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Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague
The thing about putting is that there isn't really a "correct" way to do it, which from what instructors have told me, makes it harder to give lessons.
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Said no instructor ever. The mechanics of putting is the easiest thing to teach but it is the hardest skill for students to grasp because it requires imagination and touch, which most players do not develop without playing a lot. Putting is difficult because you have to trust your stroke to hit points on an invisible curve which is extremely hard for players to do.
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Originally Posted by bigrangy
For me, I try to simplify putting as much as possible.
Read the putt, line up your ball to a point matching the read, hit the ball as straight as possible. Trust the read above everything else.
I find whenever I’m still thinking about the line while putting I start to miss a lot more. Lock that in then the only thing that matters is a smooth stroke (which should be easy) and pace (much harder).
This also lets you know more obviously if your choice of line was wrong, so you can learn from that over time.
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This is a wonderful approach to putting. This is ignoring many of the mechanical issues that players run into but addresses the easiest philosophy to becoming a decent putter quickly. Make the read, feel the distance in your hands, then roll the putt, thinking only of rolling the putt over your intermediary mark - the imaginary point on the curve.
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Originally Posted by Winsor_Pilates
All things I'm trying to figure out I guess.
My grip is just where my hands feel right but haven't worked on it. Bias is leaving it short or missing low side on breaking putts (not seeing the break enough).
Don't really push or pull it too much, probably more an issue with my reading and lag.
Need to take a couple lessons.
I'm getting 40-41 putts a round so getting to 33-36ish would be a game changer.
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I'm happy to see bigrangy get to what I was going to outline and then you touch on some of the concepts as well. Get the line then focus on the roll.
You're on the right track IMO, so continue to work on it.
When it comes to reading a putt my advice is to imagine you're standing in a downpour and the water is running across the green. Where is the water going to run to pool on or exist the putting surface. This is where the breaks on the green are going to go. This is going to address 85% of the break.
Another 10% of the break is going to be in the grass you're playing on and the grain evident on the surface. Bent and Bermuda are very grainy and will keep a ball straight, make it break more, or make it quicker or slower, depending on lay of the blades. There are two easy ways to see which way the grain is going and understand the impact. First, is look at the grass from opposite directions. You should see one direction looking lighter and the other slightly darker. The darker is the direction the grass is laying, meaning it will be faster and allow more break. The second is to look inside the hole and look for the ragged edge of the cut cup. One side will be clean, but the other will have a ragged look. This is the direction the grain is going. Once you have this figured out you should be able to gauge your speed.
Another 5% of the putt is going to be the atmosphere you're playing in. Is it windy? That will impact the roll. Is it humid out and the grass is standing up? That will impact the roll. You don't normally have to be concerned with these issues on most of your putts, but they are things you need to be aware of as you get better with the Texas wedge.
Once you have your read I always recommend that you find a spot on the green that is the apex of the break and then mark your line to that point. Almost all balls have an alignment aid stamped on them now, so use this to your advantage. Get behind your ball and make the line on the ball to the apex of your break. This line will allow you to make a square stroke and stay on line as you focus on making a good confident roll. The goal of the putt is not longer hitting it the hole, it is hitting it to the intermediary mark and letting gravity do the rest. In your mind the putt becomes shorter and is easier to stay on line and give you a better chance to make the lag.
The next most important thing you need to do is develop feel for your stroke. This is accomplished through developing a touch on the putting green and then feeling it in your feet when you're on the course.
The first part is pretty simple. You need to get a feel for rolling the ball on the green. Find the flattest part on the putting green and roll putts from 3 feet, 6 feet, 9 feet, 12 feet, and 15 feet, from all four primary ordinals on the compass. This will help you develop feel quickly. After a while you only need to find your 15 foot and 3 foot speed because you've trained yourself on the other steps. This practice is where you will make up tons of strokes out on the course. Spend less time blasting drivers and spend more time rolling putts.
The second part of developing feel may sound funny, but if you can't feel it in your feet you're not likely going to feel it in your hands. This is why a lot of players are now straddling their line on several spots on the way to the hole. They want to be able to feel the gravity the green and how it translates to their hands. Once you have this feel in your feet you'll be that much more comfortable rolling the ball. Happy feet = happy stroke.
One last bit of advice is to try and take your hands out of your putt as much as possible. A very popular method right now is to used a longer grip and lock out the putter grip against your leading wrist or forearm. I'm not a fan of this as I think this is against the rules, but it is deemed acceptable by the tour. I tend to extend my index fingers and lock the high finger in the grip of the lower hand. This firms up the wrists and makes it really hard to activate them and take your stroke off line. At this point you are really just trying to make a square stroke and roll the ball over the intermediary mark. It is a simple easy philosophy and will work for most players out there. They key to making it work is practice, like anything else, but the time commitment is minimal.
My routine when I arrive to the course (usually 20-25 minutes before tee time) is to have an 8-12 ball warm up (4 x 8 iron, 4 x driver, 4 x sand wedge) then head right to the practice green and spend the majority of my time on the putting green. The green is where you spend most of your shots, so get that aspect down the best you can before heading to the course. Getting loose is important, but getting the speed of the greens is where you save your round.
Hope this was helpful.