Following on from my last post about putting practice, I've noticed that my sessions with my home made copy of the Pelz Putting Tutor have had several effects on my stroke.
One of the effects is that I seem to be developing greater feel for what is happening during the stroke. When my back stroke goes off line, for example, I am noticing it more. Video of my putting showed me that when the back stroke goes off line, so does the forward stroke. Often my forward stroke over-compensated so that contact with the ball was toward the heel when my back stroke was too far inside the line.
The other area I experienced greater feel was in the grip. I noticed, for example, when the putter grip lost contact with the palm of my left hand. It was no coincidence that this loss of contact coincided with strings of misses both left and right. The solution is to maintain just enough pressure to maintain contact.
The third are I experienced greater feel was in the left arm. Like so many putters, my left wrist broke down along with my left elbow bending and my left shoulder moving unpredictably. The emphasis on the pendulum tempo enabled me to reduce thes three putt killers considerably.
My conclusion is that you can learn a lot from practicing 4 foot putts without a hole but with a putting tutor to tell you when you are putting on target and when you are not.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Putting Practice
I've been practicing with my home made copy of the Pelz Putting Tutor lately. My goal has been to improve two mechanical building blocks, namely face angle and impact pattern. I figured that if I could hit the ball more consistently with the right point on the putter and with the putter facing in the right direction, it would help my putting. Sure enough it has.
When I made my putting tutor, I put the marbles fairly close together. My calculations show that the margin for error is about 1 degree. Roughly speaking, 1 degree off line is about 1 inch off line for every 5 feet of roll, so if a ball passes through the marbles it should go in the hole on a 10 foot putt providing it is aimed correctly.
It was surprisingly hard to putt balls through the marbles even though the putting tutor enables you to align the putter face dead square. For a while my best was 4 in a row. Today I achieved my goal which was 10 in a row. I had several strings of 3 misses in a row before I got my 10 in a row. Along the way I have discovered some interesting things about my putting.
First, Pelz building block of rhythm is more important than I thought. I've been using about a 4 inch stroke with the idea that equated to about a 4 foot putt. That is the distance I want to improve on. I was surprised to find that my 4 inch back stroke was accompanied by a widely varying through stroke. Sometimes it was quite short. Sometimes it was up to 7 or 8 inches. Pelz recommends 4 inches back and 5 inches through.
By concentrating on matching the 4 inch back stroke to a 5 inch through stroke, I found it possible to achieve a more consistent stroke. By concentrating on equalising the back stroke and through stroke, I found it easier to achieve the 4 inch back stroke and 5 inch follow through.
Second, Pelz building block of ritual started to make some sense. I had previously used his advice to take 3 to 5 parallel left practice strokes to find the right touch for the putt, then moved into position for the putt. I then tended to look up and down the line of the putt until I was happy that the putter was aimed correctly. The putting tutor practice made it tempting to just line up balls and putt them. I found it beneficial to back off each time, re-establish the right touch for the putt and then move in to the address position. A ritual developed fairly naturally for me. It was to check to make sure the putter was aligned properly, a look to the target and back to the ball and stroke the putt.
Whilst I'm far from holing everything I look at on the course, I have noticed that more putts are coming off the sweet spot on the putter and I am more confident using a shorter stroke on my 4 foot putts.
The journey continues!
When I made my putting tutor, I put the marbles fairly close together. My calculations show that the margin for error is about 1 degree. Roughly speaking, 1 degree off line is about 1 inch off line for every 5 feet of roll, so if a ball passes through the marbles it should go in the hole on a 10 foot putt providing it is aimed correctly.
It was surprisingly hard to putt balls through the marbles even though the putting tutor enables you to align the putter face dead square. For a while my best was 4 in a row. Today I achieved my goal which was 10 in a row. I had several strings of 3 misses in a row before I got my 10 in a row. Along the way I have discovered some interesting things about my putting.
First, Pelz building block of rhythm is more important than I thought. I've been using about a 4 inch stroke with the idea that equated to about a 4 foot putt. That is the distance I want to improve on. I was surprised to find that my 4 inch back stroke was accompanied by a widely varying through stroke. Sometimes it was quite short. Sometimes it was up to 7 or 8 inches. Pelz recommends 4 inches back and 5 inches through.
By concentrating on matching the 4 inch back stroke to a 5 inch through stroke, I found it possible to achieve a more consistent stroke. By concentrating on equalising the back stroke and through stroke, I found it easier to achieve the 4 inch back stroke and 5 inch follow through.
Second, Pelz building block of ritual started to make some sense. I had previously used his advice to take 3 to 5 parallel left practice strokes to find the right touch for the putt, then moved into position for the putt. I then tended to look up and down the line of the putt until I was happy that the putter was aimed correctly. The putting tutor practice made it tempting to just line up balls and putt them. I found it beneficial to back off each time, re-establish the right touch for the putt and then move in to the address position. A ritual developed fairly naturally for me. It was to check to make sure the putter was aligned properly, a look to the target and back to the ball and stroke the putt.
Whilst I'm far from holing everything I look at on the course, I have noticed that more putts are coming off the sweet spot on the putter and I am more confident using a shorter stroke on my 4 foot putts.
The journey continues!
Monday, January 2, 2012
Pitch Shot Arm Extension
Recently, when I looked at swing on 30 metre pitch shots I noticed that my left arm became bent during the downswing and the club tended to get ahead of my hands. This was a sure fire recipe for the inconsistent pitch shots I had been experiencing.
Turning again to Dave Pelz, I saw that he has some interesting advice in his Short Game Bible about short game mechanics. One of his observations is the basic idea is that if you swing the club with your right arm only, you will tend to graze the ground in line with your right shoulder or right foot. For right handed players, if you swing the club with your left arm only, you will tend to graze the round in line with your left shoulder or left foot. The perfect bottom of the pitch shot swing is somewhere in between.
A bit of analysis showed that my pitch shot swing was disconcertingly close to a right hand only swing with a sort of a scooping action close to impact to compensate. A practice session focussed on swinging more like a left arm only swing improved the quality of my shots immediately.
During the practice session I looked at the geometry of the arms and the shoulders. With the ball roughly mid-way between the feet, a straight left arm in line with the club shaft put the hands ahead of the ball. The right shoulder needs to be lowered an inch or two to put the right hand onto the shaft. If the right arm is to have a slight flex then the right shoulder needs to be lowered a bit further.
To get the hands and arms into a desirable impact position requires turning the shoulders well past the point where the shoulders are level. In fact the shoulders need to go to the point where the left shoulder is higher than the right and the rotation takes the shoulders into a slightly open position. The result is something much closer to the left hand only swing powered by the shoulders through the right arm.
Rather than hitting down or lifting up, the sensation becomes more one of hitting through with a shallow divot or no divot at all. The swing feels more robust with less need to be delicate.
All good stuff.
Turning again to Dave Pelz, I saw that he has some interesting advice in his Short Game Bible about short game mechanics. One of his observations is the basic idea is that if you swing the club with your right arm only, you will tend to graze the ground in line with your right shoulder or right foot. For right handed players, if you swing the club with your left arm only, you will tend to graze the round in line with your left shoulder or left foot. The perfect bottom of the pitch shot swing is somewhere in between.
A bit of analysis showed that my pitch shot swing was disconcertingly close to a right hand only swing with a sort of a scooping action close to impact to compensate. A practice session focussed on swinging more like a left arm only swing improved the quality of my shots immediately.
During the practice session I looked at the geometry of the arms and the shoulders. With the ball roughly mid-way between the feet, a straight left arm in line with the club shaft put the hands ahead of the ball. The right shoulder needs to be lowered an inch or two to put the right hand onto the shaft. If the right arm is to have a slight flex then the right shoulder needs to be lowered a bit further.
To get the hands and arms into a desirable impact position requires turning the shoulders well past the point where the shoulders are level. In fact the shoulders need to go to the point where the left shoulder is higher than the right and the rotation takes the shoulders into a slightly open position. The result is something much closer to the left hand only swing powered by the shoulders through the right arm.
Rather than hitting down or lifting up, the sensation becomes more one of hitting through with a shallow divot or no divot at all. The swing feels more robust with less need to be delicate.
All good stuff.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Putting Tutor
Dave Pelz has some interesting practice aids including the putting tutor.
It's pretty easy to make one at home. A piece of metal or even board, a couple of marbles and you have a putting tutor you can try out while you are deciding whether to spend your $50 + $45 overseas postage.
One of Pelz' ideas is to take a short stroke for short putts and a longer stroke for longer putts, but always using a smooth stroke and the same tempo. Over the years I've become very familiar with a stroke back to the outside of my right shoe being just right for a 30 foot putt on medium to quick greens.
My problem is more on the three to five footers. I'm either a bit short and twitchy or a bit long and close the putter going through. So I took my home made putting tutor and tried it out on a strip of green carpet I bought from the local hardware shop.
My practice goal was to putt the ball four or five feet with good tempo and practice putting between the marbles. The results were interesting to say the least. I was not nearly as careful at aiming as I thought I was. The difference between a putt which which rolled straight through the marbles and one which knocked the marbles was surprisingly almost impossible to feel. Toward the end of my training session I managed to get six in a row through the marbles. Roughly speaking that is straight enough to hole at least a 5 or 6 foot putt.
I did become more sensitive to small movements of my arms and wrists and managed a better coordinated stroke. My focus on technique was to keep the left arm and wrist at the same angles throughout the stroke. The right arm worked effectively as a piston supplying the power.
Perhaps next time I'll manage six in a row again. Hopefully more.
Highly recommended for practising the short putt stroke.
It's pretty easy to make one at home. A piece of metal or even board, a couple of marbles and you have a putting tutor you can try out while you are deciding whether to spend your $50 + $45 overseas postage.
One of Pelz' ideas is to take a short stroke for short putts and a longer stroke for longer putts, but always using a smooth stroke and the same tempo. Over the years I've become very familiar with a stroke back to the outside of my right shoe being just right for a 30 foot putt on medium to quick greens.
My problem is more on the three to five footers. I'm either a bit short and twitchy or a bit long and close the putter going through. So I took my home made putting tutor and tried it out on a strip of green carpet I bought from the local hardware shop.
My practice goal was to putt the ball four or five feet with good tempo and practice putting between the marbles. The results were interesting to say the least. I was not nearly as careful at aiming as I thought I was. The difference between a putt which which rolled straight through the marbles and one which knocked the marbles was surprisingly almost impossible to feel. Toward the end of my training session I managed to get six in a row through the marbles. Roughly speaking that is straight enough to hole at least a 5 or 6 foot putt.
I did become more sensitive to small movements of my arms and wrists and managed a better coordinated stroke. My focus on technique was to keep the left arm and wrist at the same angles throughout the stroke. The right arm worked effectively as a piston supplying the power.
Perhaps next time I'll manage six in a row again. Hopefully more.
Highly recommended for practising the short putt stroke.
Monday, December 19, 2011
Pelz Putting Patterns
When I started looking at putting, I was pretty sure that mechanics were number one, then the ability to hit the ball the right distance, followed by reading greens. I was pretty sure that most of the other stuff was just minor detail.
I was also pretty sure that the Pure In Line Square method advocated by Dave Pelz was so simple it just had to be what all the really good putters did. Now I'm not so sure. Tiger's Elbows and Stricker's Stroke Adjustment made me wonder. Whilst the PILS stroke is the mechanical ideal, it is no longer on my list of putting fundamentals.
So, what else is important to a player trying to improve their putting?
Pelz lists fifteen building blocks to better putting. Of these no fewer than seven relate to mechanics: Aim, Power Source, Impact Pattern, Face Angle, Path, Flow Lines and Putter Fitting.
Impact Pattern
Impact pattern relates to the distribution of where on the putter face the ball is hit. The more tightly bunched the better. Pelz sells putter tape which records a series of putts. A piece of masking tape across the putter face and some ink from a whiteboard marker on the ball does the same thing. Some of the time a player can feel that the ball is being hit off centre. To me this is an interesting test to get some idea of the quality of the putting motion. A high quality motion is repeatable. A poor quality motion is not.
Pelz also sells teacher clips which fit onto the putter face. If the ball is hit on centre, the clips make no difference. If the ball is hit off centre, the clip hits the ball and the result is immediately visible. A couple of tees held onto the putter face with masking tape does much the same thing.
Face Angle Pattern
Considering how thorough Pelz is about testing, it is surprising that he does not analyse the effect of hitting the ball off centre. He does note though that it would affect both the speed and the direction of the ball.
Pelz does analyse the effect of the face angle at impact. He says that about 83% of a face angle error at impact is transferred to the ball. To put that into context, a 1 degree error will take the ball about 1 inch off line for every 5 feet of roll. A 3 degree error will cause a 3 inch error in a 5 footer. That's enough to miss a putt.
The putter path on the other hand makes far less difference. Pelz puts it at about 17%. A path angle of nearly 18 degrees is needed to miss a 5 footer all things being equal.
Measuring face angle error is pretty easy. Unless your putter path is way off, just measure how far off line your putts are after 10 feet. Every two inches is a degree.
The big issue of course is the face angle pattern from stroke to stroke.
I was also pretty sure that the Pure In Line Square method advocated by Dave Pelz was so simple it just had to be what all the really good putters did. Now I'm not so sure. Tiger's Elbows and Stricker's Stroke Adjustment made me wonder. Whilst the PILS stroke is the mechanical ideal, it is no longer on my list of putting fundamentals.
So, what else is important to a player trying to improve their putting?
Pelz lists fifteen building blocks to better putting. Of these no fewer than seven relate to mechanics: Aim, Power Source, Impact Pattern, Face Angle, Path, Flow Lines and Putter Fitting.
Impact Pattern
Impact pattern relates to the distribution of where on the putter face the ball is hit. The more tightly bunched the better. Pelz sells putter tape which records a series of putts. A piece of masking tape across the putter face and some ink from a whiteboard marker on the ball does the same thing. Some of the time a player can feel that the ball is being hit off centre. To me this is an interesting test to get some idea of the quality of the putting motion. A high quality motion is repeatable. A poor quality motion is not.
Pelz also sells teacher clips which fit onto the putter face. If the ball is hit on centre, the clips make no difference. If the ball is hit off centre, the clip hits the ball and the result is immediately visible. A couple of tees held onto the putter face with masking tape does much the same thing.
Face Angle Pattern
Considering how thorough Pelz is about testing, it is surprising that he does not analyse the effect of hitting the ball off centre. He does note though that it would affect both the speed and the direction of the ball.
Pelz does analyse the effect of the face angle at impact. He says that about 83% of a face angle error at impact is transferred to the ball. To put that into context, a 1 degree error will take the ball about 1 inch off line for every 5 feet of roll. A 3 degree error will cause a 3 inch error in a 5 footer. That's enough to miss a putt.
The putter path on the other hand makes far less difference. Pelz puts it at about 17%. A path angle of nearly 18 degrees is needed to miss a 5 footer all things being equal.
Measuring face angle error is pretty easy. Unless your putter path is way off, just measure how far off line your putts are after 10 feet. Every two inches is a degree.
The big issue of course is the face angle pattern from stroke to stroke.
Friday, December 16, 2011
Fixing Faults?
Dave Pelz Putting Bible has some gems.
Pelz talks about how poor aim tends to cause compensations during the stroke, "to improve, you must always correct two things, the mistake and its compensation (correct only one and you'll probably putt worse)". Who could argue with that? Isn't fixing faults what improvement is all about?
In my view Tiger Woods is the best pressure putter of his generation. If anybody would have a Pure In Line Stroke I would have expected it to be Woods. In Pelz terms, however, Tiger Woods appears to rotate the flow lines through his elbows, shoulders and even his hips during his putting stroke. This is not what I expected.
Looking further I came across this video analysing Steve Stricker's putting action. I'm not convinced about parts of the analysis, but Stricker does appear to set up with the ball toward the heel of his putter and hit it in the middle. He also appears to adjust the path of his putter and the rotate of his putter face just before impact. That said, it looks like a quality action to me and his record speaks for itself.
So, if Stricker's putter is consistently aiming at a different places during setup and impact, is aiming the putter on the target line a fundamental of putting? Does Stricker have two faults which cancel each other out? What are the lessons for the rest of us?
Pelz talks about how poor aim tends to cause compensations during the stroke, "to improve, you must always correct two things, the mistake and its compensation (correct only one and you'll probably putt worse)". Who could argue with that? Isn't fixing faults what improvement is all about?
In my view Tiger Woods is the best pressure putter of his generation. If anybody would have a Pure In Line Stroke I would have expected it to be Woods. In Pelz terms, however, Tiger Woods appears to rotate the flow lines through his elbows, shoulders and even his hips during his putting stroke. This is not what I expected.
Looking further I came across this video analysing Steve Stricker's putting action. I'm not convinced about parts of the analysis, but Stricker does appear to set up with the ball toward the heel of his putter and hit it in the middle. He also appears to adjust the path of his putter and the rotate of his putter face just before impact. That said, it looks like a quality action to me and his record speaks for itself.
So, if Stricker's putter is consistently aiming at a different places during setup and impact, is aiming the putter on the target line a fundamental of putting? Does Stricker have two faults which cancel each other out? What are the lessons for the rest of us?
Thursday, December 15, 2011
More on Pure In Line Square
After watching Tiger's Elbows, I thought it was time to take a closer look at what Pelz had to say in his Putting Bible about the Pure In Line Square stroke. He advocates Pure In Line Square as the mechanically simplest possible putting stroke. Part of his reasoning is that the "angle of a swinging pendulum motion determines both its path and face angle rotation" (page 78).
A bit further on he talks about lower-body motion and looking, "Try rotating your lower body around your spine in your putting address position and you will see it turns your upper body as well (especially your shoulders, arms and putter), because your upper body is sitting on the lower ... This also rotates your putterface angle, adding an unknown, uncontrollable, and unwanted variable to the starting line of your putts" (page 106).
What does that tell us about putting fundamentals?
The argument Pelz makes on page 78 is interesting. I think that the motion depends on how the hinge operates at the shoulders. If the hinge produces a vertical pendulum motion and nothing else changes apart from the path of the hands, then the path and face angle rotation will not change.
The argument Pelz makes on page 106 is also interesting. An unknown, uncontrollable and unwanted variable is always going to be a problem. What about a known, controlled and wanted rotation to the putterface angle?
After watching Tiger's Elbows, I think there are two lessons. First is that rotation of the hips, shoulders, elbows and wrists will all affect the putter face. Second, those rotations are not necessarily harmful, particularly in the elbows as Tiger shows.
The trick appears to be consistency in those rotations and not in the rotations themselves.
A bit further on he talks about lower-body motion and looking, "Try rotating your lower body around your spine in your putting address position and you will see it turns your upper body as well (especially your shoulders, arms and putter), because your upper body is sitting on the lower ... This also rotates your putterface angle, adding an unknown, uncontrollable, and unwanted variable to the starting line of your putts" (page 106).
What does that tell us about putting fundamentals?
The argument Pelz makes on page 78 is interesting. I think that the motion depends on how the hinge operates at the shoulders. If the hinge produces a vertical pendulum motion and nothing else changes apart from the path of the hands, then the path and face angle rotation will not change.
The argument Pelz makes on page 106 is also interesting. An unknown, uncontrollable and unwanted variable is always going to be a problem. What about a known, controlled and wanted rotation to the putterface angle?
After watching Tiger's Elbows, I think there are two lessons. First is that rotation of the hips, shoulders, elbows and wrists will all affect the putter face. Second, those rotations are not necessarily harmful, particularly in the elbows as Tiger shows.
The trick appears to be consistency in those rotations and not in the rotations themselves.
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