Most golfers with 15 handicap or more never count the number of putts in a round. 80% have 36 putts or more.
Majority of 3 putts are caused by being too short or too long.One of the reasons for this is by off centre strikes and variations of dynamic loft at impact. Putters on average have 3 degree of loft so if when you strike the ball your loft has decreased or increased the result will be variations in pace. A combination of these factors can affect the distance a putt travels by up to 20%. A good pace exercise is to make a few putts just looking at the hole. Once you get used to this you will be very close to the hole, even sinking a few!
PUTTER LENGTH
One of the main reasons for putting consistency is checking the length of your putter. Shops are full of putters with manufacturers lengths from 34" to 36." The average length on professional tours are 32". A putter that is too long prevents the eye getting over the ball at address which makes it hard to see down the line, it also promotes a smaller bio-mechanical arm arc during your stroke, making it more difficult to arrive at impact square to the intended direction. It is probably the most important club to get fitted for as you use it the most!By having a putter made to the correct length your eyes are looking along the line of the putt, not across and the bio-mechanical arm arc is longer and straighter so the margin for error at impact is reduced considerably.
GRIP
There is no rule what grip you choose to use as long as you are keeping the putter face square to your target line and the wrists are firm. The new thicker grips can help with this as you are seeing more and more of these used to eliminate too much wrist movement. You have to experiment with different sizes and different grip styles till you find the one you are really comfortable with. The lighter you hold it the more feel you have. There are lots of putting aids which are great for finding feel and helping alignment. I use lots of these in my tuition and find they help give instant feedback to my player.
BALL POSITION
Only when your stance, posture and length of putter is correct we can consider ball position. first we need to determine which is your dominant eye. If it is your left eye then the ball position is better forward of centre and if it is your right eye then the ball positon would be better towards the centre.
Grip your putter and hold it in front of you so the shaft is parallel to the ground then allow it drop naturally to the ground in your address position, check where it is in relation to your feet and keep to this position, this is known as the 'drop point' it is purely a tip to show you where you are most likely to return the face of the putter to.
BALANCE
Your weight should be even in both feet - between toes and heels. if your weight moves backwards and forwards you will have lots of miss hits and the dynamic loft at impact will vary. The consequences of any movement in the knees, thighs or backside will promote inconsistency. You will find if you can do this it keeps everything still, including the eyes! Try practising this with your bottom on the wall, you will soon notice any movement!
OBSERVATION
When walking up to a green look at the general lie of the land to give you a feel of the overall slope. Watch your playing partners putt if he/she putts first and learn from it. It gives you a clue of the speed and borrows of the green. Remember slower putts take less break than faster ones.
Grass on greens do not always grow the same it tends to grow towards the light and the grain has an affect on the pace of the putt. Prevailing wind can also make the grass grow with the wind direction. Depending on how the greens are cut sometimes you will see a lighter stripe and a darker stripe. Putting on the lighter stripe will be faster than on the darker stripe.
If you are playing in a competition later in the day after everyone else, this will have a significant difference in the greens, there will be a lot more wear around the hole between 3ft and 5ft as the surface will be a lot more bumpier where feet marks will have trodden during the day. So always an advantage to play earlier for a smooth surface!
Always make time to get to the putting green early before your round, just to test the speed of those greens and stick to your routine.
Choosing the right putter depends on your putting stroke.
Face balanced - straight back to straight through stroke
Toe hang - inside to square stroke
Centre shafted
Length
Head weight
Grip
Loft
Lie Angle
Offset
Counterbalancing.
SINKING THOSE PUTTS WILL LOWER YOUR SCORES
