Dear Francesco,
I understand the usefulness of the chipputt approach to long putts for the vast majority of golfers. My teaching, however, is directed at pushing the envelope at the outer edges of putting performance. So let me suggest to you that the chipputt has value for you and others at a stage in the development of putting expertise, but there is a level of putting beyond that, and this other level of putting skill is what gets your game up to the higher level. So enjoy the chipputt as your skill grows, but keep a lookout for getting beyond the chipputt.
The rationale for the chipputt is to give the golfer at a certain skill-level some "comfort" and "freedom of action" that avoids the long flowing stroke required for long putts from getting cramped and short and tight and quick. Paradoxically, short and tight in the stroke usually equates to leaving the putt short, so long as the golfer doesn't "gun" his tempo. The reason is that "tight" or "tightening" invokes the "braking" system of the cerebellum to curtail the flowing action of the motor cortex.
Body movement is performed by agonist-antagonist muscle pairs changing joints. In muscle control, the motor cortex across the top of the brain is responsible for firing the agonist muscles in a "ballistic" manner, meaning the cortex says "head this way" and now "load and fire." The cerebellum, on the other hand, has the infinitely more complex and demanding task of a) monitoring the force and direction the cortex orders up for the agonist muscles, b) calculating the pattern of braking action and the smoothness and end-point of limb movement, and c) applying antagonist-muscle braking action in precisely the right time and amount called for by the intention as calculated. When you tighten in the downstroke, the cerebellum is braking the stroke, and to make the braking action somewhat smooth instead of abrupt, the antagonist muscles actually slow the putter head speed from what it would be in a relaxed stroke BEFORE impact. Result: putt stops short. The cure is to stay relaxed in the backstroke and don't rush the downstroke or tighten or curtal the flow of the stroke in good tempo.
The special problem of the "long stroke" for long putts is that the stroke gets outside the golfer's "comfort zone" for putting action. Frankly, that's the golfer's fault for not having a larger "comfort zone" capable of handling putts they know they'll be facing on golf courses. The NEED for the chipputt comes about because the golfer needs a cheaper way to expand the comfort zone, and the cheaper way is to change technique. A better way is to expand the golfer's comfort zone with the right technique.
What's 'wrong" about the chipputt? Not much, except it gives up the straight stroke and a little line control in exchange for avoiding tightening on the long stroke and leaving the putt short. How is the trade-off made? By standing a little more erect and gating the stroke path so the size of the stroke looks more like a chip size and the clubface action thru the ball looks more like a chipping action than a "down-the-line" putting stroke. Why is that more comfortable? The golfer has less conflict between the bottom of the targetward ribcage and the hip and less stretching on the rib and abdomen on the rearward side going to the top of the backstroke (and reversed going to the top of the thru-stroke) with the chipputt movement than he does when he tries to keep the stroke headed straight for the big-size stroke. The degree of discomfort only rises to a significant level at the outer ranges of putting stroke sizes.
Is the trade-OFF of less line control for less loss of distance control necessary for the long strokes? Not really. You can have your long-putt cake and eat it too. How's that? Stay slow and stay relaxed and and don't rush the downstroke or tighten coming down, stay with your tempo throughout the stroke, lose the idea that nice and slow and smooth won't get the ball all the way to the hole, and learn how the two hands need to stay relaxed with the left hand leading the thru-stroke so that the putter head and face don't get twisted off line thru impact. This latter aspect is what I call heading to the "waiter's tray" position.
The "waiter's tray" position is the putter head staying on-line and square all the way to the end of the stroke in the thru stroke. This is best experienced initially in slow-motion. Just move the shoulder-frame in a straight-stroke action so the putter is lifted by the rising lead shoulder socket out and down the line. The farther down the line it goes, the farther the putter head gets from the feet. Keeping the putting stroke square and online means heading the putter face right straight at the target, and if the action continued until the putter shaft reached horizontal and parallel to the ground, the face of the putter would be aimed straight up at the top of the sky. So this stroke action has two defining characteristics: the sweetspot of the putter head stays out over the line of the putt at all times, and the face of the putter is arcing up only inside the vertical plane of the putt line and not aiming inside this plane.
An arcing stroke, in contrast, stays closer to the feet even though the curvature is not completely circular. The putter head falls inside in the thru-stroke and the putter face points inside as well and ends at the top of the thru-stroke pointing left for a right-hander.
This extension of the putter head away from the feet in the putting stroke is present in short or long putts, but only comes to cause problems in the longer range of stroke. This "problem" is the conflict and strain described above that can accompany the straight stroke for a golfer developing his skill. Going slow and smooth diminishes the problem practically to vanishing, and since the golfer doesn't tighten, the putt doesn't stop short but rolls beautifully the whole way with a mesmerizing won't-stop quality of the roll. The golfer has to learn that slow and smooth with the stroke equals nice and long for the roll, and keeps distance control at the level required, especially for long putts.
The advice or suggestions above aleviate the conflict and strain greatly, but then a second little problem is possible. This is the way the right hand at the far margins of the thru-stroke wants to "hold on" with control. This sense of keeping the right hand up with the extension of the stroke down the line away from the feet causes right-side tension and somewhat tugs the thru-stroke to a too-soon conclusion and also causes the right hand to fold "closed" and direct the putter face closed out of square. The end result of right-hand interference at the far margin of a long stroke is that the putter head comes inside the line to stay closer to the feet and the putter face closes and aims inside rather than staying square in the plane of the putt.
The way to get rid of the right hand's holding back the thru-stroke on long putts is to a) emphasize the feel of the lead shoulder lifting thru impact to lag the left arm and hand out and down the line in something of a "casting" action of the putter head, b) keep the right hand grip neutralized by keeping the right thumb from tightening down on the handle as happens when holding or using a hammer or a screw-driver, c) welcome the conflict and strain in the sides at the far margins of the stroke as signs that the stroke is staying online and square, and d) appreciate whether the putter head and face are "headed" to the ultimate "waiter's tray" position even if the stroke itself never gets that far.
This "waiter's tray" business allows the golfer on long putts to preserve line control with great precision without causing the loss of distance control. You have to grow into the feeling of this sort of long stroke, so it's not surprising that the chipputt now "feels" better and gives better distance control.
But once you get used to the straight long stroke that is smooth and relaxed and in which the form of the follow-thru preserves line control without sacrificing distance control, the chipputt will look like an interim bandaid to help you lose less distance control.
To gain a wonderful sense of line control, setup to a long putt at a distant target with the putter face squared to the target on the front side of the ball and then move into the thru-stroke towards the waiter's tray position. The putter head will move straight down the line, and eventually the sweetspot of the putter will appear to line up right on the target. That is, your dominant eye's line of sight will look over the sweetspot of the putter like the bead on a rifle sight at the target. This "preview" body action IS the stroke you want to make, right on line. Not only does this preview "waiter's tray" action SHOW you whether you are aimed at the target, it also SHOWS you exactly what the stroke should look and feel like. So, from the top of the preview thru-stroke, allow the putter head to drop back to the ball in the plane of the putt (no elbow changing or wrist changing), and then just place the putter head behind the ball. This action will "square" the putter face right at the target and teach you what to do in the thru-stroke to keep the putt on line. Now just putt and stay relaxed and head towards the waiter's tray position. You should quickly learn just how deadly this technique can be to sort out your aiming on long putts and to keep you relaxed.
In sum, yes, the chipputt helps golfers at a certain stage. But really if you look at it, Pelz's technique here is something of an abandonment of his straight-putt teaching in favor of the action of the screen-door teachers. That's because Pelz hasn't really thought the matter thru about the body in either choice. Over the long haul, the chipputt gives up a little line control to prevent a little loss of distance control, when it is not necessary to lose distance control to begin with on these longer strokes. And on top of it, there is a great way to get very superb line-control information that also happens to teach you aiming the face and the look and feel of the exact stroke motion you need for the long putt -- a preview stroke headed towards the waiter's tray position.
Cheers!
Geoff Mangum
Putting Theorist and Instructor
Geoff Mangum's PuttingZone
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