Obee's Putting Improvement Thread

[Obee]

> @CBJ said:

> Obee,

> Is there a specific excel program you use to track putts?

>

> How is your putting progress going?

 

No, just one I made up

 

My putting issues were very short-lived. Back to averaging a hair under 29 putts per round. I have two putters I go back forth with now, one lighter and one heavier, both Odysseys: a 1W Tank and a StrokeLab Double-Wide. Now that my stroke is repeatable(ish), it's always about 1 thing for me: Grinding. When I grind on the line (which means PAYING ATTENTION to others' balls, etc.), then I aline my ball to my chosen start line (which is, in turn, based on a chosen SPEED), then I putt well.

 

I have no problem anymore starting the ball on my intended line. I just need to grind. When I grind I putt well. I don't always MAKE a ton of putts, but I'm rarely over 31 - 33 putts (rarely more than this), and then I have the 24 - 27 putt days that balance out those mediocre putting days that puts me at 29ish per round.

[CBJ]

What is your putter length?

[Obee]

37"

[b.mattay]

Great thread OB! I have two friends who have seen a marked increase in consistency by using the claw, especially with short putts!! I should note I moved from the claw to a very right hand dominant “push” stroke after figuring out I had yippy tendencies in my TOP hand! Different strokes for different folks.

[Obee]

I just re-read this and laughed out-loud on my train ride to work this morning. So, so funny.

 

Thought I would bump this thread back up to the top. How's everyone doing on their quest? :-)

[Obee]

Thought I'd bump this back up to the top. Anyone make significant improvement last year? What's everyone going to do over the offseason to keep sharp/improve?

Would love to see some video.

[dmecca2]

I started off the year putting historically bad. I am a +3 and I went a stretch of a couple weeks without making a putt over 10 feet. No confidence and made a lot of bad strokes. I had a friend who is trying to play professionally give me a lesson and told me to bend over more to put my eyes over the ball. Took me a round to get used to it, but my putting improved immediately. I was able to see the line better over the ball which helped my confidence. Pair that with a switch to a putter i had a dream about, and I am currently putting the best I ever have.

My only issue is that it is now winter and I have a bad habit of switching putters frequently. If I feel like I lost the feel with a putter, I switch. For now, I will continue to putt inside and hopefully I will come out of the winter with the same feelings.

[Obee]

Love it, DM! Are you a mid-am or am?

[dmecca2]

I will be 27 in march so a mid-am now. Unfortunately can't take advantage of the tournaments due to work. I did a US mid am qualifier when I turned 25 but I stumbled late for -1 and was second alternate after a 12 for 2 playoff. Next year I get married and will only try for the US open.

[Yuck]

My putting has gotten “less bad” since using the claw exclusively the last six months. I am using a 35” Toulon LV with stroke lab and a SS XL grip. I am choking down to about. 33.5 playing length. My putts per round have dropped from near 40 to around 34. Index has gone from 6.9 to 3.4. Still not a strong putter, but two footers that don’t come near the cup are less common. My long and mid length putting has never been an issue. Just sub 4 footers / Yips. In particular, when under pressure. Goal is to get back to being able to break 70 on occasion next year. I have even had a couple rounds under 30 putts in the last couple months, but that usually means poor ball striking for me.

[ddetts]

I made some improvements last year, but I wouldn't go as far to say significant as it wasn't as good as I would've liked.

First, I switched grips. I have been left hand low for probably 10-11 years now but always used the "10 finger" equivalent where I had no fingers overlapping. I felt that it was getting my setup weird and my left shoulder felt really low. Now I'm still left hand low, but have a double overlap, where my left hand ring & pinky fingers overlap my right hand. This is so much more comfortable for me, I feel more level in the shoulders and lastly I feel like it helps ensure that slight upward stroke on the ball. I switched putters (after about 12 years with an OG Odyssey White Hot XG #7) and went to a TaylorMade TP Mullen. That in itself was a big change as the #7 is face balanced whereas the Mullen has a bit of toe hang, so that changed the stroke style from straight back/thru to having a little rotation of the blade. I thought I was all set with the specs I had it but just noticed that throughout the summer my setup was pretty inconsistent and at times unconfortable. So went and got a professional fitting and ended up taking some length off and bending a little uprigth to account for the shortened length. This got me setup better and with my eyes just inside the ball and feeling more comfortable. Sadly I only got to play a handful of rounds after this.

What I'm doing this offseason:

I have the PuttOut gear - Pressure Putting Trainer, Putting Mat & Putting Mirror. They're a great combo and I have a number of different things I work on. I'll focus on technical things like setup - using the mirror and perpendicular lines to make sure I am setup where I need to be every time. I do speed drills from different distances (can only go up to 6 ft with the mat) where I try to get the balls between the two lines and clustered as close together as possible. I also do some repetition drills with less focus on techicanl like setup (which hopefully is ingrained after the setup work) and do external focus work just trying to make a consecutive number of putts, usually at 4 ft, 5ft and 6ft distances. I will mix in the use of the Putting Gate to make sure my start line is good so that I am not hooking or slicing putts.

I'm in the upper midwest, so won't have much opportunity for practicing outdoors so I am hoping to really get my setup and stroke locked in over winter. Then, once the courses up I can focus on distance and lag putting.

[DLev45]

I improved quite a bit by getting my putter bent more upright, having me stand in a much more upright position and closer to the ball.

I use a face-balanced Odyssey O-Works #7 at 34". At stock, it has a 70* angle. I have always been more comfortable with more of a straight-arm, SBST stroke. Reverse overlap grip.

Had the putter bent to 73* and now address the ball somewhere around 5-6" from my toe line.

It's probably not what anyone would teach, but the proof has been in the numbers. I'm down 1.7 putts per round in the 10 rounds since I made the change compared to my 10 rounds prior to making the adjustment.

[Obee]

Love this! Down 1.7 putts per round?? Fantastic!!!

[DLev45]

20 rounds is a small sample size, but in the 10 prior to the adjustment, I was at 32.7 ppr, and in the most recent 10, I'm at 31 ppr. And I have only had two 3-putts in my last 72 holes.

[ddetts]

Here's my setup, I use a laser level to line things up.

[DLev45]

@Obee, while this isn't directly related to putting, I have noticed throughout your thread how good your short game is to create the consistent sub-30 putting performances. My last 5 rounds I'm back up to 34.4 putts per round, but I really feel like its my short game that is the issue, rather than putting. I'm putting good strokes on the ball (no wobble), but I'm just not consistently leaving myself inside 6 feet for those par saves.
What is your strategy from within 5-10 yards of the green? I actually scare the hole a fair amount on these shots, but I believe I may be TOO focused on making them. This past weekend, for example, I had 3 chips from ~30-40 feet burn the edge of the cup, but all left me with 8-10 feet coming back and I didn't convert any of the comebackers.
I usually read them like putts and try to hit it along the same line as a putt read, but I'm tempted to change the strategy to reading it like a putt and then aiming EVEN HIGHER on the read line so that the ball is always working towards the hole and never away from it (i.e. past the cup). Any thoughts?

[Obee]

The latter for sure. What you will find is that you will still chip in just as many, but you will get up and down far more frequently than you (probably) are. When I'm "on" and it's during the season (i.e., there is amble grass and "cushion" in the rough/fringes) I get up and down a very high percentage of the time, which means I'm consistently hitting it to gimme range or at the most 3 - 4 feet -- which is why you must have both a solid short game AND be excellent on the 3 - 4 footers. :-)

[DLev45]

Thanks for confirming. I'm going to give that strategy a try the next time out.

It hadn't really dawned on me before now that reading the green the same and having the same "MAKE IT" mentality with chips as I do putts could be causing both stats to suffer a little bit. I'm only getting up and down 20% of the time over my last 20 rounds as a 8-9 index, and it does seem like aggression has been more of a factor than lousy contact or missing my spots.

A putt from 30 feet that stops 4 feet short seems lousy, but yet a chip from that same distance that stops within 4 feet seems great!

[leroy]

Great thread. Thanks for bringing it up again.

I have improved my putting tremendously. I used to ave 33-34 ppr; now it is 29-30. First, I draw a line around the entire ball. At first, the line would wobble when I putt. I kept at it and found a way to the line rolling end-over-end in a straight line. I found that it helps when you take the putter a little inside on the way back. Then the forward stroke is coming from the inside as well like playing a little draw. Second, I putt with a square/closed stance which helps you take the putter to the inside on the way back.

[leroy]

[Barfolomew]

Interesting Obee you went very upright and closed stance and I go very flat and open stance lol..... playing 65 lie but only cause putter cant go 60 lie. I use a longer putter like you but go 40" with an open stance but hands in close like Rickie or Aoki

[tgoodspe1991]

The best players in the world make less than 50% of their putts once they hit that 8ft mark. Your chips might look good because they’re running close to the hole, but if you’re chipping it to 8-10ft then you’re only going to make that putt 30-50% of the time at best. We’re not Tour level putters, nor do we play on Tour quality greens, so that make percentage might drop to 15-30%.

Best short game advice you can give someone is to practice chipping to a 6ft circle around the cup. If you actually were able to lay out a 6ft circle around a hole, you’d realize how absolutely massive this area really is, lol. There will be plenty of times where you’ll hole out within that 6ft circle, but if you can consistently pitch it in that range, then you will always have 3ft or less to tap in for par, birdie, or whatever. If you’re a very good putter, this circle could extend to 8ft around the hole which is larger still. I think Jason Day one year was 100% from inside 5ft. That’s insane. That ability just allows him to take pressure off his short game. But any Pro’s score is going to suffer if they chip all their shots to 5+ feet away from the hole.

You can still read the chip like a putt and try to make it, and if you’re burning edges then you’re already really good at hitting your lines with what you’re envisioning. Just work on speed so that you’re scaring the hole but also leaving tap-ins when you miss.

[Obee]

A simple "like" is not good enough for this! :-)

[pappaf2]

Are you suggesting 6ft diameter or 6ft on all sides of the hole (12ft diameter)?

[tgoodspe1991]

Diameter. So 3ft around on all sides. But if you’re an amazing putter that could be up to a 10ft circle, or 5ft around on all sides.

[Obee]

Double-post. Deleted

[DLev45]

I just had a leap in improvement with a $15 change.

I have been playing 3.5 years and had 2 putters over that time. An Odyssey Works Versa #1W and an Odyssey O-Works #7. Both had SS Mid-Slim 2.0 grips on them.

I have always struggled pushing puts to the right. My miss is virtually never a pull. I wasn’t sure whether my stroke was bad or the putter just wasn’t right for me.

My local pro watched me take two single strokes and said “grip is too big, you are releasing it late.”

Handed me another #7 model with a Winn AVS pistol grip and I instantly felt I had so much more feel and better tempo, even making strokes on air.

Took it over to the Big Moss and made 29/30 from 10 feet!!! Kobe! I don’t care if it is dead straight on a rug. 97% is rolling it.

I now have a Winn AVS standard grip on MY #7.

Get fit, folks. All the way down to grip if possible. Especially if you are a newer golfer like me who started in the era of the Superstroke stock grips.

[Obee]

Great advice. Putter grips are so different, and they DO make a difference. A slight difference, but that slight difference can be all it takes to help you make more putts!

[Garush34]

Been reading this whole thread over the last week or so, as improving my putting is one of my main areas of focus at the moment. Lots of great posts through out.

Last year I averaged 33.10 putts per round on 22% GIR. I had an up and down percentage of 23% with 2.13 putt per GIR and 1.76 putts per miss GIR and 3 putt of 9%. My main issue is speed and line. I will usually select a line and hit it too soft for that line and either miss low or not get it to the hole.

My goal for the upcoming season is to average 31 or below putts per round. I have recently bought a puttout pressure put to use in the house with the focus of getting the ball to the hole and rolling back. This is to help me train stroking putts at a better pace. In my few sessions with it so far this seems to be working in the house. I usually play all winter, but the weather and having a child under 1, has meant I've hardly played this winter. But for the rest of the off season I am going to track more of my putting stats other than putts per round. going to track similar stats to Obee, just as I would be interested in my average first putt length and my feet of putts made over the next month or so, I know this will be a small sample size but hopefully it will give me a good insight to my putting and I might keep it going throughout the season.

[Yuck]

It has been a long while since I broke 70. I have not done it since my putting got dodgy more than a handful of years ago. Shot a tidy 3 under 69 today. 29 putts, 6 birdies, with no three putts. Longest made was about 8 feet. I made nearly 60 feet of putts, which is a ton for me. Only missed 1 putt under 4 feet. Of note, I knew where I stood and had to two putt my last 6 holes to break 70. On the last hole I was about 20 ft for birdie, mishit my first putt and left a breaking putt around two feet. With monsters dancing around in my brain, I made the par. A year ago, on a pressure putt like that, I would have not even touched the cup. 2020 looks bright.