Plumb-Bobbing: Ineffective?

[GolfSpy Barbajo]

Saw this on GolfSpy Tiim's Twitter feed -- not sure if it's made it to the Forum or not...

 

From a study done by the College of Kinesiology at the University of Saskatchewan:

 

"This study evaluated the validity of the plumb-bob method as used to determine the break of a putt. Two separate experiments were conducted to examine the consequence of violating inherent assumptions in the method. In the first experiment, a controlled putting environment was constructed to assess the plumb-bob method in determining the break of a putt, if the slope of the green was not constant from the position of the golfer behind the ball through to the hole. It was determined that if the slope of the green beneath the golfer was different from the slope between the ball and the hole, then the plumb-bob method would provide an incorrect indication of break. The second experiment examined the ability of a golfer to stand perpendicular to a slope. Half of the participants in the study deviated by + 1.58 or greater from standing perpendicular to a slope. A + 1.58 error on a 1.4 m (* 4.5 ft) putt translates into reading an extra 0.08 m of break and a missed putt. The plumb-bob method was found to be an invalid system for determining the break of a putt."

 

Gotta confess - I'm a lifelong plumb-bobber.  I'm also a licensed plumber, so that has to account for something...

 

How do you read putts?  Is plumb-bobbing part of your routine?  Here's a link to the full article...

 

[GolfSpy Barbajo]

And found this via Google (what a wonderful thing!) -- how to plumb-bob like a pro....

 

[BIG STU]

I have always plum bobbed. Sometimes if the green has a lot of undulation I may have to do it form several angles and put it together which I cant tell you how I do it because I don't honestly know. But I am also an "instinct putter" like Rover Rick and I have discussed many times before on here.

BTW The only things you have to know to get a plumbing license in South Carolina is

1 Hot is on the left

2 Cold is on the right

3 Poop don't run uphill---unless you have a pump

4 Payday is on Friday

5 The boss man is a SOB

I have friends that are plumbers and they tell me these things

[GolfSpy Barbajo]

1 Hot is on the left

2 Cold is on the right

3 Poop don't run uphill---unless you have a pump

4 Payday is on Friday

5 The boss man is a SOB

I have friends that are plumbers and they tell me these things

 

You forgot the one about not chewing your finger nails...

[Kenny B]

Nope, no plumb bob. Doesn't tell me anything I can't already see/feel. It can also give false information, if you only rely on it.

 

Clearly, from the picture Cabrera didn't read Google to learn how to do it!

[markb]

I confess, I could never figure it out or see it, in spite of being told how to do it several times.   So I've never used it.

 

Consequently, there's no hope I'll ever figure out the Adam Scott thing.   Ya gotta go to school for that one, anyway.

[Mr_Theoo]

I never plumb-bobbed, and after taking the aim point class this summer that's all I use. I don't do the fingers in front of the face like Adam Scott does though

[silver & black]

Nope. I get nothing from it. I can miss just fine without plumb bobbing.

[BIG STU]

You forgot the one about not chewing your finger nails...

LOL Had never heard the one about the chewing of the finger nails but I do understand

[BIG STU]

I never plumb-bobbed, and after taking the aim point class this summer that's all I use. I don't do the fingers in front of the face like Adam Scott does though

That is part of the "new fangled technology" I was talking about in another thread. Nothing wrong with that it would require me to use my brain too much on the course and that would be dangerous for me

[Mr_Theoo]

That is part of the "new fangled technology" I was talking about in another thread. Nothing wrong with that it would require me to use my brain too much on the course and that would be dangerous for me

There really isn't as much thinking on the course as you expected there to be. I think one of the biggest advantages to aim point for me is confidence. If I know the slope and where I'm supposed to be aiming my putt then I know I can make it.

[BIG STU]

There really isn't as much thinking on the course as you expected there to be. I think one of the biggest advantages to aim point for me is confidence. If I know the slope and where I'm supposed to be aiming my putt then I know I can make it.

The key word I like to see there is CONFIDENCE period how ever you do it.

[revkev]

Pelz debunked the effectiveness of plumb bobbing some time ago. Regardless if it's a part of your routine and you aren't slowing anyone down and it's not hurting your putting why wouldn't you continue to do it?

 

Personally I'd prefer to bob for apples though.

[Kenny B]

The key word I like to see there is CONFIDENCE period how ever you do it.

When I started playing golf and for the next 15 years, I had no confidence that I would make a putt, even short ones. I wished it into the hole. Not a good strategy. I got a putter that feels really good to me and changed setup; practiced a lot. The result is confidence. It's confidence that you can make putts, but it's also confidence that you won't 3-putt.

[BIG STU]

When I started playing golf and for the next 15 years, I had no confidence that I would make a putt, even short ones. I wished it into the hole. Not a good strategy. I got a putter that feels really good to me and changed setup; practiced a lot. The result is confidence. It's confidence that you can make putts, but it's also confidence that you won't 3-putt.

Back in the day when I was a pretty good player my confidence in putting 3 putt was absolutely not in my vocabulary. In fact I never knew about a thru line in someone's putt until I played on the minis and a veteran player scolded me about that. To which I replied and I remember to this day my reply "why in the hell would you even think about missing a 3 foot putt?" I honestly did not know about the thru line until then. I asked my old man about that and he said I guess it did not occur to you and I can see why. Of course he added wait until you get older. Some more of his wisdom came through

[GolfSpy Tim]

The pumb bob has never made sense for me....

 

Took an aim point class a couple months back and it's the first time I've ever had confidence and/or consistency in my reads and outcomes while putting.

 

http://www.aimpointgolf.com

 

Hunter has been rocking the express read

[BIG STU]

LOL Rev you must have better teeth than I do then!

[GolfSpy Barbajo]

The pumb bob has never made sense for me....

 

Took an aim point class a couple months back and it's the first time I've ever had confidence and/or consistency in my reads and outcomes while putting.

 

http://www.aimpointgolf.com

 

Hunter has been rocking the express read

 

I'm a plumb-bobber out of habit more than anything else.  An old buddy taught me how to do it back in the 80's and have been doing it every since. I still have to read the terrain a little, but for me I can get a sense of break with a plumb bob.  Dead-nuts accurate? Probably not, but it's part of the process.

 

That said, am anxious to take an Aim Point class for next season - the concept sounds fascinating.

[BIG STU]

I will say in all fairness probably all of us guys that plumb bob have been playing a long time. When we learned the game we mostly had Bremuda greens and not as much undulation as now days . As golf course technology grew and different strands and grains of grasses were developed we just sorta evolved with it along the way. It may be harder for some one who has just been playing 10 years or less to get it

[ZenGolfer]

Plumb-bobbing has been proven time and time again to be a waste of time.  Theres too many variables and too many inconsistencies, not to mention the fact that theres no straight lines on any green.

[BIG STU]

Badger I think it is the era you learned to play in. Some of us "old timers" still plumb bob and it is effective for us because we have evolved with the changes over the years in golf course design and I think it also goes along with instinct putting. But say I had a kid now just starting the game and learning I would maybe send them to a school or program to learn that finger thing. I will differ with the so called experts that plumb bobbing is not effective I will grant them that it may not be effective for a majority of golfers but for some of us it is. It is a subjective thing like everything else in golf works for some and not for others

[jaxbeachpackerfan]

Never used to do it, now I do.  Use it just to confirm the general overall slope in the area near the hole.  It seems to help me a lot, but probably more of a confidence thing that I've got the right read.  It doesn't help at all for the effects of the slope near the ball on the longer putts.  I'm going to keep doing it.

[Andee Yaceyko]

Yes, I totally believe in the Plumb Bob method. as low as 24 putts per round. It take practice and remember the putter shaft

must hang perferctly vertical. know how to read the greens on long putts and practice plumb bobbing on shorter putts.

You're putting will improve.

[fixyurdivot]

On 11/26/2014 at 8:11 AM, Kenny B said:

Nope, no plumb bob. Doesn't tell me anything I can't already see/feel. It can also give false information, if you only rely on it.

 

Clearly, from the picture Cabrera didn't read Google to learn how to do it!

Same here.  I've played around with it but it never seemed to provide as good a "read" as looking at the putt from both sides of the hole and feeling slope with my feet. I see very few players employing the plumb-bob method which suggests it was in vogue during our Dad's heyday's and is slowing fading away.

[tony@CIC]

I gave it a good try but it didn't work for me. I just visualize the break(s) after walking around the hole. 

[DaveP043]

To me, using the putter to give you a reference to "vertical" is logical.  But as plumb bobbing has been explained to me in the past, it cannot work.  Line the putter and the hole up using only your dominant eye, and then open your other eye, you'll see the shaft shift in a way to indicate the line?  Every single time you do that you should see the same "shift" of the putter shaft, because you're doing the same thing every time.  

[CarlH]

I do plumb with my putter as an assist to my overall green read.  It's not my holy grail determining factor, but it is part of my routine that I've executed for many years.  I am generally a fairly good putter, not because I read the line well, but that I get the speed close and leave myself an easy 2nd putt when I miss.  Speed is far more important than line, IMO.

[fixyurdivot]

46 minutes ago, DaveP043 said:

To me, using the putter to give you a reference to "vertical" is logical.  But as plumb bobbing has been explained to me in the past, it cannot work.  Line the putter and the hole up using only your dominant eye, and then open your other eye, you'll see the shaft shift in a way to indicate the line?  Every single time you do that you should see the same "shift" of the putter shaft, because you're doing the same thing every time.  

I do the switch between open and closed eyes while squatting down to view the line. You can readily see a shift/offset of the flagstick to the uphill/downhill side of the hole; even on pretty subtle slopes.  

[Shankster]

I have my own method of this.  Rather than using the vertical line I move it to reflect where I think 90° is.  Same concept I suppose, just doing it all backwards like usual.  Works great for me, has for years.  Big bendy ones not so much though.

I pick a spot, then line the alignment marker on the ball up to it.  

[GrumpyGolf]

I have tried and tried, but I get nothing.  I feel like I get more by walking from my ball to the hole and back since I can feel the slope a little better and then looking from behind my ball to find a middle range target to hit with my putt.  But my buddy Jim (not his real name to protect the idiot, uh, innocent) would plumb bob every single putt no matter how long or short and when I asked him how the green read, he would just say he now had a straight line between the hole and his ball.