Obee's Putting Improvement Thread

[swizbeatz]

Obee do u use green books? I used one for the first time ever today ad def thought it was very helpful.

 

Whenever they are available, yes I do. They can be extremely helpful.

 

yeah my home course randomly (public) started carrying them. pro gave me one to try out and loved it.

 

Those are pretty rare to see around here, I know one CC had it done and it was less than I expected. I’d push for it at my home course but that just cuts into my advantage ?

[gatorpedsMD]

Obee do u use green books? I used one for the first time ever today ad def thought it was very helpful.

 

Whenever they are available, yes I do. They can be extremely helpful.

 

yeah my home course randomly (public) started carrying them. pro gave me one to try out and loved it.

 

Those are pretty rare to see around here, I know one CC had it done and it was less than I expected. I'd push for it at my home course but that just cuts into my advantage

 

best part was on one hole I went against its read and missed. was like wtf is wrong with u, lololol.

[jasonfish11]

I finally got around to reading a lot of the posts Obee makes in this thread. I saw so many parallels to my own putting. Overall I'm not a good putter, I do feel pretty good with my lag putting but I miss enough 3-5 foot putts and I don't make very many in that 5-15' range either. So I decided to mess around a little.

 

I put a line on the ball and attempted to see if I could roll it with no wobble. The first dozen putts were just comical. It looked like the line was perpendicular to the hole, and this is on a 4-5' putt on a putting mat. I started playing around with different things, I know my tendency is to bring the club too far outside on my backstroke. I finally found something that would get the ball to roll with out wobble. I set up like I'm aimed 3' (yes feet) right of the hole then try to take the club back square to my line and hit a massive pull. I missed each of the putts right of the hole by 4-6" but the ball rolled "true". Obviously this is not something I could become comfortable with on a golf course (aiming 3' right of a straight 4' putt).

 

It's pretty clear to me that I basically hit a massive "slice" with my putter on my normal swing. Now the question is how the F do I work on getting more of a square stance when my starting point for a putt to roll "true" is probably 30 degrees right (assuming I remember trigonometry)? Many of the things Obee changed will help reduce my wobble but with out probably 2 years of practice I doubt I could ever become comfortable "aiming" 30 degrees off my intended start line.

[bargolf]

jasonfish11 brings up a point that is a common problem. The idea that body alignment is function of aim.

[jasonfish11]

Ok so 2 years of practice turned into some putter adjustments (love having adjustable putter) a grip adjustment and 15 min of practice boom now I can roll it straight on a short put.

 

I kind of did what obee did. I have a cure putter so it's lie is adjustable. I had it on one of the flattest possible lie angles, but I moved it as upright as I could, it feels like it's vertical. I feel like I'm standing on the ball, and will hit my right toe in my back swing. On top of this I drastically weakened my right hand grip my palm is facing the hole (before it was facing my left leg). So I guess I really moved a strong right hand more neutral.

 

When I made those changes the ball rolls so much more true, the issue is my "problem" of coming outside the line on my back swing is now easier to do because I feel like I'm going to hit my toe in my stroke. If I practice with a 2x1 board laying on the toe of my putter it works great (this is my standard practice set up anyways).

 

The contrast between these 2 posts is crazy and I realize that. I think I'm going to change things back, make a video of the ball. Then make another video after the changes. I'm sure to anyone not standing here with me probably thinks I'm suffering from multiple personality disorder or something.

[jasonfish11]

Ok these are back to back putts separated only by the time it took me to adjust the putter. Neither are perfect and actually the "old" one rolled truer than I had been rolling the ball earlier with the same setup.

 

Also ignore my nasty sneakers, I've been remodeling my bathroom and haven't got around to buying new shoes.

 

Old

 

New

 

Didn't mean to thread jack your thread obee, but I was shocked when I threw a line on the ball this morning.

 

Edit: I realized in both videos I release hard to the left after impact, so I just hit a few putts where I was concentrating on moving the putter head more towards the hole and the ball rolled dead strait. Very simple changes and some pretty drastic differences on how the ball rolls.

[Obee]

I finally got around to reading a lot of the posts Obee makes in this thread. I saw so many parallels to my own putting. Overall I'm not a good putter, I do feel pretty good with my lag putting but I miss enough 3-5 foot putts and I don't make very many in that 5-15' range either. So I decided to mess around a little.

 

I put a line on the ball and attempted to see if I could roll it with no wobble. The first dozen putts were just comical. It looked like the line was perpendicular to the hole, and this is on a 4-5' putt on a putting mat. I started playing around with different things, I know my tendency is to bring the club too far outside on my backstroke. I finally found something that would get the ball to roll with out wobble. I set up like I'm aimed 3' (yes feet) right of the hole then try to take the club back square to my line and hit a massive pull. I missed each of the putts right of the hole by 4-6" but the ball rolled "true". Obviously this is not something I could become comfortable with on a golf course (aiming 3' right of a straight 4' putt).

 

It's pretty clear to me that I basically hit a massive "slice" with my putter on my normal swing. Now the question is how the F do I work on getting more of a square stance when my starting point for a putt to roll "true" is probably 30 degrees right (assuming I remember trigonometry)? Many of the things Obee changed will help reduce my wobble but with out probably 2 years of practice I doubt I could ever become comfortable "aiming" 30 degrees off my intended start line.

 

So glad you posted this. Your self-discovery is the kind of thing that gets me so passionate about teaching golfers to teach themselves.

 

Your basic process for "figuring out" the way to roll the ball end over end was similar to mine. You started with an end result that you wanted, and you figured out how to get it quite quickly. You owned your improvement. Now you are not (yet) comfortable with what you figured out, but you did figure out how to make a real change on your own.

 

I went a step farther than you after figuring out how to roll the ball end over-end: I committed to making that my stroke all the time and to using the line on (almost) all putts. It took me about two total rounds to get comfortable with it. It did take me about 2 - 3 hours of putting practice at home at at the putting green to hone my new "move," but I committed to using it when I played, and that as the big key. I didn't want to dabble, I wanted to commit to something that I knew was better (rolling the ball end-over-end instead of "slicing" it), and I did.

 

GOAL: Become "world-class" from 2.5 - 4.5 feet

 

Thoughts I had prior to starting my "putting improvement journey":

• Rolling ball end-over-end instead of cutting across and "slicing" my putts will help me be more consistent
  
• Drawing line on ball will allow me to know if I'm rolling it end-over end or not
  
• Line on ball makes me uncomfortable (I had "dabbled" with it a bit in the past)
  
• Being uncomfortable is part and parcel to making ANY lasting change, so get over it!
  
• I would likely have "speed control" issues when I first use my new, "better" stroke on the course, since I was used to "cutting across" the ball, which therefore meant that the force of my stroke was only being partially applied to the ball. If I started to roll the ball more "efficiently," I would likely hit lots of putts LONG initially. I "pre-accepted" this negative outcome (side note: pre-acceptance is a HUGE concept that all golfers should learn if they want to practice and/or play their best).
  

Now this may seem like a lot of "thought," but this all occurred in my mind in about a minute, literally. The most important part was that I had gotten so sick of missing short putts that the "pain of change" was less frightening than the "suck of the now." LOL.

 

And that was that. Once I figured out how to roll the ball properly, the rest was easy. Yes, it felt super awkward, and I never, ever felt like I was aimed properly for about a week, but in two rounds I was already putting better from short range than I ever had, and after 3 or 4 rounds I already felt more comfortable and confident over 2.5 to 4 footers than I ever had in my life.

 

And that has not changed for 6 - 8 months. Over my last 30(?) rounds, I'm averaging 28.9 putts per round. That's not the greatest putting stat to track one's true putting ability, but it is a reduction of over 2 putts per round from where I was when I started.

 

You have to get over yourself and pre-accept (there's that word again) that you will likely hit some bad putts initially while you are matching the new stroke to your new aim. But you will get better if you commit to rolling the ball end-over-end when putting. The rest (aim, confidence, etc.) will fall into place, with one caveat:

 

You must be willing to look "weird" if that's what it takes. Go back and look at my putting alignment and grip in the videos I posted. I putt with a super closed stance. Almost no one does that. It looks "weird." But you know what? I couldn't care less -- it's what I needed to do to get my stroke to where I could both line up properly AND roll the ball end-over-end.

 

Much more to say on this, most notably the application of "meta-awareness" (LOL!) when putting, but I'll leave that for another post. :-)

[Matt J]

Obee, when reading your post a couple of things comes to mind. When I really dove into dissecting my stroke, I also played around with drawing the line. What I found was that I was also uncomfortable over the ball with the line because it looked to be aimed way to the right. So, I would set up to the line and sure enough if I struck it correctly you could tell, it was aimed to the right. What I figured out was that I don't set the ball down very well i.e. my sight line from behind the ball is skewed to the right. Fortunately for me, the playing length of my putter that I had gravitated to, and the position I stand, puts the ball just outside my left eye (left handed, left eye dominant) and from that position I actually see most putts pretty well, so in essence I trust myself over the ball, not what I saw from behind. I also try and stand off to the right a little when I look from behind the ball to let my left eye take over.

 

It's too very different things, to roll the ball end over end, which I think is imperative, and to see the line properly which is also imperative. Both take practice. Both take readjusting and checking where you are and why something has changed. A putter mirror and an understanding of eye dominance (parallax) has done a world of good for me.

 

I'm glad what you're doing is working. When I saw your video I guessed that you were putting better because your setup is unconventional. I figured if you weren't making putts you would have adjusted your setup to "look" like you should make a putt. :)

[Krt22]

I had a similar issue with the line, behind the ball it looked right where I wanted, standing over it it always looked like it was off. When I used the putter mirror a few times I realized my eyes were well inside the ball, so when I stood over the ball more, the line started to jive better with what I saw from behind the ball.

[Obee]

Obee, when reading your post a couple of things comes to mind. When I really dove into dissecting my stroke, I also played around with drawing the line. What I found was that I was also uncomfortable over the ball with the line because it looked to be aimed way to the right. So, I would set up to the line and sure enough if I struck it correctly you could tell, it was aimed to the right. What I figured out was that I don't set the ball down very well i.e. my sight line from behind the ball is skewed to the right. Fortunately for me, the playing length of my putter that I had gravitated to, and the position I stand, puts the ball just outside my left eye (left handed, left eye dominant) and from that position I actually see most putts pretty well, so in essence I trust myself over the ball, not what I saw from behind. I also try and stand off to the right a little when I look from behind the ball to let my left eye take over.

 

It's too very different things, to roll the ball end over end, which I think is imperative, and to see the line properly which is also imperative. Both take practice. Both take readjusting and checking where you are and why something has changed. A putter mirror and an understanding of eye dominance (parallax) has done a world of good for me.

 

I'm glad what you're doing is working. When I saw your video I guessed that you were putting better because your setup is unconventional. I figured if you weren't making putts you would have adjusted your setup to "look" like you should make a putt. :)

 

So when I set the line up, I confirm that it is, indeed, set up on the line I want the ball to start. I use the shaft to confirm this. I use the "two eye" looking at the shaft method instead of one eye, using the side of the shaft method, so I can really tell where it's lined up quite easily and accurately. That's why I now always trust the line: because I have confirmed that it's lined where I want it. :-)

[SullGolf]

I think the line on the ball solves a problem that some eventually fix by going through upteen putters: it's hard to see what "straight" actually looks like. Sometimes you find a putter that helps you line up a straight putt, but sometimes you just need to figure what straight is for the putter you have.

 

One option if you don't like drawing a line on the ball: practice with a chalk line. Admittedly, this isn't an option for many folks who are playing public courses, or maybe even on private courses with mean supers. I don't even use it now. But I have practiced with it in the past where some more adventurous public soul put one there first. They found a flat 4 foot putt and used a chalk line to draw a perfectly straight line to the cup. Until that chalk line was finally washed/cut away, I had the best practice putting sessions I've ever had. My eyes got temporarily trained to what "straight" looks like. During a round you obviously don't have a chalk line to show you the way, so maybe the line on the ball is still the superior way. But if you don't like using the line on the ball for some reason and have a nice super, it's a good alternative.

[ThinkingPlus]

Set my new low putts in a round and for a nine today. I had 9 putts on the front nine (1 chip in) and 12 on the back for a total of 21. My ball striking was atrocious on the front (1 GIR), but improved on the back (5 GIRs). I have changed my lead hand grip to where the thumb is straight down the shaft on the lead side (palm is underneath grip, fingers curl around trail side). It is the "don't pull it" grip (my dominant miss). Line on ball has been rolling end over end very nicely on most putts since the change. Today the reads fell into place and I made almost everything. Small changes and a bit of practice. Consistently rolling the line on the ball builds confidence for sure.

[Matt J]

Sounds like your process of using the shaft with both eyes is an accurate way to "see straight" and set the line. A lot of us just end of intuitively figuring this out from trial and error. My best words of advice are to keep being very honest with yourself when you miss, was it the stroke? Did the ball roll end over end? Was it a mis-read? Was it the line on the ball's orientation to the line? Was the speed wrong for the line?

 

Others who are reading and curious about how we see things differently due to parallax.. I think this is a huge huge part of becoming a better putter.

 

There's a great device although it's not available in the States, I created one because I didn't want to wait for international shipping using 1x6 painted white and then a very, very thin black pinstripe using painters tape and a good metal square...

 

http://sightrightgolf.com/about-sightright-and-eye-dominance/

 

When you set this behind the goal, you can develop a technique to see the "straight line" where the line on both bottom and top line up and look straight, from behind the ball, then you can adjust your putter length to put you in a place over the ball that you see "straight" too.

 

This and a putting mirror and a flat putt with a line (I have a little putting mat set up in my office) - will drop strokes. Guaranteed!

[jasonfish11]

Ok so 2 years of practice turned into some putter adjustments (love having adjustable putter) a grip adjustment and 15 min of practice boom now I can roll it straight on a short put.

 

I kind of did what obee did. I have a cure putter so it's lie is adjustable. I had it on one of the flattest possible lie angles, but I moved it as upright as I could, it feels like it's vertical. I feel like I'm standing on the ball, and will hit my right toe in my back swing. On top of this I drastically weakened my right hand grip my palm is facing the hole (before it was facing my left leg). So I guess I really moved a strong right hand more neutral.

 

When I made those changes the ball rolls so much more true, the issue is my "problem" of coming outside the line on my back swing is now easier to do because I feel like I'm going to hit my toe in my stroke. If I practice with a 2x1 board laying on the toe of my putter it works great (this is my standard practice set up anyways).

 

The contrast between these 2 posts is crazy and I realize that. I think I'm going to change things back, make a video of the ball. Then make another video after the changes. I'm sure to anyone not standing here with me probably thinks I'm suffering from multiple personality disorder or something.

 

 

So I have been working on my house recently and haven't actually been the the golf course. I played 9 holes yesterday and I putted much better than I have in the past. I did have 17 putts but that doesn't really paint a good picture. I had putts from 75' and 90'+ on the 1st and 9th holes. Both were 3 putts (bad speed on hole #1, and bad read on hole #9). I left 3 putts dead in the heart 6" short or less. I only hit really 1 bad putt. The rest all pretty much rolled end over end and were solid.

[bladehunter]

Thought I’d pop in guys and gals ......

 

And say again how much I appreciate the folks who’ve helped me here ( you know who you folks are ). I’ve been quiet here lately , But my putting has been soo good that it’s a complete non issue now. I’m now scaring the hole with nearly every roll. And have zero thought or care to the comeback putt I leave myself. Obee was entirely correct. Being more aggressive not only made more putts. It really left better second putts when I missed.

And I just had a breakthrough with driver ( last piece to the puzzle for me ) and I’m super excited about getting ready for the upcoming season. I’ve shot some good scores with a iffy putter and a driver so bad I couldnt play it some days . Can’t wait to see what I can do with 14 clubs ! Lol

[Matt J]

I played a couple of times recently and ended up talking a lot about putting. The first round I putted pretty well. I was playing with a couple of strangers and one of the guys didn't putt so well, so he brought it up on the back nine. It got me thinking about the round and my statistics, so I figured up the total length of putts and the number of putts. I did 3-putt the first hole, which I think helped me to focus a lot more for the rest of the round. I ended up with 27 putts and about 85 feet of putt length holed. So, 17 holes without a 3 putt would be the streak. So, the second round I played was with a friend who is one of the best ball strikers I regularly play with but putting is his major challenge. We were talking about the stats and realized that basically what had been a "great" putting day for me would just be slightly better than average for a professional. We were both astounded by the fact that those guys have to go out there every day and put those numbers up or they lose their job. Crazy.

[bulls9999]

Question....Is there merit in what I've been doing anecdotally by trial-and-error that works for me so very well? On up-hill / side-hill putts, say along a banked section of green where you are putting along the banked curve to the hole. I've found that if you keep the putter blade parallel to the ground (which is banked, sloped), that the ball will break much more than if I keep the putter blade parallel to the earth (level), not to the immediate slope. So in the situation of a banked side-hill putt (facing the higher side of the bank), my left-hand putter has more space under the heel than the toe (to keep it parallel to the earth, or level) rather than being parallel to the banked slope of the green.... when I do that, it doesn't break as much and I get a straighter path to the hole (less breaky path) than having to play a bigger break if I kept the putter parallel to the sloped green surface. Is that because by me doing that, it's kind of like a cut stroke against a draw lie?

[Matt J]

I think what you're describing is most analogous to lie angle. If you think of an exaggerated amount of loft, say 45 degrees in a PW, not the 4 degrees in your putter, and you tilt that 45 degree surface up right or flat then you point the loft left or right, so an up right lie angle for a right-handed club tends to produce a right left flight and a flat lie produces a right flight all things being equal. It would make sense that if you're pushing or pulling the putt against the slope then you can play less break. On a downhill putt with a lot a break I've always felt that it's imperative to get the ball started higher than the "true" break because once you get it below the hole you simply can't make the putt, from above the hole if the ball loses speed quickly enough you at least have a chance to squeeze it into the high side. That's a very interesting strategy and not one I've ever considered!

 

Curious if one of the gurus, like bargolf who posted earlier in this thread, has considered it?

[jslane57]

Question....Is there merit in what I've been doing anecdotally by trial-and-error that works for me so very well? On up-hill / side-hill putts, say along a banked section of green where you are putting along the banked curve to the hole. I've found that if you keep the putter blade parallel to the ground (which is banked, sloped), that the ball will break much more than if I keep the putter blade parallel to the earth (level), not to the immediate slope. So in the situation of a banked side-hill putt (facing the higher side of the bank), my left-hand putter has more space under the heel than the toe (to keep it parallel to the earth, or level) rather than being parallel to the banked slope of the green.... when I do that, it doesn't break as much and I get a straighter path to the hole (less breaky path) than having to play a bigger break if I kept the putter parallel to the sloped green surface. Is that because by me doing that, it's kind of like a cut stroke against a draw lie?

This is interesting. But I think it is more optics/alignment on your part than side spin/back spin related. When changing your grip and stance, alignment will change too. Even if the ball were to be taking a slightly different bounce as it starts to roll, once it is rolling it is just rolling.

[bulls9999]

Yes, lie angle (together with the loft) affecting the spin during the putt, which in the case I described, goes against the natural break curvature and minimizes the amount of break. I've done it enough and practiced it that it does work for me. I can't imagine "I invented this technique" and so I was asking if anyone else does this, or agrees, that there is some reasonable logic that it is likely to work. Like any technique, anyone who believes in something enough to put it in practice and swears by it, is likely to get it to work better than someone just trying it.

 

I think what you're describing is most analogous to lie angle. If you think of an exaggerated amount of loft, say 45 degrees in a PW, not the 4 degrees in your putter, and you tilt that 45 degree surface up right or flat then you point the loft left or right, so an up right lie angle for a right-handed club tends to produce a right left flight and a flat lie produces a right flight all things being equal. It would make sense that if you're pushing or pulling the putt against the slope then you can play less break. On a downhill putt with a lot a break I've always felt that it's imperative to get the ball started higher than the "true" break because once you get it below the hole you simply can't make the putt, from above the hole if the ball loses speed quickly enough you at least have a chance to squeeze it into the high side. That's a very interesting strategy and not one I've ever considered!

 

Curious if one of the gurus, like bargolf who posted earlier in this thread, has considered it?

[bulls9999]

Hmmm.... I kind of think of it the same was as when you have a uphill/sidehill 'hook lie' and try to cut the ball to offset the hook tendency, the ball doesn't go in the normal hook direction (or you can simply aim way over with the hope the hook ends up on target, which is like a normal putt with parallel lie angle on the banked slope). I've done this so much, it's more natural and instinct now and now I'm trying to explain it.... it just cuts down on the degree of break the ball makes.

 

Question....Is there merit in what I've been doing anecdotally by trial-and-error that works for me so very well? On up-hill / side-hill putts, say along a banked section of green where you are putting along the banked curve to the hole. I've found that if you keep the putter blade parallel to the ground (which is banked, sloped), that the ball will break much more than if I keep the putter blade parallel to the earth (level), not to the immediate slope. So in the situation of a banked side-hill putt (facing the higher side of the bank), my left-hand putter has more space under the heel than the toe (to keep it parallel to the earth, or level) rather than being parallel to the banked slope of the green.... when I do that, it doesn't break as much and I get a straighter path to the hole (less breaky path) than having to play a bigger break if I kept the putter parallel to the sloped green surface. Is that because by me doing that, it's kind of like a cut stroke against a draw lie?

This is interesting. But I think it is more optics/alignment on your part than side spin/back spin related. When changing your grip and stance, alignment will change too. Even if the ball were to be taking a slightly different bounce as it starts to roll, once it is rolling it is just rolling.

[jslane57]

Hmmm.... I kind of think of it the same was as when you have a uphill/sidehill 'hook lie' and try to cut the ball to offset the hook tendency, the ball doesn't go in the normal hook direction (or you can simply aim way over with the hope the hook ends up on target, which is like a normal putt with parallel lie angle on the banked slope). I've done this so much, it's more natural and instinct now and now I'm trying to explain it.... it just cuts down on the degree of break the ball makes.

 

Question....Is there merit in what I've been doing anecdotally by trial-and-error that works for me so very well? On up-hill / side-hill putts, say along a banked section of green where you are putting along the banked curve to the hole. I've found that if you keep the putter blade parallel to the ground (which is banked, sloped), that the ball will break much more than if I keep the putter blade parallel to the earth (level), not to the immediate slope. So in the situation of a banked side-hill putt (facing the higher side of the bank), my left-hand putter has more space under the heel than the toe (to keep it parallel to the earth, or level) rather than being parallel to the banked slope of the green.... when I do that, it doesn't break as much and I get a straighter path to the hole (less breaky path) than having to play a bigger break if I kept the putter parallel to the sloped green surface. Is that because by me doing that, it's kind of like a cut stroke against a draw lie?

This is interesting. But I think it is more optics/alignment on your part than side spin/back spin related. When changing your grip and stance, alignment will change too. Even if the ball were to be taking a slightly different bounce as it starts to roll, once it is rolling it is just rolling.

If it is working for you, no reason to change it! But it is different than a full shot, a full shot the ball keeps its spin in the air throughout it's flight while a putt's flight is only a few inches or less, then it rolls the rest of its journey. And really, let's say you cut a putt enough on a short putt to where the side spin doesn't dissipate, the way the spin effects the ball on the turf, it will actually die the opposite way. So for a right handed golfer a cut putt will slow to the left...

[CBJ]

Obee

 

Still using the claw grip?

 

Still happy with your putting?

[Obee]

CBJ said:

Obee

Still using the claw grip?

Still happy with your putting?

Yes and yes. :-:smile:

I'm pretty much always 26 to 32 putts. Stopped tracking for a bit during the off season, but will start again here going forward.

[wmblake2000]

Obee said:

CBJ said:

Obee

Still using the claw grip?

Still happy with your putting?

Yes and yes. :-:smile:

I'm pretty much always 26 to 32 putts. Stopped tracking for a bit during the off season, but will start again here going forward.

I can't put my finger on why the claw is so much better, but it is. I think it lets me get my shoulders square instead of open.  That plus using a line on the ball to set the putter head just has made putting so much ...easier.  It seems like I can keep shoulders, arms, hands and head all in sync.  I'm not as good as you, but I am a million times better than I used to be.  

 

[Obee]

wmblake2000 said:

Obee said:

CBJ said:

Obee

Still using the claw grip?

Still happy with your putting?

Yes and yes. :-:smile:

I'm pretty much always 26 to 32 putts. Stopped tracking for a bit during the off season, but will start again here going forward.

I can't put my finger on why the claw is so much better, but it is. I think it lets me get my shoulders square instead of open.  That plus using a line on the ball to set the putter head just has made putting so much ...easier.  It seems like I can keep shoulders, arms, hands and head all in sync.  I'm not as good as you, but I am a million times better than I used to be.  

I am so happy to hear this. If you combine those things, above, with ONLY caring about your process and not one iota if the ball actually goes IN or not, then you will be even better. :-)

[wmblake2000]

Obee said:

wmblake2000 said:

Obee said:

CBJ said:

Obee

Still using the claw grip?

Still happy with your putting?

Yes and yes. :-:smile:

I'm pretty much always 26 to 32 putts. Stopped tracking for a bit during the off season, but will start again here going forward.

I can't put my finger on why the claw is so much better, but it is. I think it lets me get my shoulders square instead of open.  That plus using a line on the ball to set the putter head just has made putting so much ...easier.  It seems like I can keep shoulders, arms, hands and head all in sync.  I'm not as good as you, but I am a million times better than I used to be.  

I am so happy to hear this. If you combine those things, above, with ONLY caring about your process and not one iota if the ball actually goes IN or not, then you will be even better. :-)True that! It’s such a simple stroke and sure enough when all I do is go thru the process - it’s like a pilot’s list - I make great rolls. Sure enough, it’s the 3-4 footers where the ‘iota’ kicks in a little.

[CBJ]

Claw has made a difference for me under 15 ft. Longer putts I still struggle with distance control, I’m looking forward to June, I’m moving from Ohio to Dallas, TX. I’ll have the ability once again to play golf year round and continuously improve.

[Obee]

Back to tracking all of my putts again, as the season is now upon us. 31 putts on Sunday. Putted like crap and shot 74. Nothing about my putting right now feels good. Leaving far, far more putts short right now than I have. Stroke has got a little long, which always mean I decel too much and open the face. Going to work on this the next few weeks prior to a nice tournament I'm playing at the end of April.

 

Stats: https://www.dropbox.com/s/yp2mie2741uue2z/Putting%20Stats%20-%20David%20Ober.xlsx?dl=0

[CBJ]

Obee,

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

 

How is your putting progress going?