Question:
Hi folks, As the title says. I’m getting into the greens well inside what I consider acceptable for my level of golfing. But my putting stroke is just w-a-a-a-y too strong! Right-handed here. Par-3s, I get on green in 1 or 2, then three or four putt!!! Par-4s, I get there in two or three tops, then it’s four-putt-city!! Bugger! I’m getting completely mad with this. Mostly just too strong and end up overshooting the hole and having to backtrack. I’ve tried everything I know to slow me down but it’s not working. Even changed the putting grip to "Langer’s". You know, the one with the left hand along the putter and the right hand around the forearm and the club. No use: still way too strong. Short of changing my putter to a feather, are there any ideas out there on what to do? I’ve read and practiced some of the Pelz putting drills, but I just got this blockage right now. Should I spend some time with the local pro and just concentrate on the putting? Anyone else had this problem? How did you overcome it? TIA for any replies, ideas, etc. — Cheers Nuno Souto
Response:
Hey, Have you tried going to a range and using the putting green to practice. Like everything else we do here, sounds like you need practice practice practice. Oh, maybe one more thing. Have you tried another putter?? Don’t buy one yet, just try another one. — For more information, you can email me. Mark G. Not4wood RSG Roll Call http://u1.netgate.net/~kirby34/rsg/gottesmanm.htm Yahoo Golf http://dir.yahoo.com/Recreation/Sports/Golf/ Golf Digest http://www.golfdigest.com/ Spamm and Troll Intolerant I took the RSG 2002 Pledge
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hi folks, As the title says. I’m getting into the greens well inside what I consider acceptable for my level of golfing. But my putting stroke is just w-a-a-a-y too strong! Right-handed here. Par-3s, I get on green in 1 or 2, then three or four putt!!! Par-4s, I get there in two or three tops, then it’s four-putt-city!! Bugger! I’m getting completely mad with this. Mostly just too strong and end up overshooting the hole and having to backtrack. I’ve tried everything I know to slow me down but it’s not working. Even changed the putting grip to "Langer’s". You know, the one with the left hand along the putter and the right hand around the forearm and the club. No use: still way too strong. Short of changing my putter to a feather, are there any ideas out there on what to do? I’ve read and practiced some of the Pelz putting drills, but I just got this blockage right now. Should I spend some time with the local pro and just concentrate on the putting? Anyone else had this problem? How did you overcome it? TIA for any replies, ideas, etc. — Cheers Nuno Souto
Response:
Go practice. Take a tape measure with you and measure distances starting at 3ft. working your way back 3 ft. at a time to about the 21ft. range. Take more than just 2 or 3 balls. Use at least a dozen. Try and get the putt on part of the practice area where it is as flat as possible(no break,no uphill,no downhill). Don’t leave the 3 ft.spot until you have holed all 12 balls. As you move back focus more on the distance the putt is traveling. A good rule of thumb is to make sure the ball gets to the hole but doesn’t go past by more than 2ft. Remember to keep the grip light but get the wrists moderately firm and learn to strike the putt from the shoulders through the hands in a solid motion. And keep your head down through impact. Bryan
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hi folks, As the title says. I’m getting into the greens well inside what I consider acceptable for my level of golfing. But my putting stroke is just w-a-a-a-y too strong! Right-handed here. Par-3s, I get on green in 1 or 2, then three or four putt!!! Par-4s, I get there in two or three tops, then it’s four-putt-city!! Bugger! I’m getting completely mad with this. Mostly just too strong and end up overshooting the hole and having to backtrack. I’ve tried everything I know to slow me down but it’s not working. Even changed the putting grip to "Langer’s". You know, the one with the left hand along the putter and the right hand around the forearm and the club. No use: still way too strong. Short of changing my putter to a feather, are there any ideas out there on what to do? I’ve read and practiced some of the Pelz putting drills, but I just got this blockage right now. Should I spend some time with the local pro and just concentrate on the putting? Anyone else had this problem? How did you overcome it? TIA for any replies, ideas, etc. — Cheers Nuno Souto
Response:
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hi folks, As the title says. I’m getting into the greens well inside what I consider acceptable for my level of golfing. But my putting stroke is just w-a-a-a-y too strong! Right-handed here. Par-3s, I get on green in 1 or 2, then three or four putt!!! Par-4s, I get there in two or three tops, then it’s four-putt-city!! Bugger! I’m getting completely mad with this. Mostly just too strong and end up overshooting the hole and having to backtrack. I’ve tried everything I know to slow me down but it’s not working. Even changed the putting grip to "Langer’s". You know, the one with the left hand along the putter and the right hand around the forearm and the club. No use: still way too strong. Short of changing my putter to a feather, are there any ideas out there on what to do? I’ve read and practiced some of the Pelz putting drills, but I just got this blockage right now. Should I spend some time with the local pro and just concentrate on the putting? Anyone else had this problem? How did you overcome it? TIA for any replies, ideas, etc. — Cheers Nuno Souto
Some say there are as many putting strokes as there are golfers. So, for what it’s worth, here is the change I made to my putting that greatly improved my distance control after I did a lot of putting experimentation with an indoor mat: I now tuck my upper arms very, very close to my torso – they are essentially attached to and swing as one unit with the upper body. I swing the putter with a turn of my torso, with absolutely no movement of my arms or wrists. I control the distance by how far I take back the putter, not by how fast I turn, that stays constant. The other advantage of keeping the arms tucked into the body is they are essentially anchored so there are less body parts that can mis-move on the swing. This has really helped my putting, especially my distance control on the long puts and the accuracy on the shorter puts. With this technique, I recommend having a faster putter. My Taylor Made mallet Nubbins putter is pretty quick and lends itself to this technique very well, I tried with my older, lighter putter and the puts tended to be short. Course, if you’re long now, this may be a good thing. But, like I said, everyone is different so what worked for me may not work for you. Good luck. — "What a depressingly stupid machine." Marvin, The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
Response:
quote): Go practice. Take a tape measure with you and measure distances starting at 3ft. working your way back 3 ft. at a time to about the 21ft. range. Take more than just 2 or 3 balls. Use at least a dozen.
Yup. Thanks for all the other replies too. I’m going to spend some serious time at the practice range on this one. Will try a few variations on grip and putter, just to make sure it’s not that. I can’t believe the putter would make such a diff. Mine is just a no frills job, but I’ve seen plenty like that out there and everyone seems to be OK with them. That means it must be me. Oh well, off to the practice… Darn! Just when my irons and woods looked like they were sorted out! Ain’t golf a great game? ;-) — Cheers Nuno Souto
Response:
Hi folks, As the title says. I’m getting into the greens well inside what I consider acceptable for my level of golfing. But my putting stroke is just w-a-a-a-y too strong! Right-handed here.
Practice on the putting green. When you practice long lag putts, you may want to try putting to the fringe from different distances. You don’t want to get in the habit of missing a bunch of long putts when you practice. You have to expect to make every putt. Also, try using the shortest stroke that gets the job done. Many beginners have putting strokes that are way too long. You want to hit the ball solidly and accellerate into it, so you have to control the distance by shortening the stroke. Visualize the ball rolling across the green at the correct speed and dropping in the hole. Actually look at each point along the path on the green as you imagine the ball rolling along it. Keep doing this until you can see the ball curving toward the hole and dropping in. Then take practice swings until you are convinced that if you swing like that, the ball will do that. Then step up and do it.
Response:
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hi folks, As the title says. I’m getting into the greens well inside what I consider acceptable for my level of golfing. But my putting stroke is just w-a-a-a-y too strong! Right-handed here. Par-3s, I get on green in 1 or 2, then three or four putt!!! Par-4s, I get there in two or three tops, then it’s four-putt-city!! Bugger! I’m getting completely mad with this. Mostly just too strong and end up overshooting the hole and having to backtrack. I’ve tried everything I know to slow me down but it’s not working. Even changed the putting grip to "Langer’s". You know, the one with the left hand along the putter and the right hand around the forearm and the club. No use: still way too strong. Short of changing my putter to a feather, are there any ideas out there on what to do? I’ve read and practiced some of the Pelz putting drills, but I just got this blockage right now. Should I spend some time with the local pro and just concentrate on the putting? Anyone else had this problem? How did you overcome it? TIA for any replies, ideas, etc. — Cheers Nuno Souto
I usually have good distance control but had a similar problem recently because my forearms bulked up from playing golf often and that interfered with my feel for distance. I solved the problem by gripping the club lower for a while and edging back up as the proper feel returned. Mike
Response:
I spent an hour on the practice green using my long putter side-saddle style. I knew from practice in my living room that I could hit short putts very straight using that stroke, but I was pleasantly surprised at how good my distance control was. I’m going to use it for my whole round tomorrow–should be interesting. I’ve given up on full stroke practice for the time being, but a muni about 10 minutes away from my house has a nice short game practice area. I plan on heading there a lot more. Dave Clary/Corpus Christi,TX Home: http://home.stx.rr.com/dclary Never Forget: http://www.politicsandprotest.org RSG Roll Call http://www.rec-sport-golf.com/members/?rollcall=claryd
Response:
(and I quote): Also, try using the shortest stroke that gets the job done. Many beginners have putting strokes that are way too long. You want to hit the ball solidly and accellerate into it, so you have to control the distance by shortening the stroke.
Yup, that seems to have been the problem. Had a bit of a practice today with someone else watching me. They picked it straight away: was taking the putter too far back and then slowing down while making the stroke! Made the back stroke shorter and took the club forward a bit more and bingo: problem went away. Amazing how I couldn’t pick it up. A couple of dummy strokes before each hole will help, I reckon. I wasn’t taking them to help with speed of play, but now most definitely will! Visualize the ball rolling across the green at the correct speed and dropping in the hole. Actually look at each point along the path on the green as you imagine the ball rolling along it. Keep doing this until you can see the ball curving toward the hole and dropping in. Then take practice swings until you are convinced that if you swing like that, the ball will do that. Then step up and do it.
Good tip. Thanks, will try this. — Cheers Nuno Souto
Response:
I FEEL YOUR PAIN!!!!
Response:
said (and I quote): I FEEL YOUR PAIN!!!!
Thank you! 
For a moment there I thought I was the only one ever to have this problem! — Cheers Nuno Souto