How to Become the Best Putter in the World....

[TheCityGame]

The guys on tour are on tour mainly because of their putting and play around the greens. There are a ton of guys in the world with PGA quality ball striking but very few with a PGA quality putting and short game.

I don't want to sidetrack the thread too bad, but this is so wrong on so many levels.

 

To GET to the PGA tour, and WITHIN the PGA tour, ball striking is so much more important than putting in separating players. I'm not even going to say any more on the topic here, and just let others speak for me. . .you could start here, if you're interested, but I'm not debating with anyone in this thread dedicated to putting practice.

[dap]

One of the best putters ever Bobby Locke hit all his putts with hook spin. That is proof you do not need a perfect putting stroke. Putting is more feel than mechanics.

[Hstead]

97, how many of the drills did you get from Dotty? The reason I ask is that Dotty played at Furman, Mic Potter coached her and Mic is a friend of mine. Mic gave me nearly all of the drills you are doing and I have done them too for 20+ years. The drills are great for learning speed control and starting a ball on line.

 

The only area I would disagree with you on is the "just try to put a great stroke on it" part, only because it didn't work for me. I went down a rabbit hole trying to make a perfect stroke. Bought every training aid, device, you name it to make a perfect stroke. I couldn't make JACK for five years. I went from a great putter to a three putt maniac. Short ones drove me nuts. I was consumed with making a better and better stroke, thinking that was the key to making putts. I was still doing the drills, plus using other training devices, and couldn't make a putt.

 

I then went to see David Orr. He taught me two things really. He taught me how to find the fall line and how a ball will break. He then taught me to free up my mind and concentrate on the ball going in the hole and quit thinking about making a perfect stroke. He put me on the SAM LAB and I scored off the charts, had a tour level stroke. All of the years perfecting a perfect arc yada yada yada worked. But it didn't make putts. He had me focus on the speed of the ball entering the hole, got me to think of nothing but the ball entering the hole, and BINGO, started making everything.

 

I agree with you about having an attitude of thinking your are the best and not fretting whether or not you make the putt. But for me, if I think about my stroke, my mind will do what I am thinking about, make a perfect stroke. The ball may go in or may not. If I think only of the ball going in the hole, I can put a crap stroke on it and often make more than when my mind is occupied with the mechanics of the stroke.

[Jagpilotohio]

Trust me. Know all the tricks. Is there a creek or lake? Is there a drain? Which way is the grain going? Look at it from all sides.

 

I was a +2 teaching pro for many many years that happened to be a crummy putter. I spent 10-15 hours a week practicing putting in the 90’s using a variety of drills and getting an occasional consult with other excellent teaching pros and I still was never more than mediocre. It just is what it is. I don’t see slope the way most people see slope. My brain doesn’t have a great sense of “feel” for distance either I suppose.

 

I guess I’m just here to tell you that becoming a great putter is not entirely about technique, drills, practice and confidence.

 

Some people will never be an excellent putter no matter how hard they work at it... I promise. Been there, done that.

[getitdaily]

Trust me. Know all the tricks. Is there a creek or lake? Is there a drain? Which way is the grain going? Look at it from all sides.

 

I was a +2 teaching pro for many many years that happened to be a crummy putter. I spent 10-15 hours a week practicing putting in the 90’s using a variety of drills and getting an occasional consult with other excellent teaching pros and I still was never more than mediocre. It just is what it is. I don’t see slope the way most people see slope. My brain doesn’t have a great sense of “feel” for distance either I suppose.

 

I guess I’m just here to tell you that becoming a great putter is not entirely about technique, drills, practice and confidence.

 

Some people will never be an excellent putter no matter how hard they work at it... I promise. Been there, done that.

 

I guess you see a green and see yanni, your buddy (and i) see laurel...

[Jagpilotohio]

The guys on tour are on tour mainly because of their putting and play around the greens. There are a ton of guys in the world with PGA quality ball striking but very few with a PGA quality putting and short game.

I don't want to sidetrack the thread too bad, but this is so wrong on so many levels.

 

To GET to the PGA tour, and WITHIN the PGA tour, ball striking is so much more important than putting in separating players. I'm not even going to say any more on the topic here, and just let others speak for me. . .you could start here, if you're interested, but I'm not debating with anyone in this thread dedicated to putting practice.

 

I think you may be missing my point. EVERYONE that is on the tour, or has a legit chance to be on tour, has incredible putting, chipping, and pitching skills. Most people really don’t have a deep understand how good that part of their game is. It’s bordering on inhuman. It’s my contention that the top few hundred players in the world have an innate god given gift that can’t be learned.

 

There are a THOUSANDS of great ball strikers in the world that simply can’t chip and putt well enough to even sniff the tour.

[TheCityGame]

The guys on tour are on tour mainly because of their putting and play around the greens. There are a ton of guys in the world with PGA quality ball striking but very few with a PGA quality putting and short game.

I don't want to sidetrack the thread too bad, but this is so wrong on so many levels.

 

To GET to the PGA tour, and WITHIN the PGA tour, ball striking is so much more important than putting in separating players. I'm not even going to say any more on the topic here, and just let others speak for me. . .you could start here, if you're interested, but I'm not debating with anyone in this thread dedicated to putting practice.

 

I think you may be missing my point. EVERYONE that is on the tour, or has a legit chance to be on tour, has incredible putting, chipping, and pitching skills. Most people really don’t have a deep understand how good that part of their game is. It’s bordering on inhuman. It’s my contention that the top few hundred players in the world have an innate god given gift that can’t be learned.

 

There are a THOUSANDS of great ball strikers in the world that simply can’t chip and putt well enough to even sniff the tour.

Read the article.

[getitdaily]

The guys on tour are on tour mainly because of their putting and play around the greens. There are a ton of guys in the world with PGA quality ball striking but very few with a PGA quality putting and short game.

I don't want to sidetrack the thread too bad, but this is so wrong on so many levels.

 

To GET to the PGA tour, and WITHIN the PGA tour, ball striking is so much more important than putting in separating players. I'm not even going to say any more on the topic here, and just let others speak for me. . .you could start here, if you're interested, but I'm not debating with anyone in this thread dedicated to putting practice.

 

I think you may be missing my point. EVERYONE that is on the tour, or has a legit chance to be on tour, has incredible putting, chipping, and pitching skills. Most people really don’t have a deep understand how good that part of their game is. It’s bordering on inhuman. It’s my contention that the top few hundred players in the world have an innate god given gift that can’t be learned.

 

There are a THOUSANDS of great ball strikers in the world that simply can’t chip and putt well enough to even sniff the tour.

 

I think that gift boils down to feel. Whether you play a chip based on a landing zone and runout or you just see the shot needed and execute it, I believe the top guys just have better feel. Perhaps they're all also well above average in hand-eye coordination, imo. Combine feel, hand-eye coordination, and thousands of practice shots per week and you get inhuman short games. It's why the first thing that goes when you take a break from the game is the ability to hit chips, pitches, and under 100 yard wedges close.

 

When I was at the top of my game, my short game kept me in rounds. My iron ball striking (and course mgmt) was shaky. Somehow I still managed to shoot low numbers.

[davep043]

As an aside

The guys on tour are on tour mainly because of their putting and play around the greens. There are a ton of guys in the world with PGA quality ball striking but very few with a PGA quality putting and short game.

I don't want to sidetrack the thread too bad, but this is so wrong on so many levels.

 

To GET to the PGA tour, and WITHIN the PGA tour, ball striking is so much more important than putting in separating players. I'm not even going to say any more on the topic here, and just let others speak for me. . .you could start here, if you're interested, but I'm not debating with anyone in this thread dedicated to putting practice.

 

I think you may be missing my point. EVERYONE that is on the tour, or has a legit chance to be on tour, has incredible putting, chipping, and pitching skills. Most people really don’t have a deep understand how good that part of their game is. It’s bordering on inhuman. It’s my contention that the top few hundred players in the world have an innate god given gift that can’t be learned.

 

There are a THOUSANDS of great ball strikers in the world that simply can’t chip and putt well enough to even sniff the tour.

The statistics show that of all of the skills involved in playing golf, we amateurs are relatively close to the pros in putting, and light-years apart in full-swing skills. There are even more great putters and short game wizards who don't have the full-swing game to even get to single-digit handicaps. But that's another topic.

 

On putting, I have no doubt that the drills in the OP can and will be effective in making a player a better putter. Those drills work on two parts of putting: hitting the intended line, and consistently getting the intended speed. Reading greens is a separate skill, without which you won't make a lot of putts. On the other hand, if you can't hit your line, you won't make putts. If your speed is inconsistent, you won't make putts. And you can't honestly assess your green-reading skill if you can't hit the ball on line and the correct speed. So in this chicken and egg situation, I believe speed and hitting the line have to come first.

 

I understand what the OP is saying, that doing these drills will help you read greens better. Outside of Aimpoint (actually even WITH Aimpoint), reading greens is based on experience. You watch how a ball curves, and that experience informs your next read. Watching thousands of putts, especially putts hit with the right speed, and on the intended line, will give you the experience to read greens in the future.

[Jagpilotohio]

The guys on tour are on tour mainly because of their putting and play around the greens. There are a ton of guys in the world with PGA quality ball striking but very few with a PGA quality putting and short game.

I don't want to sidetrack the thread too bad, but this is so wrong on so many levels.

 

To GET to the PGA tour, and WITHIN the PGA tour, ball striking is so much more important than putting in separating players. I'm not even going to say any more on the topic here, and just let others speak for me. . .you could start here, if you're interested, but I'm not debating with anyone in this thread dedicated to putting practice.

 

I think you may be missing my point. EVERYONE that is on the tour, or has a legit chance to be on tour, has incredible putting, chipping, and pitching skills. Most people really don’t have a deep understand how good that part of their game is. It’s bordering on inhuman. It’s my contention that the top few hundred players in the world have an innate god given gift that can’t be learned.

 

There are a THOUSANDS of great ball strikers in the world that simply can’t chip and putt well enough to even sniff the tour.

 

I think that gift boils down to feel. Whether you play a chip based on a landing zone and runout or you just see the shot needed and execute it, I believe the top guys just have better feel. Perhaps they're all also well above average in hand-eye coordination, imo. Combine feel, hand-eye coordination, and thousands of practice shots per week and you get inhuman short games. It's why the first thing that goes when you take a break from the game is the ability to hit chips, pitches, and under 100 yard wedges close.

 

When I was at the top of my game, my short game kept me in rounds. My iron ball striking (and course mgmt) was shaky. Somehow I still managed to shoot low numbers.

 

Agreed. But you understand what I’m getting at. Some people just have “it”.

 

One kid wants to play high school basketball and practices 30 hours a week at home and his jump shot still sucks. Another kid never practices outside of high school practice and he makes every shot he looks at and he’s a star.

 

I’ve personally never been on a baseball or softball team where I wasn’t the leading home run hitter. At 5’7” 168 pounds in high school I could hit the baseball 450 feet. Yes I practiced hard and went to the batting cages and lifted weights, but I still had an unusual gift for it.. Bigger guys that practiced just as hard couldnt touch my bat speed. And yes, as you might expect, I hit the golf ball 300+ yards in 1983 with old spinny balata balls when I first started playing at 16. Distance came very easy....finding fairways took a bit longer.. ; )

 

But why didn’t I ever become a great pool player when I had a table in my house my entire life? I’m better than most, but I’m not great. I can’t shoot great pool but I’m extremely gifted with a pistol or a long gun. Trap and skeet was a piece of cake at 14 years old when I first started. I was better than my dad in 3 sessions.

 

Some people are gifted in certain areas and not in others. Some people will never be great at a particular physical skill no matter how much they want it or how hard they try. Putting is unfortunately that particular skill for me.

 

 

[getitdaily]

The guys on tour are on tour mainly because of their putting and play around the greens. There are a ton of guys in the world with PGA quality ball striking but very few with a PGA quality putting and short game.

I don't want to sidetrack the thread too bad, but this is so wrong on so many levels.

 

To GET to the PGA tour, and WITHIN the PGA tour, ball striking is so much more important than putting in separating players. I'm not even going to say any more on the topic here, and just let others speak for me. . .you could start here, if you're interested, but I'm not debating with anyone in this thread dedicated to putting practice.

 

I think you may be missing my point. EVERYONE that is on the tour, or has a legit chance to be on tour, has incredible putting, chipping, and pitching skills. Most people really don’t have a deep understand how good that part of their game is. It’s bordering on inhuman. It’s my contention that the top few hundred players in the world have an innate god given gift that can’t be learned.

 

There are a THOUSANDS of great ball strikers in the world that simply can’t chip and putt well enough to even sniff the tour.

 

I think that gift boils down to feel. Whether you play a chip based on a landing zone and runout or you just see the shot needed and execute it, I believe the top guys just have better feel. Perhaps they're all also well above average in hand-eye coordination, imo. Combine feel, hand-eye coordination, and thousands of practice shots per week and you get inhuman short games. It's why the first thing that goes when you take a break from the game is the ability to hit chips, pitches, and under 100 yard wedges close.

 

When I was at the top of my game, my short game kept me in rounds. My iron ball striking (and course mgmt) was shaky. Somehow I still managed to shoot low numbers.

 

Agreed. But you understand what I’m getting at. Some people just have “it”.

 

One kid wants to play high school basketball and practices 30 hours a week at home and his jump shot still sucks. Another kid never practices outside of high school practice and he makes every shot he looks at and he’s a star.

 

I’ve personally never been on a baseball or softball team where I wasn’t the leading home run hitter. At 5’7” 168 pounds in high school I could hit the baseball 450 feet. Yes I practiced hard and went to the batting cages and lifted weights, but I still had an unusual gift for it.. Bigger guys that practiced just as hard couldnt touch my bat speed. And yes, as you might expect, I hit the golf ball 300+ yards in 1983 with old spinny balata balls when I first started playing at 16. Distance came very easy....finding fairways took a bit longer.. ; )

 

But why didn’t I ever become a great pool player when I had a table in my house my entire life? I’m better than most, but I’m not great. I can’t shoot great pool but I’m extremely gifted with a pistol or a long gun. Trap and skeet was a piece of cake at 14 years old when I first started. I was better than my dad in 3 sessions.

 

Some people are gifted in certain areas and not in others. Some people will never be great at a particular physical skill no matter how much they want it or how hard they try. Putting is unfortunately that particular skill for me.

 

Can't teach instincts. Can't teach feel. Can't teach touch.

 

I can pick up a pool stick for the first time in a year and run a table. I can bowl once a year and fire 175-180. I can hit a 30 yard flop shot to 2 feet. I have the innate ability of see it, do it.

 

I think I just figured out my long game problems...too technical. Thanks jag!

[ousuxndallas]

The guys on tour are on tour mainly because of their putting and play around the greens. There are a ton of guys in the world with PGA quality ball striking but very few with a PGA quality putting and short game.

I don't want to sidetrack the thread too bad, but this is so wrong on so many levels.

 

To GET to the PGA tour, and WITHIN the PGA tour, ball striking is so much more important than putting in separating players. I'm not even going to say any more on the topic here, and just let others speak for me. . .you could start here, if you're interested, but I'm not debating with anyone in this thread dedicated to putting practice.

 

Great article! Thanks for sharing.

[ousuxndallas]

Regarding putting: you have to have a repeatable stroke. That's why the need for drills. What good is reading a green if you can't roll the ball where you want it to go? That's why you need to have a stroke that's repeatable. If you hook every putt 100% of the time, that's fine, because it's repeatable. The focus on good putting mechanics has merit because if you break your wrists, then your stroke is not repeatable. Makes it tough to be a good putter.

 

For the "long game", I don't think mechanics are as important. If you have even an ounce of athleticism, then your body will make unconscious minute micro-adjustments during your swing to compensate for an error. Obviously, the more repeatable your mechanics, the more reliable your swing becomes. The margin of error for long game is much greater than for putting. i.e. a 75 yard wide fairway vs. 4.25 inches for a cup.

[sethdavidsdad]

Excellent stuff OP thanks for sharing

[RichieHunt]

I'd just ask Juan73.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

RH

[mhudson111]

I agree that having a good putting stroke does not make you a good reader of greens. There is no logic to that at all.

If you do want to put some logic to it. . .you LEARN to be be a good reader of greens. This is an art, but it's an acquired skill. How do you learn that skill. . .by hitting putts on the line and speed you intend, and seeing how the ball reacts, then making adjustments off that to get the ball in the hole, then taking that new found knowledge to the course.

 

But what I really want to say is : there doesn't need to be logic to it.

 

FWIW, I know exactly what he's talking about. If you putt differently than that, fine, but what he wrote means something to me. In golf -- but at this website in particular -- people want answers to things. "If I do X, then Y should happen".

 

People want to turn putting into an equation "If I can identify the speed of the green, the exact slope of the green, the grain of the green, then get the length of my back swing right, the exact angle of the face, and hit the ball in the center, THEN the ball should go in the hole."

 

I know some people are going, "Of course. How else would you think about it?"

 

And, some people (or at least me), are going, "that's INSANE."

 

Green reading is easy : Balls roll down hill. They roll down steep hills faster. They roll down shorter grass faster. That's it. Now, go practice and PAY ATTENTION to what your putts do.

 

It's inconceivable to me, despite Jagpilothio's post, (I guess 97speedster just said this) that someone thinks they have a good stroke but reads poorly. I get it on an intellectual level, and sure sometimes I feel like I hit a good stroke, but I under-read or over-read the break, but in general, stroke and read are inseparable parts of the whole. People will ask me (or worse, tell me), "did you pull that one?" and I honestly don't know. I don't know if I pulled it or misread it. All I did was hit a putt that misded.

 

Or if I'm in a scramble and hit a good putt, they'll go, "how much break did you play?" and I really don't know. "ehh. . .I started it that way" and I'll point in a general direction.

 

I'm about to get into outer space here -- and I don't care if anyone understands me -- but when I'm putting well (and, I don't always putt well, but when I putt well, I putt WELL), my hands do things that my brain doesn't tell them to do. Like, I'll hit a putt off the heel, and go, "oops, bad stroke" and the putt will roll just slow enough to catch the high side and drop. Or, I'll hit a putt and think it's too hard and it will hold it's line long enough, or ram into the back of the cup and drop. This also happens on long putts. I'll hit a putt and think, "crap, that's 6 feet past" and it will stop next to the hole. And, the only way to acquire these superpowers. . .TOTG : Time on the Green.

 

This was Jordan Spieth after the 2015 Masters. . .

 

“When Justin had that birdie putt, then I had that slider for par, that’s when I really felt like it could get out of my hands if I’m not careful,’ said Spieth. ‘At that point, I was with my putter. I didn’t care what it looked like, didn’t care about my posture, didn’t care about the mechanics. It was all feel-based. I was seeing the line. I was seeing the arc of the putt. It had been the same thing on 15, and I was just going with it.”

 

Here’s what you said about someone else’s experiences

“I feel like I hit a good stroke...”

“I under-read...”

“I don’t know if I...”

“All I did...”

“I started it....”

“But when I’m....”

“I’ll hit a putt...”

“I’ll hit a putt...”

“I’ll hit a putt....”

Do you really think everyone else in the world should or could do the same as you? Everyone is different!

 

[97speedster]

One of the best putters ever Bobby Locke hit all his putts with hook spin. That is proof you do not need a perfect putting stroke. Putting is more feel than mechanics.

 

Players from Bobby Locke era aren’t comparable.... back then the greens were 6 on the stimpmeter, not 13.

[97speedster]

97, how many of the drills did you get from Dotty? The reason I ask is that Dotty played at Furman, Mic Potter coached her and Mic is a friend of mine. Mic gave me nearly all of the drills you are doing and I have done them too for 20+ years. The drills are great for learning speed control and starting a ball on line.

 

The only area I would disagree with you on is the "just try to put a great stroke on it" part, only because it didn't work for me. I went down a rabbit hole trying to make a perfect stroke. Bought every training aid, device, you name it to make a perfect stroke. I couldn't make JACK for five years. I went from a great putter to a three putt maniac. Short ones drove me nuts. I was consumed with making a better and better stroke, thinking that was the key to making putts. I was still doing the drills, plus using other training devices, and couldn't make a putt.

 

I then went to see David Orr. He taught me two things really. He taught me how to find the fall line and how a ball will break. He then taught me to free up my mind and concentrate on the ball going in the hole and quit thinking about making a perfect stroke. He put me on the SAM LAB and I scored off the charts, had a tour level stroke. All of the years perfecting a perfect arc yada yada yada worked. But it didn't make putts. He had me focus on the speed of the ball entering the hole, got me to think of nothing but the ball entering the hole, and BINGO, started making everything.

 

I agree with you about having an attitude of thinking your are the best and not fretting whether or not you make the putt. But for me, if I think about my stroke, my mind will do what I am thinking about, make a perfect stroke. The ball may go in or may not. If I think only of the ball going in the hole, I can put a crap stroke on it and often make more than when my mind is occupied with the mechanics of the stroke.

 

Dottie gave me the 3, 5, 7 drill for sure, but I’m not sure about the others, it’s a been a while.

 

Putting a good stroke on it is different than putting a perfect stroke on it.... one quiets the mind and the other does the opposite IMO.

[q-school]

The guys on tour are on tour mainly because of their putting and play around the greens. There are a ton of guys in the world with PGA quality ball striking but very few with a PGA quality putting and short game.

I don't want to sidetrack the thread too bad, but this is so wrong on so many levels.

 

To GET to the PGA tour, and WITHIN the PGA tour, ball striking is so much more important than putting in separating players. I'm not even going to say any more on the topic here, and just let others speak for me. . .you could start here, if you're interested, but I'm not debating with anyone in this thread dedicated to putting practice.

 

I think you may be missing my point. EVERYONE that is on the tour, or has a legit chance to be on tour, has incredible putting, chipping, and pitching skills. Most people really don’t have a deep understand how good that part of their game is. It’s bordering on inhuman. It’s my contention that the top few hundred players in the world have an innate god given gift that can’t be learned.

 

There are a THOUSANDS of great ball strikers in the world that simply can’t chip and putt well enough to even sniff the tour.

 

I’m actually fascinated by this because I practice like crazy and can’t get better at puttting. All the good players at the club tell me putting is the one area you can almost be tour level and I totally disagree with them.

 

If we say someone is a bad green reader does that imply that they can’t match up speed/ distance for the line they picked or that no combination of speed/line will hole the ball on the line they chose? What does feel mean? Is it totally unrelated to speed/distance? Usually there are more than one combination of speed/distance/line that will hole a putt in my experience. How do we know the difference?

 

Thanks for sharing!

[Hstead]

I will say this about green reading. Before I went to Orr, I never fully understood how to find a fall line and how that effected the break. I was as low as a 0 handicap never really truly understanding how to read a green. I have some guys I play with now that are 4 handicaps or lower, played college golf, and it amazes me how poorly they understand fall line and slope. While we are playing they will say "this has to break right" and I am thinking, heck no, the fall line is right here, it goes left. And sure enough after they misread it they are befuddled.

 

I have taken a Breakmaster to all of our greens and charted them. I know exactly how every green on our course breaks. And these guys will argue with me all of the time, "that has to go left". NO it doesn't lol. Some guys know I have charted them and know if I say it breaks a certain way they listen. Others think they can read a green and can't.

[Juan73]

[

I'd just ask Juan73.

 

 

RH

 

Hey Rich!!! Just found this thread Hope you are doing well my friend.

 

David Orr is FANTASTIC!!!! He has been my putting coach and friend for several years. He used to post frequently on this board. At some point he found that too many people just wanted to argue... even when they were dead wrong. So unfortunately you won't find him here any more. However, check out his Flatstick Academy... probably the best $99 you will ever spend on learning about putting.

 

Hand Eye Coordination is critical in good putting. I once was working with an instructor who was teaching a former NFL Quarterback the Aimpoint method of green reading. We set him up with a 25 foot putt, and while he only made 1 of 5, the other 4 were with in a foot of the hole. And no matter where we put him on the green, he had outstanding distance control. He knew how much energy you needed to apply to the putter/ball to get it to go the right distance. To me it was kinda like knowing how much energy you had to use to throw a football to a receiver... . To me distance control in putting seems real easy compared to being proficient at throwing a football to targets in a real NFL football game.

 

What line? What Speed? I loved Paul Hobart's idea he called "Banana Putting" Think of the shape of a banana.... and he would say, there are lots of combinations of reads and speeds that allow you to make a breaking putt. The softer you hit it, the greater the break, the harder you hit it the less the break.

 

And if you are looking for LOTS of putting drills, check out my book, "Make More Putts"

 

Now back to reading a fiction book!!

 

Juan73

[oikos1]

I will say this about green reading. Before I went to Orr, I never fully understood how to find a fall line and how that effected the break. I was as low as a 0 handicap never really truly understanding how to read a green. I have some guys I play with now that are 4 handicaps or lower, played college golf, and it amazes me how poorly they understand fall line and slope. While we are playing they will say "this has to break right" and I am thinking, heck no, the fall line is right here, it goes left. And sure enough after they misread it they are befuddled.

 

I have taken a Breakmaster to all of our greens and charted them. I know exactly how every green on our course breaks. And these guys will argue with me all of the time, "that has to go left". NO it doesn't lol. Some guys know I have charted them and know if I say it breaks a certain way they listen. Others think they can read a green and can't.

 

That is premium knowledge. Like fishing holes and mushroom spots. Wouldn't be giving that info away lightly.

[97speedster]

I'm actually fascinated by this because I practice like crazy and can't get better at puttting. All the good players at the club tell me putting is the one area you can almost be tour level and I totally disagree with them.

 

If we say someone is a bad green reader does that imply that they can't match up speed/ distance for the line they picked or that no combination of speed/line will hole the ball on the line they chose? What does feel mean? Is it totally unrelated to speed/distance? Usually there are more than one combination of speed/distance/line that will hole a putt in my experience. How do we know the difference?

 

Thanks for sharing!

 

Based on many of the replies, some of you are way over complicating putting which might be part of your problem.... it's pretty simple, groove a straight putt and do these drills to gain confidence in short putts and distance control. If you feel like you are a terrible green reader then go buy a http://www.theperfectputter.com/ and start training your eyes to see where the TRUE break of a putt is.

 

"Feel" is the ability to stroke a putt the distance/speed you want the ball to roll.... from 20 feet and in you want to get the ball to the hole without going more than 3 feet past he hole, but from 50 feet there is nothing wrong with rolling the ball inside of a 3 foot circle whether it ends up 3 or less feet short or long does not kill you.

[Swisstrader98]

I’m just surprised by the fact that there are so few training systems for green reading and making putts outside the likes of Aimpoint and for me Aimpoint is just too anal.

 

Putting is so critical to the game yet not many teaching systems for learning how to read break or speed. In my view, green reading is something you can’t really teach people. It’s more of an innate ability.

 

Just as an aside, I recall some years ago watching an aspiring LPGA pro who also happened to be Korean on the putting green. She Was there with her mother doing drills. My buddy and I make the turn and she’s still there doing drills. Then my buddy and I finish our round, grab a couple beers and I look out at the putting green and she’s still doing drills hours later. I personally deplore drills...so tedious and beyond boring for me, but then again, I’m not on tour. Lol

[Juan73]

I'm just surprised by the fact that there are so few training systems for green reading and making putts outside the likes of Aimpoint and for me Aimpoint is just too anal.

 

Putting is so critical to the game yet not many teaching systems for learning how to read break or speed. In my view, green reading is something you can't really teach people. It's more of an innate ability.

 

Just as an aside, I recall some years ago watching an aspiring LPGA pro who also happened to be Korean on the putting green. She Was there with her mother doing drills. My buddy and I make the turn and she's still there doing drills. Then my buddy and I finish our round, grab a couple beers and I look out at the putting green and she's still doing drills hours later. I personally deplore drills...so tedious and beyond boring for me, but then again, I'm not on tour. Lol

 

When you say Aimpoint is too anal... are you referring to the original Aimpoint where you have a chart or Aimpoint Express, where you straddle the line of the putt, decide on the percent of slope, and then go behind the ball, determine the aimpoint and then putt?

 

If you can not teach green reading, I guess experience is worthless.... since experience is an accumulation of learnings (what you have taught yourself). Anyways, I vehemently disagree that it can not be taught... since you taught yourself via experience.... AND Aimpoint Express is a system that was designed to teach young folks to learn to read greens even if they do not understand the physics behind it.

 

All the Plumb Bobbers out there would also disagree that you can not teach green reading...

 

I would ask you to consider it is a learned skill either through years of playing golf and/or systems that you can learn from to be a better green reader.

[davep043]

I'm just surprised by the fact that there are so few training systems for green reading and making putts outside the likes of Aimpoint and for me Aimpoint is just too anal.

 

Putting is so critical to the game yet not many teaching systems for learning how to read break or speed. In my view, green reading is something you can't really teach people. It's more of an innate ability.

 

Just as an aside, I recall some years ago watching an aspiring LPGA pro who also happened to be Korean on the putting green. She Was there with her mother doing drills. My buddy and I make the turn and she's still there doing drills. Then my buddy and I finish our round, grab a couple beers and I look out at the putting green and she's still doing drills hours later. I personally deplore drills...so tedious and beyond boring for me, but then again, I'm not on tour. Lol

I'm just surprised by the fact that there are so few training systems for green reading and making putts outside the likes of Aimpoint and for me Aimpoint is just too anal.

 

Putting is so critical to the game yet not many teaching systems for learning how to read break or speed. In my view, green reading is something you can't really teach people. It's more of an innate ability.

On one hand, I disagree. Aimpoint is relatively simple to use, once you've absorbed the basics, and trained your body to recognize varying slopes. As "mechanical" as it looks, there's still significant judgement involved, for the effects of compound breaks, uphill and downhill putts, varying green speed, etc. Even so, its a good tool to add, in my experience.

But I agree, I've seen very few other systematic approaches to reading greens. Some people "see" the breaks better than others, but experience, watching how thousands of putts break, is probably the best way to learn to predict how future putts will break.

[TheCityGame]

I'm just surprised by the fact that there are so few training systems for green reading and making putts outside the likes of Aimpoint and for me Aimpoint is just too anal.

 

Putting is so critical to the game yet not many teaching systems for learning how to read break or speed. In my view, green reading is something you can't really teach people. It's more of an innate ability.

 

Just as an aside, I recall some years ago watching an aspiring LPGA pro who also happened to be Korean on the putting green. She Was there with her mother doing drills. My buddy and I make the turn and she's still there doing drills. Then my buddy and I finish our round, grab a couple beers and I look out at the putting green and she's still doing drills hours later. I personally deplore drills...so tedious and beyond boring for me, but then again, I'm not on tour. Lol

 

When you say Aimpoint is too anal... are you referring to the original Aimpoint where you have a chart or Aimpoint Express, where you straddle the line of the putt, decide on the percent of slope, and then go behind the ball, determine the aimpoint and then putt?

 

If you can not teach green reading, I guess experience is worthless.... since experience is an accumulation of learnings (what you have taught yourself). Anyways, I vehemently disagree that it can not be taught... since you taught yourself via experience.... AND Aimpoint Express is a system that was designed to teach young folks to learn to read greens even if they do not understand the physics behind it.

 

All the Plumb Bobbers out there would also disagree that you can not teach green reading...

 

I would ask you to consider it is a learned skill either through years of playing golf and/or systems that you can learn from to be a better green reader.

Sometimes when someone says "you can't teach it", I think they mean it like, "it can't be taught. It can only be learned."

 

Also, I was going to buy your book, and then you talked about plumb bobbing.

 

Ah, Ok. I'll still buy it, but if you have a chapter on plumb bobbing, I'm skipping it.

[Ty_Webb]

The guys on tour are on tour mainly because of their putting and play around the greens. There are a ton of guys in the world with PGA quality ball striking but very few with a PGA quality putting and short game.

I don't want to sidetrack the thread too bad, but this is so wrong on so many levels.

 

To GET to the PGA tour, and WITHIN the PGA tour, ball striking is so much more important than putting in separating players. I'm not even going to say any more on the topic here, and just let others speak for me. . .you could start here, if you're interested, but I'm not debating with anyone in this thread dedicated to putting practice.

 

I think you may be missing my point. EVERYONE that is on the tour, or has a legit chance to be on tour, has incredible putting, chipping, and pitching skills. Most people really don’t have a deep understand how good that part of their game is. It’s bordering on inhuman. It’s my contention that the top few hundred players in the world have an innate god given gift that can’t be learned.

 

There are a THOUSANDS of great ball strikers in the world that simply can’t chip and putt well enough to even sniff the tour.

 

Don't you think it's interesting that you were a +2 while being a crummy putter and your ER doc friend who you call the Wizard is a 7 handicap? Doesn't that tell you which is more important?

 

 

Back to the OP - these are great. My short putting is reasonably good. I am good at holing out and am comfortable with that part of my game. What I really need to work on is my distance control. Loving the drills for those here.

 

Tying the two things together, I think that a lot of putting is confidence, which really comes down to trusting yourself to do what you want to do. People watch the golf on the TV and they see the pros holing everything. I think two things are at play here. One is the producers show the putts that go in and are less likely to show the putts that don't. It's one reason why it's kind of fun to watch on PGA Tour Live, because you watch a handful of players playing basically every shot and you realize that they don't hole everything. The other is that, at least in my head, you watch the players on the TV and it looks like they're let's say 20 feet away, then you see the caption show up and it's 15 feet according to shotlink. Then I go out and play on the course and I look at a putt and I think it's about 20 feet. Then I hit it and go walk to the hole and it's 10 paces away (30 feet). It appears I am dreadful at estimating how long my putts are vs the pros on television.

 

The upshot of those two things together is that I am prone to overestimating how good the pros are and underestimating how good I am. That does nothing for my confidence.

 

I have said this elsewhere on here, but Scott Fawcett has a theory that for longer putting, all you really need to do is get it close. From 20 feet, the PGA tour average make percentage is 14%. That's about 1 in 7 putts. If you hit your putts at a speed to go a foot past the hole and within a foot either side of the hole, that means that the hole represents 1/7 of the space it's rolling through (roughly speaking), because the hole is about 4 inches and the foot either side is another 24 inches. 4/28 is 1/7. That's all you need to do to putt at a PGA tour level is get it within a foot either side of the hole with the right speed. From 20 feet. That's why aimpoint is so good and why finger widths are all you need. It's not an exact science.

 

Continuing on, that is also why there are some players who are very good at holing putts up to about 12 feet, but don't make many 25 footers. Meanwhile there are others who make more than their fair share of putts from 25 feet, but miss more 8 footers than you'd think. One of those is can you start the ball on line. The other is can you hit it the right distance. If you can do both, then you're golden. That's where these drills come in and that's why I posted - so I can find them again. This went on a lot longer than I thought it would when I started!

[Juan73]

 

Also, I was going to buy your book, and then you talked about plumb bobbing.

 

Ah, Ok. I'll still buy it, but if you have a chapter on plumb bobbing, I'm skipping it.

 

IF I have a chapter on Plumb Bobbing -- I will not buy my book. The book is not about technique, it is about assessing your present putting performance level, determining areas of improvement and prioritizing them, setting up practice plans, and 150 different practice drills to select from based on what you need to improve. Even typing the words "Plumb Bobbing" make me nervous!! LOL!!

[Forged4ever]

I'd just ask Juan73.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

RH

?BOOM?

 

Yeppers, nothing like speaking to the actual BITW??

 

I hope that you’re well and stripin it??‍♂️

 

Fairways & Greens 4ever My Friend⛳️

RP