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Am I aiming incorrectly on green?

• slimjym 141 Posts

  Fri, Sep 23 2016 8:08 AM

  As I understand it, upon viewing a putting tutorial, the gray rectangular box with accompanying upside down blue triangle (found at the flag stick giving distance & elevation change) should be moved to different places on the green to adjust for shots with various "lie & elevations".

  I myself however have always left the rectangular box/triangle stationary at the flag stick & then adjusted the direction of my putt by clicking either side of "dead center" on the swing meter, depending on whether I wanted my putt to go left or right. Have I been doing it incorrectly all this time? Does it make any difference whether we change the position of the box/triangle to aim our ball, while I assume, clicking on the swing meter dead center, or is my method of clicking an appropriate amount left or right of dead center just as good?

• lonniescott711 4,207 Posts

  Fri, Sep 23 2016 9:30 AM

  slimjym:

  As I understand it, upon viewing a putting tutorial, the gray rectangular box with accompanying upside down blue triangle (found at the flag stick giving distance & elevation change) should be moved to different places on the green to adjust for shots with various "lie & elevations".

  I myself however have always left the rectangular box/triangle stationary at the flag stick & then adjusted the direction of my putt by clicking either side of "dead center" on the swing meter, depending on whether I wanted my putt to go left or right. Have I been doing it incorrectly all this time? Does it make any difference whether we change the position of the box/triangle to aim our ball, while I assume, clicking on the swing meter dead center, or is my method of clicking an appropriate amount left or right of dead center just as good?

  No you arent doing anything wrong when putting . There are players who move the marker and then putt relying on hitting the ding . Then there are others like you who leave the maker in its default position and putt missing the ding . You will also find that you can move the marker and putt missing the ding as well . You have to find what works best for you and go with that .

  I too am a miss ding putter and to me its the truest form of putting but others may not agree with that . But as you move back on the tees the greens will get faster and the breaks become more pronounced . So moving the marker will change the line of the putt to help the ball hold according to the break . So you can play all 3 ways that I described when putting and find that they all work .

  Hope this helps and good luck with your game .

   

• ScottHope 10,609 Posts

  Fri, Sep 23 2016 9:44 AM

  Just to avoid any possible confusion, 'Ding' = 'Dead centre'.

• alosso 21,088 Posts

  Fri, Sep 23 2016 9:52 AM

  slimjym:

  Does it make any difference whether we change the position of the box/triangle to aim our ball, while I assume, clicking on the swing meter dead center, or is my method of clicking an appropriate amount left or right of dead center just as good?

  I'm putting off-ding, too - it was so simple as a noob. Alas, I regret it, I missed a lot of practice in Ding putting, too much to change now. Now I am a medicre off-ding putter :(

  Common to both is that you must hit with a certain strength and click at a certain point to get the putt in.

  The biggest difference is that the putting strength drops if you click far off the ding. So, you never really know how hard you putt. Big plus to Ding putting.

  Other fact is that you can't hit enough off-ding on severe slopes on slippery greens. Then (about at Tour Master) you must move the marker - why not practice it all the time before?

   

  One related issue is that some putters are good for dinging and some are good for off-dinging. Forgiveness is the key, look before you buy!

• YankeeJim 25,827 Posts

  Fri, Sep 23 2016 11:00 AM

  slimjym:

  Have I been doing it incorrectly all this time?

  Not at all, as stated above. Whatever works is good.  I used to be that kind of putter, too, but I ran into trouble with the better putters. As the precision and balance got better you would have to miss by a lot bigger margin. Some took the time to figure it out but I went to a ding putter myself using avatar moves. To each their own.  :-)