Putting Sweet Spot - Your Game

We got them (the stats, not our testing) based on PGA Tour testing of 13 golfers and then by amateur testing of 12 golfers from one manufacturer a couple of weeks ago. Pretty astonishing stuff.

When this thread wraps up I would love to hear them. What were the lengths for the test? I may do this for giggles before hearing the results. Thanks
 
If you want to test the same way it was tested by the putter company, it was from 20 feet.
20 balls. Measured by % away from center. They put them in 3 groups. Dead Center (sweet spot), 5-20% away to either side, and more than 20% miss to either side.

When this thread wraps up I would love to hear them. What were the lengths for the test? I may do this for giggles before hearing the results. Thanks

Here ya go.
 
I hardly ever do. It's the one thing this winter I worked on the most. I know that's what makes me such an inconsistent putter and do is why I worked on it so hard and continue to do so.
 
I think that needs to start with does everyone know where their sweet spot is on their putter.

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I am not sure where the "sweet spot" is on my putter. As for hitting it in in a round I would like to think that I hit at least 15-20% of the time. More recently I think that number would be higher as I have been putting really well.
 
If we're talking dead nuts sweet spot, I'm guessing the number is low - 5%, maybe. But with my current putter, I find myself making pretty good contact and most of my contact is near the middle.

Granted this is 5 putts on any given day, but here's the impact report from the SAM fitting I did. I'd say on course I'd see the consistency drop a tad, but I'm happy with how I strike my current putter.

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Even if we are hitting the sweet spot are we reading the correct line and making the putts, or just knowing that we hit it right but can read a putt to save our lives.
 
If we're talking dead nuts sweet spot, I'm guessing the number is low - 5%, maybe. But with my current putter, I find myself making pretty good contact and most of my contact is near the middle.

Granted this is 5 putts on any given day, but here's the impact report from the SAM fitting I did. I'd say on course I'd see the consistency drop a tad, but I'm happy with how I strike my current putter.

ULafjsc.png
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Yeah it is rather small. In the example used by the manufacturer, he used the size of a dime, which I thought was rather generous.
 
http://youtu.be/pjvQFtlNQ-M

Honestly though, I just got an eyeline putting mirror and it's made me realize how often I miss the sweet spot.


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I would need to start with even knowing where it was then I would say I still have no idea how often I hit it. I can tell you I avg about 37 putts a round and I would say I usually feel really good about 40% of the strokes regardless of result.
 
Yeah it is rather small. In the example used by the manufacturer, he used the size of a dime, which I thought was rather generous.

A dime is generous to me as well. So we're talking dead center of the dime? Or just making contact with the dime? In terms of sweet spot contact in this case.
 
Yeah it is rather small. In the example used by the manufacturer, he used the size of a dime, which I thought was rather generous.

A dime does seem generous. And reading again, from 20 feet, I'm guessing I'm missing even more. Those longer putts are where things tend to feel less soft more often for me.

I'm hoping to get out this week, and the course I'm playing has a decent putting green. Maybe I'll pick up some impact tape and try this out.
 
A dime does seem generous. And reading again, from 20 feet, I'm guessing I'm missing even more. Those longer putts are where things tend to feel less soft more often for me.

I'm hoping to get out this week, and the course I'm playing has a decent putting green. Maybe I'll pick up some impact tape and try this out.

Lets just say the pros only hit the sweet spot around 30% of the time and the amateurs were under 17%. And these were all 12 handicaps or better.

Disclaimer - This is not my test, I was not there when it was conducted, but trust that it is accurate with the people who did it
 
Well, I was wrong haha.
 
Exact sweet spot? Maybe 10 % of the time. I am all over the face, and luckily the Tank Cruiser #7 lets me get away with it a lot of the time.
 
Yep that is astonishing. So for 20 foot putts, people find the sweet spot on their putters in the same frequency as their drivers. That's nuts.
 
Yep that is astonishing. So for 20 foot putts, people find the sweet spot on their putters in the same frequency as their drivers. That's nuts.
Most amatuers even good amatuers don't have a repeatable putting stroke. People think they do but you hook them up and it truly shows they do not. Perception is the putting stroke is easy to repeat and master because it is a shorter stroke than a full swing. But so many variables come into play with a putter in hand as well and we manipulate based on what our body sees and feels. Obviously exceptions to every rule exist though.

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I think it really depends on the putter and size of the sweet spot. I have no idea if that spot is 1/2" wide or 1/8" wide.

With that said, I'll guess 15% for me.
 
I guess to me there are some questions I would need to know first...how big is the typical sweet spot on a putter? And where is it typically located? Does it change from putter to putter? I'd actually say I find it fairly often, and the reason I miss most putts has to do with reading the right line. I'm a very good lag putter, which I think in order to do that you have to find the same spot often. When ever I can see a mark or I'd get some sort of grass stuck in my Fusion RX insert, it's more often than not in the same spot in the center.

I'll go 75%. Would I be shocked if it's much lower? A little. It's one of those things I don't think a ton about or really know where the true sweet spot is or how big it is. But I'm very confident in my putting, and finding the center is never a concern for me.

This is me. My distance control is very good, and when i miss long, its do to me taking an aggressive line and i don't miss too far past.

i rarely if ever leave putts short, i think I hit the sweet spot 75% of the time as well.
 
How big's the sweet spot? If its 1 tiny point maybe I hit it a few times a year? If I consistently miss around the sweet spot and my distance is consistent isn't that just as good?
 
I really have to say that I have no idea. But not doing it often enough is one of the reasons that I'm excited to try a Cure.
 
I'd say dead-on sweet spot contact probably occurs 1% of the time for me. Something close probably occurs 10-20% of the time.
 
Most amatuers even good amatuers don't have a repeatable putting stroke. People think they do but you hook them up and it truly shows they do not. Perception is the putting stroke is easy to repeat and master because it is a shorter stroke than a full swing. But so many variables come into play with a putter in hand as well and we manipulate based on what our body sees and feels. Obviously exceptions to every rule exist though.

Yeah it is rather small. In the example used by the manufacturer, he used the size of a dime, which I thought was rather generous.

After practicing daily putting for the past few years I've seen how difficult it is to repeat a putting stoke. I'm fairly consistent, but it's really tough to keep it exactly the same for more than a few strokes. The good news is that I feel like I'm consistent enough - that those small deviations are still dropping from inside 10 feet. It still takes me a lot of focus to keep making a good stroke though.

As far as hitting the sweet spot - I'm paying attention to this a lot more lately. Hitting it perfectly feels different, and it doesn't happen very often. Less than 20% I'd guess. But even when it doesn't happen, the ball generally goes in the hole, so I feel like I must be hitting it close to the sweet spot; I'd guess maybe within 3/16" on each side? (Since a dime is about 3/4" diameter - which does seem generous for a sweet spot - I think I get to within about half of that; so call it 3/8" variance)



Lets just say the pros only hit the sweet spot around 30% of the time and the amateurs were under 17%. And these were all 12 handicaps or better.

Disclaimer - This is not my test, I was not there when it was conducted, but trust that it is accurate with the people who did it

I guess those numbers don't totally shock me. Putting is harder than it looks. Maybe not a good analogy, but try making an identical signature two or more times in a row!
 
The other side of this is: what are the consequences of missing the sweet spot? That has to depend on the putter and also how much the face has rotated in 2 and 3D at impact.
 
Im going to say I hit it 10% of the time
 
Not sure if it will show up on the attached picture, but I put a piece of tape on the Yes! Stephanie I keep in the office & had 9/10 strikes in about a dime size space & 1 WTF outside of the grooves toe side.
Maybe 1 of the 9 was dead center.
a26e069c6dff0127ee5da558bf0b8863.jpg
 
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