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How to Gauge Putt Distances

• ccapezza 54 Posts

  Mon, May 21 2012 11:23 AM

  Here's a really easy to use system that will get you close every time. It doesn't matter what putter or ball you use, it will work for you! Sorry guys, it doesn't help you aim (you have to learn some things for yourself!).

  (DISTANCE) +/- (ELEVATION CHANGE) X (GREEN SPEED) ÷ (METER DISTANCE) = % TO HIT
  

  • STANDARD GREEN SPEED = 1
  • FAST GREEN SPEED = .9
  • VERY FAST GREEN SPEED = .85
  • TOURNAMENT GREEN SPEED = .8

  Let's suppose you have a 23ft putt with 4" of uphill elevation change on a very fast green with a putt meter distance of 30ft:

  (23) + (4) x (.85) ÷ (30) = 76.5%<--- That's how hard to hit the ball!!!

  Yes, i know this seems like a pain in the @$$, and a bit tedious, but i assure you once you get the hang of it it will become second nature.

  It's also important to note that this will help you GET CLOSE... Not necessarily in the hole every time. So please don't write me and say that you had a 600ft putt that you missed by 2 ft and the formula doesn't work. Everyone has their own ways of putting, and you may find that you need to add a little or take away a little from the final number to sink the putt.

• pjctas0822 4,609 Posts

  Mon, May 21 2012 1:11 PM

  Another very good tip...........Thanks.

  I will still stick to gripping n ripping. Just feels more natural and fun too. I cant stand doing math homework :)

  I guess if I wanted to be a serious contender for this game I would use some of these formulas but enough repetition is all I need . Now if this game had a whole bunch of different courses to plat repetition would'nt work .

  Lets take the TW series for example . They at one point had hundreds of downloadable courses to play where knowledge of the courses was impossible to remember. Then I would definitely use this and every other formula by some good people posting the way they do it in this forum.

   

• nyctc7 160 Posts

  Tue, May 22 2012 2:10 PM

  I use the avatar movement method, here's what I do (sorry for cross-posting this, I have it on another thread, but it seems appropriate here):

  Add or subtract 1 foot for each inch the putt goes uphill or downhill.

  Take that number and divide by

  Slow Green divide by .9

  Standard divide by 1.0
  Fast divide by 1.1
  Very Fast divide by 1.2
  Tournament divide by 1.3

  And use that number as your putting distance.

  Figure out how many movements the avatar makes (draws back the putter) for your putting scales. For example a 15' meter has 2.5 movements so the first two are 6' and the last is 3'. A 30' meter has 5 movements of 6'. A 60' has 5 movements of 12'.  Divide the length of the putt (the number you figured above) by one movement, i.e. a 23' putt would be  23/6 = 3.8 movements on the 30' meter and 23/12 = 1.9 movements on the 60' meter. Move the avatar the appropriate amount. Sure, if you come up with you have to move the avatar 2.73 movements it's not going to be absolutely clear how far to move it unless you tape something to the screen, just as you would have to do with say 73.5% using the percentage method, but I don't do that.  

  One more thing: on the last avatar movement, "waggle" it a little (move the putter back and forth) to "dial in" that distance. Then move it to where you want, i.e. if it's 1.8 movements you want, go to the second movement, waggle, then back off a bit. If it's 3.3 you want, go to the third movement, waggle, then add a little more.

  And of course inside of 10' you're going to want to hit it a little harder than the number you come up with and inside of 3' you can usually ram it in.

  It's easier than it sounds.

   

  I almost always get the distance right, misses are not reading the break as well as I should or missing the ding by more than I should.

   

  Source for formula: http://www.wgt.com/forums/p/89159/565243.aspx#565243 

  Source for how to waggle: http://www.wgt.com/forums/p/22186/127277.aspx#127277