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Advice needed ... I can't putt

I will give you a practice drill that I've given before on THP - it is the best simulation of actual golf round putting and I think more useful that hitting x number of 4 footers in a row.

Go to the practice green, and choose a 9 hole putting course, with a variety of distances and slopes - choose putts of anywhere from 15' to 45-50'. Take two balls and play your "course" with a par of 2 for each ball on each hole. The goal is to complete the 9 holes under par (35 or less). Putt out EVERY putt. Don't leave the green until you shoot under par on that course.

I find that this practice gives you all the pressure that you feel on the golf course on the shorter putts, most especially on the last few holes as you try to make your goal; it also gives you a realistic variety of such putts, as well as improving your feel for distance on first putts.
 
A number of great ideas ...

I spent about an hour on the putting green on Saturday going through some drills and trying to figure out what the problem is.

I was putting great, made a small adjustment to my grip (pointing my finger down the shaft) which made some difference.

But here's the thing. With confidence high after making heaps of putts I decided to take on a challenge setup for the kids.

First putt, prob 2 feet away, lipped it out. WTF. All that did is confirm everything.

Then on course Sunday. Was putting great until the 9th. Lipped out a 30 footer for birdie, rolled past 2 feet. And then BANG missed the one coming back. WTF

after that I missed 5 more "gettable" putts to crash and burn. So it's pressure and concentration. There's no definite miss, although I would say I miss high more than low but that's anecdotal.

Basically I freak out and lose it. Even if I make putts it's more luck than judgement. I can't seem to read the greens and allow too much break (or not enough).

Aaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrghhhhhhhhh !!!!! :)



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1. Try putting left handed. I am relearning the game left handed and I putt better lefty.
2. On short putts, I line it up, keep my eye over the ball and just think about having good rhythm. It's helped me tons.
 
The easy answer is to go see a short game guru. Putting used to be my issue but right now,I simply can't miss and hope it never ends. I saw Harrington take his left hand and stick it under his right armpit. Then close ur right elbow and tuck it in and let it rip. I've played 3 rounds since I did this and have made 7-8'putts over 20 feet and 12 12 feet anemic beyond. I struck the ball so poorly at Sawgrass versus guys hitting it way by me and I beat them all. Imshot 73"@ another Dye course here in Dallas. Don't know if it'll work for u but worth a shot
 
I've been playing a game called "killer" with the kids. It's actually a great game.

Agree any number of holes and sequence. (I.e. choose a course)

Play in turns, starting on first hole. When you sink the putt you move on to next hole.

If you hit your opponents ball or sink the putt you get another putt.

Make the last putt (last hole) and you are the "killer" and can eliminate you opponent by hitting you opponents ball.

You stay killer til either your opponent makes the last hole OR you go off the green.

Play til eliminated.





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I would say give Blast Motion a chance. Will give you instant feedback and identify things in your stroke that you might not notice.
 
Chris, I feel your pain and have read your posts. I am not a pro, but I am a student of the game and a very good putter. The fundamental goals are easy to state. From 4 feet:
  1. You need to be able to start the ball on the intended line,
  2. with a pure roll,
  3. at an appropriate speed,
  4. after having read the putt correctly.
That list and the order of that list of goals is not accidental. It's listed from most important to least, but all are required to sink putts a high percentage of the time from this distance. Of course, it goes without saying that to be successful you need to be able to do this under pressure with a high level of consistency in a wide variety of conditions.

Some people will read goal #1 and think of that as aiming the putter. It's a lot more than that. If you aim the putter head and then execute the stroke and the ball goes elsewhere, aiming the putter head doesn't mean much, does it? Books have been written and hundreds of hours of video instruction on starting the ball on the intended line. People have found success with a lot of different techniques, so I will not advocate for a single method. But you must find a way to start the ball on the intended line consistently under all conditions. This is the first and most important goal.

The second goal, with a pure roll, is often overlooked. But in my experience, 4 feet is long enough to miss A LOT of putts for lack of a pure roll. (My way of saying I missed a ton of putts because of a poor or inconsistent roll that got this dense brain to pay a lot more attention to this aspect of putting.) I have an off the rack putter that I have worked with for hundreds of hours to figure out how to get a pure roll from it. THEN after ingraining all those changes and having great success, I went through the Science and Motion PuttLab (SAM for short) putter fitting process with a professional fitter. The fitter reviewed all the numbers with me and at the end summarized by saying, "You are perfectly fit. Don't change a thing." I tell you this so you'll know that you can discover a pure roll on your own without the fancy equipment. Not that I am in any way against the equipment--obviously.

At an appropriate speed is my way of saying speed is important, but at this distance, it doesn't require the exactness of a 60-foot putt over undulating terrain. Compared to the first two, getting this one right is not that hard or complicated.

Most of us get confused when we miss our putts. Was it the read? The aim? The stroke? The roll? Something else? If you nail the first three goals, you can make great progress on reading the putt. Someone else said that your aim for most 4 footers should be inside the hole, and that is true. But where inside the hole is the difference between many makes and misses. If you can start the ball on the intended line, with a pure roll, and at an appropriate speed, you can learn a lot about reading different 4-foot putts in a short amount of time.

Focus on those four goals starting from the top with all the relevant stuff you can find and your putting will improve--a lot!
 
interesting debate between CRW and Rock.
I can see some points on either side but I have to agree with ROCK on this.

Imo its mental.
For me.....Im mno great putter but "relative to the rest of my game" my putting is the most consistent part. That being said I can often enough struggle from just a few feet and very often lag putt better. Its not uncommon for me to lag putt to about tap in distance often enough and even sink my small share of them. And certainly not uncommon to only have a foot or two left over. But the 3 to 4 footer can often present a problem for me. There are two scenarios when its most an issue. One being when for par or if its a first putt for bird. Yet for bogey or worse the problem often disappears. Nothing about that is my putter or my technique but is 100% mental. Even my usually good lag putting can also get worse when for birdie vs when for par or worse.

Yes certainly "sometimes" we can have trickly 3-4 footers that are not really easy given slope. But majority times its not the case and yet I can miss them. How many times i can simply reach across with one hand and swipe it in the hole without even trying and yet stand over it to make this par or bird and miss it. Thats 100% mental for sure.

There is also at times something about lining up from a bit more distance that seems easier to do even with slopes vs when much closer and flatter. The pressure itself to make the putt becomes greater and weighs in causing a miss and again thats mostly all mental imo.
 
chriso97;n117030 said:
I'm a low handicapper (6) but I can't putt.

Even writing that sounds stupid but it's true. It has always been my problem,but now that I have got to 5/6 it's really obvious.

Basically problem is I don't make enough of the gettable putts. I just have no confidence inside 6 feet and would miss at least 1 but prob closer to 2 or 3 from inside 4 feet every round.

I've joined in with the junior clinic with my boy and my chipping has come along awesome, but I still can't putt.

It's frustrating to chip to 3-4 feet and then miss the putt. I did this twice today.

I know it's mental, but I need some advice.
I had a lesson, but it's not technique from that distance. Plus I am better on the practice green :(

Help!?!?

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I'm a higher handicapper but my short game is very good - much better than the lower handicappers I typically play with. I believe the primary reason my putting game is better than those more accomplished golfers is due to one simple thing. I let my brain and eyes do the work. Most of the misses I see those guys make, it's because they didn't get the distance or speed correctly. Most of us are easily capable of reading a break reasonably well. But when it comes to speed and distance, most struggle. I am a firm believer that if I am sure to take several good looks at the pin before attempting my putt, my brain is highly efficient at reading the input from my eyes and accurately calculating how to get the ball there.

On the rare occasions I have a bad putting day, it's because I begin 'thinking' and 'overthinking' putts. I am able to recognize when I'm doing this because I will have thoughts such as 'how hard do I need to hit this one to get it there?'. It's never about what I consciously think, it's about letting my eyes and brain assess it for me and staying out of the way with other thoughts.

The only pre-putt 'thought' I consciously have is to *visualize* the putt and the path I see the ball taking towards the pin. I just get out of the way beyond that and let my brain make it happen.

I know there are people who will give 1000 tips. Aiming points. Rules to adjust if it's an uphill or downhill putt. And if those things are helpful, by all means... I'm just a big believer in hand-eye coordination and the human brain's ability to calculate these things for me.
 
chriso97;n8873933 said:
A number of great ideas ...

I spent about an hour on the putting green on Saturday going through some drills and trying to figure out what the problem is.

I was putting great, made a small adjustment to my grip (pointing my finger down the shaft) which made some difference.

But here's the thing. With confidence high after making heaps of putts I decided to take on a challenge setup for the kids.

First putt, prob 2 feet away, lipped it out. WTF. All that did is confirm everything.

Then on course Sunday. Was putting great until the 9th. Lipped out a 30 footer for birdie, rolled past 2 feet. And then BANG missed the one coming back. WTF

after that I missed 5 more "gettable" putts to crash and burn. So it's pressure and concentration. There's no definite miss, although I would say I miss high more than low but that's anecdotal.

Basically I freak out and lose it. Even if I make putts it's more luck than judgement. I can't seem to read the greens and allow too much break (or not enough).

Aaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrghhhhhhhhh !!!!! :)



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Mental pressure can lead to fundamental breakdown. I know it's hard but try not to put so much pressure on yourself. Nobody makes everything! Allow yourself some mistakes and work on incremental improvement. It's very hard to get from putting(in your mind) lousy to great with a few tips here and there. So allow yourself a missed putt here and there and try to focus on what to do to make a good stroke.

It also helps if you can identify what you do wrong when you miss. I tend to sole the putter too heavily at address and/or aim slightly left of my intended line.

A couple of drills that have worked great in the past;

On the putting green I find my favorite putt to hit and for me thats a level putt that breaks slightly from right to left. I don't have to worry about speed and I know the line. Now I can work on my stroke, setup, focus etc.. I start at 1 foot and work my way out until I miss, then I start over. In my hay day I could go out and back 12-14 feet on that line with only the occasional lip out. I knew I was on when I didn't see the putts go in, Just listen for it to drop.

At home or the office. Just drop 2 balls 2-3(or longer) feet feet apart. Putt one ball into the other so that it hits it dead square. This will help you identify pushing or pulling putts. The you can work on the why, closed face at address, crouching too much, too long of a backswing etc.,

Good luck!
 
chriso97;n8873933 said:
A number of great ideas ...

I spent about an hour on the putting green on Saturday going through some drills and trying to figure out what the problem is.

I was putting great, made a small adjustment to my grip (pointing my finger down the shaft) which made some difference.

But here's the thing. With confidence high after making heaps of putts I decided to take on a challenge setup for the kids.

First putt, prob 2 feet away, lipped it out. WTF. All that did is confirm everything.

Then on course Sunday. Was putting great until the 9th. Lipped out a 30 footer for birdie, rolled past 2 feet. And then BANG missed the one coming back. WTF

after that I missed 5 more "gettable" putts to crash and burn. So it's pressure and concentration. There's no definite miss, although I would say I miss high more than low but that's anecdotal.

Basically I freak out and lose it. Even if I make putts it's more luck than judgement. I can't seem to read the greens and allow too much break (or not enough).

Aaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrghhhhhhhhh !!!!! :)



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Click to expand...

That might be an issue.
 
chriso97;n8873933 said:
A number of great ideas ...

I spent about an hour on the putting green on Saturday going through some drills and trying to figure out what the problem is.

I was putting great, made a small adjustment to my grip (pointing my finger down the shaft) which made some difference.

But here's the thing. With confidence high after making heaps of putts I decided to take on a challenge setup for the kids.

First putt, prob 2 feet away, lipped it out. WTF. All that did is confirm everything.

Then on course Sunday. Was putting great until the 9th. Lipped out a 30 footer for birdie, rolled past 2 feet. And then BANG missed the one coming back. WTF

after that I missed 5 more "gettable" putts to crash and burn. So it's pressure and concentration. There's no definite miss, although I would say I miss high more than low but that's anecdotal.

Basically I freak out and lose it. Even if I make putts it's more luck than judgement. I can't seem to read the greens and allow too much break (or not enough).

Aaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrghhhhhhhhh !!!!! :)



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Click to expand...

Out of curiosity, do you have a putting routine that you use on every putt (or just some putts)? Second, do you pause over the ball before pulling the trigger? One thing I've been working on the past couple of weeks in my routine was, after I give the hole/target one last look, and I look at the ball, I just pull the trigger. I don't dwell on anything or question my alignment at that point, I just pull the trigger.

Prior to the past couple of weeks, I caught myself pausing for quite awhile over the ball. I'd look at the target, look back at the ball, and then think in my head about rocking the shoulders or keeping my wrists locked or whatever. Doing that, for me at least, leads to stiff, unnatural putting strokes. Basically, whatever thoughts I have I try to get done and out of the way while lining the ball up and taking my stance. The last look at the target is just to get focused on the target and target only, and then just pull the trigger.

It doesn't always work. But as a whole, I putt better.

~Rock
 
You have so many great recommendations already.

To duplicate and give my opinion, improving my putting has been focus this summer.

I truly believe in getting fit correctly for your arc and swing is very important.

I have to plug the Odyssey Stroke Lab shaft as I have found that shaft has produced to most consistent putts I have had all summer and past. I even used a blast sensor to prove with data.

I also would suggest the putt out practice hole gadget and a putting mirror to help make sure your aligned correctly over the ball.

Best of luck improving.


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Sounds like desperation has set in... Here's a simple thing to try - on really fast greens and downhill putts I position my ball on the toe and strike it with the toe, and it seems to nearly always go on my chosen line. Try it on your next 2-3 footer and see what happens. I think just the weirdness of the feeling of putting two inches off-center helps me stay square - worth a try.
 
Tapatalk was playing up so I missed some of these posts. :)

I've spent a bit of time doing some analysis and basically it's a combination of bad reading of greens plus anxiety/nervousness.

I putter great today, but had two missed short putts in the last 3 holes. I just got nervous and result focused, could feel the tension.

I've decided that "acceptance" is best , and learning to let go.





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