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Ping red wood putter

• mannyo68 23 Posts

  Sun, Jan 10 2010 3:22 PM

  I have to say after 2 days of trying avatar movements my putting has improved dramatically along with my confidence. Still getting beat up in match play but posted a 5 under in 18 hole Ready go. The putter was working well that day. The biggest help was probably that first move of each meter helps me in th 5 to 18 ft range which is where I was having the most difficulties. Moving it a little either way after reaching that first move is the trick to getting it just a hair longer or shorter than the avatar movements allow. It is a lot less math on my part and not paying attention to a scale as playing by feel which is more like real putting. I still use a mix of avatar movements and a scale taped to the monitor. I think with some more practice I will be able to toss the scale away although it comes in handy on short lob shots. Thanks again Yankee Jim... see ya on the links... Manny

• YankeeJim 25,827 Posts

  Sun, Jan 10 2010 5:56 PM

  .....and Link, having vanquished the mighty Gannon, accepts the gifts of the Sages and walks hand in hand with Princess Redwood off into the sunset.............

• mannyo68 23 Posts

  Tue, Jan 12 2010 9:44 PM

  Okay Jim, Link is back. I have bought into the avatar movements and can leave most of my putts very close. I feel a lot better about the Redwood and like it very much now. The trouble now is getting the break right. I can leave most of my approach shots inside 15 ft. but can't sink the putts with regularity even though I have the distances down now. Is there some way of using the grid other than just for seeing how fast the balls are moving. I have tried to break the squares into halves, quarter, eighths and then give each ball speed a value but that isn't working. I used the cup size and moved my aim depending on speed but no luck. Does anyone have any equation using the squares on the putting grid similar to the avatar movements equaling certain distances? I have searched the forums looking for tips using the grid in increments but haven't found any. I know the answer already and it is going to be "practice, practice, practice". I am doing a lot of that to no avail. I have played tons of practice rounds leaving me putts in the 6 to 20 foot range up until the maximum shots reached sign. I need some enlightenment. Thanks

• danohi50 1,020 Posts

  Wed, Jan 13 2010 12:51 AM

  Manny if you like playing by feel or the seat of your pants practice this. On right to left breaks that arn't to severe, try missing the meter to the right (of the ding line0 or on left to right breaks, miss it left.

  experiment..on the putts with lots of break, ill move the aim point some to help, but other wise just leave the aim point alone.

• mannyo68 23 Posts

  Wed, Jan 13 2010 1:14 AM

  danohi50, I have a hard enough time hitting it close to the ding never mind missing on the right side. I have tried that and then the problem arises about how much to miss it by. Sometime I pulled or pushed too much and still missed an easy 6 footer. I agree with some other posts here that say the meter for putting should not be allowed to pull or push the ball. Too many variables. I just had a 5.5 putt down 1 in with no break and dinged the friggin thing with one movement of the 30 ft scale and it still went left. No way that putt shoud have missed. Can someone explain it to me. As I type this I am playing a match play and just missed another putt. 4.5 feet....no break...30 ft scale one move then back just a little....hit it close to perfect and it went right???? I am getting sick of this crap....

• pillsy 489 Posts

  Wed, Jan 13 2010 5:10 AM

  so i've been trying this for a few days now.  kind of like IRL trying a belly putter, keep messing around until you find something that works!

  anyway, results haven't been too bad, i'm still **dinging** the line about as often with a longer backswing compared to using the larger scale with a shorter backswing.  and on misses, i don't have the stats to compare, but it feels like i'm leaving myself with easier putts as opposed to running it past the hole 3-5 feet.  severe downhill putts are still kind of a mystery though.  like the par 3 #17 on BPB, when i'm putting down the hill, if it's 30 feet away with 11" downhill, if i figure i've got to hit it 19' on the scale, it often tends to blow by the hole by 5-8'. 

  all that said, i think i've kind of settled in the middle...for an 18 foot putt, i don't use the 150 scale anymore (1 movement + a tiny bit), but i don't use the 30-foot scale either (3 movements).  the 45 foot scale however with its 2 movements seems to be just right.

• YankeeJim 25,827 Posts

  Wed, Jan 13 2010 5:36 AM

  pillsy:

  all that said, i think i've kind of settled in the middle.

  That's the result of taking advice and making it work for you. Nice job, P.

  @manny-LOL-Welcome to the part of the game that makes you crazy. The only way you're going to know how to aim for the break is by practicing. There are no exact ways to say do this or do that. You have jumped the biggest hurdle by getting the distance right. It sounds like you're doing pretty good there. 

  It sounds to me like you might not be giving the break enough room. For the longest time I would do the same thing-ding the putt and slide by the hole on the low side. I was pretty consistent doing this and it was aggravating the crap out of me so I decided to aim so that if I missed it would be on the high side, just to see what would happen. Lo and behold, I realized that I hadn't been trusting the break and was aiming too close. Allowing for more break than I thought was there actually helped me learn how to handle the breaks.

  A note on missing to steer the putt-if you try this do not move the aim from the default position. 99% of my putts under 5 feet are hit using this method and it works for me.

  Lastly, having the confidence to get down in 2 from anywhere on the green is huge. This would mean, for the most part, your first putt is for birdie and the tap-in is for par. The putts will start dropping for birdies, especially if you work on the GIR and distance to the hole stats. 

  Keep at it manny and when you get frustrated go back and read your original post-the one where you were about to toss the Redwood because you hated it! Look how far you've come.    :)

• AvatarLee 1,644 Posts

  Wed, Jan 13 2010 6:01 AM

  Just some general rules to follow when considering break...

   

  • The faster the roll, less break.... slower, more break 
  • Downhill putts usually break more, uphill usually less
  • When on a side hill putt you need to add JUST a touch more because essentially you are going uphill at first, then while you are going downhill the putt will slow down and break more
  • Always aim for at least 1-2 feet past the hole (others will say 2-3 feet, but for me that's a bit of overkill)
  • Break up the line into sections and try and decipher each section then string them together to come up with an aim point as if it were a straight putt.... you need to be able to visualize to do this.

  And the absolute most important tip I can give you is this... hit your approach shot based on leaving the easiest putt available.  And that means not going for the pin most of the time!  With practice you will know where these spots are, and if you can put your shot there you will begin to notice that you don't even need the grid to make the putt, you will just know it.  And that knowledge will also help you figure out other putts that you don't deal with a lot.

  Hope this helps.

  P.S. yes you need to practice ;)

   

• YankeeJim 25,827 Posts

  Wed, Jan 13 2010 6:08 AM

  Heh-Thanks, Lee. All this time and I finally get a pearl out of you-never thought about not going for the pin. (Don't kick yourself)  :)

  On the sidehill did you mean to say the putt slows down going downhill? I thought it would pick up speed or is this another pearl?

   

• AvatarLee 1,644 Posts

  Wed, Jan 13 2010 6:13 AM

  YankeeJim:

  On the sidehill did you mean to say the putt slows down going downhill? I thought it would pick up speed or is this another pearl?

  The putt is always going to slow down at some point.... ;)  I guess what I am saying here is the beginning portion of the putt will take more speed than you might think off, leaving you less speed to overcome the break in the second half of the putt... that's when you get the miss on the low side of the hole by mere inches... 

  *edit* a prime example of that is a putt that is level with the hole (like from behind the hole on #10 kiawah) it has to go uphill at first, then back down to level with the hole for the second half of the break.