Is spin putting really all that bad?

[TheManacoti]

This is more of a come to jesus reply in regards to spin putting. Take from it, whatever you will. I started out spin putting and in my first year of competitive play I took 3rd place in the state championships (am 3). So because I had just started out and had done this well, I didn't want to become complacent as I tried to move up, but get better in any way. Enter Feldberg. I watched every video on push putting, practiced hours and hours on end year round and committed myself to push putting the following year no matter what. For nearly 2 years I have been push putting in every tournament and round of golf I play no matter how good or bad I did. For 2 years, I have been absolutely terrible and inconsistent with my putting; to the point of wanting to quit and convincing myself I just don't have what it takes. I was convinced, literally until 1 week ago that push putting was the only way to be good because so many of the top people try to keep their elbow straight, i.e. push putt.

A week ago I finally said adios to the push putt and revisited my STELLAR Am 3 putting style. I modified it a little bit so the motion is more of a lifting action with my elbow bent and then when I get about rib cage high I'm using my finger spring and slight opening of the wrist to propel the disc while I shift my weight forward. In all honesty, I haven't played better golf in the past 2 years than what I've churned out over the past week. Even though I'm spin putting, because I lift the disc in the initial release, if I miss it just drops to the ground. Also, because I'm not using my elbow as much for the release, it's more of a height issue instead of left and right.

So this rant is all to say, if you can knock them down inside of 30 feet consistently, don't change it. Push, spin, turbo, drop kick...doesn't matter. I wasted 2 years changing my style b/c of what I thought was supposed to work only to come back to what I started with. There are more examples of great golfers spin putting than push putting. It's all a matter of perspective.

/end rant

Thanks for letting me throw this out there!
Jake

[n3tw0rkn3rd]

I'll agree with what was said about doing whatever gets the disc in the basket for you. Here are a few things I've noticed in my putting since I moved to a push putt style.

- Yes it does require consistency, but every putting style does.
- I return on occasion to spin putting. Sometimes I get annoyed that I'm struggling in practice with my putts. So I'll go back to spin putting and it'll work really well. It doesn't take more than 15-20 putts though for my spin putting to get off again though.
- For me, I've always ended up returning to push putting. It simply feels more comfortable in, and just out of, the circle.
- Over time I've still integrated some of my spin putt form in my push putt style. When I'm combining the two properly, it's typically when I'm putting the best.
- I still fully utilize spin putts for certain types of putts. I simply cannot anhyzer putt with the push putt, so I always spin putt those.

All this to say, play around a bit. If you think that you've hit your mark with spin putting, then stick with it. When you experiment with the different forms, you'll find something that works, and you'll be able to define the pieces of your putt and how it feels when you're on. Then it's again a matter of building that consistency to repeat what you know works perfectly.

[Star Shark]

The main drawback to spin putting is that the wrist motion can cause you to spray your putts right or left. Pitch putters are virtually always on line... just high or low is the mistake with them. The advantage to spin putting is that it works on lower/hotter lines.

[Smigles]

Most players don't have the wrist to push putt so spin putting is what they do, me included.

Push putters have great wrist snap and snap is very difficult to develop. Would a push putter be better off spin putting? I have no idea but suspect they would be very good at either with enough practice and confidence.

Sorry, but I call excuses. You are used to spin putting and dont want to switch after decades of spin putting, that is all.

You try not to move your ellbow and your wrist with push putting. How could your wrist be limiting you in that way ?

The power comes from the weight shift, your core and shoulders, your back leg kicking up and your front leg catching all that power again. Your wrist has nothing to do with it.

on topic : each style has their advantages and disadvantages. Practice what feels best for you. No matter which style, the only thing that makes a good putter is practice, practice and then more practice.

[JR]

Erm push putting uses the wrist too just not in as great a magnitude as in spin putting.

[A buzzz and a beer]

I don't think it is bad. At the begining of this year I went with the hype of the push putt and spent the first couple months tweaking my putt. It worked out ok but it never got to the point of being as good as my spin putt. I went back to spin putting and its been great ever since.

My one problem is that I notice that I get wrist pains sometimes. When this happens it makes it really hard for me to spin putt. I get all my putt from just the snap of my wrist. On these days I wish I could switch to push putting cause it doesn't hurt my wrist as much.

[jenb]

I've heard that even Feldgerg says he spin putts past 45 feet or so. If you are going to have only one putting style, spin putting makes sense.

[JHern]

...I'd be wary of statements like "do what feels right" or "don't do something if it feels wrong". It's very easy to have bad form feel right and good form feel awkward. Shooting a basketball by propelling it with both hands often feels right to beginners and is significantly easier. However, if you expect / want to be able to shoot consistently you need to relegate your off hand to merely guide the ball.

The question is whether spin putting is bad, not whether somebody should do some stupid throwing motion that doesn't work.

And anyways, it's not at all what I was talking about. If you're not hitting shots consistently, then it obviously can't "feel right." Be smooth. Putt like butter. Accelerate through the release. That's what you see in every elite player. And I know that when I feel like I'm over-extended, or it feels like too much effort in the motion, or my body is trying to compensate for last split second adjustments, then I'm missing a lot of putts. Those feelings and missing putts are highly correlated. The times it goes in solid consistently are when it feels smooth, rhythmic, and effortless. The disc hitting the center of the chains and falling is the punctuation mark.

[Dookville]

Being one that is still trying to find his putting stroke and disc of choice, I am using both forms of putting at this point. When within 30 feet I am pushing my putts, it just feels like it has less moving parts to put the disc on line. I use a Discraft Soft Focus currently for push putting because i like that it is a lower profile disc. Outside of 30 feet I spin my putts and use a Soft Magnet because its a little less stable and feels easier to float it in there on a spin.

I just don't have the snap to pop a push putt up there from outside the circle. I continue to practice at it, but I'm not sure if I have the genectic makeup thats going to ever allow me to be accurate from that distance on a push.

I'm not sure if this will eventually stall my progress or not, but for now I'm happy with my putting and it's working for me. My confidence is up.

[Sean40474]

I've recently changed my putting style to spin putting and for some reason I have more confidence and feel like I've been hitting more of my putts. I was using 168 Magics for my push putting and now I'm using max weight Magics. I was considering going to max weight wizards for putting for something more stable.

What are folks' opinions and experiences with spin putting and using stable/understable putters vs. overstable putters?

[JHern]

What are folks' opinions and experiences with spin putting and using stable/understable putters vs. overstable putters?

You should use over-stable putters for spin putting. The right kind of putter will flex to flat even when the nose angle is level or down and the release is anhyzer. Whatever you do, try to hit the chains with the disc oriented flat...this will maximize the transfer of momentum to the chains and slow the disc's progress, making it drop.

[Booter]

You don't need a overstable putter. A lot of spin putters use stable to understanle putters more. Including myself...omegas

[JR]

I use a soft 168 Ion and it has only little fade and on longer throws i just putt a degree or two of initial anny so that the disc is flat or fading a little at the basket. No need for super HSS discs. In fact a minimal LSS disc is a bonus, because there's no need to make corrective aiming within the circle if you put oomph in the putt. No height correction either at closer ranges say 20-25'.

[Sean40474]

I figured this might cause a war of differing opinions as I hear both sides a lot. Everyone seems to drop a logical explanation for their school of thought, so it has been hard to decide. It seems that most pros are in the school of overstable putters...at least a large portion of pie anyway.

[JHern]

You don't need to have an over-stable putter to spin putt....

...most pros are in the school of overstable putters...at least a large portion of pie anyway.

Sometimes that is simply because they can be in the school of over-stable putters, since they have access to stocks of discs that other schmucks don't have. So many runs of supposedly "over-stable" putters turn out to be stable or under-stable (Challenger is my latest favorite example of this). All the sponsored pros can go to their disc benefactor and poach all the nice over-stable putters from the stock that they need. When Joe Consumer buys the same kind of putter off the shelf, there's no telling whether it will be over-stable or under-stable. We have to buy 20 or more to find that single good putter that's money. And I can testify that I've received numerous hand-me-down putters from pros that were way more spectacular than anything I could buy...if only that source was more reliable...

Also, a lot of Ams throw their putters nose up, mostly because they don't run the basket as hard, and are thinking conservatively about the possibility of making the next shot if they miss the putt. Spin putting pros, on the other hand, are putting flat or nose slightly down, and are drilling the chains. They're not thinking about the next putt if they miss...they're going to hit that putt. If you throw nose up, you make your putter behave more over-stable than otherwise. If you throw nose down with vigor then the disc flies more under-stable, so you need a more over-stable putter to compensate.