Dear TBB,
The short answer is: "not really, without seeing you putt." There are a handful of reasons golfers leave putts short, ranging from simply misjudging the distance to misjudging the green speed to making a stifled stroke due to some sort of psychological fear of going too long. But the real reason fundamentally is that the golfer either does not have a stable underlying tempo or is not at ease with relying upon tempo for distance control.
Here's the vision of great touch at the end of the learning curve:
You see a lengthy putt, appreciate green speed, setup and take a targeting look from ball to hole and back, and then just count your tempo making the stroke -- whatever backstroke happens instinctively is the one to trust, so don't stifle the stroke by shortening the backstroke, tightening up, curtailing the thru-stroke, or hurrying the tempo. See it, stroke it -- "one potato [putter coasts to top of backstroke] ... [putter freely falls back to bottom of stroke] ... two [lift lead shoulder and hence putter face into back of ball]."
There is a phase in the learning curve where the golfer is transitioning from the conventional "hit" stroke used by almost all golfers to the much smoother and more accurate "no-hit" smooth stroke used by the Masters. The old way is a muscle-activated striking into the back of the ball in a trying to hit with the right amount of force to send the ball the correct distance. The better way is to rely upon the non-conscious brain processes that handle movement and targeting everyday, look from ball to target with an appreciateion of greenspeed, and then get out of your own way by NOT involving the conscious mind in any effortful manner. Instead, just stcik to the tempo and watch what your brain does in generating a backstroke. You'll never see it if you don't wait for the putter head to coast to a stop at the top of the backstroke. You'll surely foul it up if you second-guess your normal instincts and shorten the backstroke and then hurry the downstroke. So leave it alone and just watch the result.
It seems that golfers used to a "hit" stroke simply refuse to believe a nice smooth tempo is sufficiently violent enough to get the ball all the way to the hole on, say, a 15 footer. So they get stuck in between in this conflict of old and new during the backstroke, second guessing and overriding what the instinct is doing in a casual smooth manner. The result is either SHORT (if the golfer stifles the backstoke but keeps the tempo, or tightens and brakes into impact, or fails to allow the thru-stroke to proceed smoothly and completely to a coasting stop, or overestimates the green speed, or makes imperfect contact) or LONG (if the golfer gets impatient and hurries the down-and-thru stroke or underestimates the green speed). The ONLY way to be long with a good appreciation of green speed is to hurry the stroke tempo. If you stay "never hurried, never worried," it is nearly impossible to be long on lengthy putts. So during the transitional period where the golfer is trying to get the feel of a smooth, steady tempo-based touch, the usual problem is being SHORT for a while.
The cure for this is a) stick to the game plan and wait out the transition, and b) speed up the transition with tempo-based practice, and c) get the conscious mind on board with the system by just stroking putts with even tempo and unhurried back- and thru-strokes that are instinctively as full as they want to be and watch the putts start ending up dead on the desired distance time after time. The SHORT basically shortens and dissipates the more you stick with intinctive backstrokes based on the fundamentally steady tempo.
A slight additional comment: going uphill, the stroke is made in a setup with the shoulderframe slightly tilted uphill, with the lead shoulder a little higher than normal. This has a decpetive tendency by which the golfer sends the lead shoulder down the right depth, but once the shoulder returns to level, it feels higher than level, with the result that the golfer curtails the finishing of the stroke of moving the shoulder as high above level as it went below level in tyhe backstroke. The upshot: an unfinished thru-stroke, and the ball doesn't make it all the way uphill. Just remember that on uphill putts the shoulder's thru-stroke up will feel a little higher up than normal, so it is like chasing the ball uphill a little with the finish. This adds the missing distance back in. [This is separate altogether from considering an uphill putt one over a "slower" green sped than a level or downhill putt on the same surface.]
Cheers!
Geoff Mangum
Putting Theorist and Instructor
Geoff Mangum's PuttingZone
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