Embedded Files
Post date: May 17, 2018 5:40:56 PM
Butch Harmon’s Playing Lessons by Butch Harmon with John Andrisani
Putting
Give your putt a good read no matter what the angle because every putt will break just a bit differently, especially on old courses with small subtle breaks.
For putts five feet or less, if you see little or no break, start the ball inside the hole and stroke firmly to take out most of if not all of any break that may exist. Keep the head still and listen for the putt to drop.
Once on the green concentrate on the task at hand. Figure the break in the green and make a smooth stroke.
Just because the putt is uphill and for a birdie doesn’t mean to charge the hole. Rather, lengthen the putt and maintain the same tempo. Swinging too hard, we run the ball through the break and make it nearly impossible to drop the putt. Use common sense. Don’t take unnecessary risks. Birdies are great, but respect par. Don’t allow one putt to affect the next one. Concentrate on one putt at a time.
Drill for learning to pace putts. Take the normal putting address and set the putter face square to a hole about 25 feet away. Next take the head and look at the hole. Keep the head locked on the hole and take a rhythmic stroke.
A fast putt is going to break much more than a slow putt rolling over the same type of contour since the fast putt must be hit more softly, and the force of gravity will affect a slow rolling ball much more than a fast-rolling one. Concentrate on keeping the left wrist ahead of the putter blade throughout the stroke. This will help keep the blade low and on the line and allow the ball to be struck firmly, straight into the cup.
Drill for stopping the left hand from breaking down. Try the reverse overlapping grip.
On approach putts, pick an interim target along the line (a light spot of grass, etc), then set the the putter face square to it to allow the ball to track to the high side of the hole. On breaking putts decide on the high point of the arc of the putt, then choose a spot directly between the the ball and that point to aim at. This gets the putt started on line and increases its chance of falling into the ‘side door,’ on the high side.
On putts of 20 feet or more concentrate on the speed first and the line second. Work to make putts carry the right speed consistently to simultaneously increase our percentage of one putts made and decrease our percentage of 3 putts made.
Pay close attention to the way a putt breaks, including the green’s grain. This process does not take long once used to it, but always take enough time to prepare to putt. Never rush the routine. Give even the shortest of putts 100% concentration:
Start reading the green when about 15 yards away. From the bigger perspective we will notice more.
Mark the ball, clean it, reset it down. While marking the ball, peek at the line to get a preliminary idea of how the ball will roll.
Next, check the line from behind the hole, and once again from behind the ball, only this time more carefully, to get a clearer picture of any subtle breaks in the green. Look at the line from both sides, paying close attention to the grain. If there is a sheen to the grass, the putt is down-grain and will run faster than normal. If the grass is dull, you are putting against the grain, so expect the ball to roll more slowly.
If truly in doubt: plumb-bob the line, especially on undulating greens:
Stand behind the ball, facing the hole.
Hold the putter at arm’s length in front of you with only the right thumb and forefinger, so that it hangs vertically.
Obscure the view of the ball with the lower part of the shaft, then close the nondominant eye.
If the hole now appears to be to the left of the shaft, the putt will break to the left.
If the hole appears to the be to the right of the shaft, it breaks from left to right.
If the shaft appears to cover the hole, the putt is dead straight.
Once sure of the the break and how hard to stroke the ball, be sure to focus on the starting line and to align the face of the putter squarely to it. Get set, take two last glances at the target, steady the head, then putt. Make a smooth, one-piece, wrist-less stroke--a confident shoulders controlled putt.
DRILL: For intensifying concentration on short puttsPractice hitting two feet putts to dimes placed on the green. Stroking putts to such a small target will intensify concentration so when facing a short putt on the course, we can be in ‘grind’ mode on the greens.
On a downhill putt, two feet or less, play the ball inside the hole and putt it firmly into the back, taking any slight breaks out of the equation.
On 30 foot putts, read the break but look at the hole from both sides concentrating more on the a feel for the speed.
Never reach for the ball as this promotes tension in the arms. Any tension prevents acceleration of the putter through impact leading to short putts. To alleviate tension and ensure that the putter accelerates through the ball, set up with the arms under the shoulder sockets. Let the arms hang down naturally, rather than extending them outward to stay nice and relaxed at address to hit solid putts that reach the hole. Concentrate intently and make a pure arms-shoulders stroke. Knock the ball dead into the back of the cup.
To enhance the ability to lag the ball on downhill approach putts, visualize the hole being closer than it actually is so it stops short of the hole.
On short putts, take the break out by hitting the putt more solidly at a medium pace but never so hard that it pops up after hitting the back of the cup.
When facing a birdie putt, always give the putt a chance to go in. Going by the hole a couple of feet is ok, especially on a downhill putt which leaves us with a slight uphill putt. These are easier to make.
A wristless pendulum stroke is great when facing short or medium length putts. On long putts (60 feet+), distance control is priority. To encourage a good feel for the putterhead and distance, allow the right wrist to hinge slightly on the backswing.
Be decisive on short uphill putts. Limit the break by hitting them firmly to make a greater percentage of short putts.
Always see the putt rolling in all the way to the hole. See it go in before putting. This mental rehearsal helps us get the ball all the way to the hole and prevents us from only concentrating on the line. Distance is more important than line on long putts. The right distance leaves the ball close enough for an easy second putt.
The sooner we learn to give all length putts our fullest the attention, the better we’ll score. Just because we face a putt we think we have little chance of holing doesn’t mean we should just set up quickly and hit the ball. Pick the line, set the putter down precisely on it, use our normal prestroke routine and make a decisive stroke.
Hit through the putt, with the club moving straight along the target line at impact, is a technical must. To encourage this path, keep the arms and hands closer to the body and the putterhead moving low to the ground:
DRILL for encouraging a straight back and straight through short-putt stroke: Plant two parallel rows of six tees in the green, the rows about three inches apart. The width of the path between them should be only slightly wider than the width of the putter. Practice swinging the putter back and through without hitting the tees. In no time, the drill will get rid of the out to in cut stroke.
When putting up to a cup on an upper tier, get in the habit of reading these putts carefully from a side angle, well away from the line of the putt. This will give us much better perspective on how much force we really need in the stroke.
On a right-to-left breaking putt that is slightly downhill, we can’t gun it. Instead, play and inch extra break and try to roll the ball at a speed that will just trickle it past the hole if it doesn’t drop.
On uphill putts, it pays to imagine a second hole a couple of feet behind the real one. This mental image will help to stroke the ball more firmly, so it can ‘get up.’
Take the time to read the break and rehearse the intended stroke on the ball. This preswing work will pay off.
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse