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Missing Putts - Why?

SeeMore Golf
Wake said:
I think mine tend to come down to 3 things, misalignment, misreading, and not enough practice time.
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Same here. I'll also add incorrect speed for the line. I used to be such a poor putter. Speed was really horrible. I'd either leave it short by 3 feet or run it by 5 or more feet. I did get my putter cut down so that my eyes were over the ball. That helped tremendously with the line. I still need so much more work on the green. I've gotten my 3-putts down to only 4-6 a round. That's 4-6 more strokes I could save if I practiced just a little more.
 
I feel that my problem is more mental at this stage of my development as a golfer. I feel confident with my stroke and my putter, I recently changed to a different flat stick and have gained confidence. I feel that I have learned how to read greens and speeds pretty well but some days are better than others. Mechanically I feel good about that part of putting.

Where is struggle is the mental part of putting. My mind often wanders on the green, thinking about the next hole, what i am doing after golf, even how the last shot went either good or bad. This part I NEED to improve upon and I know I can. Also practice I don't practice nearly as much as I want to, I really need some easy drills that I can do in the house to keep me sharp. Not only physical drills but mental as well to keep myself sharp when I am out on the course.
 
Here are my problems...

Misalignment is first and foremost. I think I am starting the ball on one line, but when someone stands behind me and looks I am usually 2 or 3 balls right of my target.

Second is Misreading greens...If you want to call it that...It simply is I can't read a green to save my life. I just don't have that brain capacity to visualize the line.

Finally is mental game. I will have a 3 footer for birdie and get all excited and miss it every time. If it is a 3 footer for bogey, I don't think about it and make it 9 out of 10 times.

Speed is my friend. I don't worry about the line, just about the speed and I can usually get it close.

I have a practice mat in my office that is 15 feet long. We have had it since April so 8 months practice I've had and usually I hit about 50 balls a day. I hit 6 balls at a time at the 3 holes on the practice mat (once I make a putt in the hole, I move to the next hole). On Friday after 8 months, I finally went 6 for 6. That is how bad I am at putting.
 
For me I would say that almost all of my misses are speed related. I feel that I'm excellent at reading greens and my putts are usually are on my intended line. My misses are either hit through the break or end up just short.

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Lately I think I hit the ball where I want to, i.e., pick my line and start on it, so most of my misses are either wrong line or wrong speed. I'm not gonna say I hit everyone perfect though so there's still some operator error in there.

I don't think my alignment is an issue since switching to my seemore.
 
alignment has been my biggest issue. I know some of that comes with my setup. It's something I'm working on nightly to try to resolve now.
 
Second guessing myself (or lack of confidence) makes it hard for me to make a good stroke.
 
I just assume all of my approach shots are gimmes, then am so surprised that I have to putt. In all seriousness, most of my misses are because of a lack of focus. I'm a confident putter, so recently decided on a regular routine to get my mind where it needs to be to make them.
 
For me, the majority of my misses are misreads, whether that is break or speed, still a misread. Occasionally I will push one or pull one, but I feel like my stroke is pretty repetetive, and it is something that I work on too.
 
it's almost always misread/misjudge of speed. my alignment is pretty solid, and practice it quite often...so i'm confident that where i'm lining up is correct, even if it may be the wrong line for the putt.
 
I would say the primary reason for me missing putts in misreading the green. I've never been great at reading greens. I feel like on a lot of missed putts I find myself thinking "can't believe it didn't break" or "that was much slower than I thought."
 
Of the putts that I feel I SHOULD make I believe I miss most because I tend to look to the hole to watch it go in and as I do that I turn my shoulders, pull the putt and miss left.

I believe that my other issue is not lining up correctly. I seem to have a "close enough" approach and change my stroke at the last second to adjust for misalignment.
 
My miss is speed mostly which is obvioulsy closely related to read. Straight putts I'm pretty good, but I'm afraid to hit it 3 ft by so speed is so critical around the hole when its breaking. Confidence plays a huge factor in how I'm putting for the day. If I drop a few 8-10 footers early the hole seems to get bigger and I get more aggressive which is usually good for my game.
 
jank1434 said:
I have a tendency to not finish my stroke on shorter putts which results in a push. I think that is why I miss most of my putts, personally.
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I'd agree with this. Most of my missed putts are the result of an abbreviated stroke or bad speed. 90% of the time i'll start my ball on my intended line but either hit it through the line or see it die off before it reaches the hole. Probably the biggest flaw in most amateurs game.
 
The reason I think I miss most putts is One-- Follow through / not finishing my stroke. Two... I read greens about as well as I read Mandarin Chinese...
 
I think I tend to read the greens alright but I struggle with getting the ball started on the line I want so it's clearly an alignment issue. I've looked at all kinds of videos but little seems to help. Lack of practice is probably a culprit as well.
 
I think it is practice for everyone. If you practiced you would have a repeatable stroke, you would read greens correctly, you would have speed down, etc, etc, etc. I think it all comes back to practice, assuming your putter is fit for you and you know how to align yourself, etc.
 
My misses are usually distance control related. I tend to either leave them short or blow them way past the hole. My excuse is a lack of practice. Working so much over time this summer has caused me to not practice and not play as much as I normally would and my feel on the greens isnt what it once was. Once the overtime is done in the spring, I will have the time to practice with my putter every day again and the feel will come back.
 
For me its all about speed , I can usually keep the ball on line . More practice , more practice . One green i come up short then the next green i hit it way to long . Inconsitancy is in my bag .
 
I think a lot of players tend to over read the break, I know i do. I also find lack of pre round practice leads to more putts during a round
 
I personally think most amateurs under read break in place for speed. They don't see the bend required to actually make the putt in a safe enough manner for a two putt. They barely miss but run it 6 feet by.

More break, less speed means more 1putts and less 3putts!
 
Thainer21 said:
I personally think most amateurs under read break in place for speed. They don't see the bend required to actually make the putt in a safe enough manner for a two putt. They barely miss but run it 6 feet by.

More break, less speed means more 1putts and less 3putts!
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I'm on the other side of this, I think most people over read break and simply try to create break that isn't there.
 
War Eagle said:
I'm on the other side of this, I think most people over read break and simply try to create break that isn't there.
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I agree with this completely.


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Jman said:
I agree with this completely.


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I also agree - A lot of amateur golfers tend to miss because they want to see the 'snake' go in. On the other side of things, they also say that most amateur golfers miss 'low', thus leading the evidence to point at the pace + break.

I believe I miss most of my putts based off of the pace of the greens. I catch myself sometimes just going out for a round after work and not even practicing on the green :)
 
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