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Fast Downhill Putts

• alanti 10,564 Posts

  Sat, Feb 23 2013 7:39 PM

  Jack Nicklaus once said, it takes hundreds of good shots to gain confidence, but only one bad shot to lose it.

  I feel I have played well for my standards recently but have one nemesis - the fast downhill putt (  2 inches or more Tourny Greens) with some break.I am talking short putts about 6 -7 feet. I used to try and pick the line and knock it into the centre of the hole to negate most of the break. But having missed one with that method, I seem to miss 75% of them now. Last night I played Cabo front nine, 6 under through 6, hit the green on the par 3, 7th only to 4 putt from 10 feet (first was my fault - I was tired and my routine went belly up, and didn't change the meter after doing the maths lol)  I reverted to trying to gently caress them to the hole but my line is usually amiss (the advantage is not having a 6 footer coming back lol).

  Any and all advice would be welcomed, especially from the better putters and players out there.

  Alan

• txzdave 1,316 Posts

  Sat, Feb 23 2013 9:57 PM

  I have to say that I do believe different putting styles for different putters are a big difference when you get to .....mmmmmmmm, about TM. I just recently was "Legendized". With that Rossa it was a big difference from the Nike. I didn't ding the Rossa on short putts and I had the feel down pretty well. Got the Nike and had to learn to ding them bad boys way more often. It really does come down to gettin' to know what you're playing with. Real putts on real greens break way more downhill........I have to remind myself to keep that in mind every putt I hit. Can't give any magic math out since I just play by feel mostly here, but the best of luck in your putting.  

• alanti 10,564 Posts

  Sat, Feb 23 2013 10:21 PM

  Thanks Dave and congrats on making legend! I should have said that I use the Nike Method and also a ding putter and also putt my feel for accuracy (but calculate distance), The longer downhillers I tend to be better with, but it is only the 5 - 7 feet I really am struggling with, On occasion I will deliberately miss the ding on downhill putts but have not found it reliable,

• txzdave 1,316 Posts

  Sun, Feb 24 2013 5:12 PM

  Thanks alanti, I'm in the same boat on those distances. I'd like to hear more on this as well. I will say I tried to go back and use the Rossa, but it was a short lived experience. I probably have 5 or more kick in pars in an 18 hole round. I feel like I'm learning to putt all over again since tiering up. I'm not ready to try another putter yet since I'm learning to ding the Nike a little more consistently, but that might be the magical secret to get some of those head scratchers to start droppin'.

• coolpar 152 Posts

  Sun, Feb 24 2013 5:16 PM

  Having trouble with that length breaking putt also. Using Lev 51 Nike. If I do not ding it, it will not go in. Even the slightest miss of the ding is a miss. Seems like dinging is near impossible even with 3.5 feel ball.

• MainzMan 9,591 Posts

  Mon, Feb 25 2013 12:48 AM

  The 5-7 footers are tricky when they're downhill with a fair bit of break.  Up to 3 feet you can just hit it hard into the cup but for longer ones you have to play a bit more carefully.

  Are you tending to miss below the hole, that is, not allowing enough break?  Most missed puitts go past on the low side in my experience, try aiming too far off line and see if you have more success.  Simple advice I know and you probably already do this but sometimes we forget the basics.  A ball that is above the hole has a chance of dropping in the side of the hole, one that goes below will miss every time.

  If you have a 7 foot putt with 2 inch of drop try hitting it 4 feet and aiming too far into the break, if it misses you should leave a tap in return instead of a 5 footer.

  I use the L92 Ghost Spider and get on great with it.  I had the L66 before and liked it too.  I hated the Nike, couldn't get on with it at all but putters are a very personal choice, what works for me or you might not be right for someone else.  I move the aim marker and try to hit the ding almost every putt, I understand the Ghost Spider isn't good if you aim by missing the ding, it certainly loses a lot of distances on missed ding shots.

  Good luck.

• ScottHope 10,410 Posts

  Mon, Feb 25 2013 2:19 AM

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• Steve2golf 930 Posts

  Mon, Feb 25 2013 3:29 AM

  ScottHope:

  I probably shouldn't be commenting here as my putting stats are worse than the op's, but when I'm on a putt with a break and I move the aim marker to compensate for that break, I always make a note of the change in elevation (if any). So for example, if I have 10ft putt with a 2 inch drop, and after moving the aim marker to compensate for the break the elevation changes to a 1 inch drop, I would take that elevation change into account when calculating the amount of power to use.

  That is actually good advice, if you are standing at 10 and 2 down and you move the marker and it goes to 10 and 0 and hit the 8 feet you will be short or the putt will boomerang and miss.

  I think those short  down hill putts are the most tricky, best advice is take your aim and then give it a bit more. I usually move the marker to the point I say that looks good, then move it a bit more and often still end up low.

  Also you need to take into consideration how aggressive you plan on playing it, I know I sometimes take my aim and change my mind to a lag in the swing causing a miss low as well.

• bhoese 679 Posts

  Mon, Feb 25 2013 7:38 AM

  Those putts are tough because you need to be precise with your power as well as your aim point.  

  For a perfectly straight putt, you've got up to 5 feet of extra power you can use, and it will still drop.  But if it's entering the hole at an angle - say, 45 degrees off the direct line - you only have a few inches of margin for error with your power.  

  You need to really know your putter.  A Putter Pal (homemade or purchased) is extremely helpful too.  On misses, pay attention to the speed of the ball - did you really misread the break, or did you just hit it too hard/soft?  Knowing the difference gives you a better chance of getting it right next time.