OK, many ariticles state that putting to a metronome is a positive drill to do. The "one potato, two potato" type drill. How should I set the metronome? @ 60, 65, 70, what? Please help. I was trying to search your database of aricles, but could not find anything on this.

Dear Bodean,

I hate to say this, because it is contrary to what many people believe and expect, but you really don't need a metronome. You should just relax and let your putter hang from one arm and lift it out to the side and then allow it to free-fall past your hip whil ekeeping the arm "dead", and watch and learn. Each person and each putter constitue a slightly different pendulum, with a different BASE tempo. What you need to know is your BASE tempo, and then you can take it from there.

The BASE tempo is what tempo gravity ALONE gives your pendulum system (body, setup, and putter). Typically, for an adult male of usual stature and a conventional putter, this BASE tempo is close to 60 beats per minute. That's just plain physics on earth. But to actually see YOUR BASE tempo, just watch the putter swing. You could time it if you want to, but watching is probably more exact and educational.

If you set a metronome to 60 and then let your putter swing, see if it makes it all the way from start to finish at the other side in one beat. If it falls short of reaching the end when the beat comes, decrease the metronome setting a few beats and watch again. If the putterhead gets there early, speed the metronome up a few clicks.

Once you have this BASE tempo, try a few ten footers. You'll likely want to go a little faster, so experiment by increasing the metronome a little but not by 5s or 10s. Many pros use a nice 65 bpm setting, and not many get far above 75 bpm. I think Loren Roberts looks like about 65 bpm.

Incidentally, the business about "one potato, two" is to coordinate tempo a little with breathing and to suggest a flexible yardstick suitable for different people.

Cheers!

Geoff Mangum
The PuttingZone
http://puttingzone.com
Golf's most advanced and comprehensive putting instruction.

Dear Geoff,
I too heard about using a metronome for timing practice. Some people even recommend it for the long game. To me there is one problem I just can't really think out myself.
Where should the putter be when there is a beat. If you keep swinging a putter back and forth its obvious-
always the lowest point of the swing. But what about real putting. At address the putter is in the lowest point of the swing. BUT!-it stands still. If you wanted to start with the the first beat and to be back at the lowest point when the next beat is heard you would have to swing faster than normal.

Or is it like this that you have a beat at the beginning of the backswing, at the end of the backswing and at the and of the whole swing?
At first this might seem a little odd. But when you compare it to an ordinary pendulum it might be logical. If you have a pendulum the amplitude has no importance for the time of one period. The only two factors are pendulum lenght and mass (and of course the amount of gravity). The backswing could be seen as a period with short amplitude, the rest could be seen as a period with long amplitude.
What do you think about it?

Prost!
Axel