoulders work together.

PREPARE:  BEFORE YOU PLAY – LINE UP YOUR BALL

You will have seen many, if not all Tour Professionals, have a line drawn on their golf ball which assists them when lining up putts. This line is put on with a permanent marker (sharpies seem to be the best) and you either attempt to draw the line yourself or use a “Line them up tool” which makes life a lot easier.

GET THE BIGGER PICTURE

As you approach the green, take a mental note of its general shape. Is it sloping toward your ball? Away from it? Does the green fall off on one side? These larger features will take priority over smaller breaks when determining how your ball will roll. Keep a close eye on what your approach shot did when it rolled on the green, this will also help when deciding on the break your putt might take.

SPEED

Check from all sides to see if the putt is uphill or downhill. Simply walking up and down the length of the put will enable you to fell the undulations of the green under your feet.

BREAK

Once you have a pretty good idea of the speed of the putt, squat down behind your ball with your eyes as level as possible. Look from your ball to the hole and determine which side of your line is the high side and which side is the low side. After you’ve determined which side is high and which is low, walk over to the low side (the direction toward which the ball will curve) and take a look up the slope. This will give you a much better idea of the severity of the slope than just looking from your ball to the hole. Keep in mind that break is more important the closer you get to the hole, because your ball will be traveling more slowly and thus will be more affected by the break as it nears the cup.

LINE UP YOUR BALL

Once you have decided on the break of your putt pick out a spot about four feet in front of your ball that is on the line you think the ball is going to take.
Position your ball, with the line you put on it earlier, pointing directly at the spot you have chosen. Align your putter at right angles to the line on the ball which means you will now be aiming exactly on the line you have chosen

VISUALISE

Now that you’ve determined the distance, speed and break of your putt, create a picture of your ball rolling to and falling into the hole. On left-to-right putts, the ball must enter the hole left of center, and on right-to-left putts the ball must enter right of center. Speed determines direction, so on a downhill putt, you need to hit the ball softer, which means the ball will be more affected by the break. On an uphill putt, you need to hit the ball harder, which means that your ball will be less affected by the break. A few practice swings visualising the ball rolling into the hole are invaluable.

HOLD THE FINISH

After your stroke is completed hold the posture and position of the follow through, and  keep looking down until the ball is well on its way. Looking up too early is not going to help you in any way. Most putts are missed through moving the body out of position through the stroke so stay down and hold that follow through. On most short putts Professionals don’t even see the ball drop into the hole but instead wait till they hear it hitting the bottom of the cup.

Best of luck with your putting

Paul O’Brien
PGA Golf Professional
Playgolf
Northwick Park