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Canadan

Canadan

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Albatross 2024 Club
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I was chatting with one of the pros at my course the other day, rolling a custom Del Mar he was planning to sell on eBay (I think he wanted me to buy it.. No chance at 400 bucks haha!).

Anyways, he said he lines the putt by using the face of the putter, and he is one of the people who prefer no sight lines or anything. I found this strange, because I love a single sight line and use it to get a general idea of where I am aiming my putter. It made me wonder how different everyone must be.

What is your favourite putter tendency, rule, aiming style, etc etc?

Mine is to always try to swing along the inside down the line style, and my left pointer finger runs down my bottom three fingers on my right hand, in an attempt to keep both hands working together.
 
Funny you say that. With my blade putter I basically do the same thing. I pick my line and focus on making sure the face is aligned. The single sight line does nothing for me it seems.

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Personally, I am a no sight line guy myself. But I am no pro! I hold the club very lightly. On shorter putts, I try to use the "straight back, straight through" method, and on the longer putts I tend to open the club face a little going back and close it going through. Not sure if it is advantageous having two putting strokes, but it seems to work for me. I wouldn't say I am the greatest putter but I make my fair share. It will be interesting to see what other people say.
 
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Hawk said:
Funny you say that. With my blade putter I basically do the same thing. I pick my line and focus on making sure the face is aligned. The single sight line does nothing for me it seems.
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Apparently that concept isn't all that unique then!! I'm honestly surprised.. I always felt line towards the hole would work better than aligned face. Might have to give it a shot!!
 
I can go either way on sightlines. I have a very natural arc. I learned long ago that the less you worry about the stroke arc and more about the impact zone the better you will do. That said, my stroke is still fluid and fundamentaly sound. I dont do acrobatics during the stroke or anything.
 
Might sound strange, but I don't look at the putter head when i'm putting. I choose my line, step up to the ball looking at my aim point, take 2 practice swings looking at that point to feel the weight of the putt, step in to it looking at my aim point, look at the front of the ball (find it helps me hit through the putt) and swing. Putting is one of the strongest parts of my game as a general rule. Whenever I've got caught up with lining up the sight line or face my putting goes down hill. For me, I always do better by just visualizing the putt, committing to it and just reacting to my target.

Only other thing I concentrate on is shorter back and longer through to encourage a good strike!
 
Thainers Rules to putting:

1. eyeball the line
2. step up to ball
3. hit it


I plumbob the occational putt if I really am confused.
 
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One of the more common comments I hear get made when people try to better putting is saying "look for something two feet in front of your ball and aim for that"

Any of you guys do that? I tried it once.. It didn't last long for me.
 
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Thainer said:
Thainers Rules to putting:

1. eyeball the line
2. step up to ball
3. hit it


I plumbob the occational putt if I really am confused.
Click to expand...

I've never been a great putter, and usually this is what I do.. The more I consider a putt, the worse my execution is. In fact, I really like to get an idea of my putt and then walk away from it for a minute so I don't overthink things.

Can honestly say I've never "plumbob'ed" anything haha!
 
I'm not a great putter at all, avg. around 33-34 ppr.

With that in mind, I pick a point about a ft in front of the ball, get the speed I want to hit it, and then get the ball over that spot. Do that for 33-34 ppr!
 
I use a line on the ball to line up putts and I just make sure the face is lined up correctly to the ball. No lines or dots on my putters.
 
Canadan said:
One of the more common comments I hear get made when people try to better putting is saying "look for something two feet in front of your ball and aim for that"

Any of you guys do that? I tried it once.. It didn't last long for me.
Click to expand...

I'm not a big fan of that. Tried it for a bit, but I feel like it encourages you to leave a lot of putts short, as you're concentrating on something short of the hole.

A couple of things I do, but don't really think about while I'm putting. Palms always face each other, no matter the grip. And, grip light.
 
Forgot to add, I really only putt with one hand. The other hand just kinda hangs on for a ride.
 
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So I started messing around with the little forward press before the take back. I think lefty does it..

It has really helped my distances.. I don't know why it works for me, but I am going to give it a shot on the course and see if it really makes a difference.. I felt like every putt I make after moving my hands forward a bit first was really crisp and on the sweet spot.
 
I eye my line, place my ball using the line on it to where I think the ball should go, step back and look at it to determine if the line is dead on where I think it should be, right, or left, step to the ball, then use my sight line on my putter with the line on the ball. Then focus purely on distance.

I guess I'm complicated :confused2:
 
I normally putt 34-35 times per round so I'm not the greatest putter. I never use the line on the ball and use the face to align.
 
Line, dot, double-line, naked, doesn't matter. My only putting thought is the same as my full swing, TEMPO.
 
I mark the ball,
aim the ball with the line I've drawn on the ball,
remove the marker,
line up my feet and putter sight to the line on the ball,
Putt and pray!
 
Trust the line. Too often I try to guide the putt by twisting or decelerating. Once I pick my line I try to stay with it and be aggressive. I will be switching to a center shafted putter soon, either a Pick em Up or a Backstryke. Both promote a forward press that helps me finish the putt.
 
I've been a cross handed putter for 10 yrs. My key is make sure the putter head is square to my target. Soft hands and rock the shoulders. Lately I've been working on releasing the putter head.


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I'm more of a feel putter than anything else... in that I don't really pick a spot to aim at like some people. My putter is a blade style with an alignment mark. While I depend more on squaring the face of the putter to the line of my putt, I do prefer a putter with an alignment mark of some nature.
My only other thought is to get my forearms in line with the putter shaft. I picked up that little tip from an episode of the Golf Fix and my putting has improved considerably.
 
I line up the face because the ball always goes that direction no matter what your stroke is doing. Plus the face is the longest line on most putters that you have to look at to line up with, most of the guide lines on most putters with few exceptions are shorter lines so there is more margin for error. Once you get used to figuring the correct angle it is easy to do. I don't use a line on the ball because I will become too focused on the line that way and leave them all a foot short or run them all past. I always look at every putt from 3 sides, takes longer but it is the only way I can see the break, if someone has a problem with it I will just sink that 15 foot left to right downhill slider that breaks 3 feet and they shut up pretty fast.
 
For practice, I don't usually use the line on the ball, particularly when I'm just working on 15 feet and shorter.

In actual play, rules are, practice stroke on parallel line to putting path, move putter forward in line with line on ball and putting path, take right hand off, move feet and get square to putting line, right hand back on, and swing.
 
I try to find a spot thats in my line, and then line up based off of that spot. Usually about 10-12 inches in front of the ball. Then I also figured out that I don't push as many putts if I hold my hands on the out side of the putter grip. In other words, I sort of pinch the putter shaft between my fingers and palm. So when you look at my hands holding the putter there is a gap between my fingers and palms. instead of a full closed grip. I seen some one putting this way while watching golf on tv but can't remember who it was. Since then I've been putting that way, and i seem to do better than I did.

Didn't read all the posts, but Has any of you seen golfers putt with their hands the opposite? I believe it's a cross grip. But not sure.
 
bullfrog41775 said:
I try to find a spot thats in my line, and then line up based off of that spot. Usually about 10-12 inches in front of the ball. Then I also figured out that I don't push as many putts if I hold my hands on the out side of the putter grip. In other words, I sort of pinch the putter shaft between my fingers and palm. So when you look at my hands holding the putter there is a gap between my fingers and palms. instead of a full closed grip. I seen some one putting this way while watching golf on tv but can't remember who it was. Since then I've been putting that way, and i seem to do better than I did.

Didn't read all the posts, but Has any of you seen golfers putt with their hands the opposite? I believe it's a cross grip. But not sure.
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I know quite a few people that putt left-hand low.

Also, I've been working on getting the grip in line with my "lifeline" and bowing my wrists a little forward to get the forearm in line with the putter shaft. Definitely helps your putting stroke.
 
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