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Putting Help :(

• MainzMan 9,591 Posts

  Sat, Sep 22 2012 12:06 PM

  mdurant89884:

  what do you mean play for the ding?

  Some players don't move the aim marker, instead they deliberately miss the ding early or late to control the direction of the ball.  I think most move the marker and try to hit the ding.

   

   

  Ryan, I'm not the best putter around, quite far from it but one thing that hasn't been mentioned so far is slightly over compensating for break.  A ball hit too far outside the line always has a chance of dropping in the side of the hole, a ball that is hit on the low side will never do this.  This method works well when you're not confident of reading the line correctly and hit a little tentatively, it's less sucessful when you ram the ball in the hole.

  Icon already mentioned uphill putts breaking less than flat ones and flat ones less than downhill ones.  Aiming too far outside the hole works well on downhillers as the ball is travelling slowly and will usually break more than you expect.   You're already hitting past the hole which is crucial.

  Putting well seems to depend quite a lot on confidence as far as I can tell.  If I make a good putt on the first hole it often sets the tone for the whole round, sadly the same applies if I make a fool of myself on the first green.

  Good luck mate, you'll find your groove again.

• bhoese 679 Posts

  Sun, Sep 23 2012 12:06 AM

  brysoni23:

  Hello all,

  I'm struggling with my putting big time, i've read numerous posts, i've tried GOLD'S putting formual and I still suck at one putting. (38%)

  The main problem seems to be reading the line just like most others.

  I never struggle with the distance always go between 1.5ft and 3ft past if i miss. My GIR is getting good (76%) and my average distance to pin is 15ft.

  Can anyone suggest anything to help? should i maybe hit less power and allow for more break or hit the putts harder with less break?

  I've tried to leave myself uphill putts as often as possible but i still miss the damn putt.

  Cheers

  Brys

  Slow down and use chip view. 

  I just started using chip view this week (thanks to many helpful posters who have suggested it) and it's helping a lot.  The chip view lets you move the grid around.  You'll find that by doing this, the speed of the dots can change (and sometimes even reverse) along your line.  I don't use it every hole, only when the dots immediately to either side of my line are moving at a different speed, or when the reverse view shows a different break than the front.  

  I've slowed down my putting routine in the past few weeks and it's paying off.  I'll put the marker about where I think it should be, then I'll visualize what will happen if I hit that line.  If it doesn't feel right, I'll do it again.  And maybe again.  Then I'll use the reverse angle and repeat the process.  

  When I'm ready to hit the putt, if I find myself hoping to miss on one side or the other, I'll stop and have another look and probably move the marker in that direction.  When I'm finally satisfied I'll let it go.   If I hit the ding, I'll think about the result (good or bad), committing it to memory*.  If I miss the ding, I think of it as bad data and ignore the result.

  *By memory, I don't mean that I expect to recall the exact inches of break on an X-foot putt with dots moving at Y speed.  It's a feel thing.  

  I'll look at 7-20 footers for as long as five minutes.  Seriously.  Don't do this in MP.

  I don't think longer putts are worth as much effort (for now).  The information we get from the grids isn't precise enough.  I'm just happy to get them within 3 feet.

  Now, don't expect all this analysis to put the ball in the cup - at least not right away.  This is a method for learning.  It's a feedback loop that makes the process a little better the next time, and the time after that.  I really believe I'm a better putter because of it.  

  Hope this helps!  And don't mess with your power.  You're doing that absolutely right, so use that as a baseline and develop your feel from there.  

  BH

• SGTBilko 1,686 Posts

  Sun, Sep 23 2012 4:21 AM

  MainzMan:

  Some players don't move the aim marker, instead they deliberately miss the ding early or late to control the direction of the ball.  I think most move the marker and try to hit the ding.

   

  I think your off a bit MainzMan, we had this discussion quite a few times on the forum here, it is closer to abut 60/40. 

  for the record I use early late, it works better for me.

• mulfreak 25 Posts

  Sun, Sep 23 2012 7:10 AM

  You are correct.  I find putting the hardest and most frustrating part of the game.  I bought a spider putter and that is helping.  The gentleman who spoke of taking ones time on the reads has something there, although I dont get the chip thing to read the greens.  The longest I've made is 44ft, and that was luck as I was about 1/8" of the ding the the left.  In fact I notice that I rarely overshoot the ding;well once in a while but mostly am a bit early.  Does this give me a slice or a hook?  Beautiful links day here in New England. 

• MainzMan 9,591 Posts

  Sun, Sep 23 2012 11:31 AM

  SGTBilko:

  it is closer to abut 60/40. 

  60% play to miss the ding?  Even if it's the other way round that's still way higher than I'd ever have expected.

  Thanks for the enlightenment.

• cmey45 11 Posts

  Mon, Sep 24 2012 9:31 AM

  its a video game throw the putter away  lol

• bneyla1 143 Posts

  Tue, Oct 2 2012 5:33 PM

  bhoese:

  I've slowed down my putting routine in the past few weeks and it's paying off.  I'll put the marker about where I think it should be, then I'll visualize what will happen if I hit that line.  If it doesn't feel right, I'll do it again.  And maybe again.  Then I'll use the reverse angle and repeat the process.  

  I do a variation of this. I first read the putt as if I'm hitting right at the hole. I then move my marker however much I read it to break. Then I put my finger on the monitor and draw an imaginary line of how I think the putt will roll, then I adjust accordingly. Sometimes I'll draw that line 5-6 times to get a good read.

  I'm no expert putter but this method has helped me a lot, I'm way improved (you can tell by looking at my putting stats and how bad they are because of how poorly I used to putt...)