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What do you do when your putting feel disappears?


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Most often, putting is a strength of my otherwise mediocre game. Game Golf tells me that my putting is roughly at the level of a single-digit handicapper. And for the past couple of months, my putting has been a very solid part of my game.

And then, within the past week or two, my putting has disappeared. Statistically, I've gone from putting like a 5-capper to a 15. And while I actually am a 15, I need my putting to be a 5 to maintain that.

It started when I missed a few short putts. Then, probably as a consequence of focusing on technique because of those misses, I started losing my feel for distance.

I've got some of my own answers to this question, but I wanted to throw this out: for decent putters, what's your go-to response when your putting touch suddenly abandons you?

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I focus on moving the clubhead through the ball with little to no body movement. For myself when I start losing it, it generally is due to moving some part of my body, whether it is my head, my torso, shoulders or even just my eyes. 

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Personally, when I struggle with distance, I'm using a shorter backswing, and a more abrupt acceleration into the ball.  As I understand it, the best putters generally do NOT accelerate through impact, rather impact occurs as the clubhead speed levels off.  So if I struggle with touch, I use a slightly longer backswing and a smoother acceleration.  

When I struggle with line, its most often due to movement of my head, and most of that is when I start to follow the putter's backswing with my eyes.  To "cure" that, I simply focus on the ball, and specifically ignore the movement of the putterhead.

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Like you, I outputt my handicap. If my flat stick goes cold, it's usually due to over-practicing. Too much practice in non-course situations removes the urgency. 

For me, the fix is usually to take a break from putting and focus on something else. I even go so far as to hit the course without any practice putts at all. 

 

No matter what, I'd focus as far away from technique as possible. Your results may vary, but less is more for me in these instances. 

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I've seen a lot of golfers struggle with the scenario you described.

After missing a few short ones, grip pressure starts to increase - which subsequently begins to affect both path and distance control.

My advice would be to roll a bunch of putts without a target - focus on light grip pressure and try to keep it constant throughout your stroke.

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Being a righty, I switch to a left-hand low grip. I think if putting goes cold, it's lack of focus, not failure in mechanics. This is a small change that makes me refocus on the task at hand. Additionally I feel this helps keep the face square on the shorter putts. 2 or 3 rounds of left hand low, and I'm back.

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2 hours ago, GolfSpy MPR said:

Most often, putting is a strength of my otherwise mediocre game. Game Golf tells me that my putting is roughly at the level of a single-digit handicapper. And for the past couple of months, my putting has been a very solid part of my game.

And then, within the past week or two, my putting has disappeared. Statistically, I've gone from putting like a 5-capper to a 15. And while I actually am a 15, I need my putting to be a 5 to maintain that.

It started when I missed a few short putts. Then, probably as a consequence of focusing on technique because of those misses, I started losing my feel for distance.

I've got some of my own answers to this question, but I wanted to throw this out: for decent putters, what's your go-to response when your putting touch suddenly abandons you?

I had to deal with this just this summer and have finally come back around. For me, it always boils down to what my setup is. How the club sits at address dictates what I must do during the stroke to send the ball on the line I'm aiming at. It seems like it would be such a simple thing to get right every time yet somehow, I completely lost sight of it. It took a couple weeks of experimentation on the course, on the practice green, and in my living room to get it right.

When  you have a good stroke, it's important to always trust that - even when going through a slump. Too often, golfers will look at the stroke itself or try a different putter when it likely is something much more simple than that. IMO, you have to take it step-by-step - starting small and moving out as each detail is ruled out as a possible culprit. If you start making wholesale changes right off the bat, you're simply going to introduce more variables to the equation and get yourself lost in the rabbit hole.

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Some good stuff so far; thanks everyone!

Let me throw out the cycle I've found in my own experience:

  • Grind hard on mechanics in practice, typically finding some specific setup or stroke feature that needs attention
  • Bring that revised mechanical work to the course
  • Putt poorly, because I'm putting too mechanically
  • Eventually get comfortable so that the mechanical thoughts recede (while the mechanical work remains), and putt really well
  • Start allowing the mechanics to drift through lack of attention
  • Start missing putts
  • Repeat

A typical drift for me: I allow my setup (especially my shoulders) to get increasingly open, and my stroke (which often moves slightly out to in) starts becoming a problem. I think this is even a greater tendency on shorter putts: if I stand and imagine looking down my putting line to a hole 20 feet away, and then adjust to a hole 2 feet away, I immediately want to open more to see the nearer target.

So I start pulling short putts. The self-conscious correct stage (where I am now) normally costs me touch and distance control.

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Is there a way to force yourself to become less mechanics-minded? 

Its easy for me, I just don't think about mechanics when putting.  I don't practice putting a lot, but when I do I almost always force myself to make 6 or 8 5-footers in a row.  At that distance, all I worry about is line, and if I can make a few in a row, I know I can hit my line.  I don't care about HOW I'm hitting the line, as long as I do.  This is when I'm thinking "still head, don't watch the putter, stupid".  The other part of my practice is longer putts (25 or 30 feet) for distance control.  Again, I don't think mechanics, I just want to roll the ball the right distance.  The "still head" stuff is still in my subconscious, so my line is usually decent.  A few more short ones, and I'm done with putting practice.  And I've never really had much thought of mechanics.

 

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31 minutes ago, GolfSpy MPR said:

Some good stuff so far; thanks everyone!

Let me throw out the cycle I've found in my own experience:

  • Grind hard on mechanics in practice, typically finding some specific setup or stroke feature that needs attention
  • Bring that revised mechanical work to the course
  • Putt poorly, because I'm putting too mechanically
  • Eventually get comfortable so that the mechanical thoughts recede (while the mechanical work remains), and putt really well
  • Start allowing the mechanics to drift through lack of attention
  • Start missing putts
  • Repeat

A typical drift for me: I allow my setup (especially my shoulders) to get increasingly open, and my stroke (which often moves slightly out to in) starts becoming a problem. I think this is even a greater tendency on shorter putts: if I stand and imagine looking down my putting line to a hole 20 feet away, and then adjust to a hole 2 feet away, I immediately want to open more to see the nearer target.

So I start pulling short putts. The self-conscious correct stage (where I am now) normally costs me touch and distance control.

I wouldn't say stop focusing on the mechanical but I would say find a setup that you can get to comfortably and work the stroke from there. You can continue to get the setup where you think is right by continuing the practice. But I have found that with putting my natural setup works best. I am 6'3" and putt with a 33" putter, my arms hang completely straight. It looks a little funny but it is natural to me and have gotten my stroke to work with it. Putting is the most artful part of the game IMO. 

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Just now, DaveP043 said:

Is there a way to force yourself to become less mechanics-minded? 

Become an entirely different person? 🙂

In all seriousness, there is a bit of a personality issue here. I was put on this earth (in part) to over-analyze things. And I honestly find it one of the parts of the game that I enjoy: the puzzle-solving element is a big part of my love for golf.

I think my goal here is to shorten the period of awkwardness from finding (or re-finding) the proper setup and stroke for me and letting the mechanical fix recede into the background.

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5 hours ago, GolfSpy MPR said:

I've got some of my own answers to this question, but I wanted to throw this out: for decent putters, what's your go-to response when your putting touch suddenly abandons you?

If you're struggling with touch and distance control, try removing the make/miss from the equation completely. I believe I nabbed this from Rotella's Putting Out of Your Mind, but go to the putting green, throw down some balls and putt to the fringe. The goal being to stop the ball right on the transition from green to fringe. 

This should help you focus more on your pacing while removing the need to hole the putt. I've been warming up before rounds this way - I hit some 8-20 footers to the fringe until I'm happy with my pace control, and then hit a few straight 1 footers into the cup right before I head to the first tee. For me, this couples effective pace control/practice along with the mental stimulation and imagery of holing a lot of putts.

Additionally, when you are putting, are you thinking that every putt is going to go in (i.e. you are trying to hole every putt, no matter the location)? Or are you thinking about leaving yourself a good second putt? I found changing my mindset completely changed my putting. I went from trying to get anything over 10 feet "close," to trying to hole everything. My total putts per round has not changed much (and GAME Golf still says I'm an awful putter - and maybe I am!), but when I two-putt now the second putt is from 0-2 feet more often than the 4-7 feet it was in the past.

 

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When I struggle from over thinking the mechanics I do my best to stop thinking of the mechanics.

If your putting tends to be as good as the data suggests, I'll wager you're not mis-reading the putts too much. When i start to lose the feel from over-focus on mechanics, once I have my read and line , I try to let my only mechanical thought be; Set the putter square to the line, then set up my body square to the club. From setup looking at the ball, I track my eyes along the line of the putt to the hole imagining the speed of the ball rolling. From there, I track my eyes back to the putter doing the same in reverse (getting slightly faster as I track back to the putter head.) I let my eyes getting back to the putter trigger my takeaway. It seems to help establish a rhythm for the stroke and get my focus back on feel over mechanics.

Another practice drill I like for feel is what I call my 4-ball drill. Putting to a hole 20-30 feet away, with some break, stair-step the four putts by 1/2's with ball 4 going for the hole itself. ( ball 1 half way to the hole; ball 2 to half way between ball 1 and hole....) The next target is always 1/2 the distance from the previous ball to the hole. I make it a game giving points for ball 4; 1 for short of the hole inside ball 3, 2 points for past the hole inside ball 3, 3 for a made putt. (It's a -1 if you come up short of the previous ball on any putt)

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5 hours ago, GolfSpy MPR said:

Most often, putting is a strength of my otherwise mediocre game. Game Golf tells me that my putting is roughly at the level of a single-digit handicapper. And for the past couple of months, my putting has been a very solid part of my game.

And then, within the past week or two, my putting has disappeared. Statistically, I've gone from putting like a 5-capper to a 15. And while I actually am a 15, I need my putting to be a 5 to maintain that.

It started when I missed a few short putts. Then, probably as a consequence of focusing on technique because of those misses, I started losing my feel for distance.

I've got some of my own answers to this question, but I wanted to throw this out: for decent putters, what's your go-to response when your putting touch suddenly abandons you?

I'm a 12 handicap down this summer from 15. I'm just like you with a 3 putting handicap. When I lose distance control I simply look at the hole while I putt ( ala Jordan Spieth) works every time for me especially on longer putts. 

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I usually revert to a simple drill which helps me mentally and that's usually where I need the most help on the green.

Set up tees at 3', 5' and 7' from the cup and then make 3 putts in a row from each distance without missing. If you miss any of the putts, start over from 3'. Sounds easy but it's hard enough that it will help boost your confidence when you complete it and translate to less putts on the course.

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1 hour ago, edingc said:

Additionally, when you are putting, are you thinking that every putt is going to go in (i.e. you are trying to hole every putt, no matter the location)? Or are you thinking about leaving yourself a good second putt? I found changing my mindset completely changed my putting. I went from trying to get anything over 10 feet "close," to trying to hole everything. My total putts per round has not changed much (and GAME Golf still says I'm an awful putter - and maybe I am!), but when I two-putt now the second putt is from 0-2 feet more often than the 4-7 feet it was in the past.

This is interesting, and I take the opposite approach.  Out to maybe 15 feet, I believe I have a reasonable chance to make it, so my thought is to get the ball a a foot or two past the hole.  Beyond that, I want the ball to stop pin high.  We all make mistakes with speed.  If I'm trying to hit it 2 feet past the hole, trying to make it, and I miss my speed by 2 feet, I have a 4-footer coming back.  Everyone misses a few of those over time.  I'd rather my "2-feet too long" putt be just 2 feet past the hole.

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7 minutes ago, DaveP043 said:

This is interesting, and I take the opposite approach.  Out to maybe 15 feet, I believe I have a reasonable chance to make it, so my thought is to get the ball a a foot or two past the hole.  Beyond that, I want the ball to stop pin high.  We all make mistakes with speed.  If I'm trying to hit it 2 feet past the hole, trying to make it, and I miss my speed by 2 feet, I have a 4-footer coming back.  Everyone misses a few of those over time.  I'd rather my "2-feet too long" putt be just 2 feet past the hole.

Good strategy. Again, I think it was in Rotella's book that I got the idea to just try to hole everything. He basically teaches that you're going to do better just trying to make each putt, regardless of distance, than just trying to be a great lag putter from a ways away.

I will say, I had 37 putts on Sunday and shot an 83. I chipped in for eagle on one hole, so had I needed to putt it out I would have had close to 40 putts. I know if I would get my total putts down closer to 30, I could shoot lower scores more consistently. Sunday, I read several greens way wrong but my pace was good. Lead to a quite a few three putts because of the misreads.

Unfortunately, my course was built in the 1960s and mismanaged over the years. What used to be mostly flat municipal-style greens now are filled with all sorts or random undulations, humps and dips. The new owners have the greens in great shape cosmetically, but short of a complete rip-and-replace they will never be able to get rid of those things. Makes reading lines difficult at times because the ball just will veer left or right at weird places.

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cobra_logo.png.190908c8b4518eec87c087429e4343ee.png Cobra RadSpeed Big Tour (14.5°), 43", Fujikura Motore X F1 7X
20° Hybrid: PXG_Logo.png.8401024d1fb8aec46f0e790c1aa5b80c.png PXG 0211 (2020 Model), 40.25", Mitsubishi Tensei AV RAW White 90X
4 Utility: 
cobra_logo.png.190908c8b4518eec87c087429e4343ee.png Cobra KING Utility (2020 Model), 38.5", Aerotech SteelFiber i110cw Stiff
5-PW:
logo-Ben-Hogan-large.png.98d743ae5487285c6406a1e30a0a63b5.png Ben Hogan PTx Pro, 37" 7 Iron, Aerotech SteelFiber i125cw Stiff | Club Champion Fitting
50°, 54°, 58°:
231036130_Edel_Golf_Logo_v2_grandecopy.png.13cc76b963f8dd59f06d04b1e8df2827.png Edel SMS, V Grind, Nippon Modus 125 Wedge| Official Review Thread
Putter:
image.png.49fcc172a1ed0010d930fbe1c5dc8b79.png L.A.B. Golf DF 2.1, 36", 68°, Black with Custom Sightlines, BGT Stability Tour, L.A.B. Press II 3° | Unofficial Review
Grips: 
stargrip.png.4285948f41f1409613266e7803f0bbaa.png Star Sidewinder, Undersized with Custom Tape Build-Up
Ball: :Snell:Snell MTB-X Optic Yellow

Tracked By: shotscope.png.4a7089f2bddff325285b1266a61dda03.png  Shot Scope H4
Bag: :1590477705_SunMountain: Personalized 2020 Sun Mountain Sync
Riding On: 
image.png.1db52ce91db040317a9ac580f1df8de8.pngBag Boy Nitron | Official Review Thread

WITB? | 2022 Reviewer Edel SMS Wedges | 2021 Reviewer Maxfli Tour and Tour X Balls2020 Participant #CobraConnect Challenge | 2019 Reviewer Callaway Epic Flash Driver

 

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1 hour ago, edingc said:

Additionally, when you are putting, are you thinking that every putt is going to go in (i.e. you are trying to hole every putt, no matter the location)? Or are you thinking about leaving yourself a good second putt? I found changing my mindset completely changed my putting. I went from trying to get anything over 10 feet "close," to trying to hole everything. My total putts per round has not changed much (and GAME Golf still says I'm an awful putter - and maybe I am!), but when I two-putt now the second putt is from 0-2 feet more often than the 4-7 feet it was in the past.

 

I don't hit a putt unless I think I can make. If I think I can't make it I have no chance. IRC Rotella is the one that gave me this mindset. Crenshaw & Faxon both putted this way I think. I have never been scared of the 3 foot comebacker. I play with our pseudo pro often and he was leaving a lot of putts short because he fears the one coming back. I told him you just watched what that putt did going by the hole, it is now much easier. He is starting to make some putts and most are now to or past the hole.  

:taylormade-small:     Stealth 2+ 9 (Diamana PD 60 S 45") 

image.png.dee92ef6cebb2ac4a3883744fc248f12.png     Stealth 2+ 15 (Diamana PD 70 S 43")

:ping-small:          G425 19 (Raijin 2.0 85x)

:ping-small:          G425 22 (Raijin 2.0 85x)

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 :titleist-small:           Vokey SM9 49 08 F (KBS 610)

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 :titleist-small:           Vokey SM9 59 04 T (KBS 610)

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"One thing Golf has taught me, is that my muscles have no memory."

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I setup about six feet from a practice green cup and put down 5-6 balls in a circle, hitting putts while staring at the cup rather than my normal focus on the ball. Usually it allows me to "feel" the error I am making and adjust until I "feel" the proper stroke. Then I will set up 3 balls on the same line at 3, 5, & 7 feet from the hole and make all three in a row before moving on to other lineups of putts (either a different breaking put or a longer distance progression of 3',6',9' or 4',8',12'). And always end on a make!

If my lag distances are way off I really like the fringe drill mentioned above by @edingc

Driver:  :titelist-small: TSi 3 10* w/ Graphite Design AD IZ 7X 

Fairway/Hybrid: :titelist-small: TSi 2 15* & 18* w/ Graphite Design AD IZ 7X, AD IZ 95X

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To be honest if my putting starts to struggle, I putt looking at the hole one handed. Usually right hand only. Just takes so much thought out of it

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Wood: :titleist-small: Tsi2 15* Project X RDX Black 70 6.5

Hybrids: :cobra-small: King Utility 19.5* Diamana Tensei White Pro 90TX

Irons: :cobra-small: Cobra King Tour MIM 4-PW Dynamic Gold 120 X100

Wedges: :taylormade-small: Milled Grind 3 50*, 54*, 58* Tour Issue S400

Putter: :seemore-small: Nashville Z1C 34"

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: for decent putters, what's your go-to response when your putting touch suddenly abandons you?


I’m a scratch golfer snd expect 30 putts or less in a round. Here’s my advice:
Touch problems can be mental or physical.

On the physical side it can be tempo. Usually too fast. The correction is to take practice strokes with one hand (whichever hand is dominant for you), and then copy the one handed tempo when you grip it with both hands.

If it is mental, I have 5 mental thoughts i use to help myself:

1. Pretend you’re chipping with a 7 or 8 iron as you make practice strokes. Make the same stroke. A 7 or 8 iron must land 1/3 of the way there unless it’s uphill or down. Downhill is 1/4, uphill is 1/2.

2. Imagine a very large circle around the hole (like a 20 foot diameter) and just lag the ball into the middle of the very large circle you’ve imagined. Helps take away the nerve factor.

3. During practice strokes pretend you’re putting 1/4 of the way there, then 1/2, then 3/4, then all the way.

4. Imagine a 3 foot board laying behind the hole, then try to gently bump the board with the ball. I actually practice by putting into a 2x4, just gently bump the board with no more than a few inches of bounce back, but always touch the board (so you always get to the hole).

5. Think about the time the ball actually takes to get to the hole instead of how hard you have to hit it. Downhill putts are ACTUALLY the SLOW putts, though strangely everyone says “that’s a fast one!” And uphill putts are the fast putts, which everyone calls “slow”. Count out seconds on the practice green for flat, uphill, and downhill putts, and you’ll realize the truth. Then on the course you can imagine it taking the true amount of time and hit it accordingly. I gauge putts by “half life” - that is, the ball slows down through the putt... so an uphill putt needs to get halfway there after one second, a downhill putt gets halfway after 2 seconds, and a flat putt is right in between. Whatever the case, if you focus on the amount of time the ball must roll it engages your visual imagination and can get your touch back on track.


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Something you might try - set up to putt as you normally would and then look at the hole while you putt. This works on putts 8ft and in the best and helps just get the feel of putting the ball in the hole.


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Ping G410 Crossover 2 Project X Even Flow Blue 85 6.0 40"

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The only other thing I would offer is to get to a practice putt with a lot of break and try to leave the ball just short of the hole on the high side. This will help with reading greens but will also work on stroking the ball with good speed and tempo.


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Ping G400 LST 8.5* Graphite Design DI 6 stiff 45"

Taylormade RBZ Proto 14.5* Oban Kiyoshi 85 04 42.5"

Adams 4555 19* Matrix Ozik Altus 80 S/X 42"

Ping G410 Crossover 2 Project X Even Flow Blue 85 6.0 40"

Ping i500 4-8 Modus 105 Stiff

Ping Blueprint 9-P Modus 105 Stiff

Fourteen RM-12 53* and 58* Tour Issue Black Onyx s400 

Odyssey Tour Black Series 9 35" Flatso 1.0 

Srixon Z Star XV

2018 Ping Hoofer 

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I'm loving reading these tips and how everyone seems to have different ideas and techniques for what works. For me putting came easy and I do it by feel after squatting down to get a closer ground view of the slope and undulations in the green. I don't get into the mechanics much, so when I'm in a slump I practice more to get my focus and the "feel" back. I find that efforts on the practice putting greens don't seem to transfer to the real greens. I like to go out by myself late evenings when the course is not as busy. I devote an entire 9 hole round to nothing but putts. I roll out 4 - 6 balls and putt from where they land. I finish each one in the hole individually with a 2 putt max (or start all over before moving to the next green. A day or two of this and my "feel" is back. This seems to help because I have very few 3 putts. I usually have 30 - 34 putts per 18 hole round with my low at 29.

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I take a few days break, and when I come back, I go back to the basics - grip, alignment and stance.

 

MDGolfHacker

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Statistically, here's what struggling looks like for me; my last three rounds (which have been rough):

  • 1.96 putts per hole
  • 15% 1-putts
  • 74% 2-putts
  • 11% 3-putts

Previous 15 rounds

  • 1.71 putts per hole
  • 34% 1-putts
  • 59% 2-putts
  • 6% 3-putts

I've posted elsewhere that our greens are tiny here. There are only a couple of greens on the whole course where you can possibly face a 50' putt. So the issue isn't with long lag putts, for the most part.

I'm missing a ton of makeable putts, putts that I have a track record of making. And the three-putt increase isn't from bad lags, but from missing second putts in the 2-5' range.

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:755178188_TourEdge: CBX T3 15°, Project X HZRDUS Black
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:755178188_TourEdge: C722 21°, Ventus Blue 8S
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:cleveland-small: CBX 48°
:mizuno-small: T22 54° and 60°
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I would be interested to see your proximity to the hole on first putt split out like the above.

:taylormade-small:     Stealth 2+ 9 (Diamana PD 60 S 45") 

image.png.dee92ef6cebb2ac4a3883744fc248f12.png     Stealth 2+ 15 (Diamana PD 70 S 43")

:ping-small:          G425 19 (Raijin 2.0 85x)

:ping-small:          G425 22 (Raijin 2.0 85x)

:srixon-small:            ZX7 5-9 (KBS C Taper S)

:titleist-small:            Vokey SM9 45 10 F (KBS 610)

 :titleist-small:           Vokey SM9 49 08 F (KBS 610)

 :titleist-small:           Vokey SM9 55 08 M (KBS 610)

 :titleist-small:           Vokey SM9 59 04 T (KBS 610)

:taylormade-small:     Spider GT Splitback 34"

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Twitter             @THEZIPR23

 

"One thing Golf has taught me, is that my muscles have no memory."

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This might sound crazy, but I switch to a complete different look/style. I'm a pretty decent putter. I don't play in a lot of scrambles, but when I do it's usually the same 4 guys. They're better players then me, and I'm usually the short hitter in our group. When we're on the green though, I'm always the one they want putting last, in case we really need a make.

I never want to admit my stroke is off, because I never want the thought that I'm not a good putter in my head. Instead, I just "think" nothing is dropping. That's when I'll switch from a mallet to a blade, or vice versa. For a while I even had a third putter (Seemore center shaft FGP) in the rotation for another different look. I think my focus improves when I change what I'm looking down at. Sort of like "new club magic" without a new club... 

Edited by Grand Stranded

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41 minutes ago, GolfSpy MPR said:

Statistically, here's what struggling looks like for me; my last three rounds (which have been rough):

  • 1.96 putts per hole
  • 15% 1-putts
  • 74% 2-putts
  • 11% 3-putts

Previous 15 rounds

  • 1.71 putts per hole
  • 34% 1-putts
  • 59% 2-putts
  • 6% 3-putts

I've posted elsewhere that our greens are tiny here. There are only a couple of greens on the whole course where you can possibly face a 50' putt. So the issue isn't with long lag putts, for the most part.

I'm missing a ton of makeable putts, putts that I have a track record of making. And the three-putt increase isn't from bad lags, but from missing second putts in the 2-5' range.

I had this happen to me two weeks ago, fortunately it was only one round, very frustrating. My fix/key on short putts of that length is to make sure I use my forward press to stop any rotation of my hands through contact and make sure my alignment is good as well.

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