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Putting

• alosso 21,088 Posts

  Thu, Jul 13 2017 11:16 PM

  System3:

  1) the swing scale is NOT linear. 

  True for irons & woods, but not with putting. Putter meter scales ARE linear from A to Z and independent from balls and putters. Your advice bears some truth though, as it's better to HIT the hole than to let the ball die into it.

  System3:

  3) try off ding putting for a few weeks.

  Caveat: On faster green speeds (any "Tourney" and "Champion") there will be breaks not manageable with off-ding. So why not learn to move the aimer from the very start and use slight ding misses (uphill) to support the putting line?

• System3 47 Posts

  Fri, Jul 14 2017 10:04 AM

  alosso:

  System3:

  1) the swing scale is NOT linear. 

  True for irons & woods, but not with putting. Putter meter scales ARE linear from A to Z and independent from balls and putters. Your advice bears some truth though, as it's better to HIT the hole than to let the ball die into it.

  System3:

  3) try off ding putting for a few weeks.

  Caveat: On faster green speeds (any "Tourney" and "Champion") there will be breaks not manageable with off-ding. So why not learn to move the aimer from the very start and use slight ding misses (uphill) to support the putting line?

  I wasnt aware the putt scale is linear so I stand corrected !

  I am at tournament now & still rarely need to move the flag. At champ greens I know it

  breaks down but it has given me abt 18 months of better putting. Also the flag I find very

  hard to set where I want, probably my computer. Very jerky......

  I will probably use it & flag when needed on champ. For now I would guess I have to move

  the flag 1 or 2 times per 9 holes at champ greens.

  best wishes

  System3    A.K.A. Tom, Zeno, KA1YHI, & chromacolor

   

• JimbeauC 5,835 Posts

  Fri, Jul 14 2017 12:07 PM

  OnzieSecord666:

  tips on judging the break of putts with me

  copy/paste of something I wrote a couple years ago.

  --------------

  To make the dots work for you it's imperative to have a general idea of how much time it is going to take for the putt to reach the hole. This isn't a straight line progression, as on longer putts, the force of the stroke causes the putt to cover more ground per second than later in the putt. 

  This has been called a simplified approach to G0LD's method. 

  On VF and TM Tourney flattish greens, a six foot putt takes 2 seconds to reach the hole, so for a putt of that length see how far the dots move in 2 seconds. That should be your break. Multiple speeds? Pick the one that is moving the average speed to time. Keep in mind that when you are hitting uphill, the time to reach the hole will be about the same, but you will have struck the ball harder, so a bit of break will be taken off. Downhill, the opposite is true, except the putt will take longer to get there, so more break needs to be allowed for. 

  10 foot putt - 3 seconds

  20 - 4 seconds (realistically, just trying to avoid a 3 putt, here and forward)

  30 - 4.5 seconds 

  40 - 5 seconds 

  Longer than that - work on your approaches.

  :^)

• SimonTheBeetle 3,673 Posts

  Fri, Jul 14 2017 2:23 PM

  K7JBQ:

  It's counter intuitive, but a break nearer the beginning of a putt will have a bigger impact than a break near the end.

  Is this true? Proven?

  If so, I've got to readjust my putting formula or WGT has to reprogram its physics engine since it's totally opposite in RL golf! And maybe it explains why I've been missing so many putts! (Thanks God, I finally got something official to blame for my pitiful putting skill. LOL)

• JimbeauC 5,835 Posts

  Fri, Jul 14 2017 2:35 PM

  SimonTheBeetle:

  Is this true?

  Unfortunately, yes. It's always been my biggest pet peeve with WGT. Where you really have to watch out is putting from the fringe. The break there can be awful. When I see a big break in the fringe, I'll almost always chip or flop. 

  I'd not say that the first part of the putt has more impact, but it definitely has more impact than it should. IRL, I generally ignore the first break in a putt that breaks again, especially on longer ones. 

• SimonTheBeetle 3,673 Posts

  Fri, Jul 14 2017 2:58 PM

  @Jim

  Thanks for confirming it. It then definitely explains all those WTF moments I've had with putting.

  And a big huge +1 about putting from the fringe! One funny thing about it is that I always tend to get short when I putt and tend to get long when I pitch from there. (I never chip though. Too inconsistent for me.)

• JimbeauC 5,835 Posts

  Fri, Jul 14 2017 5:00 PM

  Bit off topic, but what the heck. It's your thread. 

  :^)

  SimonTheBeetle:

  I never chip though. Too inconsistent for me.

  This can change. Early on I found the same to be true, but now with higher end wedges, it's the reverse. Now I seldom pitch when long ago that was my go to shot. 

• JFidanza 1,676 Posts

  Fri, Jul 14 2017 5:21 PM

  re: putter scale linear

   

  While it is different between irons and putters, there is a unique 'non linear' aspect to putting.

  Say you're using a 100 ft scale on a flat green,

  a putt hit at 11% power may be needed to drop at a pin 10 ft away

  but a power of 90% may roll many feet past a pin that is 90 ft away

  At least, that how is happens esp. when there is wind.

   

  Can this be tested?

• phred952 2,714 Posts

  Sat, Jul 15 2017 6:28 PM

  I have the Max Control Master putter and it seems to start with the 80 ft scale. Usually only 3 or 4 ft.   The 100 ft scale it's more, sometimes a lot more, obviously depending on Green Speed.

• K7JBQ 1,469 Posts

  Sat, Jul 15 2017 11:00 PM

  Kindly remember that the "real" green speed is affected by:

  1) The course you're playing

  2) The alignments of the planets

  3) Whether or not you've regripped your putter recently.

  Remember, hit the ball, find it, hit it again.