I find it very easy to "see" golf through geometric shapes. I find it personally impossible to "see" golf through numbers, however, we are here to learn so I will pass this information on. The information comes from DV PUTT, a machine which measures a number of different elements of the stroke. Mike Shannon and I have had ours for about 2 years and here are the findings.
THE AVERAGE TOUR PLAYER
At address the alignment of the face is less than 1/2 a degree open or closed.
At impact the alignment of the face is less than 1/2 a degree open or closed.
During the impact interval the putter head is moving from 1 to 3 degrees in to out.
There putter faces are square to the arc or even slightly closed. This means they are using an angled hinge or angled/toward horizontal.
The measurement of their arc ranges from 50 to 100. The putting arc is is 107 on the DV PUTT which is the reason tour players like it. They have a tendency to move in too big an arc.
Their backstroke length and their through stroke length is BALANCED. No short back, long through stuff.
You can understand that when a typical amateur gets on for a putting lesson their numbers are all over the place. Generally speaking the putter head is traveling out to in which can't happen if you are traveling in an arc.
Secondly, most amateurs follow through approximately 6 to 10 inches further than they go back. Sorry, but we have to remember Newton's second and third law (pg 15).
vj, interesting post. I am surprised by the data showing amateurs going through impact 6-10 inches further than they took the putter back. I remember when I started I typically would take a longer backstroke and then decelerate at impact with a short follow -through----but the numbers don't lie ! Dr Dave
Dr. Dave, one of the things that blow me away is putting is approximately 40 percent of the game. It should be obvious to us all that we can be as good or better than anybody in the world with the short stick if we can just pigeon hole our components and lay out a practice schedule that works.
So these numbers represent to me the fact that most amateurs don't know what to work on and how to work on it. Quite suprising.
Interesting. Could not resist making this table. In ideal conditions (everything flat, balls perfectly round etc):
An error of a 1/2 degree (worst pro putt) will make a putt of 7 meters / 22,97 feet roll outside the edge of the hole.
Double that error and you'll (obviously!) miss the putts on half that distance..
EDIT: Forgot to say this, but a discussion about how plane and face alignments contribute to direction is relevant, but ignored. There are no flat greens and no round balls anyway...
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When James Durham recorded 94 at the Old Course at St Andrews in 1767, he set a course record that lasted 86 years. Golf: A curious sport whose object is to put a very small ball in a very small hole with implements ill desiged for the purpose - Sir Winston Churchill
Those "feelings" you are getting from different putters come from alignment and aesthetics. The more the lines, dots, and the larger the head the more "steer" oriented you get. The less "stuff" the more courageous you get. You are experiencing the difference between linear and non-linear.
I just want you to know there is no One Way only Your Way.
This may be an old thread, but I'm obsessed..
putting is, in general, ALL WRONG. We should be
standing on the side and hanging the putter straight
down from the shoulder vertically and using a croquet
type swing.
It's amazing that we putt as well as we do with such
inferior techniques. Give me a kid who's into it, and I'll
turn him into a champion putter.
Linear Mode
