Geoff's PuttingZone™ ZipTips
Geoff Mangum's PuttingZone Instruction
Greensboro, North Carolina USA
geoff@puttingzone.com
website: http://puttingzone.com
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Newest Tips
SETUP
& STROKE TECHNIQUE -- Pivot Never Forward Across
the Middle, Stay Back -- In setting up to the bottom,
in order to putt the bottom of the stroke, and not
the back of the ball, the golfer sets his throat line
directly above the middle of the stroke left-right.
(This throat line is like the top bar of a swing set
so the swing will go sideways beneath it down the
line.) Then when he starts to move in making the stroke,
he should NEVER LET THE BASE OF HIS NECK wander to
the target side of this mid-line. The tendency for
the pivot to wander left happens at three points in
the stroke: starting the backstroke, starting the
downstroke, and going past the middle in the thru-stroke.
In the downstroke, the tendency is to let the lead
shoulder socket's dipping down and under DRAG the
pivot to the front (left for a right hander). The
cure for this is to hold the base of the neck stationary
right at the start of the downstroke and FORCE the
lead shoulder down and under the still pivot. Don't
let the lead shoulder drag the pivot with it across
the mid-line. The pivot masters the shoulder. This
will feel like HOLDING THE HEAD VERY STILL AT THE
START, but it's really holding the neck and throat
still, and the head stays still as a by-product of
this. Once the top of the backstroke is reached, the
second time the pivot tends to go forward is when
the golfer starts the downstroke with the rear shoulder,
and for the same reason this happens at the start
of the backstroke. The cure is the same: hold still
in the neck and throat. But there is also a new luxury:
don't DO the downstroke, just let the stroke shape
(arms, hands, putter) simply drop and swing beneath
the fixed pivot. That way, the force of the rear shoulder
shoving or dragging the pivot is eliminated. Hold
still at the top and let the stroke drop. The third
time is when the stroke is going past the bottom headed
up on a slight rise. If the golfer "chases the
back of the ball," he will very likely pull the
putt with the lead shoulder headed horizontally back
and behind, and this will drag the pivot across the
mid-line on a backwards curl. Instead, if the golfer
allows the momentum of the putter and arms and hands
to "go where they want," the stroke will
follow the alignment of the shoulders, will be constrained
by the top pivot's remaining still, and therefore
the putter head will rise slightly straight down the
line. This cannot happen with dead hands and arms
unless the lead shoulder RISES vertically above the
balls of the lead foot. When this happens, the rising
of the lead shoulder will PREVENT the pivot from curling
or wandering across the mid-line: the shoulder stalls
out and the arms and hands "flap" inward
in a pull, dragging the pivot behind. The stalled
shoulder may also shove the pivot so that it rotates
or spins top-over-to-the-rear. If the pivot in fact
wanders towards the rear instead of simply turning
in place as the lead shoulder rises past impact, that's
probably not ideal but is also not fatal to the line.
In any event, whether the pivot at the base of the
neck at this point simply spins in place or rotates
and also wanders to the rear a bit, the TOP OF THE
HEAD will bob backwards like the top of a lollipop
(inverted pendulum) whose stick meets the body at
the base of the neck. No problem! If you artificially
FREEZE the head at this point by using that old lore
about "listening for the ball to drop" before
you allow your head to move, you are doing this with
neck tightness, especially right where the lead shoulder
meets the neck at the base. This MUSCLE KNOT makes
the stroke jabby and tends to misdirect the rising
of the shoulder out of plane, and thus the stroke
out of square. If you MUST have this KNOT in your
neck making the shoulder stroke action less fluid
and natural, go ahead, but know it's there, and know
it will make you force your way thru to a shoulder
that rises only vertically past impact.
SETUP
& STROKE TECHNIQUE -- See the T, Putt the T --
Every putter presents the shape of a "T"
visually to the golfer, with the leading edge of the
putter face being the "top bar" of the T
and the midline or aimline extending perpendicularly
back from the putter face being the "stem"
of the T. The intersection of the bar and stem is
always at the sweetspot of the putter behind the ball.
This means that there is another, imaginary T with
the stem aimed down the line -- sort of a "mirror
T." The stem of this mirror T SHOWS THE GOLFER
IN ADVANCE a) where the stroke needs to go forward
past the bottom on a slight rise while remaining square
down the line, and b) where the golf ball better go
as it exits the setup in a putt that rolls straight
where the putter aims. You don't really need a "spot"
of grass in front of the ball; just look at your putter
and "see the T, putt the T."
Listen / download podcast!
DISTANCE
CONTROL / TOUCH & TEMPO -- Two Rules for Perfect
Lags: Don't Go Long, Don't Be Short -- Yeah, right!
But HOW do you DO this? Easy: Rule 1 How-To: The backstroke
MUST always last the same time going back without
you defining the size of the backstroke -- just pull
the trigger, and the downstroke MUST NOT speed up
or slow down from your usual timing. Then it's --
just look and putt. The instincts will not fool you
with a backstroke that is too big any more than your
brain will smash your hand against the door when reaching
out to turn a door knob, so don't get into it mentally.
Just do it. Once the instincts give you the correct
backstroke that goes along with the downstroke timing,
there is a subtle secret in physics: IT IS IMPOSSIBLE
TO GO LONG WITH THAT BACKSTROKE UNLESS YOU ZIP THE
DOWNSTROKE FASTER THAN USUAL. So don't speed the downstroke
ahead of the usual timing. [End of Rule 1.] Rule 2
How-To: The reason golfers are short on lag putts
is they FEAR GOING LONG. We just sorted that out with
Rule 1, didn't we? IT'S NOT POSSIBLE TO GO LONG. So
don't chicken out. There are two times golfers chicken
out in the stroke before impact: before the backstroke
gets as big as it needs to get, and/or after the backstroke
gets big but before impact while coming down. The
first sort of chickening out makes the golfer STOP
the backstroke too soon (so he's short unless he zips
at the ball, in which case he's long again). The second
sort is a panic at the size of the stroke that causes
deceleration coming into impact. So long as the backstroke
gets done by instincts (no think, no try, just putt)
and takes the usual amount of time, the backstroke
gets as big as it gets, and the golfer is not supposed
to know in advance and is not supposed to JUDGE the
size of backstroke that results. Leave it alone and
go with it. [End of Rule 2.] Another way of saying
this is simply "Putt with an instinctive backstroke
so that the usual backstroke timing and downstroke
timing do not get hurried or worried, sped up or slowed
down." Trust it and see! Another way of thinking
that helps this is the phrase "LET IT GROW, LET
IT GO." Let the backstroke GROW as big as it
wants to get in the time available, then let the downstroke
GO in a smooth gathering of as much speed into impact
as it gets without stifling the full head of steam
it wants to get within the usual time availablke for
making impact from the top of the backstroke. Don't
chicken out of the backstroke and don't zap the downstroke.
BASIC
ROUTINE & MANUAL
Putting
Manual A practical overview of Touch, Stroke Technique,
Putt Reading, and other topics.
Five
Musts for Great Putting
The five "Musts" for great putting are:
1. Tempo, 2. Touch, 3. Targeting, 4. Technique, and
5. Psychology.
Four
Fundamental "Elements" of Putting Skill
The four basics of putting are 1. Pick a target, 2.
Aim at the target, 3. Putt straight, 4. Putt with
distance control (touch).
Dead-Eye
Putting
The purpose of a putting routine is to use effective
physical behaviors for gaining putting perceptions
that promote your best read and stroke and to use
effective postures and movement dynamics to execute
your best stroke, and an integrated routine has four
keys to effective targeting for optimizing a shoulder
stroke from a square setup: eye dominance, eye position,
gaze control, and neck-head turn.
TARGETING
/ AIM
Gaze
Dead Straight for Dead Aim Setting the eyes "above"
the ball is not enough for optimal targeting because
a gaze direction angled down the face as if reading
(with forehead higher than chin at address) makes
the hole appear off to the inside, whereas a gaze
straight out of the face requires setting the forehead
and chin at the same height above the surface, and
this gaze is the only one that allows you to scan
along the putt path from ball to target on the real
line with optimal sensing of spatial relations in
the putt.
Listen / download podcast!
Salute the Dawn Having a straight and level gaze
is more important than whether the eyes are positioned
directly above the ball or slightly inside, and a
reliable way to get the gaze straight and level is
to "salute the dawn" with your saluting
hand level with your pupils and then bend at address
lowering your head towards the ball until the ball
"rises" above the salute into vision like
a dawning sun coming up over the horizon.
Get
Your Head on the Grass for Top Putting To enhance
your sense of the putt, simply looking for the line
is not enough, and you have to actually pay attention
to the grass blades themselves over key segments of
the path in order to get a vivid sense of energy and
direction for the roll.
Stand
in the Scene to Aim Well In orienting to the target,
you are also orienting to the total scene, so don't
neglect the usefulness of noticing trees or other
landscape features beyond the green when you are aiming
and setting up for a putt.
The
aiming routine and skills (video 10 mins. 22 secs,
quite ugly chap, but the info is good -- I didn't
film this!)
Sighting
the line to aim the putter
Aiming
the putter
Checking
the aim of the putter
Light
Up the Target with Your Putterface Visualize the
direction straight out of the putterface as a long
straight rod whose tip sweeps side to side over the
hole or aim spot as you get a fix on precise face
orientation to the target.
Finger
Your Target Hand-eye coordination is essentially
knowing how to "touch" the end-point of
your line of sight, and hence coordinates the arm-hand
movement in the brain with spatial awareness of the
target location by dominant-eye directional sense
plus distance or depth judgment -- so putting to the
target is similar to "touching" the target.
Putt
Out Your Eyes The shape and geometrical features
of your field of vision offers assistance to your
putting targeting and stroke that you may not be aware
of -- and learning these matters.
Get
Cozy with the Ball's Shadow Taking a look at the
quarter-sized circle just in front of the ball helps
keep the stroke on line by showing you the line of
grass the ball will roll across on the way out of
your setup.
Point
and Putt: A Fresh Way to Fill the Hole on Short Putts
For shortish putts, use one of the most fundamental
techniques all humans use every day to help locate
the target -- point at it!
Putting
in the Wind -- Once the wind is strong enough to make
the material on your pants legs flap like flags on
a sailboat (about 10-15 mph), beware of putting upwind
or downwind and allow for crosswind to influence the
break or line of lengthy putts. A steady headwind
on a 20-foot putt can make the ball stop a foot or
more short on normal greens. Going downwind is not
that big a deal unless the break is very subtle, in
which case the wind can shove the ball a little thru
the break. But the tailwind doesn't influence the
ball all that much unless it is moving faster than
the ball, and this is usually only true for a small
segment at the end of the putt when the ball is slowing
down. Even then, the ball is settling back down into
the nap of the green, so the wind has a tougher time
changing the ball's roll unless the green is slick.
Crosswinds have a greater "push" effect
on the ball if the putt is long and the green is slick.
A straight 20-foot putt on a normal-speed green with
a 20-mph crosswind can see the ball get pushed quite
a few inches to the side by the end of the roll, and
this makes planning the ending break of the putt tougher.
On short putts on slick greens in stiff wind, don't
be shy and certainly don't "baby" the putts.
Winds that come and go are obviously more troublesome
than a steady wind. Wind that challenges balance can
be countered with a wider stance and a lower bend,
and perhaps with a more compact stroke as well.
GREEN
& PUTT READING
A
Slo-Mo Read for Seeing Enough Break Speed determines
break, and optimal speed at the hole determines optimal
break; the optimal break is obviously between the
fastest speed that will drop and the slowest speed
that will just get the ball to the hole, and is a
lot closer to the slowest than the fastest to make
more of the hole available for capturing the ball
and avoiding long comebacks.
Crunchy,
Toasty, Tasty, Soppy Greens Green speed is much
more than just mow height and grass type -- and much
of green speed is related to the water content of
the green and its turf packing.
Reading
Break: Zero in on the Zero Break Line If the green
surface for the putt is basically flat although tilted,
you can find one aim spot for any putt of the same
length by identifying the fall-line through the hole
(the "zero break line" or ZBL) where all putts up
or down are perfectly straight, walk around the hole
in a semicircle from your ball to a side-on putt to
the hole of the same length that is perpendicular
to the ZBL (and hence has no elevation change up or
down from there to the hole), and visualize this putt
at regular speed to imagine how far below the hole
such a putt would roll low and cross the ZBL; the
aim spot for all putts of the same length is that
far above the hole along the ZBL.
See
the Spider The "fall line" of the green
surface at the cup runs straight uphill-downhill thru
the center of the cup, and the final path of all
putts across the flat-but-tilted surface right around
the hole makes a pattern like a spider with the legs
all indicating different pathways into the hole, and
the head of the spider is the SAME AIM SPOT for all
putts. Learning how slope tilt, green speed, and distance
of putt make the spider change size and shape a little,
so you can accurately visualize the curve or path
of the one "leg" of your putt and find the
single aim spot or "head" of the spider
above the hole on the fall line, is mostly learning
how to "see the spider."
Box
the Break
The only part of the green that matters is the part
the ball rolls over from address into the cup, so
you can "box" this putt and focus only on
this surface while learning something valuable about
the break and how to start the putt off so it feeds
into the break correctly and goes on to sink -- simplify
a typical breaking putt to a break point and then
a higher aim spot for starting the putt off, with
the intention of having the ball break off the start-line
so it turns parallel to the baseline right at the
break point.
Reading
Putts as Revealed by Going Behind the Hole If
a putt's break seems elusive, try going behind the
hole for a read, but be careful that you visualize
the ball's roll as coming towards you and as slowing
to drop-speed in this final entry section of the putt.
Hit
the Groove through the Curve To get a more definite
sense of the right speed for taking a break without
blowing through the break, visualize the final section
of the putt curve as a race track banked so that anything
faster than the proper speed jumps the track and then
deliver the ball with enough speed to keep the ball
on the track through the break.
Plumb
Bobbing is Plumb Crazy ... Mostly Plumb bobbing
only "works" (in a fashion) if you aim the hanging
puttershaft down your impression of the startline,
so it only confirms what you already sense, and doesn't
make you a better reader of the break or make your
sensing of the startline any sharper.
All "Methods" of Reading a Putt are Reading
the SAME Putt -- When the golfer uses one speed to
"see" the break, he may use different "methods"
to read the putt, but all methods are reading the
same putt. This means that any target spot near the
hole for line and distance generated by a particular
method has to be the same target spot generated by
all methods, and the curvature of the final section
of the putt with its implied energy shape into the
hole also has to be the same for all methods. There
is only one reality, given a particular "pace"
or "delivery speed" for the putt over the
given surface. If two distinct methods or approaches
differ in the target spot, then one or both are not
accurate. When different methods all agree, the golfer
should have high confidence that his read is accurate.
One Speed, One Read -- Modern neuroscience teaches
that the brain is similar to a flight simulator: its
main job is to predict accurately the future consequences
of movement, a skill that the brain learns throughout
life by ceaseless trial and error, and without which
the animal using that brain will die. Animals live
because their brains are well-trained and highly skilled
at predicting accurately the consequences of intended
movements. How does this work in reading a breaking
putt? The three principal factors that determine the
curving path of a rolling golf ball across the contoured
surface of a putting green are 1. the exact shape
of the tilts of the surface in relation to flat and
level in gravity; 2. the surface speed of the green
over the path; and 3. the pattern of rolling speed
of the ball over that same path. Of these, the only
factor in the control of the golfer is the rolling
speed of the ball. From the beginning of a putt to
the end of a successful putt in the bottom of the
cup, the ONLY section of the putt where the golfer
can accurately predict and envision the rolling speed
pattern of the putt is at the end, specifically the
last several feet of the path as the ball slows and
drops into the cup. A golfer who has a consistent
tempo and good distance control always delivers the
ball into the final few feet of EVERY putt, regardless
of length or green speed or contour, with the SAME
"terminal velocity" or "delivery speed"
-- the ball always drops into the cup with about the
SAME rolling speed right as it crosses the lip of
the cup on ALL putts. At least, this is true so long
as the golfer uses his normal tempo and touch. THEREFORE,
when the golfer envisions the break of the ball into
the cup, he is implicitly relying upon his normal
tempo and touch with its same-every-time delivery
speed in order to predict accurately the exact curving
path of the ball over the final 3-4 feet of the putt.
Once he "sees" this accurately and realistically
in his "mind's eye," the remainder of the
path of the putt constructs itself backwards from
the hole to the golfer's ball at his feet, establishing
a startline and a distance for the putt. Great putters
use only one delivery speed, and therefore always
look for only one read. Once they see this break,
then they are able to make choices, but not before.
The usual choice is to putt the normal break, using
the normal tempo. If the golfer uses tempo A to "see"
the break, he jolly well better execute the putt with
tempo A as well! Otherwise, he's like Homeros Blanco:
"reading the putts in English but putting them
in Spanish." The notion that there are multiple
breaks to choose from on any putt depending on "how
hard you are going to hit it" is alien to great
putters. One speed, one read.
3 Rules to Sink Breaking Putts -- An intuitive way
to approach breaking putts -- so that the chances
of sinking the putt are VERY HIGH and the chances
of leaving no more than a tiny TAP-IN are virtually
certain -- does not require a specific target on the
ground. Instead, the golfer simply applies three rules
to his breaking putt. Given a straight line from ball
to hole along the ground, with one side high and one
side low (the "Baseline"), and also given
a second straight line up thru the hole on the only
straight-uphill line thru the hole (the "Fall-line"),
the three rules to apply are: 1. NEVER allow the ball
to roll across the baseline to the low side; 2. ALWAYS
putt for distance as far as the fall-line and no farther;
and 3. Aim as high up the fall-line as necessary to
accomplish Rule 1, but no higher. It sort of boils
down to just aim high and putt to the fall-line. If
the ball rolls low by crossing the baseline, aim a
little higher next time! This is fantastic for long
breaking putts, and the application of the three rules
gets you aiming higher than usual, which is a good
thing.
DISTANCE
CONTROL / TOUCH & TEMPO
The
Core Putt Tune your stroke to green speed for
superior touch and reduced "hit" by relaxing and slowing
your body and mind down to optimal activity level
with your most basic stroke, used as a personal Stimpmeter
-- just push the putterhead back until you feel you
have to lift it to go further, then drop the putterhead
through solid impact to see how far the ball rolls.
Listen / download podcast!
One
(Slow) Tempo Fits All Putts For consistent and
accurate distance and line control, start with a single
slow tempo or timing from start to finish for all
putts regardless of length of about two full seconds,
a nice easy "one potato, two potato" stroke -- your
brain relies upon it!
Hickory
Dickory You already HAVE a metronome with you
on every green you play -- your putter! Just let it
swing in your fingertips back and forth to remind
yourself of a pro tempo for all your putts.
Stone
Cold Putting Truly amazing distance control on
a consistent basis for putts of any length is pretty
easy if you understand that targeting and tempo establish
the backstroke length automatically, and this is much
better than "touch and feel," "muscle memory," or
any sort of "trying" to get the "hit" or "pace" of
the putt just so.
The
five factors for touch (video 8 mins. 56 secs., quite
ugly chap, but the info is good -- I didn't film this!)
Your
ball
Your
putter
Your
tempo
The
green's speed
Your
targeting move for distance
Optimal Ball Delivery Speed to Maximize Sinks -- The
optimal delivery speed of the ball as it crosses the
front lip of the cup is one that most reasonably balances
three considerations: 1. the need to plow across surface
obstacles and irregularities; 2. the effective "capture
width" of the hole; and 3. the length of a comeback
putt in case of a miss. From the physics of the ball-hole
interaction combined with the usual characteristics
of modern green surfaces (very improved since 1980),
the optimal rolling speed is somewhere between 1 and
3 revolutions per second (rps) at the lip. A speed
of 1 rps at the lip will dive deep into the cup and
hit the bottom of the cup without reaching the back
wall. A speed of 2 rps will dive deep into the cup
and hit the back wall very low near the bottom of
the cup. A speed of 3 rps will dive into the cup and
strike the back wall about halfway up from the bottom
of the cup to the top of the cup liner. Whatever rolling
speed of the ball that is sufficient to get the ball
securely over any surface obstacles and irregularities
is also the MAXIMUM desireable speed for maximizing
sinks, as both the width of the hole is thereby maximized
and the length of comeback putts minimized. In the
1970s and before (when Dave Pelz rolled balls on greens
for his so-called 17-inch rule), greens were dramatically
poorer in condition than today. Today, balls arriving
with drop speeds of 1-3 rps have plenty of juice to
overcome all problems (1 rps being good enough on
fine greens and 3 being good enough on poor greens
today). Bad golf instruction and fear are the main
reasons hack golfers don't putt all the time with
these safe, comfortable delivery speeds. The great
putter is not fooled by "rules" like "never
up, never in" or "always try to stop the
ball about 17 inches past the cup if you miss"
-- as these "rules" obscure the real "rule."
It's not about going past the hole, as no golfer ever
wants to be either short OR long.The real "rule"
is "get the ball safely in the hole every time!"
The better the golfer becomes with touch, the more
his putts start to drop within this range. That's
because this is the range of delivery speeds that
the instincts prefer and try to get to, if only bad
instruction would leave the instincts alone.
See
also: Touch: Ball-Hole Capture
Physics and Optimal Delivery Speed: What's the best
overall pace for putts when the ball arrives at the
cup?
Take the Break Out Safely Only at 4 and 8 O'clock
Putts -- Putts "within the leather" (about
two feet) almost never have enough break from contour
and green speed to cause the golfer much concern about
the pace or line of the putt -- just knock it in,
perhaps favoring the high side of the inside of the
cup and having no concern for babying or ramming the
ball home -- just a nice firm roll into the cup. So
on these little putts, there is no effort to "take
the break out." But this approach fails miserably
with great frequency once the length of the putt grows
to three feet and out. The vast majority of decline
in putting success evaporates between 3 feet (90%)
and 6 feet (50%), as fully 40% of all putting success
disappears in this "Bermuda Triagle" of
the green. A great deal of these misses is attributable
to putting with too fast a pace on the ball, and this
is aided and abetted by the general notion that the
golfer is well-served to "take the break out"
or "take some break out" whenever possible.
This is just thoughtless advice. A more careful approach
goes like this: First, never ignore the normal break
that is there just because you have decided to get
rid of it: you need to know what the normal break
is to compare the risks of taking the break out with
a faster putt, so pay attention. Second, if you are
going to take the break out, take enough break out
to get the target line aimed inside the cup: it doesn't
do any good (or make any sense) to take out "some"
break that changes a putt from 3 balls left to 1 ball
left, and the change has to be from 3 balls left to
inside left. It's similar to the rule about laying
up: "If you're going to lay up, then LAY UP."
Third, assess HOW MUCH EXTRA PACE is required to get
rid of the break. Finally, fourth, you are only now
in a position to assess which of the two putts offers
your best chance -- the normal pace or the faster
pace. At this point, compare the three principal considerations
for the speed: 1. consider how much narrower the hole
will be for the faster pace; 2. consider the longer
comeback putt in case of a miss that goes with the
faster pace; and 3. consider how familiar you are
with the faster pace compared to the normal pace and
whether this makes it too risky to execute the putt
with a faster pace, a narrower target, a longer comeback,
and less familiarity in executing the called-for pace
on the stricter line. In general, taking the break
out often requires a DOUBLING of delivery speed, and
this shrinks the hole nearly in half and doubles the
length of the comeback. All tolled, taking the break
out is seldom a good idea. So WHEN do these considerations
FAVOR taking the break out? Never on a downhill putt
with anything except the mildest slope, because the
back lip is lowered away from the ball's direction,
requiring even slower pace to stay in the hole, with
a more narrow hole and a longer comeback. Downhill
putts can get rid of break with a modest increase
of speed, but the change from normal pace to unfamiliar
pace in light of the delicacy of pace adjustment too
often results in babying the putt instead of a positive
effort to putt with just the correct added pace. It's
usually better just to accept the break and putt with
the normal pace. For uphill putts, there is no need
to take the break out of a straight putt (from the
6 o'clock position up the 6-12 line or the "zero
break line" straight uphill-downhill thru the
cup). Nor is there usually any need to take the break
out for putts near the 5 and 7 o'clock positions,
as these breaks most often have targets already within
the cup. Nor should the golfer take the break out
for sidehill putts from the 3 or 9 o'clock positions,
as these putts present the greatest break of all,
and so require the greatest pace to get the target
back within the cup. That leaves putts uphill from
the 4 and 8 o'clock positions. That's a fairly safe
time to take the break out, if you must, because the
back of the cup is tilted towards the putt like an
extra backstop, allowing greater speed across the
hole, and the misses uphill tend to stop more quickly
for shorter comebacks.
Intuitively Adding Sections of a Putt -- The brain
has a very accurate intuition system that operates
beyond conscious awareness. For example, if a putt
runs 20 feet across a green and then climbs up a steep
tier 4-5 feet and then continues past the top edge
for an additional 10 feet, the brain can treat this
one putt as two separate practice putts and then "add"
the two together. The golfer makes a practice stroke
that sends the ball to the top edge of the tier (so
it won't roll back towards his feet), and then makes
a practice stroke for a 10-foot putt (the remaining
distance to the hole from the top edge). Then, the
golfer makes a stroke that is simply "bigger"
than the biggest of the two practice strokes. Exactly
"how much bigger" is a non-conscious process
of the intuition, so "don't ask, just do it."
It's even better if the first practice stroke is the
smaller distance, so that the second practice stroke
is the bigger of the two; in that way, the REAL stroke
is "bigger than the last stroke." The brain
has an amazing capacity to get the "addition"
exactly right. This same process works for going down
a tier: one putt to the topple the ball over the top
edge, and a second putt from wherever such a putt
would stop by itself past the bottom edge of the tier
for any remaining distance to the hole (with the bigger
of the two stroke being the last practice stroke).
Another application of "stroke addition"
is for lag putts, as in the Zeno's Lag Ladder drill,
where the long putt is divided into halfway there,
and three-quarters way there, with the practice strokes
being halfway there, then three-fourths the way there,
then a real stroke that "adds" in another
increase the SAME as the step up in stroke size from
1/2 to 3/4, and certainly no smaller than the larger
of the two practice strokes (the 3/4th stroke).
Long Lags: Putt "to but not thru" the Fall-line
-- On long lag putts, obviously the golfer wants to
stay on the pro side of the line from ball to cup,
or else the putt has no chance of sinking. But a less
obvious rule is that the golfer always wants to putt
as far as but not farther than the fall-line straight
uphill-downhill thru the cup. The combination of staying
on the high side and putting the correct distance
is essential to sinking any lag putt, but there is
a little-noticed side benefit of using the fall-line
as the distance reference (beside this being the correct
distance reference to making the putt): to wit, if
the putt is the right distance but the aim or the
read or the stroke is a little off and the line is
slightly wrong, so that the ball finishes high or
low of the cup, the ball will settle down onto the
fall-line at the end of its journey with the right
distance. This means that your second putt is a straight
putt along the fall-line, either uphill or downhill,
or at worse is a putt with only minor break so the
target is probably safely inside the hole. The best
miss on long lags is a little high on the fall-line
for a straight downhill tap-in, but a miss a little
low also on the fall-line is certainly acceptable
as well.
Let
it Flow for Distance Control -- For near-perfect
tempo that is the foundation of distance control or
touch, learn to let the putter and arms drop in sync
with the shoulder frame in a gravity free-fall pattern
of natural acceleration to the bottom of the stroke
arc and then get the lead shoulder casually up and
out of the way so the putter and arms can continue
in a pendulum swing to a smooth, mirror-symmetric
finish.
Count
Gravity -- If your stroke tempo uses gravity to set
the pace of acceleration down of the putter head (from
the top of the backstroke to the bottom of the stroke
arc), then the principle of ISOCHRONY in the physics
of a pendulum's action means that EVERY stroke, regardless
of backstroke length, always reaches the bottom of
the stroke arc in exactly the same amount of time.
A putt with a backstroke that is 1.5 feet in length,
and a putt with a backstroke that is 3.5 feet in length,
take EXACTLY the same time from top of backstroke
to bottom of stroke arc. And this time period does
not at all depend upon you or a sensitive touch or
feel. The time your stroke takes depends only upon
the length of your putting pendulum, which is the
length from the pivot of your system to the end of
your putter. For EVERY normal-sized adult with a conventional
length putter, this time is approximately 1/2 a second.
ANY golfer can simply observe this time directly by
lifting his arm back as if to putt and then just relaxing
so the arm drops back to the side, and watch the timing.
The deep meaning of this fact of life is that a gravity-based
stroke tempo teaches the golfer how to count to two.
Instead of just saying "one .. two," the
whole trick is to observe the spacing between the
two that is GRAVITY'S SPACING and learn to count so
that your pace of count matches what gravity is doing.
That way, your "two" will always match perfectly
the moment in the stroke's free-fall when the putter
head reaches the EXACT bottom of the stroke arc. Knowing
IN ADVANCE when this point in the stroke will occur
is invaluable in learning and using am accurate and
repeating stroke motion. Distance control and impact
squareness then begin to grow into your game like
a welcomed fungus! So learn how your putter counts
to two.
Count
the Tempo -- The green speed is objective, as are
all elements of putting touch EXCEPT the "subjective"
sense of timing, which makes the stroke tempo susceptible
to speeding up under pressure or slowing down under
muscle tightness. The cure is to learn a basic "one
.. two" count that is always the same -- that
is, that has the same timing and spacing between the
one and the two. The "one" is casually completed
as the backstroke completes itself fully coasting
to the top, and the "two" is when the stroke
reaches the exact bottom of the stroke. On long lags
especially, assess green speed, uphill-downhill adjustments,
and distance to target, then just count the stroke
for great touch.
Breathe
for Touch -- At address when looking down at the ball,
turn the head targetward while breathing in thru the
nose casually, and time the completion of a not-especially-deep
inspiration to coincide with the arrival of the face
and gaze looking dead at the target. This is the lifting
open of a bellows that expands the chest a little
over a specific time, depending upon the target distance.
Then, just relax to allow the breath to escape smoothly
as the head turns back along the line from target
to ball. Nothing forced. Pause looking at the ball
a moment for the gaze and sense of balance to clarify
after the head stops moving. Then start the backstroke
in coordination with the same nasal in-breathing going
back to the top of the backstroke, so the chest expansion
and timing of the breath establishes the backstroke
length instinctively. From the top of the backstroke,
relax (release the bellows) and allow the downstroke
(into thrustroke) to transpire as the breath escapes
smoothly thru the nose.
Short
Putts are Tough to Sink! Short putts require extra
care in targeting because the closeness of the hole
makes it too large a target for good line control,
too visible in the periphery so that you are tempted
to move your head for a peek, and not far enough off
to your side to generate a substantial angle in the
neck-head turn as a cue to the location of the hole
in relation to your setup positioning -- so be extra
careful!
Making
Long Putts versus Avoiding Three-putts -- Don't Confuse
Apples and Oranges Substituting a big, fat target
as a way to avoid three-jacking is not a good way
to get better distance control, which is the real
problem, but there is a way to avoid long comebacks
while trying to sink monsters by keeping sharp targets
for top distance control and supplementing this with
some reasonable boundaries.
Zeno's
Lag Ladder
Long putts that cause concern about coming up too
short often cause the golfer to blow the ball too
far past the hole, and a useful approach is to take
a practice stroke to a target merely halfway to the
hole, then take another practice stroke to a second
target halfway between the first target and the hole,
and then make the real stroke not shorter than the
second practice stroke and with the same size increase
in the stroke -- one big step halfway there, then
two halfsize steps the rest of the way.
Downhill
Putts Easy as Pie All downhill putts share the
same targeting problem -- if the ball rolls too far
across the hill, it will miss high; and if it fails
to roll far enough across the hill, it will miss low.
The best way to handle downhill putts is to aim for
the pie.
Putting
Green Tiers are Taller than You Think! To get
all the way up a putting green tier, visualize how
far a ball perched on the top edge would roll on level
green after it comes off the bottom of the tier, as
this is the energy you'll have to add in the putt
just to get over the hump itself, regardless of getting
to the bottom of the tier or past the top of the tier.
SETUP
& STROKE TECHNIQUE
The "Take-off" of the Putter from the Aircraft
Carrier of the Green -- A straight stroke is one that
rolls the ball wherever the putter face is aimed at
address. When a ball rolls on a tilted surface, the
"hoop" or axis of rotation of the ball is
perpendicular to the surface, rather than being "straight
up" in relation to gravity and the top of the
sky and the center of the earth. (This is a bit counter-intuitive.)
The putter face and the sole of the putter are fixed
in a relationship by the loft of the putter face.
So the trick is to stroke thru the ball in a manner
that does not wobble the hoop out of its desired relationship
to the surface. The "what" of this is not
to stroke thru the ball with the toe up or with the
heel up, and instead to make sure the putter sole
is flush to the surface as the putter rises into and
thru the ball. Otherwise the loft of the putter (with
heel up or toe up) will impart a wobble to the ball's
roll out of square with the surface. (A zero loft
at impact accomplishes the same thing, but alas that
is too rare.) A good image to see this dynamic is
to imagine the putter as an airplane during take-off,
with two wheels under the sole of the putter. A good,
straight lift-off the runway is achieved only when
BOTH wheels come off the ground at the same time and
with the same directionality and speed. But alas,
greens are not runways that are flat and level. Instead,
greens right at the ball are generally flat but tilted.
That makes the green more like the deck of an aircraft
carrier at sea. The putter still has to make a good
take-off, even if the deck is flat but tilted out
of level to gravity. So if the ball and putter head
are "below the feet" at address, the take-off
still has to be good. Likewise, if the ball and putter
are "above the feet" at address, the take-off
still has to be good. In fact, ANY tilt or slope in
the green at address has to be respected in the dynamics
of the take-off of the stroke. Granted, it is POSSIBLE
to hit a ball at your target on line with the toe
up or the heel up and with a wobbling hoop that is
out of kilter to the surface, but that stroke does
not send the ball where the putter face is aimed at
address or where it is pointed at impact, either.
What's at stake here is knowing what to expect and
knowing what to do to get it so you can learn to do
it consistently without surprises. Every stroke ought
to take off "square" from the deck.
Drop the Turtle and Let It Settle to the Bottom of
the Pond -- Conceptualizing the downstroke as a non-movement
is tough! Here's a cutesy way of getting really good
at it. Imagine you are standing thigh-deep in a pond
in a putting address posture, holding a big turtle
by its carapace instead of a putter handle, with the
turtle's face aimed down the line of the putt. Make
a backstroke that lifts the turtle gently to the surface
of the water and then "release" the turtle
to let it glide downward and forward in front of your
stance. Now imagine that the "turtle" is
the putter head, and releasing the putter head from
the top of the backstroke allows it to glide back
down the path to the address position at the bottom
of the pond and then it glides up and down the line,
with you simply keeping up with it.
"Dead Hands", "Dead Arms" thru
the Bottom Means "NOT USING" Them -- The
one time "dead hands" matters is right thru
the bottom of the stroke. Why? Because "dead
hands" keep the putter face square at this critical
time. How? Because otherwise -- i.e., "using"
the hands thru impact -- means CHANGING the path of
the stroke and/or the face angle of the putter, while
the putter head in physics is doing all it can despite
you to go straight and square thru the impact zone.
When you stand still at the top of the body once the
backstroke is finished, and simply allow the hands
and arms and putter to drop and swing beneath the
stable pivot of the base of the neck, the putter head
falls straight back to the address position and re-squares
and THEN going forward of the bottom the putter head
WILL swing slightly upward and straight down the line
... unless you prevent it by "using" the
hands or by blocking the stroke with stoppage in the
shoulder frame or arms or hands. The inherent momentum
of the putter head, coming back to square from either
a straight-back path for the backstroke or a path
slightly to the inside, is initially redirected by
the "memory" of the body structures and
tissues in a somewhat elastic manner to retrace the
backstroke path coming down to the bottom. But once
the putter head finds the square-on path entering
the bottom area of the stroke, IT KEEPS THIS MOMENTUM
AND DIRECTIONALITY going forward unless the golfer
changes it. What is meant by "dead hands"?
Hands that are "dead" are hands that are
not being used. They are not necessarily "lifeless"
in the sense of being totally relaxed or "loose"
and without muscle tone; instead, the hands are "unchanging"
during this critical part of the stroke. Neither are
"dead hands" necessarily "soft"
as usually desc ribed, although the experience of
"dead hands" MAY feel "soft".
It's quite possible to have "dead hands"
with a "death grip" on the putter handle.
So HOW do you do it? How do you make sure you have
"dead hands" thru the impact zone? The trick
is knowing HOW not to use the hands. The motion is
the natural dropping and swinging of the putter from
the top of the backstroke down and thru and up, while
the top of the body (base of neck and line of throat)
is stable like the top bar of a swing set. So the
motion in terms of the hands has several key segments.
Don't use the hands going back away from the ball
-- use the lead shoulder to shove the lead arm and
putter back as a unit. Don't use the hands to "stop"
the putter as it nears the top of the backstroke --
allow the swinging to drift or coast to its own conclusion
while the arms and hands stay the same in terms of
steady muscle tone and shape. Don't use the hands
to start the downstroke -- instead, let the putter
and arms and hands all drop "wherever gravity
wants to take them", which is straight down at
the ground swinging beneath the top bar of the swing
set to the bottom of the stroke and then up and down
the line. All that is fine, but only now are you entering
the impact zone, so here comes the critical "how
to": Don't use the hands to "hit" the
ball -- instead, let the stroke transpire as if there
were no ball present and all you are doing is watching
the putter head bottom out right where it is supposed
to and then the arms and hands and putter all rise
down the line as a unit. More specifically, don't
come unglued in your "togetherness" or "coordination"
of the shoulders, arms, hands, and the natural motion
of the putter head. If you use the hands to either
pull or push the putter thru impact, the hands will
get ahead of the shoulders and arms while leaving
the putter behind the hands (bad). Similarly, pulling
or pushing the stroke with the arms and not the shoulders
will leave the hands and putter behind (bad). Pulling
the stroke with the lead shoulder or arms will leave
the hands and putter behind (bad). Shoving or powering
the stroke with the rear shoulder or arms will leave
the hands and putter behind (bad). In order not to
come unglued, simply have your body take its cue from
the putter's motion in gravity and "ride"
the putter down to the bottom and "ride"
the putter up and down the line, while staying still
at the top. The body follows the momentum and directionality
of the stroke down and thru. The lead shoulder does
not pull ahead, the rear shoulder does not push ahead,
the forearm muscles do not activate to pull or push
the putter, and the hands don't activate either. The
stroke just happens. If you can make it two inches
past the front of the ball this way, the ball will
roll straight. Everything after that is window dressing
for the gallery (ask Seve Ballesteros, with his "gore
the bull" flourish lifting the putter down the
line with one hand). Get "straight" first,
and then add "bigger" to the stroke later
without messing up the timing. All of this means that
only a "patient" and "self-secure"
golfer can have "dead hands." Any sense
of urgency or anxiety about guiding the direction
of the "hit" or powering the "hit"
is highly likely to spoil the stroke, and this style
of "hit" putting can only be tamed after
years of piling on bailing wire and chewing gum to
hold things together in the "use" of the
hands, arms, etc. It's just not a long-term solution.
Get really good! Don't use the hands OR the arms --
just ride the putter down and thru without messing
it up. You can think of "dead hands" or
"dead arms" in a number of ways, but what
matters is that you don't actually "use"
them in the stroke. So what do you think and feel
instead? The feeling is that the lead shoulder clears
out of the way once the bottom of the stroke is reached,
so as not to block the on-going progress of the stroke,
but does not clear out of the way ahead of the putter.
The best way to think and feel this is "to let"
the momentum of the stroke shove the lead shoulder
straight up from the ground and out of the way, albeit
that this "shove" is gentle and the action
subtle. Feel the momentum of the stroke itself doing
the upstroke for you. Another way to think and feel
this is to make sure the rear shoulder does not stay
behind the gathering downward speed of the stroke
as it falls to the bottom. The feeling is that IF
the rear shoulder stays with the stroke, this very
"staying with" the hands and putter coming
down infuses the hands with a feeling of uselessness.
This feeling is one in which the hands keep their
steady muscle tone, but are nonetheless cancelled
out of the stroke motion by the rear shoulder's "staying
with" the stroke. The hands become "soft"
(or perhaps slightly "softer") and this
feeling happens right thru the bottom. Still another
way to think and feel this is to focus on the forearm
muscles when your stroke reaches the top of the backstroke
-- kill these muscles and the arms will remain "dead"
in the down-and-thru stroke, and so will the hands
(as the forearm muscles "move" the hands
about the wrists). There is a pretty big, categorical
difference in the brain between "using"
and "not using" muscles and body parts.
Learning how NOT to use muscles and body parts is
quite a trick and takes some re-configuring how the
golfer approaches the stroke both mentally and physically.
The sooner you get onto this problem, the sooner you
will get a LOT better in your putting.
Line of Throat Matches Top Edge of Putter Face --
In adopting the address setup to the putter as flatly
soled and aimed, the golfer creeps his feet in to
the handle of the putter as poised in space until
his naturally hanging arms and hands "dock"
with the handle, but then the real work of "squaring
up to the putter as aimed" just begins. The golfer
squares up for two main reasons: 1. so the stroke
will work with good biomechanics to send the ball
straight sideways out of the setup in the same direction
that the putter face is aimed, and 2. so the golfer
from beside the ball will be in a good posture with
the head, neck, and eyes to run his line of sight
along the ground away from the putter face on the
same line the putter face aims in order to check where
in fact the putter face has been aimed. The line of
the throat is key to getting square, and then the
gaze direction straight out of the face is key to
the side-on targeting. Once the hands have reached
the handle so that the feet are the correct distance
from the ball, the golfer sets the line of his throat
to match the top edge of the putter face (the two
lines are about the same length) in terms of both
having the same orientation in space. So long as the
neck / throat is perpendicular to the shoulder frame
(no sideways tilting of the head during the setup),
then setting the throat to the top edge of the putter
face also squares the shoulders parallel to the putt
line. Setting the throat line also sets the line across
the skull from top of ear to top of ear across the
bridge of the nose parallel to the line of the putt.
Once the throat and shoulders are square to the aim
of the putter face, the golfer shakes down from the
shoulders like a doll suspended hanging like a puppet
in a closet as each pair of joints sort themselves
into conformance with the squareness of the shoulders.
The body settles each pair of joints downward from
the shoulders -- hips, elbows, knees, ankles -- until
the golfer settles into "happy feet." Not
all golfers will have "happy feet" with
hips as square to the line as the shoulders, but that's
okay -- the shoulders count much more than the hips,
and for the hips and feet, the key watchwords are
"comfort and balance." Once the golfer has
"happy feet," he needs to make sure that
his gaze is aimed perpendicular out of his face and
his neck and head bend is such that he faces square
down at the ball. Setting the gaze avoids the usual
mistake of gazing down the nose like reading a book,
which generates misperceptions of the target location
in relation to the shoulders; the pupils then join
the line of the skull, the line of the skull and the
shoulders parallel the line that the putter aims along,
and a simple "apple on a stick" head turn
will drive the line of sight in the same line the
putter face aims as far as the target. This head turn
simultaneously verifies that the putter face aim is
on target and gives the golfer the final "polishing
off" of distance information for an instinctive
stroke. The putter face is aimed at the target and
the golfer is in the best setup position to make the
same-every-time straight stroke that rolls the ball
the same way the putter is aimed, with superb touch.
Hand Freely Swings Sideways when Distance Back from
Ball is Correct -- A fundamental for a good setup
for a straight stroke is a distance back from the
ball that eliminates reaching the putter head out
to the ball or reaching the putter head back in to
the ball. Once the putter is aimed behind the ball
with the sole flat to the surface, the golfer should
creep the feet forward until the naturally hanging
arms and hands "dock" with the handle as
poised waiting in space like the Space Shuttle docking
with the International Space Station. This leaves
the aim of the putter face undisturbed. It also leaves
the arms and hands undisturbed in the sense that there
is no reaching in or out of the arms and hands during
the setup, so that at the end of the process the arms
and hands hang naturally AND the putter is flatly
soled and well aimed. There is only one distance back
from the ball that corresponds to the golfer's specific
setup postures for that putt (hopefully always the
same postures). This being the case, the golfer can
test his distance back from the ball by simply relaxing
his rear hand (right for a right-hander) and watching
how it swings off the handle. If the hand swings ONLY
sideways from the handle, then the arms and hands
are hanging naturally without tension and the distance
back from the ball is correct. If the hand swings
in towards the thigh, the golfer is too far from the
ball and is reaching the putter head out to the ball,
keeping unnecessary and unreliable tension in the
arms and hands in order to "hold still"
in the setup. If the hand swings towards the nose,
the golfer is standing too close to the ball, and
the arms and hands again have a tension that is unnecessary
and unreliable. By keeping the putter flat and adjusting
the closeness of the feet to the ball, the optimum
setup is achieved and known. Straight putting is then
easier and more consistent.
Hold
Still at the Top, Do Nothing for a Straight Stroke
-- The key to a consistent straight stroke is timing
the bottom of the stroke and then delivering the putter
from there square thru the ball down the line at least
an inch or two. There are many ways to use the body
to get this brutal fact accomplished, but the objective
is to use the simplest, most consistent, most pressure-resistant
technique possible. Here's one to consider: Let your
tempo always deliver the putter to the bottom of your
stroke with the exact same timing from top of backstroke
to bottom of stroke, every putt, while holding the
base of the neck still during the downstroke, and
then "do nothing" -- the putter head will
square itself right at the bottom and then the still
neck will require that the putter head, arms and hands
gently rise up past the bottom on a path that is square
and down the line for at least a few inches. The momentum
of the putter head and the coordinated arms and hands,
swinging beneath the fixed pivot at the base of the
neck, will define by itself, effortlessly, the correct
dynamics of the putter head thru impact. Try this
on a straight five-footer: make the nice-tempoed backstroke,
then hold the base of the neck still, and "do
nothing" so that the hands and arms simply drop
wherever gravity wants to take them -- the putter
swings down beneath the pivot, squares up right at
the bottom, and then rises past the bottom in a casting
square and down the line thru impact. When gravity
handles the timing, the putter head always reaches
the bottom of the stroke right on time every time.
When the hands and arms instead "bring"
the putter down, the chances of accurately bottoming
out at the correct spot at the right time get pretty
iffy, and the likelihood is that bringing the putter
down will slop past the true bottom with the toe lagging
open, for a miss to the outside of the right line.
For a really dumbed-down and reliable straight stroke,
just hold still at the top of the backstroke and "do
nothing" as the hands, arms, and putter perfectly
time the bottom in an effortless, square stroke.
Skull Line -- The line across the skull from tops
of ears inward taking in the temples, outside corners
of eye sockets, inside corners of eye sockets, and
bridge of nose is a permanent and useful feature of
the bones of the head that allow squaring the whole
body up to a putt. (These 9 points of the skull will
also include the 2 pupils if the gaze is directed
straight and level out of the face.) If you wore glasses,
with a line across both lenses connecting the corner
pieces, the ear pieces and line trace the skull line.
Once the putter face is aimed thru the ball, matching
the skull line to the putter face so the skull line
passes perpendicularly thru the putter face's sweetspot
and thru the center of the ball, aligns the head and
face square to the intended line of the putt off the
putter face. By the neck being straight out of the
shoulders, orienting the skull line and head to the
putter face works thru the neck to square the shoulders
to the putt. By the upper torso not being twisted
in the waist area on the hips, the shoulder alignment
works downward to square the hips, and the hips in
turn square up the knees and ankles. Thus the golfer
squares the skull line and settles down the body into
"happy feet" ready to make a straight putt.
The settling of the feet into a square setup is always
last, but everything starts with the skull line.
Elbow
InTurn -- A good way to avoid forearms rolling open
or shut during the stroke is to preset a little tension
in the arms by turning the elbows in towards one another
a little. This has the effect of "twisting"
the arm assembly tight like a rag as the two bones
of the forearm roll outward by the elbow action at
one end while the wrists hold the opposite end taut
with the thumbs aimed down the top of the shaft and
the palms stay opposed, on the other end of the "rag."
This body action in the setup holds the forearms in
position during the stroke and prevents them from
rolling open going back or closed going thru. A partial
approach is to turn only the lead-side elbow inward
and commit to the notion that only the lead side matters,
with the rear-side hand and arm not being allowed
to assert control during the stroke. This tip is basically
a prophylactic against an unconscious "pull"
action of the arms, and may not be needed at all,
depending upon your mechanics.
Hold
the Tube -- To practice putting with "dead hands"
that do not lift or manipulate the putter during the
stroke, but that remain heavy and low with steady
grip form and pressure, make practice strokes with
nothing in your hands other than a thin imaginary
tube not much bigger or heavier than a fat pencil
or a section of copper tubing about as thick as a
nickel. The hands only get active in response to a
desire to move something inert and heavy, like a putter
head. Focusing in the stroke so that the hands are
simply on a comparatively weightless tube helps avoid
handsiness, especially at the start of the stroke.
Fixed
Eye on Grass -- Pick a small blade of grass immediately
in front of the putter face's sweetspot, in the gap
between putter face and back of ball. Look at this
blade with a mind engaged solely on the look of the
grass and then start the backstroke with the only
thought of waiting for the putter face's leading edge
to come back to this spot with the sweetspot moving
right over it, and as soon as the sweetspot arrives
back at the grass blade, transition the stroke from
arcing down to arcing up, keeping the pivot stable
in space albeit rotating in place as the fulcrum of
the shoulder frame as it rocks up. That ought to be
enough, so you don't necessarily have to make sure
you still are fixated on this spot after the ball
is gone, but you can if it makes you feel better.
Shoulder C -- The motion of the lead shoulder socket
in space is solely responsible in a "dead hands"
stroke with what happens to the putter head. The lead
arm and hand simply translate the shoulder socket
action to the putter head in a transparent manner.
The small movement of the shoulder socket is amplified
by the length between socket and putter head of the
arm, hand, and putter shaft. Hence, it is key to move
the shoulder socket correctly to avoid poor stroke
paths and twisted putter faces thru impact. My recommendation
is to move the shoulder socket straight down and back
from a level start, then reversing this back to level,
then continuing moving the socket now up and back
-- all while the pivot of the shoulder frame at the
base of the next rotates in place. Doing this has
the socket trace a curve in space that, seen from
facing the golfer's face, looks like a mirror-reversed
"C." (From behind the golfer, the socket
traces a normal-looking "C.") The socket
starts in the middle of the C and moves down and back
to the bottom of the C, then back to the middle, then
up and back to the top of the C. This C is normally
only a total height of 3-4 inches, so the move down
and back is not much over 2 inches deeper than level,
and the move up is about the same above level. But
the arm and putter shaft amplify this motion so that
the putter head moves a foot or more back from the
ball and a like distance forward. The gear ratio is
on the order of 1 to 6. But the real key is that the
C stand upright in space (or at the very least not
have any bend in its shape going from bottom to top).
If the C is seen as a bow aiming an arrow along the
line of shoulder alignment, the bow should be upright
for a vertical-plane straight stroke. And don't quit
on the upstroke, so that the top of the C is left
unfinished in the degraded form of a simple "J."
Keep the pivot steady and finish the top of the C
with the shoulder socket not only going up, but back
as well.
Simon
Hilton, PZ Coach, Bad Ragaz Switzerland, illustrating
the Shoulder-C:
Simon
Hilton PZ Coach Golf
Club Heidiland Bad Ragaz, Switzerland Club Tel.
+41 (0)81 303 37 00 Tel. 0041-8130213814 Mobile 0041-792388778
email Simon
Putt
the Bottom -- Nothing is more critical to the accuracy
of the stroke in terms of line than transitioning
the forward stroke right at the bottom of the stroke.
By playing the ball slightly forward of the bottom
of the stroke (which may vary from the middle of the
stance to a little forward of that, depending upon
your putter design and setup), and keeping the stroke
casual and non-percussive at impact, a nice smooth
stroke will send the ball off solidly with a nice
smooth roll, but only so long as the stroke bottoms
out right where it ought to and then transitions upward
into the back of the ball. The key is not allowing
the pivot of the stroke, at the base of the neck between
the two shoulders, from swaying off the bottom at
the start in the backstroke and from "following
after" the ball in the thru-stroke. The upper
torso remains square to the putt line, the pivot stays
in place although it rotates with the shoulder rock,
and the downstroke has the shoulders leveling out
right at the bottom of the stroke and then transitioning
upward going thru impact. The feeling is of a casual
levering of the putter up thru the back of the ball.
In a well-practiced tempo, the stroke always hits
the bottom on the same count, so counting your tempo
"one .. two" or "one potato ... two"
always has "two" coinciding with the exact
bottom of the stroke. There are many ways to key off
this exact bottom (staring the putter face at the
bottom and not up behind the ball, counting, feeling
the shoulder level out, watching a spot of grass for
the putter face to arrive coming into impact, feeling
the hands reach bottom, etc.), but doing so is critical
to a straight stroke with solid impact.
Slap
Putt -- Bending at address with your palms hanging
down facing each other, imagine someone standing astride
the line of the putt a few feet towards the target
to your side, and extend the rear hand across your
torso to shake hands with this person: the forearm
will rotate closed across the torso by 90 degrees
and the palm will reorient from aiming down the line
to aiming behind you, with the thumb on top. This
is a "pull" stroke. A sound putting stroke
is not a "handshake" extension across the
torso, but is a "slap" with the rear-hand's
palm swinging with nice extension thru the bottom
of the stroke and then heading straight up towards
the sky until the end of the thru-stroke is attained.
With the lead-side hand, it is a "slap"
with the back of the wrist and hand headed to the
sky.
Waiter's
Tray -- Knowing the ending position of the body movement
is an important key to performing the motion accurately.
In the case of a straight putting stroke, the end
of the follow-thru has certain features that are not
especially normal, the main one being that the putter
head stays out above the line of the putt and the
putter face does not twist closed. In order to fully
appreciate the artificiality of this position, it
is helpful to continue past a normal top of follow-thru
until the lead arm is all the way to horizontal above
the ground. At this point, the putter face should
still be out over the line of the putt and also the
putter face should be aimed straight up at the sky,
as level as a waiter's tray. The only way to get to
this position without arm or hand manipulation is
to keep the shoulder socket on the lead side headed
up and back while the palms are kept unchanging. It's
quite an uncomfortable extension. The discomfort in
this extreme position is resolved by the arms taking
over with the shoulder lifting giving up, and by the
forearms extending out from the shoulders with forearm
rotation. In a poor stroke action, then, the extension
discomfort causes armsiness and handsiness and the
putter comes inside off the line and the putter face
twists shut. The cure resides in slowing down the
stroke, keeping the upper body relaxed, and then moving
the shoulder up casually without worrying about the
discomfort of the extreme end-position, since you
are only headed in that direction and the trip will
actually end a lot sooner. Judge your stroke form
by the end-position of the follow-thru to make sure
the putter face is still over the line aimed square.
Feet-to-Ball
Setup - Pick Up the Quarter
How far out should the ball be away from your feet?
It's a matter of balancing the shoulders above the
feet, so try this: treat the ball like a quarter you
just spotted on the ground, walk up to it to pick
it up, and when you plant your foot to bend down,
that's the right distance back from the "quarter"
-- usually about two putterheads.
Bounce
the Putter to Locate the Ground To stabilize your
stroke and make sure your putterhead returns to impact
in a vertical orientation for a solid roll, set the
length of your putting system from pivot to turf by
tapping the putterhead lightly at address and keep
the pivot stable in your stroke.
Set
Up to the Ball, Then the Putt To make sure the
setup never changes and therefore the stroke dynamics
don't alter from putt to putt, set up to the ball
itself first, and then to the putt, so that you don't
pull the trigger unless the two setups coincide.
Sidehill
Putts Tend to Run Lowside All sidehill putts tend
to get lost to the downhill side, and you need to
conform your setup to the surface, not to gravity,
if you want to avoid losing the putt to the amateur
side.
The
Big Gap You should play the ball forward of the
middle of your stance (which is the bottom of your
stroke arc), but maybe you should place the putterhead
down not behind the ball but in the middle of the
stance -- and this Big Gap can be useful.
Get
a Grip on Putting: Keep the Pressure Light and Constant
Keep your grip pressure light and constant throughout
the stroke to avoid snatching or casting the putter,
abrupt transitions in the stroke, or tempo fluctuations,
as this promotes a smooth stroke, with good accuracy
in the stroke path, and consistently solid contact.
In
Putting, the Knees Hold the Hips, the Hips Hold the
Head! Your visual attention to the putterhead-ball
interaction at impact ought to keep your head still
in putting by itself, but if you nonetheless have
a problem, try "marrying" the sense of stillness in
your hips to the pivot point in the center of the
base of your neck ("hips and head hold still"), while
the arms and shoulders turn back and through on this
stable pivot.
Groom
the Green's Mane with the Takeaway Sure the putter
stroke needs to move straight back and thru, but there's
more to it: the putterface orientation has to move
as a unit and stay square, at least for five or six
inches on either side of the ball.
The
Shoulder Move Plus a Stockton Tip for Straight Strokes
Cut strokes, pulls and putterface twists come mostly
from the use of hand and arm muscles to start the
backstroke, as this casts the backstroke out beyond
the line of the putt, and using a simple shoulder
push to start the stroke keeps the hands dead while
giving you a good start on the backstroke.
Stroke
Path Straight or Arc? - BOTH The long-running
and never-ending debate over whether the stroke path
should be straight-back-straight-through or inside-square-inside
detracts from the true fundamental of "a square
face moving square thru impact". A closer examination
of the mathematics and geometry of the putting stroke
reveals that a straight shoulder stroke, because of
its rising back and thru and the tilt of the plane
of motion, is BOTH straight and arcing inside-square-inside.
The trick is keeping the shoulder sockets rocking
in the same plane throughout the stroke.
The
Rib Cage Crunch In the backstroke, don't let your
descending rib cage get shoved forward by the midriff
and pelvis, as this twists the shoulderframe and throws
the stroke path curling inside on the way back --
instead, AIM the bottom of the rib cage straight for
the pelvis, and move the lead shoulder socket straight
down at the balls of your lead foot to keep the shoulderframe
"rock" within a straight vertical plane
aimed parallel to the startline of the putt.
The
Battering Ram Stroke In order to "flush"
your putts for pure, straight rolls, think of the
stroke as swinging a battering ram suspended beneath
two handles or ropes straight and level thru the ball.
Pushing
or Pulling Putts? It's the Lead Elbow, Stupid!
To keep the putterface moving square and straight
thru impact, don't let the lazy lead elbow drift towards
your hip, but keep it headed straight along your toe
line for a bit past impact.
Slice
Your Thumb Knuckle For a straight-back and straight-thru
stroke path, run your thumb knuckle along a a razor-sharp
blade -- OUCH!
Nail
Your Putts for Solid, On-Line Impact Visualizing
putterhead-ball impact as similar to hammering a nail
into the ball is one of golf's oldest putting tips,
and it helps tremendously with your management of
the downstroke for solid, consistent rolls.
Putt
the Sleeve Box Imagining the ball not as a round
sphere but as the butt-end of a sleeve box gives you
a superior sense of squaring the putterface and a
sense of the starting direction of the putt.
Foto-Finish
Impact Visualizing the putterface as if remaining
behind the ball during the backstroke helps guide
the stroke path back to square impact for solid, flush
putts.
Roll
the Hoop for True Putts Visualize the ball as
only a solid disk vertical on its edge in the plane
of the putt, with only one dimple on the back equator,
one dimple on the front equator, and a central dimple
on the top, and roll this hoop or disk to the hole
with your solid putting stroke.
What
the Heck is a Forward Press Good For? A forward
press is a bad trade for a little rhythm in your stroke,
and at a minimum requires careful attention to how
it is performed to avoid creating problems.
Make
a Beautiful Stroke Once you have oriented the
putterface behind the ball, your targeting tasks for
direction are completed, and with a sense of distance
and speed in mind, the only thing left to concern
yourself with is making a beautiful stroke.
To
similar effect, see Beverly
Fergusson's nice take on the subject.
PRACTICE
Putting
Practice Pointers The difference between swatting
balls across a practice green and sharpening your
putting skills is mostly working on something specific
in your putting, whether it be targeting, reading,
setup, routine, stroke mechanics, or something purely
psychological.
Indoor
Putting Exercises Indoor putting practice and
drills need not always be about stroking a ball into
a drink glass, and your putting would be well served
to add some exercises that sharpen relevant perceptual
skills and specific stroke movements.
The
"Report Card" Game for Short Putting Skill Try
the Report Card Game to sharpen up short-putting skills
under pressure with readily understandable feedback
in a reasonably short, well-defined exercise.
Baseball
Putting In this game for two players, test your
skills under pressure to sink a 15-footer to strike
out your opponent with the bases loaded, tying run
on third, and the count 3 and 2!
Drills
for Skills A collection of dozens of new drills
to train putting target perceptions and stroke movement
skills, arranged according to four simple tasks: pick
target, aim at target, putt straight, with good touch.
Claim-Jumping
"21" -- The popular putting game "21"
for 2 or more players is for one player to pick a
hole the players all putt at and the closest ball
earns the player 3 points, with a sink earning 4 points,
and topping a previous sink earning 5 points, with
the top-point earner selecting the next putt, until
one player reaches or exceeds 21 and wins. The CLAIM-JUMPING
TWIST is to make the game more cut-throat, with new
rules for the following 2 scenarios: First, if no
player sinks the first try, then the closest to the
hole must still putt out in order to "claim"
the 3 points. If he fails to sink the leave, the next
closest player backs up radially away from the hole
3 feet and has the chance to putt for the "unclaimed"
3 points. If the first / closest player instead sinks
his leave and successfully "claims" his
3 points, then the next closest player still has a
chance: he backs up 3 feet and putts -- if the next
player misses, the first player keeps the 3 points
and picks the next hole; if the next player sinks,
however, he "claim jumps" the first player
by erasing his 3 points and is rewarded with 1 point
for the trouble and selects the next putt (gains "the
honor"). Any others players are just out of it
and need to lag closer to get a shot at "claim
jumping." Second, if one player sinks the initial
putt, then he "claims" 4 points, but if
any subsequent player can top that with a sink, the
subsequent player "claim jumps" and erases
the first player's 4 points and is rewarded with 5
points and gains the honor. Any second or subsequent
"top" erases any other player's points and
gains the topper one point more than the topped player
had. PLAYING HINT: You should discover that when both
players stay in a range where their lags are both
close, the scoring favors the next-closest lagger
but only advances slowly with single points, like
a defensive soccer or hockey game. If the player with
the honor selects longer putts, the game starts to
favor the better lagger and the scoring advances by
3 or more points per putt. Towards the end of the
game, if the player behind has the honor, he tries
to lag closest and get 3 or more points, but if the
leader can snag the 1-pointers, he can eventually
get over the top anyway. When the leader has the honor,
though, the player behind may intentionally try to
lag less close than the leader in order to play defense
and keep hold of the leader's shirt-tail by erasing
any leader points while slowly trying to catch up
1 defensive point at a time.
"In-a-Row"
Game -- For two or more players. One player selects
a hole and a distance out from the hole and has 5
tries to sink the first putt. If he fails in 5 tries,
he stops with "0 in a row." If he sinks
a putt before his 5 tries are exhausted, he then continues
putting so long as he can string together a row of
sinks. Once the string ends, he has "in a row"
however many putts he sank in a row. The next player
also has 5 tries to get started on a series of sinks
from the same distance (not necessarily from the same
location) and tries to sink 1 more "in a row"
than any other player. The player with the longest
string "in a row" gets 1 point and the honor
of selecting the next hole and distance. The first
player to reach 5 wins the game. Two players can usually
putt at the same time, more or less, so there is no
waiting turns and the game moves along.
EQUIPMENT
The
Long and Short of Putter Length and Lie Don't
let the putter wag the puttee; figure out a setup
that is best for a good stroke, and then fit the putter
to your needs, or else you'll get stuck with "average
golferitis."
The
Dimple Error in Putting On rare occasion, it's
possible that the putter face's striking the raised
edge of a dimple on the back of the golf ball might
misdirect the roll enough to cause the putt to miss,but
this happens only rarely over a small range of putts
on unusually fast and true greens, but in any event
can be guarded against by careful attention to ball
alignment and/or selection of soft-covered balls or
putters with soft face inserts.
PSYCHOLOGY
Bubbleheaded
Putting Thinking is Stinking! but my advice to
"use your brain" stands. A great deal of
the brain has nothing to do with that little voice
we use to think with. Using the brain to putt means
"shut up and putt" -- not bothering yourself
with pointless thoughts, concerns, worries about the
putt -- and the end result is your conscious awareness
is empty except for the moment itself in a clarity
that allows your brain-body to perform at its highest
level.
The
"Mechanics of Instinct" in Putting: The Neurophysiological
Paradigm for Applied Research The present study
is an examination of the neurophysiology of putting
as revealed in recent studies of putting. At this
time in the history of putting science, a new paradigm
is emerging that focuses upon the human actor in terms
of the perceptual and movement processes of brain
and body. Early research initiatives lack a thorough
grounding in the rapidly advancing field of neuroscience,
and such a sound theoretical foundation is essential
to efficient and meaningful progress in this promising
approach to putting science. The study examines in
detail neurophysiological investigations into putting
visual processes and putting pressures. The study
probes the theoretical limitations of these studies,
and proposes future lines of research.
The
Neurophysiology Of Golf Putting: The Mayo Clinic Takes
a Stab at the "Yips" The Mayo Clinic is undertaking
a study of the "yips" in golf--the mysterious affliction
in putting manifested by freezing over the putt, shaky
hands, and a stabbing stroke. Previous researchers
have classified yips as an occupational focal hand
dystonia, a type of movement disorder apparently caused
by degeneration of neural circuitry following decades
of the same hand movement. The Mayo Clinic team departs
from earlier researchers by assigning a prominent
role in the etiology of the yips to psychological
rather than neurological factors. They have also opted
for a behavioral definition of yips that does not
distinguish between the contributions of anxiety and
dystonia. The team may therefore have difficulty identifying
effective therapy. [After this paper was communicated
to the Mayo Clinic "sports medicine" team,
they added Dr Charles Adler from the Mayo's movement
disorder neurology clinic in Scottsdale AZ, and the
team thereafter did an about face in a second paper
to conform to the suggestions in this paper: ""There
isn't much known about golfers' yips, so this is an
important initial study," said Christine Klein, MD,
in an interview seeking outside comment. "A common
perception of the yips is that it's psychogenic, and
Dr. Adler's work shows that it may be neurogenic instead."
Dr. Klein is the Lichtenberg professor of clinical
and molecular genetics at the University of Lubeck
in Germany."]
