Putting

[RASWING]

MJ,
We talk about a bunch of great things but you know we don’t discuss putting a bunch as I see you are a PZ putting coach and I think i really need to be working on putting more or just as much as my full swing but what i notice is I putt at the practice green but I am really just out there rolling the ball... to truly get better at putting what should I be working on? I think i have trouble reading greens ... no better yet I think I read them well but I don’t get the ball on the right line with the right speed.... I know i should score better but the more i have been looking at stats its not the full swing I have worked with Bmanz , D Lucas and talk with you on the site and worked with my AI before finding you guys so the swing i have the concepts and i hit it well of course can get better.... But what i have never had is a putting and green reading lesson ... I have always just done it on my own.... for the level of golf i want to play ... i need to putt better!!! So how do i set a plan to get better and in advice on a putting teacher to see in the north Florida area or south GA? Or do you have a putting and green reading DVD? That would help....?

[RASWING]

Just watched it and the green reading tip !

[trickyric]

did something get deleted from this post?
what did you watch and what was the thing that helped you?

I am a stupid!
I watched the video...duh!

[RASWING]

Hey TR,
How are you...? They where in the video tips section.... as you said you just watched them.... I am trying it on my practice putting matt the wheels down tip

R/
RA

[Michael Jacobs]

MJ,
We talk about a bunch of great things but you know we don’t discuss putting a bunch as I see you are a PZ putting coach and I think i really need to be working on putting more or just as much as my full swing but what i notice is I putt at the practice green but I am really just out there rolling the ball... to truly get better at putting what should I be working on? I think i have trouble reading greens ... no better yet I think I read them well but I don’t get the ball on the right line with the right speed.... I know i should score better but the more i have been looking at stats its not the full swing I have worked with Bmanz , D Lucas and talk with you on the site and worked with my AI before finding you guys so the swing i have the concepts and i hit it well of course can get better.... But what i have never had is a putting and green reading lesson ... I have always just done it on my own.... for the level of golf i want to play ... i need to putt better!!! So how do i set a plan to get better and in advice on a putting teacher to see in the north Florida area or south GA? Or do you have a putting and green reading DVD? That would help....?

RA,

You have some great points here and I have done a tremendous amount of putting research in my career, actually spent 2 whole years on putting research alone. I am a Putting Zone Geoff Mangum Academy and I have added many extra features to the Xgolfschool putting system. I will make it a point to gear some more of my website instruction to putting. By adding the SAM Putt Lab to my golf school, I am sure we will have many new 'enlightenments' on the 3D analysis of putting just like we have had with Flightscope and Trackman for the full swing.

Let's keep on the topic of putting and be sure to keep asking questions on any putting topic to help me know what you desire to know. Some hot topics should be:

Green Reading
Ball Hole Interaction
Decay Phase of Putt
Slope
Zero Break Line
Base Line
Signature Putt
Stroke Beat from 6ft in
Stroke Beat from 6ft out
Impact Interval
Aim
Eye Gaze
Holding the Putter
Putter Selection
Loft / Lie of Putters
Lobed Greens
Fringe Putts?
'Big Face' Stroking
The 'ceiling' stroke
Belly & Long Putters

Those are the topics that have first popped in my head, Sooo many facets to this game!

[trickyric]

we will have to do a putting session this year.

[RASWING]

MJ,
WOW!! What a bunch to learn. .. So I guess the first thing to talk about is (hitting putts that aim at the high side of the cup with more speed and just make more putts with a gravity style stroke?)

Just would love to make more putts


Also short putts 5 ft and in ... So is that the One back Two forward style swing from the video... With the proper pace to deal with grain and slope?
R/
RA

[trickyric]

Thank the golf gods that you make video's in the easy AD/HD friendly short version!
I completely missed the under 5 foot 1-2 stroke in Mangums video. I took this to the putting green and at least in practice the last couple days it's really getting the job done. I look forward to working on this stuff with you in April.
BTW,
I know Geoff is brilliant, but his presentation style makes me homicidal.
Ric

[Steve Greffen]

Thank the golf gods that you make video's in the easy AD/HD friendly short version!
I completely missed the under 5 foot 1-2 stroke in Mangums video. I took this to the putting green and at least in practice the last couple days it's really getting the job done. I look forward to working on this stuff with you in April.
BTW,
I know Geoff is brilliant, but his presentation style makes me homicidal.
Ric

Thats one that's so easy yet so effective it's amazing.

[Michael Jacobs]

MJ,
WOW!! What a bunch to learn. .. So I guess the first thing to talk about is (hitting putts that aim at the high side of the cup with more speed and just make more putts with a gravity style stroke?)

Just would love to make more putts


Also short putts 5 ft and in ... So is that the One back Two forward style swing from the video... With the proper pace to deal with grain and slope?
R/
RA

RA,

The little video tip is more of a discussion of ways to employ the 'beat' of your stroke. By 'beat' I am referring to a musical beat, a way to mark the timing of your stroke. There are a number of ways to do it and the best technique for each individual does vary. The 1 - 2 beat of the short stroke is a very good one to take out to the golf course and use for putts that require a very small stroke. Beat 1 - Backswing - Beat 2 forward stroke, have a notion that you are 1-2ing small putts into the hole. You can have other beats, some people use more of a 1-2-3 beat. What you need to do is find a beat that is as repeatable as possible. The 1-2 beat is very repeatable as is the pendulum beat. On longer putts, starting the stroke with a take back and backswing that 'catches up' with the pendulum beat so that the putter can 'join in' with the timing of the pendulum is important. The pendulum timing is very different than a 1-2-3 beat that can be used on a long putt as well. The pendulum beat is a very natural beat that allows you to join in with a natural timing and allows you to rely on instincts rather than conscious manipulation. For example, picture a cat in your kitchen executing a jump onto the kitchen table. The cat is going to instinctively move their body to execute the jump, the cat isn't going to say "ok, I am going to move this leg 2 inches to the left, slide my hind end, leap off my right front paw, and land with 3 whiskers tilted 30 degrees south" that would be ridiculous! The cat is going to join in with natural forces to execute the jump and probably have no conscious thought, this type of natural instinct is available to use with the pendulum beat and allows us to instinctively control the distance. For example, if you were having a baseball catch, you have an innate ability to gauge how much force and arm strength needed to throw the ball to your partner. There is no need for any conscious manipulation in your arm swing to toss the ball the correct distance, wouldn't it be nice to employ that same naturalness into your putting stroke?? The pendulum beat can tap into your natural resources to allow you to control the speed of your putts INSTINCTIVELY which allows you to enter 'The Putting Zone' coined by Geoff Mangum. Nice work Geoff! If you look on the cover of Geoff's book Optimal Putting you may even see a cat



This book is a great resource and would be a great supplement to our studies here on putting. If you do not have it and would like to get an Ebook version of it send me an email at mike@xgolfschool.com and we will arrange an Ebook for you at a nominal cost.

Mastering the timing or beat of your stroke allows speed control to be predictable, which in turn makes reading putts much easier when the ball speed is predictable.