Putting Inconsistencies

[Blake_T]

moving it below the disc will add more snap to the putt.

[deaddisc]

Blake, would you suggest that the pointer finger goes below the disc or on the rim? I have been having some trouble with this lately, and even to the point where my finger will move mid-shot. Which needless to say gives poor output

[didihitatree]

I tried to learn from that Sinclair video, too. I found it useful for generally visualizing what the shot will look like, but not for actually learning the shot. He's actually too smooth, if that makes sense.

What happened to me is you know, you're learning a new putt so you aren't confident and you're really concentrating. So one or both things happen: your arm tenses up, or it slows down. This results in a non-spinning, dying quail of a putt. And then you try to compensate with for that by using more wrist, which is also bad.

In Blake's article, he mentions NOT to follow through when you are learning the putt. That, and the lifting off of the fingers are (to me) are the only way to get the feel of the putt. All the power comes from the weight shift. You shouldn't feel like you need to "throw" the disc or generate any effort with your arm or wrist at all, other than simply lifting your arm a bit as you shift weight.

The grip doesn't matter all that much as long as the release is clean. If you have your finger on the side of the disc, it's hard to get a clean release. Other than that, anything that feels comfortable works.

If you get a clean release and a short relaxed flick, then almost any issue with the putt (left/right, too much spin/ nose angle) seems to go away. That's the beauty of it. The motion is so quick and compact that once you get it, you can repeat it over and over. On a non-windy day, you really don't have to actively aim at all.

Anyway, that's my 2 cents. I'm still not as good a putter as I'd like, but mostly because I'm lousy in the wind and sometimes I screw up my weight shift.

[bernie]

Alrighty then...since moving to the 4:00 position (for closer putts <15') I haven't missed one and I tied my PB at league last night! I think I figured out why I am havng trouble imitating Sinclair. I played last year with a partially torn rotator cuff (it still isn't 100%) so any lifting type motion is uncomfortable. I need to have a motion that is more horizontal (to the ground) than an up and out. So, I am attempting to adapt the short arm putting style with a belly high, horizontal motion. The 4:00 grip position seems to help but I need to play with it a lot to determine distances and when I need to move to a 3:00 and perhaps even a 2:00 grip. Anyone have any experience with putting with a rotator cuff issue? These tips are helping-thanks for your time!!

[Blake_T]

the marshall street dvd's, especially 2004 will have footage of walter haney, who putts with more of an elbow extension short arm putt.

[Blake_T]

Blake, would you suggest that the pointer finger goes below the disc or on the rim?

on the rim gives more power.


btw, didihitatree summed it up pretty good.