Putting - The GOOD NEWS!
I am sure in at least one of the past issues of this newsletter I noted that 43% of all golf shots in a round are putts, and that less than 25% of all golfers have been properly fitted for a putter. Well, this past month I was the recipient of an amazing opportunity to help golfers improve their putting. I will describe this below, but more importantly for you, give you some information that can help you perhaps understand some of the "hidden truths" about putting.
Late last year, a club fitter friend of mine - Andy Thompson from Totally Driven Golf in Minnesota - recommended me to become an Edel Golf Custom Putter Fitter. Last month, after the PGA show, I realized what a great opportunity this could be and so contacted Edel about doing so. I contacted Edel Golf and on March 5-6, Bobby Dean - Director of Sales from Edel - flew to Oak Ridge (from Austin, TX) to train me on using this putter fitting system. Here is a link to Edel Golf that provides some information on this Tour Quality putter fitting system - Edel Golf - and the Golf Magazine book noted above has a full description of how the system can be used to help players improve their Aim, Speed, and Path.
In the 2 days of training with Bobby, I learned about the technical philosophy of the putting system and how to use it to fit putters. In the process of this training, here are some things I learned about Putters and Putter Fitting that I say are Good News - because you will now know the truth about how you can putt better:
More Than 80% of Golfers Tested Cannot Aim Their Putter at the Golf Hole. Now if you are reading this you could be saying - are you crazy Tony? But this is the truth, based on data from past putter fittings from Edel Golf. We did training fittings on March 5-6, and 4 of the 5 players fitted did not aim their putters at the hole (some times as much as 18 inches off from the hole!). And the reasons for this are NOT because of poor mechanics - read on....
Almost EVERYTHING about a Putter's Design Affects How You Aim It! Most of us know that traditional putter fitting concentrates on fitting for:
Length
Lie
Putter Loft
Putter Swingweight
And these are important variables related to aim. However, there are many other variables that are equally important to putter aim, these include:
Putter Head Design (mallet, blade, etc.)
Hosel Design
Putter Offset
Line Configurations on the Putter
and others...
One of the most interesting of these are the Aim Lines on a Putter. Conventional "wisdom" says that the lines can help you aim the putter better. In fact, lines on a putter can pull your focus from your line and cause you to aim off line. One of the folks who was fitted on March 5-6 actually could aim a putter better when it had no lines.
The message to take away is that Your Putter May Be Aiming YOU!
Aim Is A Big Deal! I will give myself as an example. I found out that the putter I have been using - which has very large lines for "aiming" - caused me to be a Left Aimer. Clearly this means that I have to somehow adjust my stroke if I am going to hit a putt on line. What it also means, however, is that (with this putter...) I tend to like Downhill Left To Right and Uphill Right To Left Putts better. Why? For the downhill putts, I can play more break and hit the putts easier, for the uphill putts, I can play less break and hit the putts a bit harder. I personally look forward to having a putter that I can confidently aim at the hole or at my actual aim line - by design (it is coming!).
Speed Control is Another Critical Component to Good Putting Results. If you can aim your putter well but cannot control speed, it is going to be difficult to make longer putts, or shorter putts with significant break. One of the things I learned from Bobby is how the speed of your putt affects "how big the hole is" for your putt to drop in to.
One thing Bobby taught me is that One Revolution of the Golf Ball is about as the length of a one dollar bill! He also showed me analysis charts based on AimPoint (tm) calculations that show that if you roll the ball past the hole by One Revolution this reduces the Effective Hole Size by about 12%. The analysis showed that if you hit the putt 3 feet past the hole the Effective Cup Width reduces from 4.25 inches to about 1.4 inches, and if you hit it more than 5 feet past the hole you simply are not going to make the putt. (I believe these analyses are based on a straight in putt, with a stimp green speed of something like 9 or 10)
Putter Weighting - AND Counterweighting - Are Critical Putter Fitting Parameters for Speed Control. Golfers typically have one of three types of putting strokes - Radial Acceleration strokes where the length of the stroke generates velocity, a Linear Acceleration strokes that usually have lower backstrokes and longer follow throughs, and combinations of the above. Getting the right putter head weight is important for all strokes for speed control. However, equally important is using Counterweighting and Weight Down The Golf Shaft to help smooth out the stroke and help the player control distance. In all of the training fittings that we did on March 5-6, some type of counterweighting had a major positive influence on the putting stroke and speed control for the players tested.
Having an Aim Line on Your Golf Ball MAY Affect Your Aim! Earlier I noted that Aim Lines on a putter can affect how you aim it. It follows, then, that marking an Aim Line on your Golf Ball can also influence your ability to aim your putts. This may not be so for everyone, but it is something to consider. For me, I have never been able to aim a putt with a line on the golf ball, now I am going to make sure that I do not see lines on the ball when I set the ball on the ground prior to a putt.
Consider Round Putter Grips! This is one that, quite frankly, I have wondered about long before the Edel Golf putter fitting training. When I asked Bobby about this he said that round putter grips help players to aim better, to create constant grip pressure in their strokes, and to create less face rotation in their strokes - all positive reasons to give round putter grips a try.
Help Yourself To Putt Better! I hope the above information suggests to you Opportunities to improve your putting. You deserve to play with a putter that you can aim properly. It is not likely that in a golf store they will test you for aim (though they might...) because they want to sell putters and what if the one you like the looks of aims you 15 inches left? But you should test your aim with someone who has the proper set up for doing so (the way to do this is shown in the David Edel article in the Golf Magazine book). And getting the right Overall Putter Weighting - Head Weight, Counterweighting, and Weight in the Shaft combination - can help you improve your speed control.
