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recovering from putting

Sometimes I will look at the hole, not the ball (after getting a read on the line) when my putting is bad. It is good for speed, ususally pretty good for the line, too. I haven't taken that to the course very often, only when I am really stinking it up on the greens.
 
TripleBogieTim said:
Speed is always the most important thing in putting.....not enough and it will never go in and too much and it will race past the hole.

On days that I am struggling, I try to find a spot just past the cup and focus on putting to that....I would rather be 2 feet past than 2 feet short....at least if you are 2 feet past you gave it a chance to go in...plus if you watched it go by the hole then you know the line coming back.
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I have to echo what TBT mentions. If you can get the speed down, working on reading the greens and starting on the correct line will come. I always focus on speed first when I'm practicing my putting.
 
Ever since I switched to SPI it's easy to pinpoint any issues in my putting. It's either posture, ball position and stance. I'll step to the side and regroup if I feel my putting has gone sideways
 
Tadashi70 said:
Ever since I switched to SPI it's easy to pinpoint any issues in my putting. It's either posture, ball position and stance. I'll step to the side and regroup if I feel my putting has gone sideways
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Just like to had.. speed of stroke kreeps in too.

However, panda is completely right. The spi method is simple yet rewarding. Its the first process is which I csn self diagnose myself and usually fix it. #priceless
 
I'm thinking hard about getting an SPI instructor. How many SPI lessons did you take before you saw an improvement?

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If my putting is falling off during a round, I try to focus on fundamentals and not get too worked up about it. That is the mental "fix". Routine-wise, I slow down my pre-putt routine just a tad. Take an extra breath and focus not on the cup but, as some others have mentioned, a few inches in front of the cup. This seems to help.

Stephen
 
adamw238 said:
I need to find the Youtube video I watched about putting mentality and how to "recover". In the video the instructor discussed people changing putters because their current gamer, "stopped working" and that it was really a short term solution, because eventually the same problems you had with the previous putter will creep back in.
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This is so obvious it's ridiculous. If your putter worked for you last month and is not working for you now, News Flash! ...IT'S NOT THE PUTTER

But getting back to "recovering" - I find that for me when my putting is off I'm either (A) thinking of the line too much and not focusing on speed or (B) my tempo is off. To help with tempo issues I will work on feeling the entire putter as it's swinging, making sure hands, shaft and club head are all swinging together as a unit with no movement or manipulation. I'll also think of a metronome, saying to myself Tic .. Toc in the rhythm I want while making a stroke. I use this one a lot when I'm practicing
 
Wakit300 said:
This is so obvious it's ridiculous. If your putter worked for you last month and is not working for you now, News Flash! ...IT'S NOT THE PUTTER

But getting back to "recovering" - I find that for me when my putting is off I'm either (A) thinking of the line too much and not focusing on speed or (B) my tempo is off. To help with tempo issues I will work on feeling the entire putter as it's swinging, making sure hands, shaft and club head are all swinging together as a unit with no movement or manipulation. I'll also think of a metronome, saying to myself Tic .. Toc in the rhythm I want while making a stroke. I use this one a lot when I'm practicing
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As obvious as it is, it's still shocking to see the the number of people who change putter because their current one is "broken".


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It's no different than any other piece of equipment. Look at the shift changes and iron upgrades that take place. Frankly a putter change could in fact have an impact. Slight stroke changes happen and because of that different lie angles, different weighting or even something as little as different look at setup all impact how success takes place.

I do always find it interesting that people belive the putter is all mental and yet go through 9 iron changes and 4 driver shafts in a year.
 
JB said:
It's no different than any other piece of equipment. Look at the shift changes and iron upgrades that take place. Frankly a putter change could in fact have an impact. Slight stroke changes happen and because of that different lie angles, different weighting or even something as little as different look at setup all impact how success takes place.

I do always find it interesting that people belive the putter is all mental and yet go through 9 iron changes and 4 driver shafts in a year.
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While I don't think the putter is all mental, I do believe that putting in general is the most mentally exhausting part of golf.
 
Mulligan9111 said:
While I don't think the putter is all mental, I do believe that putting in general is the most mentally exhausting part of golf.
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Others would argue the technique still plays a huge role. The mental part of the game will never go away in any aspect but for some reason people dismiss the technique part of putting and putters so often
 
I was fortunate enough to be one of the lucky ones to win a putter in the Christmas competition (thank you THP and Taylormade for the gift) and despite not being a fan of blade putters, since I put this in my bag I have probably putted a lot better than I did all last year so I do think that having a putter that you feel comfortable with is important (like any club in the bag I guess)

It took me a little while to get used to it, but I now feel that the majority of time I will leave the ball pretty close to the hole (assuming I have got the speed of the greens worked out) for a simple tap-in if I don't sink the putt

If I do have a bad round on the greens it is generally because I am off with the speed, usually short, so I will just take a deep breath and try to make the mental adjustment to make sure I don't leave the next putt short by imagining the hole to be slightly further away than it actually is
 
JB said:
Others would argue the technique still plays a huge role. The mental part of the game will never go away in any aspect but for some reason people dismiss the technique part of putting and putters so often
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Oh there is no doubt that technique plays a huge role in putting, not arguing that at all. Just going from my own personal experience, from a mental aspect, putting takes up most of it. Whether it's not wanting to miss a two footer to save par, or needing to make a 10 footer to win the money from your friends, just so much pressure on putting.

Again though, that might not be the same for everybody, but I see a lot of golfers (including professionals) struggle with putting when the pressure is on.
 
Mulligan9111 said:
Oh there is no doubt that technique plays a huge role in putting, not arguing that at all. Just going from my own personal experience, from a mental aspect, putting takes up most of it. Whether it's not wanting to miss a two footer to save par, or needing to make a 10 footer to win the money from your friends, just so much pressure on putting.

Again though, that might not be the same for everybody, but I see a lot of golfers (including professionals) struggle with putting when the pressure is on.
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I would agree. I think its a huge mental task. How many times i've sunk a 12 footer for bogey or double but miss a 4 footer for a par or bird is rediculous. But just in general besides the presuure ones putting is very mental. I understand the importance of technique, feel, looks, weight, shafts and grips etc. But in then end judging the undulation for the putting line and then the desired speed to make it all happen is what it is "a mental judgment". And then even if you have a good judgment you must then determine how hard or soft to hit it in order to obtain that desired judged speed and that again in itself is yet another menatl judgment. And thats all based on how the greens are running that day. Soft, hard, wet, dry, faster, slower. thats just more to add to the mental judgments not to mention if any may be different in the same round which can happen too. Like morning dew and a rising sun causing changes as you play but then while one is drying up the next one is still in the shade and damp etc... All mental judgments imo.
 
I find that when recovery is needed, I'm not letting the stroke and alignment do the work. I find myself trying to place the ball in the cup. All too often it is too late unless your THP playing partner says something early.

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rollin said:
I would agree. I think its a huge mental task. How many times i've sunk a 12 footer for bogey or double but miss a 4 footer for a par or bird is rediculous.
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I bet if you add up all the stats, it would be about the same amount of time you hit a good chip and flub or skull a chip.
It is why I have said short game is so important, but was dismissed that it was more about full swings.
Every shot is mental, but because people view the putter as less moving parts, it becomes less about technique for some. Which in my opinion, is very incorrect.
 
My putting strategy:

Slow and smooth
Go for the first line you think is right, intuition is key.
Think of every putt as if it would be the easiest thing ever
Get the mind set that it doesn't matter wether it goes in or not, but still commit to the putt you're making.

When I can do those, I don't care if I miss, and I don't have to recover from anything.
 
When I get in a bit of a putting funk during a round, to recover, I will try to stop over reading the break, take a quick look, pick a line, step up and stroke it without thinking about it.
It helps me not think about the other missed putts and get back to putting a good stroke on the ball.

As far as the mental vs technique discussion goes....
In my opinion, you can be the most mentally prepared, confident, calm, focused, whatever you want to call it person in the world, but if you don't have a consistent, repeatable technique, you will never be a good putter.
I do believe it takes both to be a great putter.
 
JB said:
I bet if you add up all the stats, it would be about the same amount of time you hit a good chip and flub or skull a chip.
It is why I have said short game is so important, but was dismissed that it was more about full swings.
Every shot is mental, but because people view the putter as less moving parts, it becomes less about technique for some. Which in my opinion, is very incorrect.
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My old instructor insisted we start with putting because, according to him, the technique revolving around that stroke would set the foundation for every subsequent swing, from chipping, to irons, to woods.
 
If my putting woes last more than 2-3 rounds I switch putters. Somehow the different look causes me to pay more attention to the stroke, line, etc... This year I've stuck with a putter that "works" for me, but I still keep a back-up just in case.
 
recovering from putting

Crazily enough ... I had had some issues with confidence using my gamer, and I switched to a putter that was an extremely different style (went from center shaft no offset, to full offset, heel shafted). I played horrible with the new setup. Upon switching back to my old setup, I realized just how comfortable it was and started putting with more confidence again.


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JB said:
.
Every shot is mental, but because people view the putter as less moving parts, it becomes less about technique for some. Which in my opinion, is very incorrect.
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I dont think putting is less about technique vs other parts but just that it does simply have more mental judgment (and mental pressure) than other parts. That is not saying at all the other things about it are any less important. The closer we get to the green, the more precise we need to be right up to and including hitting the cup. As the need to be more precise increases so do the mental judgments and pressures imo.

there is also imo another factor about the other shots. Its sort of a bit more of a mental advantage that we dont have with putting. I'm sure with your knowledge I stand a good chance you may prove me wrong here but here goes my logic anyway :)
They (the other shots) all have full normal swings with a normal distance, flight, and shape which is something of a given (or at least a desired given) and of which can be use as a base for judging when we want to varry from it. If one wants to take or add or change something for a desired shot from an 8iron he uses his normal full swing ball flight characteristics as a starting point and then from that point may varry from it.

Whatever he wants to do he has a starting point to work off of. But for putting imo there is no such place. And when it comes to speed there is no normal full putt distance to use as a starting point. One cant say thier normal putter is 14feet (the same as they can say a 140y slight high fade is for thier 8iron) and then decide to change anything from that starting point. It then becomes much more of a mental judgment call. I think the same can be said for chipping with different clubs. Once again no real starting point of normalcy to base a judgment from. Its all a best guess feel and mental judgment. We cant simply take something off or add to our normal putting speed and distance or ball path. The starting point itself is not a given (as it may be with an 8iron) and is in itself a mental judgement to begin with. The whole thing further adds to more mental judgement than other shots imo. Not even to mention the undulations and speeds of the greens to add to it all. Hope I explained my thoughts clear enough to be understood even if you would disagree.
 
Man I could not disagree more.
Judging distance on the green is about, once again, technique.
Just as judging distance on a full shot.
 
JB said:
Man I could not disagree more.
Judging distance on the green is about, once again, technique.
Just as judging distance on a full shot.
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Have to agree especially after taking lessons now.
 
There is plenty you can do to remedy poor putting mid round. Always short? Think just a little more harder. Always long? Just a little easier. A good way to do that is imagine the hole is longer or shorter than where it actually is and try and make it there. You will find your distance is much better and can start to build some confidence.

There's always a way to get out of your own way on a course and just have fun. You just have to be willing to do it. We all have bad days and there's nothing wrong with it, just embrace it and learn and move forward.
 
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