We need to find out what makes you miss from short range.
I don't think I ever trust that my line is right. It could be a vision thing. I wear glasses and have a pretty bad stigmatism (sp?). Not sure
Do you change putters? What style of putter?
I used to change putters like I change my drawz . . . every other week. I was into Camerons loved 'em. I'm over it. I've had the same putter now for about 2 years. It's Cameron MidSur (belly putter) but it has been cut down to 34 inches. I like it because it's dope looking and I don't have to put one of them stoopid headcovers on it. Plus I like it because it's heavy and has a thick top line (opposite of my iron preference).
Did you ever putt alot better and changed trying to improve?
Naw. I never practice putting too much. I think it's boring. Waiting to be chastized here . . .
Miss everywhere or left or right, short or long.
Pretty much everywhere. If I start out missing right or left then I usually end up missing long because I start trying to cram it in. But from a distance perspective on on the short ones I'd say I tend to hit them too soft. I like to see it die in.
Mental side. Are you severly damaged? I mean -- is it so bad you can't even picture a putt go in during visualization.
Damaged . . . oh hell yes . . . To be honest I don't really visualize that well period in putting or nowhere . . . well I do pretty good in the bathroom
How many putts a round do you try to wish in?
On a bad day . . . every putt from 6 to 3 feet.
On a six footer that reads just outside left edge, what are you thinking. Do you get really committed.
Depends on where I'm at in the round . . . early on I'm positive . . . around the turn I'm thinking I hope that big fat lady made the hot dawg slaw and if she did I may marry her. . . . by the time I'm around 14 and I've missed a few I'm just trying not to cry.
Are you standing over the putt wondering about your alignment? Or is it after you have missed. Not early on. But if I miss I'm wondering after the shot for awhile. Then I'm tweekin' from the get before the putter goes back.
Describe in detail your preshot.
Well . . . I kinda start looking at the green as I walk to it from the fairway (I like to walk). The after I catch my breath . . . Start looking for the high spot. I walk to it. I kinda verify what my eye see with what I feel under my feet. The I get to the ball look at my high spot and kinda let my instincts take over as far as aiming. I have found when I'm hot I just feel my alignment by just letting my braincell do it's thang. Then I take two practice strokes looking at the hole trying to feel the putter swing and feel my hands. I address the ball. Look at my spot and just try to swing him back schmooove. People have said that my stroke looks good. Hell it feels good and feels like it would look good. It just don't work too good.
Ah . . . but I AM a good putter and I'm due to make the next 'un.
Bucket,
We've got potential. I like the reading and routine. Esp. smooth stroke and letting the braincell do the aiming. I like letting the talent do its part rather than manual override.
Good putters putt with the same putter or style of putter. Once asked a really good tour putter how long he had been putting with his putter (within earshot of my player who was wanting to change). He said, "About five years." Then I asked what he putted with before that. He said, "One just like it."
I'm not a big believer in spending alot of time on the putting green unless you really like putting. I see a tendency to experiment, further confusing the computer. I want results in a short amount of time. I rarely putt for more than ten minutes. Love short game and full game practice.
A drill from a really good putter. Three balls in a line about two feet apart, starting two feet from hole. So a two footer, a four footer, and a six footer all on the same line. The shortest lets you make a bunch (good for brain). The next two give you alot of practice holing the kind of putts you need to make to keep a round going. Putt these three, get them out of the hole, repeat. If you don't make a bunch of putts at first, don't worry, you will improve. Practice some longer putts. Do a little putting around the practice green with one ball for touch. If you want to work on your stroke, do it indoors with some kind of reference tool. I learned to putt watching my stroke over a threshold.
Die putting is for longer putts. You don't have to ram the short ones, but make a nice positive stroke. If you take too high a line, you will put a little steer on it to help it break enough to go in. Practice some breaking putts at three different speeds. Big break, medium break. Minimal break. It helps with touch and seeing putts. Learn to putt with medium break.
Visualize. We have to use our talents as we find them. Some guys go to the movies. Some see a straight line. Sounds like you get a feel for the shot. That's OK.
Confidence depends on where in the round. This is a problem. If you want to putt better, you have to think better. You can control your mental process. From now on, act like you know what you are doing as you walk into the putt. Just try it for the next few rounds. Every putt. Let me know.
HB
I'm a little afraid to ask. Lets hear about your management and mental game.
We've got potential. I like the reading and routine. Esp. smooth stroke and letting the braincell do the aiming. I like letting the talent do its part rather than manual override.
HB
I'm a little afraid to ask. Lets hear about your management and mental game.
Question on the above . . . Should talent and braincell deal be throughout the game?
Management
This part of my game is a strength. I pretty much try to play shots that I can play. I pick really good targets and play the percentages well. I always have a plan . . . execution is a different story. I love the strategic part of the game. I try to pick my targets from the tee that allow the most margin for error. On my course I don't hit driver on but 5 holes or so depending on conditions. You just don't get much juice for the amount of squeeze you gotta do. I play thinking pretty much "what do I have to do to make par on this hole" and let the birdies come. From 9 iron down I shoot at pins. Rest of the stuff is middle of green. I'm more like too shot at a left pin than a right pin because my natural shape wants to go left.
Some days my tee shots can be good . . . but I ALWAYS have 2 or 3 holes where hit a wildazz tee shot to somewhere you make 1,000,000 from. When I hit a bad shot I hit a BAD shot. I'm pretty good about striking it solid but it's more of a direction dealie.
MENTAL
Another stength of mine is ATTITUDE . . . I have fun on the course. I never get mad. You can't tell if I'm shootin' 100 or 75. I'm just happy to be on the golf course. I don't beat myself up after bad shots or rounds.
ROUTINE Not so good. I don't have a lot of confidence in my alignment. I have too many mechanical thoughts. I get to playing golf swing instead of playing golf. If I miss one I tend to get more mechanical. The weird thing is though . . .when I have to hit a trouble shot or work a shot I tend to hit those shots great. I have more trouble with the shots I SHOULD hit well. Maybe I get more committed. That may be something I need to explore what commitment means with regards to G.O.L.F. and golf.
OVERALL CONFIDENCE IN GAME I feel like I have enough skills that I could be a 4 to scratch but I just need to eliminate the wild shot off the tee and hit more short putts. I have the desire to get there and feel like I can . . . but I never have.
Question on the above . . . Should talent and braincell deal be throughout the game?
Management
This part of my game is a strength. I pretty much try to play shots that I can play. I pick really good targets and play the percentages well. I always have a plan . . . execution is a different story. I love the strategic part of the game. I try to pick my targets from the tee that allow the most margin for error. On my course I don't hit driver on but 5 holes or so depending on conditions. You just don't get much juice for the amount of squeeze you gotta do. I play thinking pretty much "what do I have to do to make par on this hole" and let the birdies come. From 9 iron down I shoot at pins. Rest of the stuff is middle of green. I'm more like too shot at a left pin than a right pin because my natural shape wants to go left.
Some days my tee shots can be good . . . but I ALWAYS have 2 or 3 holes where hit a wildazz tee shot to somewhere you make 1,000,000 from. When I hit a bad shot I hit a BAD shot. I'm pretty good about striking it solid but it's more of a direction dealie.
MENTAL
Another stength of mine is ATTITUDE . . . I have fun on the course. I never get mad. You can't tell if I'm shootin' 100 or 75. I'm just happy to be on the golf course. I don't beat myself up after bad shots or rounds.
ROUTINE Not so good. I don't have a lot of confidence in my alignment. I have too many mechanical thoughts. I get to playing golf swing instead of playing golf. If I miss one I tend to get more mechanical. The weird thing is though . . .when I have to hit a trouble shot or work a shot I tend to hit those shots great. I have more trouble with the shots I SHOULD hit well. Maybe I get more committed. That may be something I need to explore what commitment means with regards to G.O.L.F. and golf.
OVERALL CONFIDENCE IN GAME I feel like I have enough skills that I could be a 4 to scratch but I just need to eliminate the wild shot off the tee and hit more short putts. I have the desire to get there and feel like I can . . . but I never have.
Bucket,
Talent and braincell throughout the ball. YES. "Turn off the brain. Turn on the game."
Strategy and management sound really good. It's great that you always have fun. As you progress, we may want you to fire at reasonable flags down to a six or seven iron. One thing you mentioned from last round was 6 three putts. Maybe you should try hitting it closer to the hole.
Focus on trouble shots. You have to, the shot dictates start line, height, curvature, etc. Tour players do the same thing. They hit this miracle shot out of the trees, then the next hole they miss the green with a wedge. Focus.
So the difference between the trouble shot and the one from the middle of the fairway 150 out is the definition. You can define this shot. You can picture it hit on the green, spin left a few feet, and topple into the hole. You can picture the trajectory. If you want to hit a straight shot, you can picture a tunnel of trees defining the flight. It's all mind games. Even when you are hitting a safe shot to the middle of the green, you want to be really locked in on the target.
Routine. Practice your alignment on the range. Take it for granted on the course. Nobody plays good when they are worried about it. One of the dangers in knowing alot about the swing is being able to diagnose errors and becoming focused on them. Let those thoughts go until you have made the same physical error a number of times in a row. One bad shot should go straight out the window.
Wild shots. Is it random or do you struggle with the same tee shots? Sometimes you have to do something different on a hole that does not fit your eye.
HB
Lay out your plan for improvement, as you see it.
Last edited by Hennybogan : 07-12-2007 at 12:07 PM.
Reason: forgot question
Talent and braincell throughout the ball. YES. "Turn off the brain. Turn on the game."
Strategy and management sound really good. It's great that you always have fun. As you progress, we may want you to fire at reasonable flags down to a six or seven iron. One thing you mentioned from last round was 6 three putts. Maybe you should try hitting it closer to the hole.
Focus on trouble shots. You have to, the shot dictates start line, height, curvature, etc. Tour players do the same thing. They hit this miracle shot out of the trees, then the next hole they miss the green with a wedge. Focus.
So the difference between the trouble shot and the one from the middle of the fairway 150 out is the definition. You can define this shot. You can picture it hit on the green, spin left a few feet, and topple into the hole. You can picture the trajectory. If you want to hit a straight shot, you can picture a tunnel of trees defining the flight. It's all mind games. Even when you are hitting a safe shot to the middle of the green, you want to be really locked in on the target.
Routine. Practice your alignment on the range. Take it for granted on the course. Nobody plays good when they are worried about it. One of the dangers in knowing alot about the swing is being able to diagnose errors and becoming focused on them. Let those thoughts go until you have made the same physical error a number of times in a row. One bad shot should go straight out the window.
Wild shots. Is it random or do you struggle with the same tee shots? Sometimes you have to do something different on a hole that does not fit your eye.
HB
Lay out your plan for improvement, as you see it.
Henny/Bucket,
Great stuff! I've been experimenting some with shooting at flags only from 135/140 and closer (my 9-iron), opting for the middle of the green the rest of the time (the greens on the courses I play aren't always that big). I hadn't really considered HB's comment about really "focusing in" on that sort of shot before, but it makes a bunch of sense.
So the difference between the trouble shot and the one from the middle of the fairway 150 out is the definition. You can define this shot. You can picture it hit on the green, spin left a few feet, and topple into the hole. You can picture the trajectory. If you want to hit a straight shot, you can picture a tunnel of trees defining the flight. It's all mind games. Even when you are hitting a safe shot to the middle of the green, you want to be really locked in on the target.
Wild shots. Is it random or do you struggle with the same tee shots? Sometimes you have to do something different on a hole that does not fit your eye.
HB
Lay out your plan for improvement, as you see it.
NICE!!!! I like it . . .
Wild shots. Is it random or do you struggle with the same tee shots?
OK . . . I played 9 holes for lunch. I think I may have figured out a big portion of my wild shots. I should have started here in the first place too! I hit some hard hooks with all of my clubs. Not low snappers but more like solid bombs that just curved to hard left . . . past the old stance line. I was even hooking wedges 15 yards or so.
I have really been working on #3 accumulator roll . . . which I think was a dumb thing to do with my grip type. I have a turned left hand. So it to me on a little pitch that I didn't need all that roll and it was causing to clubface movement. So I hit this little holdy blocky feeling thing . . . one hop . . . .in the hole. Next hole I carried that same holdy deal and hit it really great from a direction standpoint. My flail has to work different who gets their hands on the club 10-2-B vertical style.
The other thing I did was the whole visualization deal. Imagined that the ball was like the size of a kickball or something. It freed everything up. I tend to hit it pretty solid anyway for the most part. But I really was able to let it rip without having to be superdooper ball bound.
I feel better about it now. If I can drive it in play I hit the irons good enough that I can do awight. Putted a lil' better too. Take away the two wild hooks O.B. and I shoot decent.
Practice some breaking putts at three different speeds. Big break, medium break. Minimal break. It helps with touch and seeing putts. Learn to putt with medium break.
I just read [u]Putting Out of your Mind[u] by Bob Rotella. In the forward to the book, Brad Faxon talks about putting a breaking putt at three different speeds to develop feel. Rotella talks about the mind being able to make all the calculations in the subconscious mode. Trusting it!
Continuing on. My thoughts on my putting, even though I am an average putter I still from time to time miss what looks like the easiest of putts.
PUTTING
·I am a pretty average reader of greens, I can see the line the majority of the time but sometimes have problems trusting that it is the right line and can second guess myself.
·Mid range putts (8-15 feet) I am pretty solid but like my friend Bucket I have trouble from 5 feet and in at times.
·When I miss short putts it’s a combination of line and pace. I can either hit it too hard or baby it.
·I probably have at least 2-3 3 putts a round when I am playing badly. Normal day it’s a 3 putt a round usually at the wrong moment.
·Unlike Bucket, I can get a bit mechanical on the greens but have improved the routine to such that its one look and go.
·Trusting my alignment is a bit of a bugbear as is actually aligning correctly at times.
·Distance putting is average, that is where the majority of the 3 putts come from. Usually from not getting the distance right and I am always short.
·I have found that under pressure I am not a bad putter on most putts. Short ones will give me even more problems.
Through the years, I have read many of Bob Rotella’s books so I feel confident when I get to the ball and stroke it but sometimes I am missing a bit of the puzzle and the confidence goes again until the next time.
Been working on my putting routine a lot recently. Watched a lot of Darren Clarke, Aaron Baddeley and Davis Love on their routines. I like how they all take a few practise swings looking at the hole, line up, one look and then bang. Been trying to keep to that of late.
Continuing on. My thoughts on my putting, even though I am an average putter I still from time to time miss what looks like the easiest of putts.
PUTTING
·I am a pretty average reader of greens, I can see the line the majority of the time but sometimes have problems trusting that it is the right line and can second guess myself.
·Mid range putts (8-15 feet) I am pretty solid but like my friend Bucket I have trouble from 5 feet and in at times.
·When I miss short putts it’s a combination of line and pace. I can either hit it too hard or baby it.
·I probably have at least 2-3 3 putts a round when I am playing badly. Normal day it’s a 3 putt a round usually at the wrong moment.
·Unlike Bucket, I can get a bit mechanical on the greens but have improved the routine to such that its one look and go.
·Trusting my alignment is a bit of a bugbear as is actually aligning correctly at times.
·Distance putting is average, that is where the majority of the 3 putts come from. Usually from not getting the distance right and I am always short.
·I have found that under pressure I am not a bad putter on most putts. Short ones will give me even more problems.
Through the years, I have read many of Bob Rotella’s books so I feel confident when I get to the ball and stroke it but sometimes I am missing a bit of the puzzle and the confidence goes again until the next time.
Been working on my putting routine a lot recently. Watched a lot of Darren Clarke, Aaron Baddeley and Davis Love on their routines. I like how they all take a few practise swings looking at the hole, line up, one look and then bang. Been trying to keep to that of late.
Alex
Alex,
Good info. I like the routine of DC, Badds, DL III, etc. Just make sure that you do it at your individual pace. You are simplifying the routine, that is good, but do not get in a rush. Make sure you practice the routine enough that it becomes automatic.
Good distance putting is a combination of making a good read of the slopes and hitting solid putts. Make sure that you develop consistant contact. It also helps to be confident about making the second putt.
Alignment. You really have to trust it on the course. You can't putt well thinking about it. So fix it off the course. Design of the putter has a big link to how well it will fit you. Necks, offsets, head shape, loft, etc all affect how well you will line up. If you need help in this area, it is best to consult a professional who understands it. There are also set-up variables that can help (eye line, ball position, distance from ball, etc.).
How many putts should you miss before you lose confidence and start going mechanical?
Line on short putts. DECIDE. Smallest target possible. Pace dictates line. Picture both as you consider the line. Stick with your decision. For now your goal should be to be fully organized and committed to the putt at hand.
Practice putting the same putt at different speeds and lines. Do this with both left to right and right to left putts.
Hybrid Mode
