“It is much more important to understand what a putt feels like as opposed to what it looks like.”
I do not think anyone would argue that ball speed control is critical to being better than average at putting. I contend that you are more likely to see the break than you are finding the correct effort to match the read. I would also submit that it is an area of weakness from an instruction perspective. As I speak to other instructors about this subject the following are some of the questions I ask and comments I submit.
1. How do you judge the distance?
Do you take visual snapshots?
Do you take a visual video?
Do you measure as you might with a field shot?
2. I suggest that we speak in terms of effort rather than speed as in, “How much effort is required to roll the ball the required distance?”
3. Do you have a sense of where you apply the most effort in your stroke?
4. Do you swing the putter, or do you hit the ball?
5. Once you have judged the distance, do you have a feel for the effort required prior to movement or do you react while you are in motion?
6. Do you judge the effort required by the length of your stroke or the speed of your hands?
7. Do you prefer to be past the hole or is short of the hole safer?
These questions and others help me understand and define the player mechanics or instructor preferences. It is important to suggest there are no right or wrong answers to these questions. They do however identify conflicts. For example, we know if you consider yourself a hitter, a heavy mallet is not the best putter choice.
As you consider these questions accept what you do and look for a way to use that understanding to be better at what you do, rather than thinking there is a better way and continually changing. Remember every time you make a change you start over.
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