Developing Feel in Putting

Sinking a putt requires that the ball roll the precise direction and speed.  Of the two putting categories, direction and speed, speed is more important.  The direction of the putt may be one or two degrees off, but if the distance is correct, the next putt will be a one or two foot putt.  When the focus is on direction, the putt is usually left short.  A putt that goes past the hole has a chance of going in.  A putt that is left short has no chance of going in.

I am not saying that determining the proper direction is not important.  It is, but this blog article is focused on how I make the ball travel the proper distance.  A future blog article will cover how to determine the proper direction.

The correct distance of a putt should roll about one foot past the cup if the ball misses the hole.  The circumference of the golf ball is approximately 5.25 inches.  So a correctly struck putt will go past the hole by a little over two revolutions.  That shows that putting is an extremely precise activity.

Spend the Time

The best way to develop feel in putting is to adopt the proper attitude that elevates the priority of improving your putting.  Lower scores are a result of reducing the number of putts per round.   When I play a hole, I would rather make a one-putt instead of hitting a 300 yard drive.  I know I do not have a chance to drive the ball 300 yards, but I do have a chance to make a one-putt.  Most golfers spend a vast majority of their practice time trying to improve their driving rather than spending their practice time trying to improve their putting.  It is a mental challenge to make  it a priority to spend the time to improve putting skills, but the time must be dedicated in order to develop the proper feel in putting.

Feel the Force

The objective of developing feel in putting is to discover the proper amount of force that is required to roll the ball a distance where the ball will stop approximately one foot beyond the hole. The first requirement is to determine how to generate the force to roll the ball.  There are various ways you can use to generate force:  use the wrist, use the shoulder, or use the upper body.  I have tried all of the methods and I find that using the upper body provides the best way for me to apply the precise amount of force.  I use the bottom rear of the right arm pit to stretch up the precise amount in the back swing.  In the down swing, I feel the bottom rear of the right arm pit snap down with the force that I feel will create the desired acceleration of the ball.  I also feel the tip of the left little finger snap up with the force that I feel will create the desired acceleration.  For me, the snap of the tip of the left little finger “validates” the snap of the bottom rear of the right arm pit.

Whichever method you use, it must provide you with complete confidence that the proper amount of force will be generated.  It takes a lot of trial and error to finally settle on a method that will work consistently to generate the proper amount of force.

I define the proper amount of force as the force needed to accelerate the ball to so that the ball rolls the precise distance.  I divide the distance that the putt travels into two parts: acceleration distance and deceleration distance.  Developing feel in putting is about producing the precise acceleration distance.  The distance of acceleration can be thought of as an absolute distance in inches, feet, or yards.  The distance of the acceleration can also be thought of as a percentage of the total distance.  I focus on creating an acceleration distance that is a specific percentage of the total distance.  For example, I want to accelerate the ball one-third of the total distance.

Developing the Feel

The speed of the putting greens varies from course to course.  When I am putting on the practice green before a round of golf, I am trying to determine the percentage of acceleration distance I need to create in order to putt the ball a foot past the hole.  I find a level part of the green and stroke putts of six feet.  I feel how much force it takes to make a putt of six feet.  I am aware of how much force I am using to create acceleration.  Am I creating two feet of acceleration or one and one-half feet of acceleration?  When I create a specific acceleration distance, then I make a note of how much deceleration distance is created.  For example, if I create two feet of acceleration and the ball rolls a total of six feet, then I know the base line percentage for a level putt is one-third of the total distance is for acceleration and the remaining two-thirds of the total distance is used for deceleration.

I try putts of different lengths to eventually settle on the percentage of acceleration distance versus deceleration distance.  Establishing this base line is the objective when I am on the practice putting green.  I also hit putts uphill and downhill to get a feel for the ratio in those situations.  This will help me make the proper adjustments when I am on the course.  I will use less force on downhill putts and more force on uphill putts.

The key is to be able to precisely create the acceleration distance that I decide is needed to roll the ball the required distance.  That ability is what I am looking for when I am trying to develop a feel for the green.

The Putter

Another component of developing feel is to use a putter that will translate the force that you use to create a precise acceleration distance.  You will have to try a lot of different putters before you find a putter that provides the precise feel.  This is the magic that you need to feel in choosing a putter.  The current putter that I am using provided that magic when I was trying different putters at a golf store.  For me, this putter is able to create the acceleration distance that I decide is needed and the ball will consistently travel the precise distance to the hole.  I tried other putters that were the same length and same model but they did not have the same magic.  So even though putters may look the same, they do not perform the same.  This magic is not permanent.  When the magic is gone for my current putter, I will need to find another putter.  Sometimes the “new” putter will be a putter I already own and is stored in my garage with other putters I have used in the past.

I hope this post will give you an idea on how you can develop the feel that will help you make more one-putts and eliminate three-putts.