correct putting stroke?

Cool, at least it's not unorthodox method then.

How do you manage to keep still, everytime I hover it, my hand will be shaking a bit and it makes me wonder whether I will hit it squarely or not

watermyforrest wrote:

Does anyone here putt without resting the putter on the ground (kind of hanging in the air)?

Bro Technospaz and Camilio not sure if you noticed yesterday, but Mr. SYK actually rest the putter on the ground to align and just before swinging, he lifted up the putter slightly (less than 0.5 cm) and proceed with the back swing.

It actually makes a lot of sense to me since there will be no resistance during the back swing i.e. I tried it on the putting matt... as predicted, easy backswing but messed up because my hand started to shake a bit. I gues it will take a little more practice to perfect it.

But, rather than practising the wrong thing, can I check whether this is a correct way of putting or am i doing it wrong all this time by having the putter graze the floor?
Well, I understand that to some it might be correct since they have been practising it for ages, but my question is more to the mechanics of putting swing and which swing is the putter designed for.

I didn't notice that but I can see why it would make sense. I'm not accustomed to it though. I need to graze the ground on my backswing to know that I'm on "the level." It's not a perfect routine as you know but I'm quite used to it. Perhaps I'll give bro SYK's method a try and see if it works.

To me, putting is very personal. I'm not sure if you noticed my grip when I put. Many have found it quite unorthodox. I actually have my index finger jutting out to help align the club. It's something which I was taught many years ago and I've stuck to it since.

bro, if u can average 30 putts / rd, tht's very very good liao......

jaketang wrote:

bro, if u can average 30 putts / rd, tht's very very good liao......

Sorry, i think i kinda got ahead with myself there. To clarify, it's between 30 - 34 putts / rd, on familiar greens.

who8168 wrote:

jaketang wrote:

bro, if u can average 30 putts / rd, tht's very very good liao......

Sorry, i think i kinda got ahead with myself there. To clarify, it's between 30 - 34 putts / rd, on familiar greens.

bro, u must be quite good too...

i think 30putts can give u ard low 80's score.... even in the 70's if your gir is high..

watermyforrest wrote:

Cool, at least it's not unorthodox method then.

How do you manage to keep still, everytime I hover it, my hand will be shaking a bit and it makes me wonder whether I will hit it squarely or not

I just keep still, exhale, then rock my shoulders back in a smooth tempo.

jaketang wrote:

who8168 wrote:

jaketang wrote:

bro, if u can average 30 putts / rd, tht's very very good liao......

Sorry, i think i kinda got ahead with myself there. To clarify, it's between 30 - 34 putts / rd, on familiar greens.

bro, u must be quite good too...

i think 30putts can give u ard low 80's score.... even in the 70's if your gir is high..

You hit it right on the nail there! I only manage low 90's & high 80's b'cos of my chipping and putting. My fairway hits are about 5/14, & GIR about 5/18. Still lots of things to work on.

wow... anytime better then me.... keep it up...

now i only concentrate in finding the joy in playing golf.. no need to play too well but juz to enjoy the game to the fullest...

Bro JT, absolutely true... a lot of times we got caught up with the score that we forget to enjoy the game and the beauty of the course.

Bro TS, it is truly personal... but something that is trained over and over again will eventually become personal as well ;-)

Bro who8168, do you immediately start your backswing once you lift up a bit or you hover a while bit more?

watermyforrest wrote:

Bro who8168, do you immediately start your backswing once you lift up a bit or you hover a while bit more?

After i raise it off the ground, i hold for about 0.5 to 1 sec (to exhale & stabilize), then backswing.

Thanks for the pointer, i will try to incorporate my current handsy swing first... until bopian then will rock the shoulder

who8168 wrote:

watermyforrest wrote:

Bro who8168, do you immediately start your backswing once you lift up a bit or you hover a while bit more?

After i raise it off the ground, i hold for about 0.5 to 1 sec (to exhale & stabilize), then backswing.

I thought that you would hold your breath for precision, which is what snipers do. Trust me, I've played Call of Duty Seriously, I was told that when you putt, hold your breath at the backswing and possibly exhale when you downswing for a smooth followthrough. I could be mistaken though.

No sir, for shooting, you breath in normally, exhale half your breath, hold/pause, then squeeze the trigger. My golf coach also teach me the same thing for both full swing & putting (maybe b'cos both of us were Army ex-regulars)

who8168 wrote:

watermyforrest wrote:

Does anyone here putt without resting the putter on the ground (kind of hanging in the air)?

Bro Technospaz and Camilio not sure if you noticed yesterday, but Mr. SYK actually rest the putter on the ground to align and just before swinging, he lifted up the putter slightly (less than 0.5 cm) and proceed with the back swing.

It actually makes a lot of sense to me since there will be no resistance during the back swing i.e. I tried it on the putting matt... as predicted, easy backswing but messed up because my hand started to shake a bit. I gues it will take a little more practice to perfect it.

But, rather than practising the wrong thing, can I check whether this is a correct way of putting or am i doing it wrong all this time by having the putter graze the floor?
Well, I understand that to some it might be correct since they have been practising it for ages, but my question is more to the mechanics of putting swing and which swing is the putter designed for.

I do that. It's been a habit i developed when i started playing 4 yrs ago. Then i still can't putt for my life, & sometimes i brush the green a little too much on my forward stroke. So i lift the putter just a couple of mm to prevent that from happening. Now even though my putting has improved (in my own standard lah, around 30 strokes per round), i still hover my putter before my takeaway.

Try hitting down on your putts...
But before anyone says anything...let me clarify.

1. I am not asking you to hit it sandwedge style - just a slight brush downwards - this will ensure that your putter's sweetspot is in contact with the top part of the ball.

Constant impact with the sweetspot of any club will teach you feel.

Feel is like a mathematical equation.

Length of stroke + sweetspot impact = (x) distance

Most people are unable to control distance as they lack feel because their impact is any where but the sweetspot.
Only when one has consistent impact on the sweetspot can a variation in backstroke length cause a proper change in distance.

Every quarter of inch you hit off the sweetspot will cause you to lose 10% of total effective force on the ball.

So Mickelson's way of forward bend before the backswing will actually help.

Btw TGM won't his cause the ball to slightly jump and therefore creating a slightly more erratic movement?

In regards to sweetspot, when I ground the putter (blade style), seems that the sweetspot a tad lower than the furthest end of the ball. So it leads me to believe that either hover the putter or hit it down as you mentioned above. Pls correct me if I'm wrong...

A forward bend like Mickelson requires extra loft on the putter.
Just a slight brush downwards will do.
A chip style approach will cause the jumps - slight brush is the key.

the correct putting stroke is whatever stroke that gets you in the hole.

with at most 2 putts, of course.

Even snooker style?