Golf Putting
Intro and Setup
- Grip - variety of options, it is negotiable. Conventional is right hand low, left hand high. Can go left hand low (Jordan Spieth), the claw with left hand on and right hand clawing or sawing. Final option is arm lock (Webb Simpson, Kuchar).
- Conventional – want to feel like the club is going through the “life line” of the palm. If you opened your hands up they would be perfectly facing each other palm-to-palm. Shaft needs to match up to the forearms so that they form a straight line (shaft to forearm).
- Left hand low – this can be good as it levels your shoulders out (vs. conventional).
- Claw grip – can help if a bit yippy, or struggling with short putts. Go conventional with lead hand (left), and for the trail hand make a U with thumb and fingers, and lightly grab putter with fingernails facing forward. Still need to have a single line with forearm and shaft.
- Arm lock – become popular after belly putters were banned. Because shaft leans forward, the putter face needs to be lofted more. Need to be fit for this to work properly. The grip runs up along the forearm, so it will already be inline.
- Types of putters – notes aren’t terribly useful here, but a good reminder that fitting and matchup are important.
- Hand placement – negotiable, again it it needs to match up with grip and stroke.
- Posture – can be taller at address, or a bigger hinge at the hips to get lower. Eye placement needs to be in the right spot.
- Eye Placement – variety of grips and postures are possible, but eyes have to be over the ball, or slightly inside of the ball at address. A good way to check is to take normal setup, grab another ball, and drop it down. Where it lands is where your eye is placed. Slightly inside is even better than right on top.
- Ball Position – tour players always put it just slightly forward of center. When you move it, it changes where you’ll hit it during your arc. This will place the putter right about in the middle of the stance.
- Shaft and Forearm Relationship – this is a non-negotiable. They need to be on the same plane. With shaft on same plane, it will get the wrist in full [[Ulnar deviation]], keeps the wrist out of the equation.
Putting Stroke
- The Engine of the Putting Stroke – Used to see players with “pop strokes” to get the ball up in the air and get it rolling. Now the engine is the shoulders and the big muscles. Goal is to slow down the stroke. Shoulders, trunk, rib cage. Hands are quiet and passive. Grip is moving with our hands, not rotating or pivoting.
- Leg Movement – zero leg movement in putting group.
- Club Face Awareness – Use a string to monitor and practice. Helps bring awareness that club is square throughout the stroke. Work at 3 feet, move back a foot at a time.
- Par Perfect Board – A putting mirror helps give awareness of the arc, club face at address, where it will be at backswing, where it will be at through swing.
Practice and Drills
- NSEW or Compass Drill – 3, 4, 5 foot putts around the compass. If you make all four at 3’, move out. Can play with the game in terms of how far back you reset. If more advanced, have to make 12 putts in a row.
- Distance Control – Put an alignment stick about 18” past the hole. Put markers at 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35’ away. Start at short one, want to get the ball past the hole but short of alignment stick. Work your way out, then work your way back in to 10’.
- Putting to a Break – String line with a break. Similar to my drill with [[Aimpoint Express]].
- Green Reading 101 – Pay attention as you walk on a green. Most are designed to pitch from back to front. This can help you identify the fall line. The fall line is the straight putt (up-hill or downhill). Every green will have slope because it has to drain! Can walk around, or use AimPoint, to find where the straight putt is. This will help you understand how much of a break you are looking at.
- Uphill or Downhill? – Go to the sides and inspect, looking for visual slope. Or just use AimPoint!
- Distance Control – Understand your ideal speed. Setup a drill on a breaking putt with a tee 1 ball outside, 2 balls, and 3 balls. Practice hitting putts at each tee with different speeds to see how slower speed will break more. This helps build awareness.
- There’s a Tour Read App you can use to get your line. Use it for practice.
- Tricks from the Tour
- Look closely at the cup. The side that is falling apart, turning brown, that’s the low side of the cup. It will look more worn.
- Look for scuff marks on the green. Can give a clue about how the grass is laying. That will help find the grain
- Watch how others putt or chip and be observant, Look and see what it is doing right next to the hole
- Visualization – for tournament mode.
- Find a straight practice putt 3-5’, drag fingers along path (train tracks) to create some raised grass to the outside the cup. Helps see that you don’t have to hit it perfectly to hole the putt.
- For long putts, also need to work on visualization. Look for marks on the grass that can be aiming points. Could be apex of the break, or an aim point near the hole. Visualize the line and how it will go.
- Mental Approach – Believe that you are greater than you are. Be engaged. Start processing what the putt will do before you even walk on the green. Have belief that you will make putts.
- Routine
- Goal is to get yourself in flow; access the right side (creative) of the brain.
- His routine: read the putt, figure out where the ball is going to fall into the hole. Walk with energy to the ball, take a rehearsal approach, to the ball, one look, then go. Mimic your real stroke!
- Warm-up Routine
- Take trail hand on club, lead hand across chest. Make 3 five footers. Trying to engage the engine.
- Two footers – make three putts - one at center, one at left edge, one at right edge. Finally, make a putt that you try to run into the back edge of the hole. We are playing with boundaries to increase our confidence and precision.
- Make three straight five footers.
- Prep for speed control. Start with five balls. Putt one to 10-15 feet, then try to hit each next one 1 foot past the prior. Repeat until you feel like your speed control is dialed in.
- Finally, play nine holes with a par of 2 on each hole. Goal is to break par. Play from 5-10 feet, 15-30, 30-50 (3 putts each).
https://static.chrisbrooks.org/3.+Resources/Short+Game+Chef/Putting/01+Intro.mp4
https://static.chrisbrooks.org/3.+Resources/Short+Game+Chef/Putting/02+Grip.mp4
https://static.chrisbrooks.org/3.+Resources/Short+Game+Chef/Putting/03+Conventional+Grip.mp4
https://static.chrisbrooks.org/3.+Resources/Short+Game+Chef/Putting/04+Left+Hand+Low.mp4
https://static.chrisbrooks.org/3.+Resources/Short+Game+Chef/Putting/05+Grip+Saw+Claw.mp4
https://static.chrisbrooks.org/3.+Resources/Short+Game+Chef/Putting/06+Arm+Lock.mp4
https://static.chrisbrooks.org/3.+Resources/Short+Game+Chef/Putting/07+Types+of+Putters.mp4
https://static.chrisbrooks.org/3.+Resources/Short+Game+Chef/Putting/08+Hand+Placement.mp4
https://static.chrisbrooks.org/3.+Resources/Short+Game+Chef/Putting/09+Posture.mp4
https://static.chrisbrooks.org/3.+Resources/Short+Game+Chef/Putting/10+Eye+Placement.mp4
https://static.chrisbrooks.org/3.+Resources/Short+Game+Chef/Putting/11+Ball+Position.mp4
https://static.chrisbrooks.org/3.+Resources/Short+Game+Chef/Putting/12+Shaft+and+Forearm.mp4
https://static.chrisbrooks.org/3.+Resources/Short+Game+Chef/Putting/13+Putting+Engine.mp4
https://static.chrisbrooks.org/3.+Resources/Short+Game+Chef/Putting/14+Leg+Movement.mp4
https://static.chrisbrooks.org/3.+Resources/Short+Game+Chef/Putting/15+Club+Face+Awareness.mp4
https://static.chrisbrooks.org/3.+Resources/Short+Game+Chef/Putting/16+Par+Perfect+Putting+Board.mp4
https://static.chrisbrooks.org/3.+Resources/Short+Game+Chef/Putting/17+Block+Practice.mp4
https://static.chrisbrooks.org/3.+Resources/Short+Game+Chef/Putting/18+Distance+Control.mp4
https://static.chrisbrooks.org/3.+Resources/Short+Game+Chef/Putting/19+Putting+to+a+Break.mp4
https://static.chrisbrooks.org/3.+Resources/Short+Game+Chef/Putting/20+Green+Reading+101.mp4
https://static.chrisbrooks.org/3.+Resources/Short+Game+Chef/Putting/21+Fall+Line.mp4
https://static.chrisbrooks.org/3.+Resources/Short+Game+Chef/Putting/22+Uphill+Downhill.mp4
https://static.chrisbrooks.org/3.+Resources/Short+Game+Chef/Putting/23+Distance+Control.mp4
https://static.chrisbrooks.org/3.+Resources/Short+Game+Chef/Putting/24+Tour+Reading+App.mp4
https://static.chrisbrooks.org/3.+Resources/Short+Game+Chef/Putting/25+Tricks+from+the+Tour.mp4
https://static.chrisbrooks.org/3.+Resources/Short+Game+Chef/Putting/26+Visualization.mp4
https://static.chrisbrooks.org/3.+Resources/Short+Game+Chef/Putting/27+Visualization+Long+Putts.mp4
https://static.chrisbrooks.org/3.+Resources/Short+Game+Chef/Putting/28+Mental+Aspect.mp4
https://static.chrisbrooks.org/3.+Resources/Short+Game+Chef/Putting/29+Routine+Intro.mp4
https://static.chrisbrooks.org/3.+Resources/Short+Game+Chef/Putting/30+Routine.mp4
https://static.chrisbrooks.org/3.+Resources/Short+Game+Chef/Putting/31+Warm-up.mp4
https://static.chrisbrooks.org/3.+Resources/Short+Game+Chef/Putting/32+Final+Summary.mp4