A Disclaimer. Of sorts.
It's not about me - it's about helping others nail a technique. One which I didn't grasp until 2 weeks ago.
So please , I'll try here again to give some background into my failures and shortcomings - and what I personally did to try and improve not only my success in the game , but to raise my enjoyment-level and confidence.
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So here goes....
I
missed everything in the beginning - everything. Even with a rare ,
decent approach shot - I couldn't get the putts in for birdie or par -
and it got to me. So much so that I read all I could and watched every
video available. But none of it was really much help except for the
green-speed calculation.
The first thing I did was to stick with
the 75% method on 12's (I never played on 8.5 and 10 greens due to being
lucky enough to play multis with TM's , Legends etc since I started).
I've also never practised and preferred to get those ranked-rounds in -
and learn on my feet ,as it were.
Playing with better players also
gave me a lot - as I took it all in and would try and remember all I've seen.
My equipment wouldn't do all that darty - pin-point stuff but it was
better than doing rounds with Pro's that just bang it to the back of the
green with mind-numbing regularity.
So , I was lucky I guess. Having read a
lot , I knew the right gear to get and I'd certainly seen how to use
it. I still retained that "starter-club" mentality as well. Very
important in following-winds when you're going to roll-out anyway -
might as well use it if you can -since it's there.
I'm sure you know all that yourselves , but I wanted to give a little background to my putting method.
Obviously
, I saw people make some huge-putts and the drawback , for me , is that
you can't see their dots or know how hard they hit it - or where they
aimed , or whether they off-dinged. So you can't learn putting by
watching others during a game - only see what's possible and get
inspiration from it.
The breakthrough for me came when someone
mentioned "Break". Now what is that , what do they mean? Well , it's
the point of maximum direction-change for the ball during a putt that
isn't straight - took me ages to get that in my thick-skull. But ,
even though you can't see it , and the ball starts to turn way-before it
- you have to trust that that specific-point is there for any putt.
Now
I call it a side-slope , for want of a better title. If the dots are
all moving at the same speed then the break is even. With that in mind ,
does it make sense that the break-point will be almost exactly half-way
between the putter and the cup? All you have to do then is determine
how far-out from the direct- line to the cup that break-point is.
Experience will give you that and get you close - but it varies for the
length of putt of course - and I was desperate to start sinking them -
there had to be something that would speed-up the learning for me.
Now , the dot and grid measuring-method comes later - as I didn't grasp it until a couple of weeks ago.
So
what I did was to try and imagine the curve the ball would take. See
it from when it leaves the putter -all the way through this so-called
break-point , and follow it through to the cup. The dots are giving you
enough info to be able to do that -certainly if the reverse-view has
the cup in-line with the grid and ball.
I'll say again - you are imagining the line the ball will take.
The break-point is double the distance away from the direct-line on a downhill putt, compared to an uphill one - this I'd read and trusted it. First thing to check is if the putt is uphill or downhill to give you that first "feel" for it.
Next
step is to aim the cursor - making sure the blue-line passes exactly
through where you have imagined that break-point to be. Is it about
half-way? The grid squares help there , if you've already positioned your
cursor. But you can double check by using the cursor to measure it again
- or make that your first job before looking for the break-point -
determine where the mid-point is and the break will be along a line at
90degrees from the direct-line to the cup.
Now , I find the little
marks on the green very helpful indeed. If there's a black smudge next
to my imagined break-point - then I can keep that in mind as my
reference , whilst moving the cursor around to measure other things.
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If I quickly leave aiming for now - I'll quickly approach distance and power.
You
want the ball to ideally travel perhaps 6" past the cup , to ensure it
goes in. So bear in mind that you are over-hitting it slightly - and
this is important because when you are going through this imaginary-line
process - you have to think of a ball's speed too , and naturally this
little-extra must also vector into every calculation you do for the
distance on your given green-speed.
It's also different for downhill putts where that 6" could mean rolling 5ft past the hole.
The
adjustment must be a calculated one - but , two things spring to mind.
It's difficult to play surrounded by distance-charts - especially with
adjustments for any elevation. Is it not easier to adjust the
break-point for the elevation?
So , with this in mind , I now take
into account any rise or drop and adjust my line to suit - and this is
purely for the imagined break-point putters - that trust WGT's estimate
of between 70% and 75% of indicated distance for a 12 green putt.
You may have your own method of calculation - and I'd say great , if it works - go for it.
The
important thing to take-in is that random power-adjustments aren't to
be encouraged. Stick to one power calculation , and if all your putts
fall-short then increase it. There's no way you can learn by
experience if one part of your putting-technique isn't fixed or set -
and since we don't have to imagine the power-part , set this and then
that will leave you free to experiment with the line.
I'll just
quickly mention here - that when the marker reads 1" up - this could
actually mean 1 and 1/2" up , as we only have shown graduations of 1,2,3
etc. With your cursor , check directly-behind the pin to make sure the
elevation is the same as in front of it.
With all the above under
your belt and a little experience using this method - a beginner can
start to putt well , at any distance with an even-break - certainly up
to perhaps 20ft or so.
People talk of WGT constantly fiddling with
the green-speed - but if you stick with a self-trusted method of
distance/power calculation that gives success- then any change will
become instantly apparent and that is when we all would have to start
all over again. I must admit that Sept 20th at midday the 12's played
like 11's -and this continued for 12 hours. But , this is an anomaly
I'm sure - and without the trust in the game and your own ability to
learn and perform to that experience - none of us would continue to play
the game - of which putting makes-up at least 40% - given that people
are still continuing to shoot fantastic , reward-winning scores out
there - and even they get to putt sometimes!!
All of the above
relies the reverse-view from the pin - and on hitting the ding on every putt. The odd missed-ding might go
in , and there is a reason for this - but I'm not going to go there
right now.
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Furthermore
- I'm not going to speak-of Off-Ding putting - In it's purest-form
there are much better exponents of it than me , and personally I liken
it right-now at my present level - to spinning a roulette-wheel with hit
and miss in the slots instead of numbers. Personally , I stress -
because I just haven't really had time to explore it fully. So I would
leave that to someone else to explain the ins and outs ( and perhaps
show me!).
I worked hard on learning the break-method and , since I had good success with it , there were no gaps to fill-in.
Or so I thought...................
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Now
, when you get further-away from the pin , it's very likely that there
will be different breaks happening along the ball's path. I found here that
using all I'd learnt with the imaginary ball-path was effective , but
not perfect. Ok , we can all look at a green with the dots and say that
the ball will go left , then right , then up etc - but over 20ft the
break-method has severe limitations. Not being able to read it
accurately is one - and the temptation to over-compensate is another ,
perhaps in some aggrophobia-based panic (don't mention off-ding now!).
When faced with an 80ft putt on St Andrews 9 - the dots all move the same speed. Now how are you going to find the break-point?
Thinking
about it -you might say , well it's near 40ft - and that's a good
start , but you can neither see it from player or pin-view unless that
view was perhaps 20ft higher - which it isn't. That makes the
break-point method impossible to use here.
But now , if I were
to say that you should aim the cursor exactly 2 grid-squares away from
the pin - then that should give an idea of how the grid-method
works. No more looking at anything except dot-speed and linearity
and of course the elevation up or down.
If that putt were 20ft - then it would be half a grid-square - 40ft , one whole grid-square.
Get the power right - bang it and it goes straight in - and a light-bulb goes-on above your head!
Now that is simply how it works. The reference is 20ft = one
grid-square for a given speed of dots . There are faster and slower
dot-speeds , but they are finite - so we can allow from 1/4 to 1/2 to 1
to 2 for that 20ft putt and you'll soon get used to "telling" the dot
speeds , as we generally deal with 3 or 4.
Uphill putts are exactly half that measurement on the grid. Eureka!
Now everyone can birdie St Andrews 1st hole at will.
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But wait - not all putts are 10/20/30/40ft etc.
This
is where your judgement comes-in. Say for a 13ft putt and the dots
are moving at the 20ft per grid-square speed - then just put the
aim-cursor's arrow pointing at where you think 13 out of the 20 would
be.
Please take that in and experiment with it. I can't tell you
more because you will have to judge the dot's speed yourself to
calibrate the squares for that putt , but rest assured they are in
5/10/20/40/80ft divisions for one square.
Once again , keep your power-calculations constant and see how you get on.
This is for linear-breaks where all the dots appear to move at the same speed for the whole distance.
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As
I said before , there are multiple-breaks and putts where the surface
is part-flat , uphill then downhill with humps either side. Using the cursor you can read the
distances/lengths of the side-slopes.
For an easy example - An overall-putt is basically level but with two opposing side-slopes on the ball's path . We know it's 30ft and it also looks
like a very easily-missed putt. So measure with the cursor along the
direct-line looking from the pin (take the flag-out). The first 4ft is
flat , the next 8ft the dots are moving across moderately-fast , the next 9ft
is flat and for the remaining 9ft - the dots are moving this time the
opposite way and at half the speed.
So , for this one we'd measure
16 of the 20 per square out from the pin to allow for the 8ft of fast
dots. Then subtract 4 1/2 from the 16 to allow for the 9ft of dots
moving in the other direction. This gives 11 1/2 of your 20 grid-square
- now bang it.
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I
should think that's more than enough to get anyone's interest - but
I've found that I enjoy using both the break-method and the grid-dot
method - depending how I feel on a particular putt. You can even line
it up by the break-method and check your judgement using the grid-square
method.
For Kaiwah the green-views are limited and sometimes
the grid-dot method is invaluable - as seeing the break is nigh-on near
impossible on some putts.
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Good luck with that.
Lastly
, for those rotten 4/5ft putts that have to be made - this is where a
lot of people flounder in regard to what power to use and the break. Yes
, you can use the above methods but there are two ways to raise your
chances if the power is badly judged.
The first that makes sense is to halve the natural-line and to add power to the shot - thereby straightening it - and rattling the cup.
The
second is worth a try if you're really having trouble with the downhill ones.
Find the natural-line/break , halve it then aim mid-way between the two
- now apply some off-ding on the wrong/low-side when you do the shot. (It shouldn't "high-side because of the off-ding - and it shouldn't low-side because of the extra-power).
This can save having to add too-much extra-power as well - but it is a
"black-art" and should be experimented with from the safety of the
practice-green before unleashing it on the course - simply because by
the sound of it , it shouldn't actually work - but try it.
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If you got this far - I hope that's some help - even if it just gives you the impetus to unlock your own putting-potential or piques your curiosity enough to search for other methods.
Cheers now and all the best.
Solarflares