Spent some time in the PZ last week and decided to try some of Geoff's recommendations for my round on Sat. Spent an hour Friday evening on the putting green.
Changes I have incorporated -
1. Went to the TM Corza Monza. Have been back & forth all summer with a SC Newport 2 or a SC Belly. Occassional flashes of brillance with both (67 a week ago Sat with 29 putts - 1st day back to the belly after a 71 on Friday missing 3 putts inside of 4' (SC NP 2).
Next day 75 with 34 putts (belly) - just hit terrible putts.
2. More bent over (neck parallel to ground - eyes over ball). Hands 'higher' to get the putter soled properly - real important with the Monza or you can snag it easily. The higher hands helped to make them more passive.
3. Tried to use a 'pure shoulder' stroke - certainly less hands / wrists then before - always had worked before on trying to 'release' the putter - eliminated that thought. Used to make 2 practice strokes besides the ball prior to striking the putt. Eliminated both practice strokes. After the 'read' - just approached the ball, set the putter face square to my starting line and stroked it.
4. Set up with a 1" gap between the putter and the ball then worked to deliver a slight upstroke thru the impact area. Before I was always trying to hit at low point or slightly before. Was using a 'gating' type stroke
Results - lots of solid putts rolled on line. 5 birdies (3', 12', 20', 6', + 2 putts from 50'). Also made some 3 & 4 footers for 2nd putts. Missed 1 from 4' for only 3 putt - slight pull. Score was 72 (short sided myself on the 3 greens I missed - 2 bogeys & 1 double. Total of 33 putts and score of 72, but I rated the changes a success due to the number of solid putts I rolled and making all my 3 and 4 footers except the one 3 putt. Most rounds would include missing at least a couple of these and sometimes never giving the putts in the 10 to 15 foot range a chance.
A vast improvement in the number of solid putts rolled on line. My scoring average for my last 25 scores is 72.05 and my average putts per round is 33.8. Hopefully - the above changes will not be a "One Hit Wonder" and I can get my putts per round down at least a couple of strokes.
Thanks Geoff for putting together such a complete site, and your willingness to include all different points of view on putting.
If you have any insights to my changes above, they would be greatly appreciated.
Best regards,
Bruce Lehnhard
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