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If you could suddenly possess the putting stroke of any top golfer, which player would you most like to emulate? Tiger Woods? Phil Mickelson? Brad Faxon? Aaron Baddeley? The truth is, if I could magically grant you a perfect putting stroke and the ability to start every putt perfectly on line, you would miss almost every putt! Sound crazy? It’s not. If you struggle with putting, you’re probably pulling and pushing your putts to improve your chances of making them. Read on to find out why, and what you can do about it. Let’s start by going over three facts I’ve found in researching putting. Fact 1: Most golfers underestimate the amount putts break because they’ve only seen the last part of their previous putts rolling and breaking near the hole. They think the break they saw was all there was. They then assume if they aim and start their next putt at the high point (apex) of the break they imagine, the ball will roll straight from their putter to that apex and then break down into the hole. Physics doesn’t work that way. Putts start breaking soon after they leave the putter, so by starting a putt at any apex point, it’s sure to roll below it. Fact 2: By under-reading a break, golfers subconsciously push or pull putts uphill of their intended lines to compensate. Right-handers push right-to-left breaking putts and pull left-to-right breakers uphill because their subconscious tells them to start putts higher for a chance of making them. Fact 3: Fewer than one in 10 golfers start putts on line, including the putts they hit well. No matter how hard you try to groove a stroke, it won’t work on the course because each on-course putt requires a different stroke from what was practiced. So a cycle of putting mediocrity sets in. You under-read the break of putts, subconsciously push or pull them uphill enough to have a chance of occasionally making one, and end up with most of your misses below the hole. Two-Step Solution Each of these steps is important, so don’t try one without the other. Step 1: Learn to start putts on line with the Putting Tutor, a thin polycarbonate plate that lays on a green or your carpet at home. Putt your ball from it (see photo at right) down the long white line (the AimLine or desired starting line). The two short white lines should be equally visible if your eyes are vertically over the AimLine, in the proper address position. The two chrome marbles form an AimLine gate. The function of the gate is to show whether your putt started on the desired AimLine, or not, after every stroke. When a putt rolls cleanly through the gate untouched by either marble, it means the ball started on the AimLine. A dislodged marble means the putt started off-line on that side. Step 2: Now you must learn to aim properly before you can hole more putts. This requires taking the Putting Tutor to a practice green. After reading the break for any putt, align the Putting Tutor to your desired starting line, and putt through the marble gate. When putts roll cleanly through the gate with good speed but miss the hole, you’ll know your AimLine is incorrect. Adjust the AimLine by the amount the putts are missing, and putt again. When putts start falling into the hole, you’ll know that’s the correct amount of break for that putt. Final thought If you learn to read the correct break and start putts on the correct AimLine, you only have to groove one putting stroke. And grooving one stroke is a lot easier than trying to pick the right one for each putt. The Putting Tutor is available at pelzgolf.com. Dave Pelz Golf operates short game schools across the country, including schools at Cimarron Golf Resort in Palm Springs and one-day clinics at Calabasas Country Club. For more information, visit pelzgolf.com or call (888) DAVE-PELZ. |
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