Putting fitting.

As my 29Th birthday is less than 2 weeks away and i get asked the question "What would you like for your birthday?" I then automatically think golf and what area would i most like to improve!

Playing in the S.W. Qualifier yesterday i noticed the weakest part of my game was putting, so any help i can get in that area I'll take with no hesitation.

I was thinking of getting fitted your a putter that will suit my game, but also know my technique is weak.

My question is: When getting properly fitted for a putter does the pro also work with your technique IE; give you a few little pointers on your stroke at the same time?

I'm sure i read an article in T.G. last year that suggested this, but want to be sure before ringing up the Belfry and booking a fitting.

Paul.

I think it would depend on the pro you are seeing.

What you really want is a large range of putters to try.

You can then find four or five putters you really like, then try them on the putting green.  I'd avoid any places where you test them on astroturf!

Russ

Paul,

"Practice makes perfect". Before spending a wedge on lessons & a new putter I would identify which part of your putting is weak. Is it your long or short putting. Do you normally miss on the high or low side. Once you've done this make it your priority to spend the next couple of weeks practicing different drills to stregthen it.

Then if you still decide you want a new putter at least you'll be going with a new found confidence.

As your a member of the Belfry take advantage of their putting facilities.

Hope this helps?

John.

Paul,

what are you doing though when you get there an hour early?? are you practising specific drills or just putting.

I use a drill where I place 6 balls about a putter head apart from the hole & then I start by putting the nearest 1st & then work backwards. If I miss one I start all over again & don't stop until I putt all 6. It replicates the kind of pressure your under on the course, especially if it's your 5th attempt & you've got 1 ball left!!.

John.

Get one of those magic TM putters John uses. Doesn't seem to work as well for me though.

Ive got a range of LH Putters you can try!

Go buy this I highly recommend it Paul,

Dave

iv been looking at buying that dvd for a couple of days now but couldnt find any reviews on it. How heplfull was it to your game? Can the drills be carried out at home with a putting machine? And does the dvd say you have to go out and buy training aids to accompany the drills mentioned in the dvd?

Dan 

Dan, this a new dvd which I havn't seen I have an old vhs tape which I play from time to time . I now load's of guys who have been to his schools and rave about what they have learnt. He has caoched _Paddy,Howell,westwood etc and is the guy behind YES putters. I have on the way Phil Mich's short game dvd's from the U.S. which have received rave reviews.

Ok cheers Dave. Its only a tenner so if it shaves a few strokes off my score itll be well worth it. Also its a lot cheaper than a lesson from a pro

Paul,

Putting is a game within a game. Its half confidence, so if you are confident with your "Stick" your half way there.

One tip about Putting, Never watch the Ball start its roll, Keep the head still. And from 10ft in, wait to hear the Ball drop, don't watch for it to drop.

Watch the Pro's. TIGER=Good, DARREN CLARKE=Bad(at times).

TheLyth

Putting is extremely difficult at the best of times, Chris, but if you cannot read a green then putting will always be a lottery for you. Have you tried the plumbline method? I use this all the time now, as I cannot get down to read a green properly.

I normally find a good pair of glasses helps

Paul,

Get some putting lessons if you can.  At my local driving range they did a putting clinic for £10, I went along and got a couple of really useful things from it, mainly needing a shorter putter (got 1 1/2" cut off the shaft), and slight alignment problem.

That and getting a putting green in my back garden helped immensely (but the lessons were by far the better value)!

THE PLUMBLINE METHOD.

This gives an overall view of the break on a Putt. A Putt that breaks three ways will show as only one.

Take the HOLE, the BALL and YOURSELF in a straight line, allow the Putter to dangle freely from your fingers so that the shaft is in line with the HOLE. The BALL will then show to one side or the other of the shaft, and whichever side that is, is where you set your Putt going. You then learn how far off the hole to send the Ball in relation to how much you see of it.

Its not perfect but it helps. You still need to work out the speed to hit the Ball.

TheLyth

My method is slightly different to David's in that I close my left eye and keep the open eye, the ball and the hole in line, then block the ball out with the shaft and  the putter shaft will then be either left or right of the hole depending on which side the break is. The other advantage is it will tell exactly how much break there is. I then putt straight along this line.,

If the hole has two or three different breaks then one has to take the first breaks into consideratio and attempt to work out what the final break will be and from where it starts.

I am not the best putter in the world, far from it, but I do seem to have the ability to run the ball up close most of the time.

I have seen a few guides saying the same as John's but I am still baffled by how you can line yourself the ball and the hole up and then read the put by how much the ball or cup (depending on the method) is outside the line of the shaft. It may just be me but surely if the cup or ball is outside the line of the shaft surely you have not lined yourself the ball and the hole up correctly otherwise the shaft would be central to the ball and the hole.

surely you have not lined yourself the ball and the hole up correctly otherwise the shaft would be central to the ball and the hole.

Gary, if the green is perfectly flat, the above will be the case, as the shaft will cover the hole, but if the green has any slope on it, and they all seem to have, then the shaft will show either side of the hole and depending on the severity of the slope , this could show as wide as 2/3 feet or as little as the edge of the cup, and it then becomes obvious where one needs to set the ball off to arrive at the hole.

I've given this a try and it does appear to show the cup one side or the other the science still baffles me but it seems to work so cheers John for the advice and here's to the end of 3 putting (I wish)