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Swing / Putt Meter

• JStricklin5 9 Posts

  Mon, Aug 1 2016 8:55 AM

  hey hackman if youre so great then why cant you help me with this problem it is its not a joke to me so i would appreciate you being serious and help me dont critisie me

   

• JStricklin5 9 Posts

  Mon, Aug 1 2016 9:29 AM

  yes i am . i was asking about what the ding on putts mean i know its funny to ask .and i cant judge the length of putt by what the meter says ,one of your champion golfers alughed at me i want to get better at this but if i dont ask then how will i ,hackman laughed at me he is level 93 .im sure he had problems on this but that gives him no right to treat others like they are stupid

   

• garyk49 2,333 Posts

  Mon, Aug 1 2016 1:56 PM

   

  No one here said you were stupid.  We just couldn't believe that you appeared to be under the impression that if you hit the ding the putt would drop.

  The only thing hitting the ding means, is that in most cases your shot will go where you aimed it.  If you didn't aim to the correct place on the green based on the break, you can ding it all day and the putt won't drop.

  If you search the forums you are going to find many tips to improve your putting.

  Distance control, break are just 2 things that you need to learn.  Standred, fast, very fast, tournement, championship are all different greens speeds.  Each needs it own amount of putting power.  Championship being the fastest, so putts on that green will be hit softer, then the same putt on a Standred speed green.

  Again, you can find information in the forums on how to determine how hard to hit the putt.  I use the movement method that I have charted out for my putter(every putter will be different, so the numbers associated with mine would not work with yours, unless it was the same putter).  I also use the ding method of hitting putts.  Others use what is called the off ding method of putting.

  I have looked at many of the tips for figuring break.  Some of them just don't make sense to me.  But I also have a number of years of practice(key word right there, PRACTICE) and rely alot on memory for breaks.  Everyone has their own style, you need to develope yours.

  Use the search to the right and you will find alot of help.

  Putting is the key to this game, it takes awhile to master(if at all) it.

  But again, no one called you stupid.

• ScottHope 10,609 Posts

  Mon, Aug 1 2016 2:36 PM

  @JStricklin, to help you play the game, I would recommend you watch these tutorial videos by WGT.  Some of them may be a little out of date but they're a good starting point to help beginners get the hang of the game. TUTORIAL VIDEOS.

• PaulTon 10,731 Posts

  Mon, Aug 1 2016 3:41 PM

  JStricklin5:

  why cant you help me with this problem it is its not a joke to me so i would appreciate you being serious and help me dont critisie me

  Here's a great site with advice on all aspects of the game.

  Gary Pinhunters golf tip website.

• hakman123 2,119 Posts

  Mon, Aug 1 2016 7:27 PM

  JStricklin5:

  yes i am . i was asking about what the ding on putts mean i know its funny to ask .and i cant judge the length of putt by what the meter says ,one of your champion golfers alughed at me i want to get better at this but if i dont ask then how will i ,hackman laughed at me he is level 93 .im sure he had problems on this but that gives him no right to treat others like they are stupid

  OK OK - but in fairness I never said (or even implied) you were stupid. I simply laughed at something funny you said - not at you.

  Now - I have stopped laughing I will be more serious and help you out. I see a number of posts already made to links on tutorials and helpful coaching sites like pinhunters (which I highly recommend).

  I will share some more specific info that I have gleaned over the past year or 2.

  1. Putting is all about line and distance.

  • You need to calculate the correct distance for the ball to travel - allowing a couple of extra feet to make sure it reaches the hole at the correct speed (I think it was Lee Trevino who said "99% of short putts don't go in")
  • You need to allow the correct break for the green slopes - as shown by the moving dots - fast dots = steep slope      slow dots = shallow slope.

  2. The DING is simply 'timing your shot'.

  • Early = Aims Left & Draw / Hook
  • Late = Aims Right & Fade / Slice
  • In putting Hook or Slice minimal, but missing the DING starts the ball off-line

  3. Distance

  • Distance depends on the speed of the green (stimp meter shown)
  • Try these charts - shown for different putter scales
  • Or my simple rule of thumb says add 1 to Stimp Meter to get the distance a putt will travel at Power = 10
  • Example: -- Stimp = 12 for Tourney green, so Putt Power = 10 will go 12+1=13 ft

  4. Distance - allowance for Slope

  • For elevation changes - allow 1 ft per inch of elevation  for small slopes
  • Add a little more if the slope is steep
  • Example: 16 feet distance & elevation down 3 inches  --  Stimp = 12
    • downhill so reduce power    16-3 = 13 ft
    • add 2 ft to get past hole    = 15 ft
    • Stimp = 12   --  So Power Required =   15/13 x 10 = 11.6   

  5. Putter Scale - Don't Use 100% ever

  • The Putter Scale changes - so you can dial up different scales as required.
  • If you need to hit Power = 10       DO NOT USE THE SCALE of 10!!!
  • In fact never use a scale where you need to use anything close to 100% of the scale shown.
  • If you use anything near 100% - the swing meter will be much faster near  the DING making it much harder to hit the DING dead centre.
  • Better to use a wider scale and calculate the required %
  • Example for Power = 10     Use 50% on 20 Scale    or 20% on 50 Scale.

  6. Allowance for Break.

  • This is the really tough one - and requires practice and feel
  • Dot speed I classify into Fast / Medium / Slow.
  • Experience alone tells you what "Medium" is.
  • Perhaps somebody can correct me here - as I have not timed it myself, I just go by feel - but I would guess that "Medium" dot speed means that the dot takes about 3s to cross 1 putting grid square.
  • Anyway - at Medium Dot-Speed - a 25 foot putt on a flat green will break 1 grid square down hill. So that defines what I mean by "Medium Dot-Speed".
  • Play around until you have a good alignment with you perception of "Medium Speed" and the actual putting break - and then scale accordingly.
  • If the dots are about half as fast - then allow half the break.
  • If the dots are about twice as fast - then allow twice the break.
  • For uphill putts allow less break - the ball rolls "into" the slope and breaks less.
  • For downhill putts allow more break.
  • You will soon get the feel for tweaking this.
  • Example:  Fast dots at 2 x Medium.   30 ft putt up 6 inches.
    • Effective Distance is 36 ft   + 2 ft for holing speed = 38 ft
    • Break for Medium dots = 36/25 = 1.44 grid squares
    • Double for 2 x Medium dot speed = 2.88 grid squares
    • Aim narrower for Uphill putt ---  I would go for about 2 grid squares.
  • Place the aiming marker at the distance of the hole - but moved to the side (uphill) 2 grid squares from the hole.

  7. Inspecting the slopes and allowing for multiple slopes.

  • You can get good information by changing camera angles (front / rear view) and by changing the club selection from Putt to Chip mode, allowing you to move the grid around and inspect wherever you want.
  • Remember the dot speed represents the slope in the middle of the grid square - not along the grid line - so moving the centre of the grid square over the area you wish to know the slope can be far more accurate.
  • The overall break you need to allow for is the weighted average for the slope along the line of the putt.
  • Slopes can go one way then the other in a putt.  Personally I find that early break counts for more than late break. A small deviation early can mean a few feet at the end of the putt - while a small deviation late might only mean few cup diameters.   So if the putt breaks left in the 1st half of the putt, and then right in the latter half of the putt by about the same slopes -- then you need to allow more for the early left break - and aim a bit to the right.

  7. Off-DING

  • You can use the aiming marker to allow for the break - but some people use an Off-Ding method to allow for break.
  • So if you need to aim a bit left - because the green slopes to the right - then one option is to aim a bit left --- but some prefer to aim straight and miss the DING early.
  • This off-ding method has a couple of advantages:---
    • It is easier to miss the ding by a bit than to hit it spot on.
    • Away from the DING - the impact is less sensitive 
    • Aiming straight with a cross-sloping green can be frustrating at times - sometimes the ball comes fairly straight off the club - sometimes it seems to come off the club at an angle  10 degrees or more in the downhill direction - and you end up missing the cup on the low side as the ball breaks.    If you hit Off-Ding  slightly up the slope every time -- then this seems to prevent these rogue angles.

  9. Practice, Practice, Practice    Experience, Experience, Experience

  10.  Good Luck & Happy Hacking. 

  I hope somebody finds this interesting or helpful, or both.  I am not the best putter by a long shot, but I think I know what I am supposed to do - even if I am not that great at doing it yet!

  Neil (The Hakman)

   

• K7JBQ 1,469 Posts

  Mon, Aug 1 2016 9:24 PM

  Neil,

  Great stuff, and thanks. Just one addition:

  When putting short breakers, do not use the reverse camera; the breaks are exaggerated. Putting from normal view will get you better results.