What to you, is the most Frustrating Aspect of Putting?

[Rob McHugh]

Leaving any putt short dead centre. I don’t leave many short because it is something I have focused on over the years, but I hate it when I do - just a wasted stroke.

 

Rob

[PutterPro]

When having a really good birdie opportunity from 8”/10” and blowing your first putt past the hole, then miss your par putt and walk away with bogey! Aaaaahhhhhhh! It makes me wanna scream!

[WidespreadPanic]

I can go out and shoot a 72 and putt great and be stoked. Then the next round I’ll have a bad putting day and think that I need to change everything. The grip, the way I grip it, weight, length, head...everything. Its the one club in my bag that will cause me to panic after just one bad round.

[JabbathePutt]

The lip out...."a momentary loss of muscular coordination, all right? A few extra pounds of energy per second, per second..."

[bogeypro]

I hate that I didn’t hole out the wedge shot. ?

[Rosco1216]

Having a consistent miss tendency throughout a round without correcting it.

[Zach Heusser]

Slow greens

[davep043]

Imperfections in the greens.

Knowing that you can hit a putt perfectly and miss and yet hit a putt poorly and make it. Irrational at best.

These two are absolutely inter-related. Its hard to accept invisible variations on the surface that will cause identical putts to have different results.

[ThinkingPlus]

Imperfections in the greens.

Knowing that you can hit a putt perfectly and miss and yet hit a putt poorly and make it. Irrational at best.

These two are absolutely inter-related. Its hard to accept invisible variations on the surface that will cause identical putts to have different results.

And you have absolutely no control over the outcome. You control speed, line, and you choose your read, but imperfections and how the ball rolls over them is somewhat random and can melt your confidence like ice cream on a summer sidewalk.

[getitdaily]

For me it's having the same expectations now as when I was practicing 5 days a week. Just don't see and feel breaks as well as I used to but I expect to make putts like I used to...

[Ivyguy]

Having a nearly unlimited amount of time to be perfectly clear on what is going to happen, just to get over the ball and tweak something based on something I might have seen.

 

Also, when the ball breaks away from water lol.

[dlygrisse]

First off, I consider myself a good putter, not a great one, but better than your average hack. I rarely 3 putt and I make a few on occasion.

 

My biggest frustration is having those days when you hit a bunch of good putts and nothing seems to go in, you lip 3-5 out and you just have the speed, line or read wrong by a fraction of an inch all day long.

[davep043]

First off, I consider myself a good putter, not a great one, but better than your average hack. I rarely 3 putt and I make a few on occasion.

 

My biggest frustration is having those days when you hit a bunch of good putts and nothing seems to go in, you lip 3-5 out and you just have the speed, line or read wrong by a fraction of an inch all day long.

The thing is, you know these days are offset by the days when everything seems to go in. But those days you remember that you "deserve" to make those long ones, and on the other days you putted just as well, except for the ball going in part of the equation. Which all goes back to my post about invisible variations in the surface in the surface.

[dlygrisse]

Imperfections in the greens.

Knowing that you can hit a putt perfectly and miss and yet hit a putt poorly and make it. Irrational at best.

These two are absolutely inter-related. Its hard to accept invisible variations on the surface that will cause identical putts to have different results.

And you have absolutely no control over the outcome. You control speed, line, and you choose your read, but imperfections and how the ball rolls over them is somewhat random and can melt your confidence like ice cream on a summer sidewalk.

 

This kind of stuff used to drive me crazy, but after reading Dave Pelz's book I learned to deal with the reality of it. I haven't opened the book in many years, and I disagree with most of his putting mechanics and philosophies. However his stuff on reading greens, picking your starting line, and the expectations on making putts were game changers for me.

Tiger in his prime used to totally blow me away with his ability to make putts when it mattered, Jack was the same way. It was almost supernatural what they could do. Watch that putt in slow-mo that Tiger made at Torrey in 2008. It must of bounced over 8 spike marks on the way to the hole. It's like he read the spike marks.

 

Golf is not billiards, you shouldn't expect a perfect playing surface, just like you should never expect to get a perfect lie on the fairway. we are playing outdoors on grass, we should feel lucky the conditions in this day and age are as good as they are. 200 years ago the greens were often worse than todays fairways.

[Fade]

Sometimes when I have worked too hard the week before, it seems like I am too tired to muster up the concentration necessary to putt well and there is nothing I can do about it.

[Ahotrain]

The ball not going in the cup part. Really kills my score every week

[averysdad]

I struggle with getting the d&@n ball in the d &@n hole too often. Just kidding... I struggle with maintaining my routine CONSTANTLY.