Putting at Ryder cup

While watching Ryder...noticed there are quite a few of them where while they were reading the line, they walked to the mid of the line and simulate a putting motion with their putter.


So this got me quite confused......ARE THEY PREPARING TO LAYUP FOR THE PUTT?????

why and what is this simulation for?

Confirming the line of their putts?

maybe they are working out the weight of the swing at that point... could be where there is a break, or slow greens.

I'm curious to know the answer myself

so....I conclude...definitely not to layup....

Duval_S wrote:

so....I conclude...definitely not to layup....

only when u play snakes, u layup putts.....

then u sabo others....

Ya, THAT i know!

so how...

anybody can share with me what is the simulation of putting for?

I spent some time analyzing and here are some raw 'untested' ideas:

1. on the pretext of reading line, actually use the shoe marks to indicate the break point

2. to slow down the pace so as to make the opponent thinking that the putter (person putting) actually knows whats going on

3. part of the commercial gimmick

my guess is that it is for reading breaks on the green.
it's that point that you start loosing speed on the ball and the green slope / grass direction will start taking into effect more and more.

dmateo wrote:

my guess is that it is for reading breaks on the green.
it's that point that you start loosing speed on the ball and the green slope / grass direction will start taking into effect more and more.

Pretty close guess.

The spot at which they stand is the high point or apex of the break, the taking of the practice stroke there is to help them feel and visualise the speed, as well as how much the ball breaks from that point to the hole. They go back to where the actual ball is, and with the earlier information added on, take another practice stroke to again feel the speed and visualise the ball's roll to just past the apex of the break, where gravity will then take the ball the rest of the way to the hole.

This takes visualisation and practice, just adding the sum of both the speeds from the high point to the hole and from the ball to the high point would be way too much. The trick is to be able to decipher how much past the apex of the break you want the ball to lose almost all it's speed, at which point gravity takes over. Where the ball loses almost all its speed is where you visualise the hole to be, that is where you aim to lag the ball to, and not the actual hole.

Which is why sidehill putts are always so difficult to lag close to the hole for most people. It's not just about the break and speed, a huge part of it is seeing the hole in a totally different spot along the track in your mind's eye and then trusting yourself to putt to that imaginary hole, forgetting about the actual hole. An extreme example of this is when you sometimes see pros having to putt with their back to the hole because of the severe speed and break, I've seen Tiger Woods putt like this and still sink the putt. Crazy!

its ryder cup so they are going for birdies not par.

its common to read lines and feel for speed especially in multiple breaks putt situation.

so what they are really doing is breakdown the putt into 2 or 3 sections and than get a feel for the sum of those sections.

DGman

Even better answer DGman!

haha Hubert......you writing thesis, i am making elevator presentation.

DGman

But together, one helluva explanation!

to echo what Master said. They are going for birdies and not par.

Have you ever seen so many people hole out their approaches in a single weekend?!

This ryder cup was damn flipping exciting. I even came close to a level of High just watching the reply and the highlights....

DGman wrote:

haha Hubert......you writing thesis, i am making elevator presentation.

DGman

Fast in, fast out eh... you likey?

mUAr_cHEe wrote:

to echo what Master said. They are going for birdies and not par.

Have you ever seen so many people hole out their approaches in a single weekend?!

This ryder cup was damn flipping exciting. I even came close to a level of High just watching the reply and the highlights....

Din know GR is like a cave, got echo effect, always wondered why it's so dark in here.

Interesting to see how there are so many hole outs when there is only national pride at stake, yet so many misses when big money is on the line in a regular tourney. The mind works in mysterious ways.

It was amazing to see flashes of the old Tiger again in the final day singles match. I thought Francesco Molinari didn't play that well, only to realize that he played a valiant 4 under in his match against the Tiger. And Tiger was back to his superhuman ways playing 9 under with something like 5 birdies, an eagle, and a final birdie, all in succession to completely overwhelm Molinari.

When you look at the Molinari's face, you seem to feel that he is in Fear. And the Eduardo, the hunger in Rickie just killed him on the last 3 holes. Amazing putting for the last 3 holes by the young chap.

tot he will miss the last putt but he made it... well done!!

duffader wrote:

When you look at the Molinari's face, you seem to feel that he is in Fear. And the Eduardo, the hunger in Rickie just killed him on the last 3 holes. Amazing putting for the last 3 holes by the young chap.

Not sure if it's fear or just resignation that no matter how well Francesco played, there wass no hope. It's like standing on the beach and watching that giant 50 foot tidal wave barrelling toward you. No use running cos there is no escape, sure die one. Poor Italian.

Rickie rallied well, but Tiger's run was even more amazing IMHO. Freaking eagle was an approach shot that spun back into the hole. Molinari lost that hole without even stepping on the green.

How to tahan?

Birdman wrote:

duffader wrote:

When you look at the Molinari's face, you seem to feel that he is in Fear. And the Eduardo, the hunger in Rickie just killed him on the last 3 holes. Amazing putting for the last 3 holes by the young chap.

Not sure if it's fear or just resignation that no matter how well Francesco played, there wass no hope. It's like standing on the beach and watching that giant 50 foot tidal wave barrelling toward you. No use running cos there is no escape, sure die one. Poor Italian.

Rickie rallied well, but Tiger's run was even more amazing IMHO. Freaking eagle was an approach shot that spun back into the hole. Molinari lost that hole without even stepping on the green.

How to tahan?

7 Birdies, 1 eagle.. and he didnt even finish the 18.

Talk about look....I'd say Poulter showed the most focused and determined face to win his match.

And he did not disappoint.

Everytime Poulter sank a clutch putt, I was waiting to see if his eyeballs would pop out and fall onto the green.

I think he is still one of the strongest matchplay player in the circuit.

Birdman wrote:

Everytime Poulter sank a clutch putt, I was waiting to see if his eyeballs would pop out and fall onto the green.

It was a surprise that they did not pop out especially since he made quite a few clutch putts.


The exact opposite was Jimenez, coolness personified. Just went about cooly playing his golf. Wahhhhh.....

I think the bunker shot that Jimenz made was totally my play of the last day.... awkward stance, ball so far below feet plus that big overhanging tummy, still manage to put it with 4ft.