Dear David,
Being objective, putting performance these early days in the career of Aaron Baddeley is not something to deny.
But there is a very real danger that youthful instinctive putting will not persist as the body and brain change with time and experience.
Think Johnny Miller -- why did he lose his good putting after about 10-15 years of serious competitive golf (especially 1964-1976) and never so far be able to regain it? Think Arnold Palmer -- why did his putting shine so brightly from his college days circa 1955 until about 1974? Think Sam Snead -- whose beautiful instinctive swing in the mid-1930s did not sustain his putting past 1946 or so when he developed a terrible, persistent case of the yips and he rued never winning a US Open?
Miller 1964:
Miller 1973:
Palmer 1961:
Snead 1950:
Is Aaron Baddeley charted to be a similar case of the golfer who putted great while young, but for whom the lack of a deep understanding of cause-and-effect for putting technique meant that when his body and brain aged, and his putting instincts no longer cooperated as well with his idiosyncratic technique, he was not able to retain his instinctive effectiveness on a steady basis, and instead became a streaky performer on the greens whose streaks became less vibrant and less frequent over the ensuing years?
I certainly don't say Aaron Baddeley is not a fabulous artist these days with his putting, but I do say that history teaches a cautionary tale that goes something like this: intelligent work to understand the fundamentals of putting technique (optimally at an instinctive level, and not simply at a mechanical level) is what sustains great putting thru the years. It is similar to the history in painting: Picasso FIRST mastered the classical art of drawing and form and color as exhibited by the Old Masters before he went forth with his own "style" -- that is, he "mastered the rules and techniques of his craft" to understand them so he could express his own vision thru these techniques. Craft mastery comes before true artistic mastery, despite the flashes of brilliance of certain idiosyncratic performers. With craft mastery, real artistry is built upon a solid foundation, and not upon the shifting sands of youth. Think Bob Charles, Bobby Locke, Horton Smith, Billy Casper, and others (Paul Runyan, Bob Rosburg, etc.) -- people who sought ought specific techniques that they chose on a cause-and-effect basis and then honed throughout their careers.
Charles 1963:
Locke ca. 1973:
Smith in the 1950s:
Casper 1960s:
So, I have concerns that Aaron might well lose his putting brilliance and not be able to sustain it -- most likely after about five to ten more years -- and he will become increasingly dependent upon trying to recapture the past with his putting. In that sense, I think he can "improve" his putting and he better get started now.
At an even more helpful level, what difference would it make if Aaron Baddeley has great instincts? Should that persuade other golfers to eschew fundamental technique? Not at all, since they do NOT have the fine instincts that allows Aaron Baddeley to perform at his current level. If these other golfers had such fine instincts and could use them, they would STILL benefit from mastering putting fundamentals. And so would Aaron Baddeley benefit as well.
Cheers!
Geoff Mangum
Putting Coach and Theorist
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