Monitoring putting performance

For the record, I had 32 putts in my last round. That is on target and a realistic goal, though it relies on some decent chipping and the odd longish putt and some good lags.

The putting grip used was a weak top (left) hand grip - to minimise pulled putts - but a conventional bottom (right) hand grip, though with no overlap at all. This felt fine, bearing in mind that I was intent on focusing on a short backswing for short putts, combined with good rhythm, good contact, and of course as much calm and confidence as I could find. The greens were actually a little slow - don't know why - but although I claim this resulted in one 3-putt (the only one) it was not a major problem.

Otherwise my game was reasonable, with a few highlights and a few lowlights, and some good luck thrown in. A couple of poor chips and hooks were the most costly errors, but nothing unusual in that.

Same strategy next round, which should be fun, with putting stats to be recorded. I might even consider keeping some other stats in future, e.g. greens in regulation; now that I actually hit a few greens in regulation.

One last thought; I was given a putting tip, which is to turn one's toes in when putting (to be slightly pigeon-toed) so that the hips are slightly locked, reducing the propensity to sway. It might have helped; but more testing will be done.

If at first - revisiting putting grip

It makes no sense to keep changing putting grips and expecting all to be well. The experiment with rotating hands (right to strong, left to weak) was not a complete failure, at least not until I imploded on the fourth last hole last weekend and went home to kick inanimate objects for several hours.

The lesson I've learnt, apart from the fact that kicking things can hurt, is that the grip matters not at all if the mind is not in control - that is, calm and focused. The number one problem I've actually had, and it's not particularly related to my grip or putting stroke, is reading the greens.

Here, it is Spring, and the greens are getting faster, but not uniformly so. The downhill putts can be lightening fast, but uphill putts can still be quite slow, especially if there is any grain against you. I'm having lots of trouble with pace and therefore line, on the long putts, both have to be right. With short putts, my other nemesis, it is mind control that is more of an issue, not that speed and read are not factors.

My plan, such as it is, will be to try to accept these difficulties more calmly and coolly; observing and correcting, rather than berating myself for my stupidity. In the meantime, I am going to adopt a more traditional putting grip, perhaps with a slightly weak left (front) hand, which slightly reduces face closure and therefore the likelihood of pulled putts - without destroying the comfort of the grip.

I should also say I must try to manage my approach shots to greens a bit better. Part of my problem last weekend was leaving myself 25+ footers above the hole on greens that were getting quicker by the hour. I'm hitting the ball reasonably with driver and fairway clubs, but my pitching and chipping still needs more work.

Putting is crucial to scoring and in my case good putting is central to my enjoyment of the game. Until I can get my putting averages down to say 32 putts per round (i.e. four 1-putts and no 3-putts per round on average), I have no chance of playing to my handicap. I plan on keeping my putting stats for the next few rounds to see how they shape up. I know instinctively that I'm well about that 32 number now, but also I know that I shouldn't set an unrealistic target, so I need some stats. It should be interesting.

Worth another try

In my last post, I resolved to go back to a more traditional putting grip and work on rhythm and basic technique, and accept the odd missed short putt as part of the game. I'm going to modify two things I mentioned then.

Firstly, I'm not going to go to a centre shaft putter - yet. I'll give my existing putter another go and if I'm not happy in a few weeks time, I will switch putters.

Secondly, I'm going to revisit a putting grip that a colleague says he has been using since day one and, this guy has no problem with short putts - my problem area.

This grip is one in which the hands are rotated outward, that is, for right handers the right hand is rotated clockwise (looking from the top of the shaft) and the left hand is rotated anti-clockwise. This places the palms up, rather than opposing, and tends to tuck the elbows in closer to the hips. The fact that the hands are now working against each other, in a sense, means the wrists are less likely to flip - their freedom is restricted.

This grip, I discovered today, is also the one used by none other than Corey Pavin, with some success. It can also be used for all length putts, encouraging shoulder rocking with the longer putts, rather than wrist flipping. I don't think it is the total cure for short putt problems, but I'm going to give it another go - since nothing else feels right and nothing else has really worked. For example, left hand low, claw, and other grip variations, just don't feel right to me. I want something relatively traditional, but with a little bit of a tweak to help stop the tweaks.

It's worth another try.

Putt 'sic' me out of my putting misery

And the beat goes on … or should that be the putting misery goes on. Again, I found problems with the short putts. The reverse overlap, club linked to lead arm, started to feel awkward for the touchy, breaking 5 footers. It felt so mechanical and difficult to judge the pace, combined with the difficulty of reading the greens at the moment, that I felt I would be happier risking the wrist flips, pulls, etc. rather than continue with the odd grip. I'd already decided to go with a conventional reverse overlap for the longer putts and my pace was better with those. The conclusion is clear …

I'm going to have to learn to live with missing some short putts using a conventional grip. If I miss one or two per round that should be acceptable, provided I give myself enough chances through decent pitching and chipping to do so. The pros miss the odd short putt, maybe only one every second round for the top pros, but they are shooting sub 70 average scores per round.

My strategy will therefore be to a) change putters to a centre blade putter rather than a blade (less club face rotation, hopefully), b) shorten my short-putt stroke so that it encourages me to accelerate into the stroke and at the same time minimise the club face rotation and c) keep the putter low to the ground and keep a good rhythm - which should be good thoughts to help keep my mind away from 'oh, I hope I don't miss!'.

I might even consider getting one of those flying saucer/spaceship putters, the giant ones with wings and goodness knows what hanging off them. Jason uses one, and there is no doubt he is one of the best putters in the world.

I once had confidence in my putting; I had years of backyard putting when I expected to hole putts from everywhere. I think that although I like fast greens and the challenges of breakers and downhillers, I've lost some of that free-flowing confidence. I don't want to succumb to the yips; it's not an option for someone who is going to be losing distance over the coming years. My short game needs to step up. I need to putt myself out of my putting misery.

Not quite effortless

My new connected swing is working well - not perfectly - but satisfyingly enough. The timing of the arm swing with one's body rotation is not a perfect science, which means that although the connected concept previously espoused is undoubtedly 'the secret' of a good golf swing, things can go wrong.

At the moment, the major improvement in my game has been with my irons. The connectedness of my upper left (i.e. front) arm has added power and consistency to my 4 to 9 iron shots. I'm still have a bit of trouble with the longer shafted clubs and with the wedges, partly because of the course condition (lack of grass), but also because I'm probably rushing or over-thinking at times with these shots.

I'm confident that I will continue to improve in all these full and three-quarter shot areas over the coming weeks, and I'm sticking with the method. I've also made something of a breakthrough with my putting methods.

Recently, I decided I needed to do something about my short putting (the inside five foot putts we expect to make nearly all the time). On average, I've been three-putting about four or five times per round and usually missing several good par or birdie chances in the five or six foot range. Unless you're Jason Day, you can't expect to make all these putts, but this failure rate was not acceptable on my handicap.

Therefore, I decided to try a fairly radical reverse overlap grip, left (front) hand low, with the hands split and the right hand pressed against the lower left arm. This grip takes the wrists almost completely out of the putting stroke and it feels very mechanical. However, it contributes considerably to keeping the club face square through the stroke, which is critical in short putting. Because it feels restricted and mechanical, however, it is not really suitable for longer putts, say from nine feet and longer.

So, I have decided to do what most people think inadvisable or haven't thought of at all (excepting one person I listened to on the web) and that is to use two different putting grips - a conventional one for long putts and my new left hand low grip for short putts.

I tried this out yesterday, and it was very successful. The rest of my game was ordinary, but my putting was very good. I did not miss one short or shortish putt that I expected to make. This is a massive improvement on recent months. I will again experiment with this approach in my next game and report on the results. Fun, if not quite effortless, times ahead.

If there is a secret ...

If there is a secret to a good golf swing, I believe I have found it. Admittedly, golf is not just about the mechanics of the golf swing - it's also about concentration, course management, controlling nerves, etc. - and although it's said you drive for show, it's actually important to be able to reliably hit the fairway. It's also good to be able to hit fairway woods and irons consistently. This is where the 'connected' golf swing comes into its own.

The term 'connection' is not new, it is taught by some (a few) professionals. The drills that incorporate towels under the arms are also well known, but for most golfers 'connection' is just 'a term' - its full significance is lost on 99% of weekend golfers, who think of it as a nice optional extra or something of the sort.

I came across the connection concept when I was watching a one-plane swing video, as mentioned previously. I got to thinking about what this connection actually achieved, having like almost everyone never really given it much thought. I then went to the course and started to try out keeping the upper left arm 'connected' to my left chest. I didn't practice, I just played trying to maintain that connection.

Eureka! Suddenly, and I mean almost immediately, my swing felt more powerful and I started to hit the ball further and straighter with only a slight sensation of constriction - obviously from needing to concentrate on keeping my upper left arm close to my left side. By the way, this is for right-handers. And it is only the front arm that should be connected, not both, as per some of the drills seen around the place.

This connection has the effect of increasing the amount and speed of one's body rotation. This occurs because as you swing to hit the ball with your arms, with your arms are moving quite quickly, you are virtually forced to rotate more quickly than you are used to, if the connection is maintained. This is where the extra power comes from. It also explains, I believe, why tennis players with a two handed backswing can generate so much racquet speed despite the restriction of using two arms, that is, rapid, powerful body rotation.

But there are significant side-benefits of connection. One is the reduction in the need to time the hit. There really is no timing needed - it's very much a one-piece action - just a powerful one. Another benefit is the increase in consistency of ball-striking that comes with the reduced range of arm motion (up, down, inside, outside, etc.) because of that slight constriction and connection. This is particularly noticeable when hitting irons, which require good centre contact for distance control and accuracy.

A final benefit of the connected golf swing is the reduced need to worry about 'release'. This is a concept that some golfers have never thought about, and many fail to actually do effectively. This explains the prevalence of slicing - no decent release being one of the major factors, though not the only important one. With the connected golf swing, the type of release involved is what is called a 'stable release' where the club face is not opened on the backswing and does not need to be closed on the downswing, in the way many golfers swing, but is kept more or less square to the swing plane throughout the swing. Timing the closing of the face is therefore not needed, it will be square to closed at impact without any manipulation (and timing) required.

A word of warning here; it is necessary to keep turning through the shot. Stopping the turn produces pull shots, hooks and other nasty outcomes. It's not difficult to keep turning, but old habits can creep in from time to time. But no-one is perfect; we are not machines.

There is more technical stuff here that could be discussed, for example, what happens with the wrists and why they can be basically ignored, and why weight transfer doesn't need to be consciously addressed. Suffice to say, the connected golf swing is a simple yet powerful swing that can be performed virtually with practice and perfected, in my view, in very few rounds of golf. In my view, if there is a secret to the golf swing, this is it! So, shhhh … it's a secret.