Dear Damon,
Thanks for your enthusiastic and kind words!
Yes, I am working on multimedia / multisensory presentations for the website -- including digital video and Poser animation. Not too far off I will have the capability of teaching groups or one-on-one via a very sophisticated web-sales presentation software package that I will use for web-based education. But it's a matter of patience, as all this comes to me free from friends and supporters, so I can't rush it.
The 60 bpm action is really whatever pendulum tempo your body and putter have from physics. It may be 62 or 59 or whatever. A way to learn it is to think solely of how long the putter takes to fall from the top of ANY backstroke length. That is, the time it takes the putter to swing by itself from top of backstroke (of whatever length) to top of thru-stroke. Most 35" putters take about 1 full second ("One Mississippi"). Just hold the top of the putter grip between thumb and forefinger, set it at the top of a backstroke, and let go and count. When the putter reaches the top of the thru-stroke, catch it and hold it there. Your count will be very close to "One Mississippi." Then repeat this with a shorter backstroke length and you'll still get the same timing from side to side. Then repeat with a longer length.
This exercise teaches you that the pendulum action under gravity is only from the top of the backstroke thru to the top of the thru-stroke. In other words, moving the putter from address back to the top of the backstroke is not really part of this pendulum-gravity action. Even so, I like to make sure the action going back a) starts straight, and b) ends up moving like a pendulum as it coasts to a brief pause at the top of the backstroke. So I have devised a helpful saying to get the tempo on track: "One Potato, Two..." This child's counting game comes along with the fist-pounding action counting players "out", so it has a built-in rhythmic arm action that seems to help use it in putting to set the tempo. The "One Potato" part is going from address to top of backstroke, and the "TO" (toe) part is the coasting to a pause at the top. Then the putterhead starts down naturally and gradually gains speed under the tug of gravity only until it reaches the maximum putterhead speed right at the bottom of the stroke on "Two." Imapct on "Two." The saying also works well with breathing in going back, and exhaling going into impact, so the tempo is nicely coordinated with a smooth relaxed breathing pattern. I usually am thinking "One Potato, Two" when I putt. The nonsense phrase also helps shut out excessive internal thinking with the "little voice" yapping away in our heads, and that is a big plus in putting. Eventually, you don't even want to be thinking "One Potato, Two."
I have an exercise I call "Cupid's Bow" to help train the arms and shoulders to relax with this movement pattern and allow gravity to set the tempo of the stroke, since the physics will always be VERY consistent from day to day, regardless of how you feel. Move the "triangle" of arms and putter back to the top of a backstroke by moving the lead shoulder down, thus moving the triangle as an intact shape. Once the putterhead is at the top of your backstroke, think of the putter as a bow string being pulled back and then released by the right hand. Let go with the right hand and ALLOW the putter, left hand and arm to drop all as a unit from gravity alone. The left arm and putter need to swing down lazily the way a young elephant would let his trunk swing from side to side across the tops of the savanna grass. Repeat this exercise so that the sole of the putter grazes the grass thru the exact bottom of your stroke arc. Once you can do this, add one more feature: make sure your shoulderframe as a whole is "keeping up" with the drop of the triangle down to the bottom and also past impact up into a symmetric finish. This requires a little attention to keeping the base of the neck still as the clavicle stays perpendicular to the putter shaft as it swings from side to side. If you have to let your head sway to do this at first, that's ok, so long as the pivot in the base of the neck is kept in one location in space during the stroke.
Try a few putts with the thought "Cupid, draw back your bow, and let your arrow go," as in the Sam Cook song.
Let me know how this works for you. We can work on ball speed later.
--
Cheers!
Geoff Mangum
Putting Theorist and Instructor
The PuttingZone.com
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