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Ping red wood putter

• AvatarLee 1,644 Posts

  Wed, Jan 13 2010 10:48 AM

  mannyo68:

  pointer to aim your putt then try to ding it

  Absolutely!  But that's what works for me.

• YankeeJim 25,827 Posts

  Wed, Jan 13 2010 11:03 AM

  Lee's way is right-that's the benchmark. The missing bit comes from being a lazy aimer and knowing what I can get away with. I don't depend on it for critical putts-always go for the ding. When I do use it I've determined, for my eye, that there are 3 basic dot speeds on the green-slow-fast and faster. This gives me 3 places to aim for on the meter swinging to miss. It's definitely a feel thing that I wouldn't recommend depending on and it's different between green speeds.

  Strive for the ding, pay attention to what happens when you miss and know that you will always miss the putt if you hit on the down side of the hole. GL

   

• iwb1 110 Posts

  Wed, Jan 13 2010 12:52 PM

  I also use the dead aim method. 

  Using reverse view I move the aim marker starting from where the ball lies looking at the break indicating balls. Then adjust for each of the grid lines the path will cross. Remember to adjust less for when the ball is moving at its fastest . Then play to ding the meter or be adjacent before or after on the side that will hold it against the break.  This gives me a bigger target on the meter to aim for and helps eliminate the miss on the side with the break.

• mannyo68 23 Posts

  Wed, Jan 13 2010 1:12 PM

  Iwb.... still wondering how much to miss is acceptable You state that "This gives me a bigger target on the meter to aim for" but how much of a miss?  1/8", 1/4", 1/2"?  Also you said that "Remember to adjust less for when the ball is moving at its fastest".  Are you talking about the balls on the gridlines or the speed of your putt as it crosses a certain gridline?  If it is the gridline speed why would you adjust less?  Doesn't this speed indicate the amount of break as your putt crosses that particular gridline?    Thanks for your input but just wanted some clarification.  Still searching for putting nirvana but not getting anywhere close.......   Seems like the only surefire method is to stick it inside 1yd. every time. 

• dorkfeatures 712 Posts

  Wed, Jan 13 2010 3:04 PM

  Hi, 

  Putting - the hardest part of the game - right? Drive for show - putt for dough.

  A couple of things I do, they're nothing new, but - for the excercise.

  1 - For you at this moment in time, try and get that second shot within 10 ft. Just practice nailing that second shot.

  2 - Always look at the putt from behind the hole - not the players view. Hold down the mouse button and view the grid. Move the grid around and try to create that mental picture of the ball line tracking to the hole. Hey - it takes time believe me.

  3 - Something I have been doing recently and it seems to have something going for it. Say you have a 10ft putt - instead of using say the 25 ft scale, use the 50 ft scale. It shortens the backswing, and gives you a better chance of hitting the mark. Worth trying - you have to be very precise with the power though. I kinda like it.

  4 - Start by working on the right weight on your putts, trying to leave them right at the hole. Then once your confident that you have the weight on your putts right - then start to angle in on the right line. Then they'll start to drop more often.

  5 - You need to know the differences in the green speeds. Document your findings, because as WGT change the green speeds you will have to adjust quickly.

  Lets face it - if everyone could putt, we'd all be winning .......lol

  You probably know all that already - right? Anyway - just keep practicing. Dont forget we all have the same problem. We either miss high, or miss low - lol.

  Happy hitting

  Cheers Doug

• birdwell 561 Posts

  Wed, Jan 13 2010 11:28 PM

  iwb1:

  I also use the dead aim method. 

  Using reverse view I move the aim marker starting from where the ball lies looking at the break indicating balls. Then adjust for each of the grid lines the path will cross. Remember to adjust less for when the ball is moving at its fastest .

   

  A good technique, with a poor explanation. This is pretty much what i do in some situations too, so I'll try to clarify. (very hard to explain however - i'll do my best, but probably do worse than iwb! lol)

   

  Switch to the reverse view. (I then like to drag the aim marker down past the hole - only for visibility - keeping that blue line lined up with the hole)

  For each grid line, move the aim marker right or left an amount relative to the speed and direction of the grid.  An example: We are 12 ft. from the hole, we have 6 or so grid lines between our ball and the hole.(note: I usually work from the hole backwards) The first 2 dots are moving fast left to right - grab the aim marker and move 2 long "ticks" to the left. (You'll have to define what a "tick" is yourself, relative to the the speed of the dots) The last 4 dots move a bit slower, but right to left, so move 4 smaller ticks to the right.

  Now we've read the putt, hit it in!

   

  iwb1:

  Then play to ding the meter or be adjacent before or after on the side that will hold it against the break.  This gives me a bigger target on the meter to aim for and helps eliminate the miss on the side with the break.

  Maybe I can clarify this too. If you miss the ding - miss against the break. The putt might still drop in. If you miss with the break - it's likely going to slide under the hole.

   

• Rimley 1 Posts

  Thu, Jan 14 2010 7:38 AM

  I agree i have missed more putts with the redwood, meter is all over the place.

• iwb1 110 Posts

  Thu, Jan 14 2010 2:38 PM

  Sorry for the delay. We have had a lack of electricity here.

  mannyo68:

  Iwb.... still wondering how much to miss is acceptable You state that "This gives me a bigger target on the meter to aim for" but how much of a miss?   

  Adjacent.    Imagine the ding line being twice as wide.   If you calculated the putt correctly so the ball goes in dead centre with a ding missing against the break chances are it would go in on the top side of the hole. Miss on the break side and the ball is going to go sailing past inches low

   

  mannyo68:

   "Remember to adjust less for when the ball is moving at its fastest". Are you talking about the balls on the gridlines or the speed of your putt

  Speed of the putt..  If you have 12' putt which is uphill by 6"  you need 18' of power to reach the hole + a margin to give a total power requirement of  19-20' . If all the grid line are showing the same amount of break you adjust less for the lines closest to the ball than the ones nearer the hole.  This is because the ball has enough speed to overcome the break.  If you now reverse that situation so the putt is now downhill by 6" you only need 6' of power to reach the hole + a much smaller margin to give a total of 6.5- 7' of power requirement. But now the ball is travelling much slower so those grid lines closer to the ball will now have a bigger effect than with the uphill putt.  There is now not enough speed to overcome the break.

   

   

• YankeeJim 25,827 Posts

  Thu, Jan 14 2010 2:51 PM

  Nice explanation.

• mannyo68 23 Posts

  Fri, Jan 15 2010 1:21 PM

  Thanks again to everyone for all of the tips. I have been practicing my tail off putting around every green until I drain a 6 to 15 footer. I think I now have the yips!! I have tried every aiming method suggested and still nothing. My original post was about the difference in putting with the Ping Redwood putter that I had purchased. I had no problems with the standard putter. Shot a 65 for 18 and a 32 for 9 with it. After getting the Ping, I lost my touch. I am consistently putting 80 percent of my approach shots inside 12 ft. but can't sink any putts. Even the easy ones. I even tried bagging the Redwood and played today with the standard. Still yipping. I have a question about the precision characteristic of the Redwood putter. It has the most precision which is defined as " generally how close to the aiming point the ball will land based on where you hit on the swing meter'. To me this means if I drag the pointer used for putting beyond the hole so i can see the line behind the box and leave it there the putt will stay on line longer due to its precision characteristics. Is this correct? Where do most people leave the pointer when the putt? Beyond the hole? even with the hole? behind the hole? I am not having very much fun anymore missing 6 footers for bird... Again, the main question of this post is: how does the precision characteristic affect the redwood putter versus the free one? thanks in advance.....