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Pastimes : Golf! A thread for the hopelessly addicted! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: alan w who wrote (1717)	7/11/2000 6:51:56 PM
From: TH	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 44012

alan, I dunno, never really had to do this kind of practice. It must be a concern with some golfers as this new "see more" putter is getting popular. I think either Watson or Kite is using it. Basically what it does is "hide" a red dot behind the shaft if you are correctly square to the putterface. Of course this does zero for you if you (your body and the correctly alined putter) are not square to your intended target line. None-the-less it seems to help people. Putting seems to be so tough for some people and so easy for others. I used to be a customer of one of the bigger resin suppliers. Their rep used to take me out a couple times a year (quite a switch as I am usually the one picking up the tab), and the guy used to drop 2 or 3 20 foot putts per round, and at least 5 ten foot ones. I had never seen anyone come close to this before. So naturally, I picked his brain. He basically said that he just "believed" it could and would go in, and then just hit it. I still think this is the best advice I have ever heard on putting. You must believe it will go in and hit it with the conviction that it will. No one ever sinks tentative putts. I was not a big fan of switching putters (I know this is a surprise because I am an equipment FREAK!), because I thought that you internalize a certain putter and over time get better and better with it. I retained my Ping Answer 4 for about 7 years before I switched. I only switched because I believed the new putter was better balanced and this would lead to more putts in the hole. Again, this was just a belief and not a factually based decision. Putting is about believing. I suggest you also get more target focused and less ball focused. One last tip that I think is really valuable is to hold your putter stroke until the ball has stopped moving. In my opinion I think this helps your non-verbal brain to learn what backstroke amount (and the resulting follow through stroke) equates to a certain distance. A lot of good players on tour do this. Good luck and sorry to ramble. TH

To: alan w who wrote (1717)	7/11/2000 7:10:49 PM
From: Magnatizer	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 44012

alan The question of perfect face alignment leads me to believe you are trying too hard with putting. Here is a drill I use when struggling with alignment. Find a 6 foot straight putt... (prefer putting green rather then doing this at home as putting a ball in a cup is much different then putting it at a target, IMO) Put a tee in the ground 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 foot away from hole as a marker (outside of the line of the putt) Get three balls. Start from 1 foot and putt all three balls. Keep putting this cycle until you make EVERY putt or until your back hurts so much you cannot putt any longer. Restart once a putt is missed from any length. This drill is great for nerve training also. Once you get to the 4 footer and can feel the end of the line the pressure mounts on each putt. ht Mag

To: alan w who wrote (1717)	7/11/2000 8:34:10 PM
From: thecow	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 44012

alan Your problem is a common one. You can edge yourself out of alignment 1/8 of an inch a week and pretty soon you can have yourself so far out of whack that you will have to make a bad stroke to get it in the cup. You can easily build a t-square type device to practice with to help your alignment. If you have a wife, girlfriend, or playing buddy, you can get them to stand behind you to help you properly align. The pros were having their caddies do this as they putted a few years ago until the PGA banned the practice. Dave Hill comes to mind as one of the big proponents of this method of putter alignment. Now they can align you and then must step back from the line of play before the stroke. All the previous comments about the mental part of putting were dead on. You have to will it in the hole. tc :-)