Updates in bold below
I 've read a lot of these tutorials and watched some of the videos
attached to them and I have to shake my head and wonder how these people
make putts with any consistency.
They miss the ding (and badly) most of the time.
Their methods of aiming are as much witchcraft as anything else
(aim from the tip of your avatar's nose - align to the heel on your left
foot - switch to chipping mode and aim using the chipping grid,
although the chipping grid doesn't tell you anything more than the
putting grid).
They fail to tell you how to adjust ball/swing speed.
They fail to tell you how to accurately account for the differing speeds of breaks or how elevation changes affect speed.
They fail to accurately describe how they arrived at their magical method.
Most of the videos show them dropping 30 footers that result more
from luck than any method (if you can find any meJust like putting in
real life, putting is this game is not a hard thing if you follow a set
routine using the same method everytime and making the tiny adjustments
the daily conditions of the course dictate you make. For instance, some
days the results for the formula for putting speed presented below needs
to be adjusted slightly, JUST SLIGHTLY, by adding to or subtracting one
foot or less from it to nail the right speed. Take a couple of practice
holes and figure out whether you need to add a foot or take away a
half-foot. But trusting in the method is the key.
The Method:
1. Calculate the speed
2. Adjust that calculation based on daily conditions (add or take away).
3A. Read the break.
3B. Adjust the aiming point based on the distance to the hole
and speed of the break determined by the dots moving horizontally on the
Putting Grid, not the Chipping Grid. If you need to use the Chipping
Grid to read multiple breaks because you're so far away from the hole to
read the Putting Grid accurately, then you should chip the ball instead
of putting it.
4. Make your swing and hit the ding.
If you have done the 4 steps above each and every time you putt,
you'll be amazed how accurate your putting will improve. There is no
Magic to it. Only numbers. Just have faith in the numbers presented to
you by the game (but don't completely trust them - See #4 below
"Catching the Game Messing With You"), make the necessary adjustments to
them using the formulae provided below and watch your average drop
Now, go ahead a take your time and read the details of this method below and put them into practice. They will only help you.
1. Make your own Putter Pal and use it to set up your swing stren
If you aren't a Country Club member, or if you are a member of a
Country Club that hasn't earned a Putter/Swing Pal, or you are too cheap
to waste credits buying a Putter/Swing Pal and would rather spend your
credits on those sweet, accurate MAX Slow Meter Balls (600 credits per
sleeve), then take out a ruler and measure the length of the swing meter
on your monitor when you have the putter chosen as your club. The swing
meter varies its location on your monitor for clubs other than the
putter, but not by much. Still, you want to set up your own "putter pal"
calibrated to the putter rather than calibrated to the other clubs. You
can always offset your swing strength the slight difference needed for
the other clubs once you've used your new homemade putter pal a little
bit and see the difference between where 80% is for, say, your driver,
and 80% for your putter is on your monitor. You'll see what I mean after
you've followed these instructions. If your monitor doesn't show any
difference in location or length between the swing meter for the putter
and the swing meter for the other clubs, Bully for you!)
Once you know the exact length of your putter swing meter, draw
your own swing meter on a piece of paper. Using your ruler, set a mark
at the middle of your new meter and label below it "50%". Now, divide
each half of the meter in half again, set a mark at each and label these
(25% and 75%). Keep splitting these sections of your meter in half and
marking them accordingly until you have a meter that will be helpful to
you when setting your swing speeds. If you can do the math and choose to
make your meter like mine, set up 5% and 10% markings from 0 thru 100%.
(It's more accurate using a 5% and 10% meter). After you have your new
meter drawn and labeled, carefully cut it out and place it on your
monitor just below the actual putter swing meter and tape it into place
using cellophane tape. You now have a pretty accurate putter pal and it
didn't cost you any credits and it will never expire.
2. Calculating the Required Putting Speed: NO CHANGES TO THESE NUMBRS IN THIS UPDATE KEEP USING THIS FORMULA
This Putting Speed calculation was provided by a player named
Lornar long ago, so I take no credit for it. Lornar, whoever and
wherever you, God bless you, my son/daughter. But it is still accurate.
To calculate the speed (amount of power you need to set on your swing meter) of a putt use the following formula:
Putting Speed = Distance to Hole + (Distance to Hole * Green Speed Factor) + or – Elevation Change
Distance to Hole is in feet. Elevation Change is in inches. (So
watch out for those elevation changes that show up in feet on the
greens! Convert them into inches before calculating.)
Green Speed Factors are:
+0.1 for Slow,
0 for Standard,
0.1 for Fast,
- 0.15 for Very Fast,
0.2 for Tournament and
- 0.3 for Championship.
So for a putt 14 feet from the hole on a Tournament speed green
with an elevation change of up 2 inches, the putting speed needs to be:
14 + ((14*(-.2) + 2) = 13.2.
Therefore, using a putting meter for 25 feet you need to use a
little bit more than 50% power on your swing meter to putt for a 13.2
foot distance. (The more divisions you can mark on your homemade putter
pal, the better your accuracy will be in setting swing speed. And not
just for your putter, but for all your clubs.)
This works well for me on greens of all speeds. I usually add an
extra 1/2 foot to a one foot for short putts to avoid the "never up,
never in" issue.
Also, I take about 5% to 10% off the calculated speed on
tournament/championship greens for putts over 25 feet. These tend to
keep rolling beyond the hole if you strictly follow the above formula.
In those cases, the formula is just a starting point, then subtract the 5
to 10% off the putt the farther away you are. A little practice will
give the feel for it that you nee
I have this formula calculated on an Excel spreadsheet for each
green type, from 1 foot up to 400 feet, that I leave running in the
background so I can calculate the speed (swing meter setting) quickly
for each putt. All I have to do is enter the elevation change into the
required distance.
3. Reading the Breaks: HEART OF THE UPDATE.
The dots on the grid give it away.
To make it clearer for everyone, I've revised my description below on how to read the breaks.
For each p
Reverse the view to behind the hole looking back at your player
avatar. Notice where the closest to the hole dot on the closest to the
hole horizontal grid line begins moving. It's always at the center point
of the grid closest (left or right) to the hole on the horizontal
gridline running through the hole, right? This dot location is equal to
10 feet of putting length for average speed breaks. Or, you could also
say the center point between the first vertical gridline and the
hole running along the horizontal gridline closest to the hole or
through the hole is equal to 10 feet of putting length for average speed
breaks. The first VERTICAL grid line away from the hole equals 15
feet putting length for average speed breaks. So, the center of the next
grid over is equal to 20 feet of putting length for average speed
breaks. And, the center of the next grid over is equal to 30 feet of
putting length for average speed breaks. Etc...
If you have a 22 foot putt with average speed break, you would move
your aiming point on the horizontal gridline running through the hole
(or on an imaginary horizontal gridline running through the hole,
if there isn't a horizontal gridline running through the hole) to the
middle of the second grid away from the hole (20 feet), then move it a
little bit further away from the hole (22 feet). Since the center of the
grid is 20 feet, then the next VERTICAL grid line away from the hole
equals 25 feet, so the distance for a 22 foot putt would be just less
than halfway between the 20 foot spot and the second VERTICAL grid line
(=25 feet putting of length for average speed breaks) away from the
hole.
For a 33 foot putt with average speed break, go the third grid away
from the hole aim a little closer to the third VERTICAL grid line (=35
feet of putting length for average speed breaks) away from the
Knowing this, now you simply move your aiming triangle on the same
horizontal plane as the hole (on an imaginary HORIZONTAL grid line that
runs through the center of the hole, if there isn't a horizontal
gridline running through the hole) to the number of feet your putt needs
to travel to go in (the putting length the game says, not the
adjusted putting speed you calculated using the putting speed formula
detailed above).
Some breaks are slower and some are faster. A little trial and
error and practice will fix this. Some slower breaks are only 1/2 the
speed of average speed breaks, so you cut your putting length in half
(the putting length the game says, not the adjusted length you
calculated using the above putting speed formula) and use it as the
target to aim at. So, using the first example above, if you have a 22
foot putt with 1/2 the average speed break, you would move your aiming
point to the middle of the first grid away from the hole (10 feet), the
move it a little bit further away from the hole (11 feet). Then putt
using the speed you calculated using the putting speed formula above.
Sometime it's only 1/4 the average speed break, so you would aim 5 to 6
feet away for that 22 foot putt. Get it?
For faster breaks, guess what? Yeah, you double the distance and move your aiming point to that amount.
Or sometimes it's a fraction:
For some fast breaks instead of doubling the distance,
sometimes it's 1.5 or 1.25 or 1.75 times the distance, even triple or
quadruple in rare cases.
You have to watch the speed of the dots and get a feel for what
average speed looks like, what double speed looks like, what 1/2 speed
looks like, etc...
Does this work 100% of the time? I honestly don't know. It hasn't
failed me yet. You will be amazed how accurate it really is, though. it
works well enough to improve your putting game to get you to start
getting a feel for putting, drop some lllloooooonnnggg rainbows, and
start cutting back on the dreaded 3 putt. For the 100 plus foot snakes,
you're on your own.
4. Catching the Game Messing With You:
Sometimes, the game will try to mess with you by not accurately
telling you the exact distance and elevation change. To avoid this,
always reverse the view to behind the hole looking at your player
avatar, and move the aiming triangle in a circle around the hole about
one foot away from the hole. You will notice, more often than not, what
the game said was a 12 ft. putt with -2 inch elevation change was
actually a 12.8 ft putt with -2.9 inch elevation change. That slight
difference is enough to throw your putt off a 1/2 foot left or right or
leave you short by inches. So ALWAYS move that aiming triangle around
the hole to make sure the game isn't messing with you.
Also, if you end up on the fringe 8 feet from the hole, the game
automatically sets your putter to the 100 foot putter meter. So ALWAYS,
ALWAYS, ALWAYS make sure you have the correct length putter meter you
will need to be successful. This is also true for putts that are in the
transition lengths between meters. e.g. game says 28 foot putt, but
calculated to the putting speed formula offered above it is only a 19.5
foot putting speed. The game will automatically set your putter to the
50 foot putter meter, so be careful and ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS check
that club meter length to ensure you have the right distance meter.
Otherwise your putts will rocket off into the bunkers or worse because
the % for 19.5 feet on a 25 foot putter meter is 39 feet on the 50 foot
putter meter. And finally, add one foot to your calculated putting speed
to clear the fringe.
Like anything else, practice make
So, that's all I've got for now. I hope this helps you. I know it's made a big difference for myself.
Keep it in the short stuff!