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Putting?? Putt with the meter - Putt with the guide - Use both???

• micklen 221 Posts

  Sun, May 16 2010 7:47 AM

  I am still really struggling with putts that have a fair amount of break.  If you look at my stats you will see that I am struggling from all sorts of distances

  Now, have people had more success working on just putting with the guide.  That is moving the aiming guide the amount you think the putt will turn

  Have you had more success using the meter to, as it were, push or pull the putts to allow for the break, and if so can you please to a tut on it :-)

  OR have you had more success using a combination of both???  Definitely a tut on this

  I am not having too many problems with distance,  I am tending to use mostly the 30 and 60 foot meters for most putts up to 30' and normally get the distances pretty well, but I just don't know which way to work on as at the moment nothing seems to be dropping the putts regularly, whatever way I try.

  I would be really interested on which way wins out here to give me a bit of a confidence boost in practicing.  Shame you can't start a poll.  You can't can you ???

  Mick

• Danowadd 72 Posts

  Sun, May 16 2010 8:42 AM

  Mick --I use the Ping Redwood and have made some interesting changes that seem to work for me..I  " play the blade"..I set my distance then either stop it just before perfect or just after perfect to help guide my breaks.

  And also a 15 foot putt will actually roll 17 on level surfaces, as a 30 will go 33 and 45 will go 48..Go figure huh..When you hit Master level--the whole thing seems to work against us.

• jayjonbeach 689 Posts

  Sun, May 16 2010 8:50 AM

  I do both and it works for me, though I miss a fair share of longer putts with a large amount of break, usually because I did not account for enough break.  I have not been able to come up with a "formula" of sorts for this (other than using both techniques) , kind of like strong wind where I do exactly the same thing and with the same results, usually pretty close to target but obviously with putting accuracy is even more important. 

  What I do now to counter my misses is account for the break, then move the arrow even farther out, then putt, starting to work a little actually but long banana putts are maybe the toughest shot in the game. 

  I do wonder if the big dogs here have a formula of sorts, its been discussed before and the answer came up NO, however because things here are largely repeatable once you figure them out, my sneaky suspicion thinks there is even if ever so small, even just like the one I am using now.  Like you, distance is never the issue and is generally easy to calculate, the break is the tricky part of any putt.  I am getting better at judging these just by repetition using "feel" but I do wonder if you can judge the speed of the mini balls then add the distance between you and the hole and make that to a fraction of the squares in the putting grid; ie. medium speed + 10ft = 1/3 square you must move the aim (kinda copied this from other putting thread currently going).  Like I said I do this now by feel like most here and as of now I have not written down any notes about it but I might start as this might be a "trade secret" that no one using will talk about.

  If you check my ranked rounds I'm hardly an expert around here but just thought I would pipe in, so I too would be interested in what the 1000 - 2000 round people have to say. 

  As for the poll, not sure there is an official one, I usually just put POLL in the title and have had decent results just by clearly defining the question, which you have done.

• Danowadd 72 Posts

  Sun, May 16 2010 1:17 PM

  None of the 'big dogs' are gonna give it up any tips either, so it seems.  Right now at this stage, I'm working on getting my approach shots within 10-15 foot range..I make about 70-80%  of these.

  Also--I find that using the Ping Rapture's irons from my Pro level gives better results than my Pings at Master level. I know the swing speed helps, as I will soon turn 60 years old, and my hand-eye co-ordination isn't as sharp as the younger players.

  I know we can't birdie every hole or be on the green in two on all the par 5's , but the shots I've had out of the few bunkers, and rough are not what is in line with the percentages they give.  When is the last time you played a real course and had to deal with 18-20+ mph winds? I would like to see these come down to 10mph and under..

• micklen 221 Posts

  Sun, May 16 2010 1:53 PM

  Danowadd:

  as I will soon turn 60 years old, and my hand-eye co-ordination isn't as sharp as the younger players

  Snap :-)

  I know when I started playing this game my knowledge of online golf in Links and Shot online really helped me and I progressed quickly.  Possibly a little too quickly but at least I can normally go round Kiawah or St Andrews under par (Cannot say that for BPB yet)

  However now at Master I see just how much more realistic this game has been made and the little things, like the difference in sands in another thread, that stops most people from tearing the courses up

  However my putting bears no relation to how I can putt in Links.  Whether the putting in Links is much easier than here, or whether it's just familiarity, if I could putt here anything at all like I can in Links I would be 5 shots plus better per round

  Still interested in what methods others use. Thanks for the posts so far

  Mick

• Richard4168 4,309 Posts

  Sun, May 16 2010 2:49 PM

  I too putt to miss ding Mick and at times can be relatively good at it. But then there's the times when it's impossible to make a 4 footer with big break. I've tried the nivlac putting system and just couldn't get consistent with it. I always find myself going back to my old style.

  Using the off-ding style, I try to pay attention to the speed of the break on a downhill putt. Downhill putts don't require as much speed as it does for up-hill putts. But you need to keep enough speed on the ball through the break for the ball to have a chance at the cup.

  For downhill putts, you have to swing the ball outside of the break and let gravity carry it to the hole keeping proper speed. On up-hill putts you have to watch how far you start the ball away from the hole as to not over compensate the break and roll the ball over the cellophane bridge. Hole 2 at St. Andrews is a perfect example. It's a deceiving up-hill putt and one you can leave short everytime. Some up-hill putts with a small amount of break can be played as a ding shot because of the amount of speed that is required and can be putted through the break.

  This is my take on off-ding putting. I hope you can make some sense out of it. It certainly isn't a consistent putting style, but it's comfortable to me. It's like a coin toss, you only win the toss 50% of the time. I would suggest to all new members to adopt the nivlac putting system in the FAQ's. I would say that putting style carries a 70% putting success rating for most users.  : )

   

• chipshotcharlie 538 Posts

  Sun, May 16 2010 3:23 PM

  Danowadd:

  And also a 15 foot putt will actually roll 17 on level surfaces, as a 30 will go 33 and 45 will go 48..Go figure huh..When you hit Master level--the whole thing seems to work against us.

  Mate when you consider that a well struck putt is to be hit 2-3 feet past the cup these distances are spot on.As for missing the ding line on purpose this is a key to better putting in MHO but can cause a lot of pain while learning said technique.

  thx chip

   

• Jimac55 88 Posts

  Sun, May 16 2010 8:52 PM

  I try and ding every putt, I suppose I feel the distance is more reliable when you ding it.

  
  I pull the marker to the side till I feel its too far then I go back till I feel it's too near ..and so on till it feels right.

  I have a piece of card with the meter distance divided into ten which I put on my screen. On "Very fast" 30ft putt goes 36ft I find, so every notch is 3.5 ft...works quite well.

  
  I think they should put markers on all their meters though, since I'm sure I'm not the only one doing this.

• chipshotcharlie 538 Posts

  Sun, May 16 2010 10:28 PM

  OK distance in putting is not affected by missing the ding.

  On putts with a big break move aimer to where you normally would then miss the ding by 3/4 of an inch and work from there.

  On smaller breaks reduce the amount you move the aimer and the amount you miss the ding.

  On small breaks only miss the ding and don`t move the aimer at all.

  Be patient and practice the technique it takes time but once you develop a feel for it, your putting will improve dramatically.

  This is very hard to do with a spider putter, i recommend Daytona over the redwood though many will disagree.

  Putting is all about feel and this is developed through many ,many hours of play and practice.

  Also stop thinking this is a "golf game", treat it as a simulator and play as if you were playing for real. Only then will you truly appreciate what a truly great piece of IT engineering this SIM really is. 

  This is a guide only thx CSC

   

• YankeeJim 25,827 Posts

  Mon, May 17 2010 4:46 AM

  Danowadd:

  None of the 'big dogs' are gonna give it up any tips either, so it seems.

  Are you serious? Have you asked and had one of these "big dogs" say no?

  Didn't think so.