Dave Pelz Daily Golf Tip – Understanding how you aim your putter to sink more putts

Pelz Daily Golf Tip:      8/3/2011

There are two ways golfers aim their putters: They use their eyes to visually align their putter faces along a perceived line, based on the visual positions and angles of the ball, their eyes, and the hole. This is called “visual aim”. The second way golfers aim is by reacting to the deficiencies in their putting strokes, hoping to compensate for them and balance out two errors to get a correct solution. This is compensating aim. The question is: Which aim technique do you use?

In tests run at the Pelz Golf Institute, conducted in conjunction with the University of the Pacific, we found that experienced golfers usually aim to compensate for the weaknesses in their putting stroke mechanics. That is to say, most golfers do not aim visually. Players who regularly push putts to the right (because of poor stroke mechanics) learn to “compensate” their aim to the left. This allows their putts to start more on line. Golfers who putt with pull-to-the-left strokes, always (learn to) aim to the right. These compensating aim techniques, while popular, cause most golfers to putt inconsistently, and below their native abilities.

Read more about this in Dave Pelz’s Putting Bible, Chapter 4.

Golf Lesson to Improve Your Putting

When you take a golf lesson, and you get great golf instruction have you ever taken a putting lesson?

Could your Golf Professional answer Dave Pelz putting questions posed in his tip?

1. How do you know where you are aiming the putter?
2. What is the putter aim line – “visual aim”? What is the putter’s perceived line?
3. Are you compensating your aim to balance visual and perceived line – “compensating aim”?

If you want to putt better, shoot lower scores, and improve your overall game, call Ollen.

He uses diagnostic and reporting tools like SAM Putt Lab to show you what is really going on with your putting.

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Tags: Dave Pelz, PGA, Putt Like the PGA Pros, Putting, Putting Experts, SAM PuttLab by Andrew
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The Dave Stockton rules on best putting technique continue from the article with Guy Yocum have written about some great Rules to Make Your Six-Footers.

Here’s the fifth rule, where we will go into a bit more description of Dave Stockton’s Top 10 list for better Putting.

5. Be a painter, not a carpenter

For the good putter, the most common miss under pressure is the push. When the heat is on, there’s a tendency to hit at the ball instead of stroking through it. Like driving a nail with a hammer, the putter stops abruptly at impact. It doesn’t release to a square position, and the clubface is aimed to the right. Putt as though you’re pulling a paintbrush, your hands leading and the clubhead trailing as you stroke through.

If you want help learning to use what the Putting Experts say, so that you will putt better, call Ollen Stephens.

Tags: Dave Stockton, PGA, Putt Like the PGA Pros, Putting, Putting Experts by Andrew
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Dave Stockton, Putting Rule 4: You’ve already made the putt!

The Dave Stockton rules on best putting technique continue from the article with Guy Yocum have written about some great Rules to Make Your Six-Footers.

Here’s the fourth rule, where we will go into a bit more description of Dave Stockton’s Top 10 list for better Putting.

4. You’ve already made the putt! You might have heard that it’s helpful to form a positive image of the ball going in, but you should take it further than that. Imagine the ball tracking the entire six feet, as though you’re watching a video replay of the putt dropping. This image should be so convincing that, if the putt doesn’t fall, you should be shocked. That’s how I feel when I’m putting well — I’m absolutely stunned when the ball doesn’t go in. Do everything you can to place the six-footer in the past tense. How many times have you missed a putt, raked it back for another try and instinctively knocked it in? Adopt this “second chance” mentality on your first putt.

If you have trouble imagining how to do this imagination, we recommend a fantastic mental training product from SeeItGolf.com, get more information on the golf mental training tool.

Description

Performance Training for the Mental Game featuring PGA Tour Champions Aaron Baddeley and Stan Utley. The revolutionary app Golf Digest is calling “Powerful, creative and a joy to use!”

Tags: Dave Stockton, Mental Golf, Putting, Stan Utley by Andrew
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The Dave Stockton rules on best putting technique continue from the article with Guy Yocum have written about some great Rules to Make Your Six-Footers.

Here’s the third rule, where we will go into a bit more description of Dave Stockton’s Top 10 list for better Putting.

Rule 3: Stay away from dead straight

When Tiger Woods faced that 12-foot putt on the 72nd hole at Torrey Pines to send the U.S. Open into a playoff, he called in his caddie, Steve Williams, to help with the read. I’ll bet Tiger saw the putt as breaking to the left but was bothered by a hunch that it might be dead straight. If there’s one thing a good putter hates, it’s an absolutely straight putt. The reason is, if you start the putt straight, you have a margin for error of only half a cup on either side. Tiger needed Steve to confirm that the putt would break left, because the entire cup would be exposed if Tiger started the ball to the right. The putt indeed broke a couple inches to the left, and Tiger snuck it in on the right edge of the hole.

If the putt for all the marbles looks straight, look again. Study the area near the hole. Remember, the ball will be rolling so slowly when it gets within two feet that even the tiniest slope will cause it to break. Try to at least favor one side.

Dave Pelz provided data to support the point Dave Stockton makes here.

Dave Pelz’s Putting Bible:

“Measurements show that about 98 percent of putts
have at least some break or curvature in their roll to
the hole. The only putts that don’t break are those that
run straight uphill or straight downhill along the pure
‘downhill’ or ‘fall line’ direction of a green. Only about
2 percent of all putts line up purely along these lines.”

If you want help learning to use what the Putting Experts say, so that you will putt better, call Ollen Stephens.

Tags: Dave Pelz, Dave Stockton, PGA, Putt Like the PGA Pros, Putting, Putting Experts by Andrew
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Michael Bamberger, Senior Writer, Sports Illustrated

wrote an interesting piece on Golf.com originally published on, December 22, 2009.

You can’t miss a half-inch putt, can you?

Tags: Dave Stockton, Putt Like the PGA Pros, Putting, Putting Experts by Andrew
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Dave Stockton writes about best putting technique with Guy Yocum. These putting rules will help you to Make Your Six-Footers.

Here’s the second rule, where we will go into a bit more description of Dave Stockton’s Top 10 list for better Putting.

2. Think speed more than line

Speed and line are equally important, but the amateur tends to be preoccupied with the line. As you read the green, do it with the idea that you’ll roll the ball 16 inches past the hole — if you miss. After you’ve set up and taken dead aim, don’t give the line another thought. Avoid being too aggressive with the six-footer, because the edges of the hole might come into play and cause a nasty lip-out.

From GolfDigest Magazine October 2008

If you want to learn more about how to improve your putting, contact Ollen Stephens.

Tags: Dave Stockton, Putting, Putting Experts by Andrew
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To share best putting technique, Dave Stockton with Guy Yocum have written about some great Rules to Make Your Six-Footers.

In the next few days, we will go into a bit more description of Dave Stockton’s Top 10 list.

1. Take “try” out of the equation

When I faced a 15-foot putt to win the 1976 PGA Championship, the amount of time I took surprised a lot of people. Instead of grinding over it, I took less time than usual — 15 seconds in all. But I did not rush. I knew that if I got hung up dwelling on how much the putt meant, my chances of holing it would have dropped dramatically.

The moment you try to make a putt, you’ll miss it. Conscious effort doesn’t work. Try this experiment: Get a pen and paper and jot your signature. Now write your name a second time, trying to duplicate your first signature exactly. Chances are you’ll make a mess of it, because instead of doing it automatically, you’re now applying conscious effort. Your approach to the six-footer should be like signing your name: Do it briskly and subconsciously.

Read More about Dave Stockton’s Best Putting Technique Rules

Yoda said in the Star Wars Series:

Do or do not… there is no try.

Just like signing your name…go for it.

If you want to learn more about putting, contact Ollen Stephens.

Tags: Dave Stockton, Putting, Putting Experts by Andrew
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Understanding the Yips, How to Play Better Golf

Marius Filmalter and Debbie Crews, PhD have a Study to Help Golfers understand the Yips

Motor Strategy Disturbances in Golf: The effect of ‘yips’ on the movement of the putter head.

If you think you might have the yips, it’s probably helpful to understand what that might mean. Here’s some great research by Marius Filmalter edited by Debbie Crews, PhD. Check out the Yips Research.

The reports exhibited in the Research come from SAM PuttLab, from Science and Motion. If you want to learn more, check out an academy that features SAM PuttLab, like GreenToTee Golf Academy in Glencoe, IL.

Tags: Mental Golf, Putting, Putting Experts, SAM PuttLab by Andrew
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Dave Pelz, Technical and Short Game Consultant, GOLF Magazine wrote the Bible Series on Scoring in Golf. He wrote the Putting Bible, and the Short Game Bible. Dave Pelz is clearly the greatest data provider in the game of golf.

His research shows that:

Study the two factors of a solidly struck putt and you’ll discover that face angle determines 83 percent of the starting line while putter path direction determines 17 percent. In other words, a square face angle is five times more important to starting putts on line than putter path.

Tags: Putting, Putting Experts by Andrew
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Myrtle Beach Golf School / Peter Anderson wrote a nice summary about Thoughts on Putting by the Best Putters Ever.

GreenToTee has hosted Stan Utley and enjoyed many fine lessons from Stan.  Stan has one of the finest series of golf books ever, The Art of… Series.

Stan echoes many of the lessons from the greatest ever that Peter Anderson highlights.

Bobby Locke, a South African who won 6 of the 13 U.S professional tournaments in which he competed in 1947, was regarded by his peers as the finest putter who ever played professional golf. Billy Casper said of him: “In Locke’s hands the putter was a magic wand that waifs balls into the cup from anywhere.” Lloyd Mangrum claimed: “That blankety blank Locke was able to hole a putt over 60 feet of peanut brittle – I never saw anything equal to it.” Gary Player has said that: “To compare anyone of his era to Locke as a putter, is like comparing a donkey to a race horse.”

With credentials like these I would be very remiss indeed not to include Mr. Locke’s thoughts on putting and style:

“My putting mechanics are designed to produce an element of top spin to the ball so that it will stay on course all the way to the hole.”

“I take the club back very low, and to the inside of the target line, with the face of my club slightly hooded throughout the swing.”

“I try to keep my head steady throughout the stroke, but feel that I create the correct path and energy through a slight hip rotation.”

“I am very aware of the weight of the putter throughout the swing, and to promote this feel I hold the club very softly at its end.”

If you want to read more from Peter Anderson, check it out here: http://www.golflink.com/golf-tips/tips/anderson004.aspx

Tags: Putting, Putting Experts by Andrew
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