At this stage, I could practice putting for hours! I love it, learning so much from this forum and podcasts. It’s very relaxing for me to practice just speed without any holes. Hit like 5 putts from 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 feet just trying to get it to a certain distance. So fun!
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Once I’m able to be on putting practice greens again, I may try some around the clock drills and etc. and see how that treats me. I think it’ll wind up being similar to my feelings about the driving range though, if I’m at the golf course, I want to be on the golf course.
Is this in practice manual? I don’t remember it
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Hi… Could you expand on that, or link us to the resource you’re referring to? Thx
I’m guessing he’s referring to this from Adam Young: https://www.adamyounggolf.com/putting-study/
The conclusion is not against practice, but that a certain kind of mechanical approach to putting can actually make you make fewer putts. In essence, we all have in built some natural subconscious intuitions about speeds and lines to get a ball to a target. Overriding those, even with correct information, can sometimes make putting worse.
It’s definitely a worthwhile read.
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I know there’s a video where Justin Rose says “the more I learned about putting, the worse I got at putting”
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that’s a great quote and definitely true for some players.
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Thx, MPR … was an interesting read, buuuut … although he stated this…
“A better putting stroke will make you perform worse, unless you improve your green reading”
…as one of his conclusions - and he did not emphasize the “unless” which imo should be very prominently emphasized - nowhere that I saw does he mention that, on top of improving your green-reading skill, one should train themselves to trust their line…
So, imho…
Although he guided the golfers onto the proper line it seems none of them were convinced it was, in fact, the right line … so they were not confident in hitting their putt on that line … and so they second-guessed themselves on how to hit the putt … and so the putt “failed”.
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I just ordered the book Unconscious Putting by Dave Stockton. Can’t wait to get it. They tease you and let you read the first chapter on kindle. I have heard so many great things about it.
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One of my favorite golf books that I’ve read
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Well that was amazing. 
I like the idea of not even telling yourself “speed control” or “get the speed right”, as these verbal cues will also interfere with your subconscious mind. All you’re doing in putting preshot routine is getting the picture as clear as possible in your mind (the picture of the path it will travel, at what speed, where and how it will fall into the hole). Get all of that as crystal clear as possible in your mind with as little verbal chatter as possible, and then just react to that picture. The clearer the picture the better!
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Couldn’t agree more.
I consider myself a great putter. I routinely take around 30 or less putts. I make a lot of long putts and I don’t miss a lot of short ones. And when I do I just laugh.
I almost never practice my putting anymore and when I do I throw down a penny and just hit a few putts at it. The hole looks huge after putting at a penny for 15 mins.
I have found that to putt your best, you CANNOT go out there worrying about whether you will putt your best.
In my 20s I used to work hard on building the “perfect” pendulum stroke. But I wouldn’t hole a lot of putts and I wouldn’t have fun on the greens cos I was constantly trying to be perfect. It looked great but eventually my speed control got horrendously bad as I was focused more on my stroke than my target.
Now my stroke doesn’t look textbook, but I don’t give it a second thought as I hole a lot of putts, and I honestly have fun on the greens
And when I see one of my playing partners grinding on the practice green before the round, looking all wooden trying to dial in the perfect stroke, I can almost guarantee they are going to have a terrible day on the greens out there
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You’ll have to be a little more specific, what elements are you using from his philosophy?
(I think AP is really compatible with anything because it’s just a rational system based on real data)
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Spot putting specifically. I try and get connected to my target and make a read, bring the line back to three inches in front of the ball and then roll it over that spot
I think I’m going to stop practicing putting. I have been practicing quite a bit the last few weeks, also messing with my grip and trying several different options, and all the results were pretty similar. This week my first round I changed up my grip 3 times during the round, and missed a few short ones but lagged it okay. 2nd round, I stuck to 1 putting grip, and my short putting was much better, but I CHUNKED 2 lag putts and left them 15 feet short that led to 3-putts, and also had a 4 putt after I got too aggressive on a 10 ft second putt.
I’m not really going to quit practicing, but I do like the idea of trusting it, and then laughing it off when you miss. Otherwise it can derail a round and leak into other parts of your game.
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I don’t think you’d have any issues with that using AP. For example, if you put your fingers up and see that the read is about a cup out to the right, you could back that out to a spot about three inches in front of you.
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Putting is weird… I think to be a successful “technician “ Putter you have to go full Bryson. Get the hat, put in the repetitions and just grind… I’m not sure it’s achievable for a non professional golfer and I’m curious to see how he does at Augusta with less than perfect knowledge.
As someone who is working to reform from a bad putter, my approach has been varied… ive done the major technical work… gate drills and such… I’m very comfortable at 4 feet and less… my stroke is repeatable and I’m confident in it.
I’m still working on the lag putting… I mostly practice 20+ foot putts with a focus on getting close vs getting in… since I’m confident from 4 feet, I should have a big circle to miss into!
I haven’t yet tested this on the course, but I’m hoping it will pay off…
Basically, I think technique needs to be good enough that your stroke is repeatable, and then make sure you are comfortable lag putting from outside 20 feet.
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Putting is weird and very hard. But it is the only thing us mortals can do on a comparative basis to tour pros.
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