Archive for the ‘Putting’ Category

Putting Tips – How to Putt Consistently!

Thursday, December 17th, 2009

Last time I showed you some putting secrets of how to roll the putt better by hooking it.  Well, today, let me give you couple tips that will help you putt even better.

First, I don’t really care how you grip but your putter should “hang” naturally from your hands.  This fixes many putting flaws.  When your putter is “hanging” naturally by gravity from your hands, your putting stroke will have consistency.

To do this, simply feel the weight of the putter head and make sure you can feel it “hanging” off your hands and arms right before you begin the putt.  You will also find this is easier to achieve if you stand up as tall as you can.

As for the putting grip, I find that the one with your thumbs going down the middle of the shaft works best.  Also, I have tried “looser” putting grips where your thumbs are placed diagonally across the putter grip.  These are good for light hands but ultimately make you miss short putts, where it counts.

For your putting stroke, make sure it’s a “stroke” back and forth, not a “hit” back and forth or any other fast, jerky movements.

Try to keep your putting clubhead on the ball as long as you can and that is what I mean by “stroking” the golf ball.

When you do this right, you will find you hit more putts solid and they also “feel” right in your hands.

As for the putting rhythm, try to mimic a metronome.  Just like an old wall clock that goes back and forth, your putting stroke is the same.  No need to get more complicated than “1-and-2″ rhythm.

Remember, when you practice putting, you are striving to achieve a putting stroke that will roll your ball smoothly on the green.

A great way to test your roll is to putt on a humid green when there’s a lot of fog.  Try a long putt about 30 feet and see if your golf ball “jumps” or “skips”. If it does, that means you are not doing it right, apply my tips until your golf ball “rolls” smoothly.  When you have truly master the art of putting, your golf ball should never “jump” or “skip” on foggy greens.

It’s Friday, I hope y’all have tee times, and I will have more golf tips next week!

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Putting Secrets – How to “Hook” Your Putts!

Monday, December 14th, 2009

Okay, I am going to let out another cat out of the bag, that is “hooking” your putts.

I’ve been recently noticing that I have been “naturally” hooking my putts, virtually every one of them.  This occurred naturally while just trying to make solid contact with the ball.

By the way, I have been making helluva more putts with my new “hook” method.

WHY?

When you put a slight right-to-left spin on the ball while you putt, your ball will roll more true than if you simply hit it normally.  I also found that by hooking my putts, I was able to make more left-to-right putts and right-to-left putts.

The only drawback is that you will have to adjust your aiming accordingly, meaning you might want to aim more right for right-to-left putts and play for less break on left-to-right putts.

How to Hook Your Putts

For me, an inside to slightly outside putting stroke is natural since I mainly use my wrists to putt.

I find I putt better with my wrists plus more feel when I let my hands do most of the work.

The inside-out path is natural when you simply use your wrists to putt.

To try my new putting method, simply take the clubhead back, letting it hinge on your wrists.  You will find that the path of the putter will automatically go inside.

On the follow-through, simply let the putter clubhead swing through to the target, you will find that the path of the putter will naturally go slightly outside then straight towards the target.

Because this is a natural movement and I am sinking more putts, I decided to stick with it.

When you do this right, you won’t notice any “hooks” with naked eye but you will notice that you can “hook” the ball on right-to-left putts (meaning you have to aim more right) and you will be able to hit those slightly left-to-right putts straight at the cup without compensating for any breaks.

Remember, the “hook” part is ever so slight that it can’t really be seen with the naked eye, it’s a “feel” thing so don’t over do it!  (Perhaps like 1-3 degrees of inside-outness…)

If you look at Tiger’s putting, he also “hooks” his putts.  (There’s even a golf training tool you can buy here.  They call it inside-down-the-line path but it’s really the same thing.)

I’ve also noticed that one of the greatest putters Ben Crenshaw does a similar move in his teaching videos.

Of course, you can also do this without using your wrists only but I don’t know how to teach you that.  Perhaps the golf training aid will help although I don’t believe in any training aids because you can’t use it on the golf course.

Anyways, this is really for advanced golfers.  If you are not already accomplished putter, perhaps you might want to just try hitting putts straight and keep it simple.

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How to Practice Putting!

Saturday, October 24th, 2009

Practice makes perfect in golf and so is putting, probably the most important part of the game.  Whether you hit a 350 yard drive or 2 feet putt, they are counted the same.

If you can putt, you can turn a round that could be a bad 75 into an incredible 65.  Or even a bad 95 into 85.

Putting does not simply depend on luck although sometimes you can get lucky and hole putts even if you miss hit it or misread it.

But for all purposes of playing better golf, you will need to practice putting.

Now, to play better golf, you need to also learn “how” to practice putting.

A lot of amateurs just throw a bunch of balls on the putting green and start hitting putts but you can do so much of that.  It might improve your “feel” on the putting green but that’s not the best way to practice.

Let me tell you how I get ready for pro tournaments.

I do actually throw about 3 balls on the putting green and start putting away.  But I do that to get a “feel” for the green.  Once you have practiced enough of that, you need to really focus on pressure putting.

One of the easiest ways to do this is to take just one golf ball and play a 9-hole round of putting game with yourself at the end of those “random” putting practices.

For example, today at the end of putting practice, I played (with myself) a 9-hole round of putting game where par is 2 for each hole.  You can pick random distances like 5, 20, or even 100 feet putts.  The goal is to score, of course, under par.  Luckily, today I came on top and scored 2 under for my imaginary competition.

Every time you practice putts, I want you to start playing these mini-games to put pressure on yourself.  Keep score of your mini-games and over the long run, you should be improving, perhaps even 1-putting every hole. (although very hard to do)

These simple putting practice tips will go a long way to help your golf game.  Whether you are a weekend warrior or aspiring junior golfer, playing games on the putting green will allow you to perform on the golf course too.

Of course, if you happen to be with friends, make sure you bet some money and play games together. (and take their money DUH!)

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DIY – How To Putt Like a Pro!

Tuesday, August 26th, 2008
DIY - How To Putt Like a Pro!

DIY - How To Putt Like a Pro!

Putting is probably the most part of golf as it can break you or make you regardless of how you hit the ball.

A 2-inch putt is worth as much as a 350-yard drive off the tee.  That is why every pro on the PGA Tour can putt really really really good.

Today, I will tell you some simply tips on how to get that ball in the bottom of the cup.

Here’s the tips for today:

1. Alignment, alignment, alignment.  You need to align your putt before you do anything else.

How to align the putter?

Align the putter so that it hits the top of the apex of the putt.

As you can see in my horrible photoshop screenshot, the green line represents the overall break of the putt.

Now, the apex is where the putt start breaking and you need to start your ball there.

2. After aligning “parallel” to your putt, you need to “feel” the speed and rhythm of the putt.  Do not ground your club behind the ball yet.  You need to “feel” and judge the exact speed of the putt.

How to do this?

Really feel that your right hand is doing all the work in the putting and feel the right hand “rolling” the ball.

You need to find the right speed where the golf ball will stop maybe 3-5 inches past the hole.

Of course, this will depend on your putt.  If you have a really fast downhill putt, you want to think of stopping the ball right at the cup.

3. Once you get the feel for the distance and speed of the putt, simply step up to the ball and hit it.  Since you’ve already “aligned” yourself, don’t hesistate too much and repeat your “feel” from the practice stroke.

If you do this, I guarantee you will hole a lot more putts.

Remember, putting is 90% feel and 10% technique.  If your feel is good, you might get away with really bad technique.

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How to Putt Like a Pro!

Thursday, June 26th, 2008

Today, I will explain couple basics about how to putt like a pro.  Trust me, I have read more books about putting than most people will ever in their life and I have spent $2000 on a lesson with Stan Utley, one of the best putters on Tour.

So here’s how to putt like a pro:

1. You need to learn to sink a lot of short putts within 3-10 feet range.  To do this, think of the short putts as the “short game” of putting.  That’s right, these short putts are the most important and count as much as a 350 yard drive.  If you can’t sink ‘em, go home.  If you can, you might become a pro.

2. Soft hands, hands like noodles, gentle grip, or whatever you want to call it but make sure you are holding the putter very very lightly while you putt.

3. Learn to lag putt real good from 20, 50, 100 feet.  Lag putts are great for absorbing the speed of the greens.  The more you can lag, the better putter you will be overall.

4. Putt for money.  Next time you are with a buddy, play an 18-hole putting match, one dollar per hole.  Without putting pressure on your putting, you never know how it’s going to be in a real tournament situation.

Heck, most of the time I play with my buddies, we are betting like $20 per putt or hole.  Pressure games make you better.

5. Develop a consistent putting stroke that rolls the ball true.  Whether you are putting a 20 footer or a 100 footer, your ball should roll very true from the start to finish.  If your ball bumps up in the beginning or at the end, you might want to work on your putting stroke so you putts roll true.

When your putts roll true, you will notice that your putts roll a lot smoother and also get less effected by any breaks in the putt.  Probably the biggest difference between an average golfer and the pro golfer is how true the pro golfer “rolls” the golf ball while the average golfer doesn’t even understand that putting can be so complicated.

Well, that’s it for today, I might need to go hit some balls.  :)

As Ben Hogan said, “Everyday you don’t practice is another day longer it will take you to become a good golfer”.

Practice, practice, and practice while playing pressure games in your head.  That’s right, you should be putting for the U.S. Open win on every practice putt.  (Damn, I let anther worst kept secret out…)

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Golf Video – Ben Crenshaw on Putting

Sunday, September 23rd, 2007

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Check out Ben Crenshaw on Putting.

Everytime I watch his video, The Art of Putting, my putting has gotten better. This is actually an advice a lot of PGA Tour pros and teachers recommend.

I wish I can find a video of Ben putting on Youtube or whereever… we will have to wait until I do…

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Pro Putters Association

Tuesday, September 11th, 2007

Pro Putters Association

Wow, I didn’t even know a PPA (Pro Putters Association) existed. Although I don’t really give a f*** about this association, sometimes people need something to do better than playing real golf….

Maybe YOU can be the next PPA Champion! lol…

via ppa

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