I would describe my putting as "reasonable" i.e. probably almost exactly half-way between beginner and expert. I have good distance control and feel, but need to improve my accuracy and ball striking (to get a nice roll). Obviously, the "basics" need to be addressed for this and I'm working on that e.g. set-up, grip, swing path.
However, in short, I would like to know which putting aids people have found most useful in improving their game. I am considering buying Harold Swash's Rhythmiser, but can find no reviews. Is it really any good? How about the numerous swing path gadgets please where you slide your putter along/inside a rail or similar?
In passing, I have tried CheckerBalls (www.checkerballs.com) but haven't got a great deal out of them yet - perhaps they are better for fine tuning and not best for developing a solid stroke in the first place?
To keep things as simple as possible, use training aids that train specific skills -- reading putts, aiming the putter, stroking straight, and controlling distance. Here are a few basic tools:
READING PUTTS:
You need to learn to perceive the orientation of the fall line straight uphill/downhill thru the hole; to perceive the curvature of the path over the last three feet or so into the cup at your usual delivery pace; and to perceive the starting line that matches this final curvature as well as the energy or pace in terms of how far along this start line to imagine a straight putt.
Fall line: a wide jar cap and a marble works great to show you the orientation of uphill / downhill. Get a jar cap that is 3-4 inches wide (wider is better, more sensitive to slope), set it down flat on the green, and place a marble inside it. The marble will roll to the lowest point inside the cap, and the fall line at that location on the green is then the line from the marble thru the center of the cap to the opposite highest point in the cap. If you draw an arrow inside the jar cap with a Sharpie pen, the marble will settle at the low point and then you rotate the cap until the back end of the arrow is beneath the marble and then the arrow aims straight uphill.
Curvature of final line into cup: use two tee pegs at the lip of the cup to form a "gate" for the ball to pass thru into the hole to indicate the correct entry path of the curve you perceive. For example, an uphill right-to-left breaking putt might enter the hole somewhat to the right of the point on the lip that is closest to you, slightly uphill. see this entry path and then orient a nice gate with two tee pegs to remind yourself what you perceive.
Start line: nothing beats an elevated string line. Identify a target spot near the hole (see my movie clip about using the final curve to then see a target spot on the fall line above the hole a certain distance), insert one stick of the elevated string here and insert the other stick at the ball so that the string stretches taut from target spot to ball (place the second stick well past the ball so as not to interfere with the stroke so the string runs straight above the ball to the target spot). Then aim straight under the string and imagine a dead straight level putt at the opposite stick that will arrive at the stick with your usual delivery speed, even though you actually "hope and pray" that the ball will merely start straight and then break downhill off this start line towards and ultimately into the cup, all as planned and visualized. Alternatively, without using a string line, just place a tee peg on the fall line above the cup where the target spot is located, aim straight at the tee, and imagine a straight level putt to the tee peg that just bumps it at the usual delivery speed.
So: jar cap, marble, two tee pegs, string line.
AIMING PUTTER:
Once a specific target spot is identified, the skill of aiming the putter at the spot includes the skill of standing at the address position beside the aimed putter face and perceiving where in fact the putter face aims at some distance across the green -- whether left or right or the intended target spot or straight at the target spot. This skill breaks down into two aspects: 1) the ability to look at the ground and then roll the face sideways in a fashion that makes the line of sight travel along the ground in a straight line, and 2) the ability to set up to the aimed putter face so that this line along the ground generated by turning the face is the SAME line of aim the putter face points along.
Squaring up to a putter face with the head and eyes: This skill is whether you can orient the midline of your body to the top edge of the putter face as aimed, so a plane thru the middle of the body front to back coincides with or is parallel (usually slightly behind to the right for a right-hander) to a plane that enters the ground vertically and includes the top edge of the putter face. Holding a simple stick, or business card edgewise, or hand edgewise in front of your face so the line of the stick / card / hand is vertical when you stand with good posture, and then bending with the stick or card edge or hand moving with your bending face as you set the head and eyes downward to face the putter head will show you whether the midline of your body / head matches or parallels the top line of the putter face. This will set the horizontal line of your skull across your eyes to the same aim as the putter face.
Running the eyes in a straight line along the ground: The skill here is to face the putter sweetspot with your face as a whole by aiming the bridge of the nose at the sweetspot as if an arrow was sticking level thru the head from the back of the skull out the bridge of the nose: aim this arrow at the sweetspot to aim the face. Once the face is aimed, just look with the eyes where the face aims. That is, direct the eyeballs straight out of the face, not angled down the noise or cheek the way people usually do. The training aid here is the hand held edgewise beneath both pupils to prevent looking down the nose and to force a gaze direction that looks straight out wherever the face aims. Stand with good posture at address with the hand "saluting" horizontally level beneath both pupils so you look just above the top of the hand, bend the face and hand together into the address posture and wait until the bending makes the putter sweetspot come into view above the hand. Then you have "faced" the sweetspot and not gazed down the nose to look at the sweetspot, but are using a straight-out gaze that looks wherever the face is aimed. Alternatively, you can take a cheap pair of glasses or work goggles and place strips of tape to block the lower half of the lenses, making a nice straight top edge of tape that runs horizontally just below the line that connects the two pupils. Then, wearing these glasses will force you to bend properly to "face" the putter sweetspot and the top edge of the tape line will match the aim of the putter face.
Running the eyes in a straight line along the ground: Another aspect of this skill is rotating or swiveling the head like an apple on a stick. At address facing the ball and sweetspot, if you properly swivel the head to roll the face down the line towards the target while holding your index finger tip on the button of your golf cap, the button will merely spin beneath the finger tip and not slide out from beneath the finger tip. No training aid required other than a finger. Alternatively, to learn the proper head roll, IF the head is rolled properly when squared up to a putter face as aimed and when also "facing" the putter sweetspot, THEN the eyes will remain running along a single straight line. To learn whether the eyes are staying running along the same straight line, you need a straight line and some way to notice exactly where the eyes are aiming while the head swivels down the line. Any line works fine, such as the line of tiles on a kitchen floor or a string line or the baseboard along a wall. For noticing whether the eyes stay aimed along this line, make a telescope with your right hand fist to form a tiny tube of air no thicker than a small drinking straw, and aim this telescope tube level out of your right eye so it aims wherever the face aims. Then square up to the chosen line and bend into the address posture until the line shows up in the tiny telescope. Then rotate or swivel or roll the head like an apple on a stick and watch to see whether the line remains at all times inside the tiny view of the telescope as the face rolls the eyes down the line. So long as the line stays inside the telescope, the head roll is proceeding properly.
Running the eyes in a straight line along the ground: The final aspect to this skill is being able to identify the exact target spot once the face has rolled down the line and now points in the direction of the target spot. the trouble is that with two eyes open, the visual scene over there at the end of the line has too much information and the golfer may be puzzled about where exactly is the target spot. The training aid that identifies this is the same telescope used above with the fist: whatever blade of grass shows up in the tiny telescope at the end of the line IS where the putter face actually aims. Alternatively, you can take a cheap pair of glasses or work goggles and use a Sharpie pen to locate a single dot on the right lens that is directly opposite the right pupil when the right eyeball looks straight out wherever the face aims. Stand in front of a mirror with the glasses with good posture and look with the right eye straight and level at your own pupil in the mirror, extend the Sharpie point at the mirror as if to "touch" the pupil and then draw the point back to the right lens of the glasses while still appearing to "touch" the mirror pupil. Once the Sharpie point gets to the lens, the pen will "dot" the exact piece of the lens the line of sight passes thru when the eyeball aims wherever the face aims. Then square up to a putter face and face the sweetspot so that the Sharpie dot appears to cover the sweetspot, and then swivel the head and face to run the dot down the line like a laser dot, and at the end of the line the spot where the putter face actually aims is identified by the dot covering a spot on the ground. This spot will either be left, right, or directly aimed at the intended target, but will in any case show where in fact the putter face really aims.
So, finger, business card, stick, string line, glasses and Sharpie pen.
STROKING WHERE THE PUTTER AIMS:
Putting where the putter face aims: Once the putter face aims correctly at the target, the skill is whether the golfer can send or start the ball down the line towards the target. This translates into whether the golfer can start the ball rolling wherever the putter face has been aimed. The best aid for this is a T shape drawn into the green with your finger tip[, tracing the putter face to make the top of the T and then scratching a straight line away from the sweetspot of the putter to indicate the stem of the T. Then place a ball on the stem a little lower down than the intersection point, square the putter face up to the top of the T, and make a stroke that rolls the ball off the far end of the stem. If you putt two balls off the stem with the same pace, the second ball will follow whatever contour there is on the green along the same curve the first ball took and end up bumping the first ball like two freight cars hooking up in a railway yard. Alternatively, you can use an elevated string line that has been arranged straight uphill / downhill or across truly flat and level green and putt ball beneath the string. Alternatively, you can locate a tee peg several feet away down the line of the stem and putt balls so they all bump the tee peg.
So, finger, string line, tee peg.
CONTROLLING DISTANCE:
Controlling distance: The skill is whether you can roll a ball a specific distance across the green and stop the rolling where intended, consistently, with a fair degree of accuracy. The most important aspect to this is timing the stroke back and thru. Timing can vary, but one important timing to experience is the natural swinging timing of gravity, as this is the "floor" timing underneath all human movement. A simple way to experience and practice this is to tie a weight at the end of a string and wrap the other end of string around one of your fingers so the weight dangles not quite to the ground when your hands are positioned on the putter handle at address. Then start swinging the putter back and forth so that the weight and the putter head sync up. Alternatively, place a dime on the top of the putter head and try to swing the putter back and forth so the dime does not slide off, slowing increasing the size of the strokes. Also vary the tightness of your grip pressure to observe whether you can maintain the smoothness of the stroking even with tight grip pressure and hand-arm muscle tension, sometimes holding tightly and sometimes holding more loosely. I do not recommend a metronome, because these are either-or beats set to abstract timings and what you need instead is something that tracks or syncs up with whatever timing you personally actually use. So I recommend swinging the putter back and forth and then learning how to whistle the back and thru in a continuous rising-falling whistling that matches the timing of whatever stroke pattern you actually are using. The whistling just keeps you reminded to stay at the same timing without subtle speeding up or slowing down.
Controlling distance: Another aspect of good distance control and its timing, at least with a no-hands shoulder stroke, is NOT using the hands or arms independently of the shoulder rocking. This translate in the body to NOT allowing the arm pits to open and close during the back and thru swinging. In the body, you can train this with a glove or ball under one or two arm pits while making strokes, or by a bathrobe sash tying the two upper arms into a stable relationship that prevents the arm pits opening or closing, or by placing a golf ball between the top of the putter handle and the inside of the left wrist (right-hander) and making strokes so the ball does not fall out due to changes in the wrist angle to the handle angle. Not using the hands or arms is more than just a "form" issue for accurate line control; done properly the non-use is also a timing issue for distance control. Combine this aspect with the weight on the string behind the handle or the dime on the putter head as described above to observe and learn that swing the shoulders without using the hands and arms also corresponds to good timing. Using the hands and arms independently of the shoulder frame "speeds up" the putter head in a complicated manner that makes "touch" control for distance harder to manage accurately and consistently, so you want to focus on using the shoulder stroking without hands or arms to time the swinging back and thru. This raises the consciousness of the golfer from awareness of hands and arms to an awareness of the shoulder frame, the shoulders (especially the lead shoulder) and the putter head as a unit, coordinating the lead shoulder motion with the putter head motion and eliminating the arms and hands from the motion.
Controlling distance: Another aspect of distance control is clear definition of the place across the green where the ball must come to a stop in its rolling. For this, simply tee up a ball on the green and then walk away from it and putt a ball to roll up to the teed-up ball and just jostle it on the tee peg without knocking it off. Alternatively, putt one ball off across the green to some "whatever" distance and then roll a second ball exactly the same line and distance to just bump the first ball. Alternatively, perch a ball on the lip of a cup and walk off to a distance and roll a ball to the cup so that the rolling ball just bumps the perched ball over into the hole. On all these, vary the distances, using the same "end location" with good focus. Alternatively, stick a tee peg down into the green so the top of the peg is just below the level of the grass and about even with the dirt: step back some goodly distance and roll balls to this tee peg with the intention of "teeing up" the putted ball and see how long it takes, for example from 15 feet away with whatever break is present, until you can tee up a putted ball. Alternatively, set up to a long breaking putt and visualize how the ball will curl into the cup at the end of the putt and make a circle beside the cup oriented off the cup so that the final curve passes straight thru this circle. Make the circle perhaps as wide as a basketball or soccer ball. Then from far away back at the ball, putt so that the ball ends up and stops inside this circle next to the hole on the high side of the hole, without entering the hole. Alternatively, identify the fall line at a cup and place a plank or golf club along the fall line above the hole so the line of the obstacle touches the far side of the cup offset parallel to the central fall line thru the cup. Then putt breaking putts to this hole so that the ball does not run quickly across the obstacle or bounce violently off the obstacle, but cozies up to the obstacle with good distance control.
Controlling distance: Another aspect of this skill is observing the rolling speed of the ball at the end of the putt, so that the ball always arrives at the hole with the same terminal speed or pace when it dives over the lip into the cup deep and safe. When putting into a cup, watch how the ball dives -- does it hit the back wall high or low, or does it dive all the way to the bottom of the cup without reaching the back wall at all. You will be looking for consistency and a pace that keeps the hole wide without going too far past in case of a miss. Physics rather convincingly suggests that a rolling speed over the lip of the cup of about 2-3 revolutions per second corresponds to a safe pace that makes a lot of the hole available without risking a long comeback in case of a miss. This pace dives deep on a center-cut line into the hole and never reaches the back wall; on a line across the cup off to the side edge, this pace still dives deep and strikes the back wall very low. Watching this pattern for consistency is the best training aid. Alternatively, you can putt a ball across the green without a hole or when the ball misses the hole and observe how the ball slows and comes to a stop on the ground. Knowing the pattern of the last 2-3 feet of roll builds a mind sense of how you intend putts to arrive at the hole. Using a ball that is half-and-half different colors (the old 1970s Ping balls) allows you to watch the orange-white ball flashing orange then white in a "dream-sickle ice cream" blur as it speeds across the green and then in a first orange now white flickering as it slows and then a slow now orange now white arrival and stopping. The whole looks similar to an ambulance racing to a hospital with flashing emergency lights and then pulling into a parking spot beside the emergency room. Alternatively, you can color one half of a ball with a Sharpie pen to make your own half-and-half ball.
So, club, finger, tee peg, dime, string and weight, half-and-half ball.
In general, I would advise staying away from this or that training aid unless you have a good understanding of what the aid is really training and whether that is a good thing or not. Very, very often, training aids present a gimmick or a trick for you to perform that teaches performance of the trick and detracts the mind from learning the skill. The notion of rote use of a training aid to "groove muscle memory" is just that -- a "notion" that makers of training aids hope you believe in so they can sell you the training aid as a legitimate way to get better without paying attention, knowing how putting actually works, or taking responsibility for your own skill development. This warning cannot be given often enough.
Many thanks for your detailed reply. I follow your point about needing to understand the putting stroke and where specifically one might have issues to address, only then being able to match a training aid to it (and only an appropriate one).
I am working through your hints and tips but am unfortunately being badly hampered by a tendency to close the club face at impact and miss left (I play right-handed). This is most obvious from short range 2-5 feet but is probably also messing with my ability to start the ball on an exact line for a putt of any length i.e. I'm 3 putting due to short ones and missing birdie chances on 6-15 footers.
I think the problem is NOT due to left wrist collapse, but coming from an almost subconscious turning of the right hand through impact, despite focusing only on rocking my shoulders i.e. no hands. It could potentially also be from "swinging open" with my shoulders due to lack of confidence on short ones. I am trying different grips for added confidence of an "on-line start" and have finally arrived at one with my thumbs side-by-side down the top of the shaft and back of both hands perpendicular to the target. This very much promotes only "side-to-side" motion and appears very accurate.
I am thinking of getting a "2-thumb" putter to provide more room for my hands on the grip - either the "original" one first seen or the "new" one used by KJ Choi (SuperStroke) at the Masters this year. I know putter grip to a large extent is down the individual, but I would be interested to know your expert opinion on such products and whether or not you have seen them help. I guess it might just be a question of try it and see?
In passing, please note that I use an Odyssey Tri-Ball SRT. I wonder if it is possible this doesn't suit my natural swing? For example, I find it difficult to create a "straight back - straight through" swing on short putts but find other putters seem almost to provide this naturally e.g. Nike Unitized Tiempo.
Related to this, do you have any comments on custom fitting of putters please? I'm in the UK and there appears very little of this. Even speaking to golf club pro's, they often just say "try it and see".
I very much appreciate your help and understand the near impossible nature of trying to do so without seeing my putting stroke etc. However, I am really applying myself and in a related area (qualified ski teacher), I've observed a need to address both the student and their equipment (a bit like a suit, some people are OK in most suits but some people benefit greatly from a varying amount of tailoring).
I have to say that it seems to me that you're lost in putting. It seems to me that you have a aim bias. For example, it seems that if you were to have your putter aim tested that I would put bets on it that you aim to the right of the cup from 6 feet and because of this you close the putter face to compensate. If you're looking at getting a putter I would check out David Edel's website.
Most golfers "pull" their putts quite naturally. Even if you aimed straight, the tendency is still to pull putts. This is caused by a "natural" non-involvement of the shoulder frame in a coordinated fashion with arm swinging, as in casually walking about (arms sort of "flopping about" independently off the shoulder sockets). When the arms swing further than the shoulders would alone send them, the shoulders and arms are not coordinated or synced up. When the shoulders run slowly and the arms run faster, the upper arm and elbow moves across the chest (first the left and then the right, for a right-hander). This tends to "roll" the forearms and hence the hands and putter face (first "open" and then "closed" for both a right-hander and a left-hander). In so many words, a putting stroke straight thru impact is not especially "natural" and the better form of the motion is a bit of an acquired taste and artificial in some skillful respects.
When the right hand is dominant (for a right-handed golfer), this tends to exacerbate the problem of the "closing" of the putter face in the thru stroke. Involving the right hand for power PLUS the armsiness of the stroke "rolling" the right forearm and hence the hand and putter face definitely closes the putter face thru impact. That's why the "claw grip" helps a number of golfers -- it "tames" the right hand out of the guidance of the stroke by pre-setting the elbow for a straight shove that keeps the arms coordinated with the lead shoulder, and the pre-setting of the right elbow also coordinates the right hand and arm more with the right shoulder. The end result is that even if the right hand is dominant and powering the stroke with the right hand creeps into the stroke occasionally, the golfer has a guard in place against disaster.
Other grip forms accomplish the same "protection" against a pull, such as the left-hand low form.
But at a fundamental level, whatever originally brought about the situation of the hands and arms outracing the shoulder action to promote a pull stroke (whether an aiming bias to the outside or just the casualness of the human making a stroke), practicing a non-pull thru-stroke helps quite a bit. To do this, set up facing a wall with the toe end of the putter positioned perhaps 1/4th inch back from the baseboard along the intersection of the wall and the floor. Then make a stroke. Even if the toe separates from the baseboard going back to the top of the backstroke and returns to the original separation coming back to the original address position in the forward stroke, once the putter face resquares to the baseboard 1/4th inch offset, try to keep the toe hewing squarely along the baseboard thru impact for a few good inches before it separates again and the putter head comes inside. That's all a straight putt needs, done without unnecessary tension and with good pace or "weight".
The interrelation between "bad aim causes a bad stroke" and "a bad stroke causes bad aim" is definitely a "chicken and egg" tangle. But if you fix the aim first, then the old pull stroke will no longer work and the correct aiming will eventually bring about a straighter stroke. By the same token, if you fix the stroke first, the old bad aim will no longer serve, and eventually the straighter stroke will bring about better aiming. Ideally, you might as well fix both at the same time, assuming both are needing improvement.
My experience with the 2-Thumbs grip and the Super-Stroke grip has been positive except to the extent the grip strikes me as over-large. But this depends somewhat on how deeply engrained your movement preference is for one in which the shoulders move the putter head and the hands and arms just go along in the pre-set form or shape established at setup. The more this is the case, the less attention you want brought by the equipment to the hands. I personally find a putter grip in the mid-size range is a nice accommodation of desirable features: large enough to prevent or mitigate grabbiness to hold onto too-slender a handle and not too large (and massive) as to draw attention to my hands in the stroke. A too-slender grip causes too tight a grip and perhaps some "air" between palm or finger flesh and grip material. A too-fat or too-heavy handle tends to promote too much unwanted awareness of hands during the stroke (as this promotes USING the hands and arms to power the stroke in a manner not coordinated with the shoulder motion, hence promoting opening and closing) and tends to promote a sense of separation and separateness of the two hands and arms instead of a unified form in which the two sides of the body act in balance and harmony and coordination. But probably for you these grips will help quite a bit as your skill and preferences are developing.
As to putter fitting, the basic rule is "fix the setup and stroke motion first" and then adjust the putter to this. As to length and lie, I teach a natural hanging of the arms and hands into conformance with gravity at setup to avoid fighting against gravity with holding of the arms and hands out to the putter handle (or in to the handle), as this brings about a level of torque-resisting tension that may well not remain steady during the stroke and may relent a little in the beginning of the forward stroke coming down from the top of the backstroke. So, fitting a putter to this sort of posture and shoulder action means first positioning the body at setup and starting with the hands and forearms. Ideally, the good-fit putter will extend the shaft line the same angle as the elbow extends the forearm, both slightly out of plumb with gravity. This will give you a flatly soled putter, a shaft line conformed to the forearm line, and hands centered nicely on the grip material with left-hand lifeline along lead edge of the handle, at the proper length for your body and bend at address.
The other major issues in putter fitting are putter head weight or mass and the sort of shape and hoseling pattern and mass distribution about the shaft axis thru the putter head.
The mass of the putter head ought to be adjusted to the golfer's body masses in his hands, forearms and upper arms; to his grip strength and sensitivity in the hands as this monitors and controls unwanted opening and closing of the putter face out of the stroke path; to the timing pattern of his stroke as this determines the level of starting and coasting and stopping or re-directing forces required to be managed in a coordinated and balanced manner; to the other design properties of the putter such a heavier-than-usual grips or extra flex in the shaft or extra long putters or extra short putters or the presence of backweighting etc.; and to the typical green speeds and conditions that the golfer plays. generally, I don't like a "light" putter head (e.g., Scotty cameron designs at a fairy-light 325 grams), do like something closer to 360-375 grams (GolfWorks agrees with this, too), and don't like anything that is so heavy for my body and strength that it requires me to tighten grip pressure and use the arms and hands to tug the putter head back at the initial takeaway as opposed to a fluid shoving-back into my rhythm and tempo with the lead shoulder and a comfortable and steady shaping tension or tone in the arms and hands or that requires me to do the same in stopping or re-directing the putter head at the top of the backstroke (e.g., the Heavy Putter with 450 grams or more). I think I am fairly typical of the vast majority of golfers, but body differences matter. And not always in ways one might expect: some Popeye-arms big guys have very weak grips and/or sensitive hands and play very fast surfaces almost all the time. Go figure!
The distribution of the mass in terms of whether the putter head is toe-heavy in relation to the shaft axis thru the putter head or balanced or some other scheme injects certain inertial physics dynamics into the stroke. The "mindful" golfer is quite capable of handling or counteracting these physics influences with grip pressure especially in the thumbs, but if the golfer lapses into an "unmindful" moment or is simply not aware of things generally (because not well-educated about these issues), then the inertial physics may bring about certain dynamics in the stroke that may well be regarded as "natural" but in fact degrade the ability to putt straight as aimed consistently. This is a big fat chapter in a book all by itself. My preference is for "no imbalance" in the putter design if I can get it, so the goodness of the stroke form is the responsibility of my setup and movement skill and has no contribution from the putter designer that I am required to take into account or not mess up or what-have-you. No thanks to that.
The hoseling pattern can affect aim and setup and stroke. Some people react differently in aiming to different hoseling patterns. Some people setup differently depending upon the relationship between the hosel and shaft axis versus the location of the putter face and sweetspot and to the bottom of the stroke arc and to the ball position -- for example, offset hoseling often results in a slight hands-ahed delofting at setup that functionally aims the shaft axis back to the bottom of the stroke arc more closely to where the putter face meets the ground, to unify the perception of the equipment in relation to the bottom of the stroke arc, whereas without this the equipment presents ambiguity about what should bottom out and transition when (the hosel, as it reaches the bottom earlier and first before the putter face and sweetspot, or the putter face and sweetspot, which reaches the bottom later and second). All of these phases of the stroke (aim, setup, and stroke motion) are interrelated, as golfers actually are aiming their setups and stroke patterns, as much as they are arranging the geometry of the putter head to a target and a start line. My personal preference is for straight-in hoseling without offset and a face-balanced or "reality balanced" putter (or indeed an "omni-balanced" design) or perhaps a shaft that aims into the center of the putter head but the hosel within five inches of the putter head is bent to redirect itself to enter the putter head more towards the heel, as this visually clears out the sweetspot area and unclutters the golfer's sense of what he is swinging.
Frankly, I don't know anyone in the UK (or elsewhere for that matter) outside the PuttingZone coaches who would be sensible about these issues in putter fitting. Perhaps you could educate your pros so they will do a better job.
Check out www.haroldswashputting.co.uk, we would be able to help you on all of the above issues and more with regards to putter fitting and instruction.
You are right though in that in the UK this generally is an overlooked area.
Frankly, I don't know anyone in the UK (or elsewhere for that matter) outside the PuttingZone coaches who would be sensible about these issues in putter fitting. Perhaps you could educate your pros so they will do a better job.
Hi Geoff
forgotten me already? lol
as you know ive been fitting clubs for over 20 yrs - my father and uncle also for more than 40 yrs each - why would a putting zone practitioner be able to fit a club better?
A golfsmith training course for 3 days wont count as an answer lol
also for some reason my origional login details dont work - ive not been blacklisted have i?
As much as I love you, big guy, I didn't know that you have been studying human motion in the putting stroke to the extent that you can dissociate the pretty bad, from the merely bad, from the ineffectual, from the hokum, from the merely okay, from the pretty good, from the danged good, from the holy cow! fantabulous sorts of setups and movements. Those are the cause-and-effect matters or issues in the setup and stroke that I am referring to. Cut loose and teach us what you know about that.
i think i have a very good understanding of what people do relative to what they think they do yes.
and there are a number of things that i believe we can agree on
Im a practical guy - i test everything out with test subjects and myself , with and without the SAM data and Eclipse feedback for reference.
the fact that i have access to all the experts at Hallam uni is also a bonus
Im flattered you think that theres something in my small brain that i can teach everyone - what would you like to know ?
The hoseling pattern can affect aim and setup and stroke. Some people react differently in aiming to different hoseling patterns. Some people setup differently depending upon the relationship between the hosel and shaft axis versus the location of the putter face and sweetspot and to the bottom of the stroke arc and to the ball position -- for example, offset hoseling often results in a slight hands-ahed delofting at setup that functionally aims the shaft axis back to the bottom of the stroke arc more closely to where the putter face meets the ground, to unify the perception of the equipment in relation to the bottom of the stroke arc, whereas without this the equipment presents ambiguity about what should bottom out and transition when (the hosel, as it reaches the bottom earlier and first before the putter face and sweetspot, or the putter face and sweetspot, which reaches the bottom later and second). All of these phases of the stroke (aim, setup, and stroke motion) are interrelated, as golfers actually are aiming their setups and stroke patterns, as much as they are arranging the geometry of the putter head to a target and a start line. My personal preference is for straight-in hoseling without offset and a face-balanced or "reality balanced" putter (or indeed an "omni-balanced" design) or perhaps a shaft that aims into the center of the putter head but the hosel within five inches of the putter head is bent to redirect itself to enter the putter head more towards the heel, as this visually clears out the sweetspot area and unclutters the golfer's sense of what he is swinging.
Interesting...I wonder where I heard this before....Didn't someone do some research on this and do you know who they are?...Thanks Geoff
What is the relationship between Chris Aoki and David Edel?
This from Chris website:
"UPDATED 4/23/07, 9:00 AM
The Fitting Session
The most important club in the golf bag is the putter. It is used more times in a round of golf than any other club. The chef brings his own culinary knives to work. The billiards champion carries his cue in a case. Your putter should have the same value.
In order for your putter to have the same value, it must be custom-fit for you to aim accurately. The fitting session starts with checking your own putter first. A mirror is placed on the face of your putter. A laser, which has been set on a holder the size of a regulation hole, is against a backboard and facing outward.
As you aim your putter at the laser from 8 feet away, the light from the laser will reflect on the mirror and shoot the beam to the backboard behind the laser. Thousands golfers have been checked in the past twenty years and 98% are not within the cup at 8 feet away!
The next step is like backtracking to solve a mystery. If, for example, you aim your putter 2 feet left of the hole at 8 feet away and push every putt, what is causing the aim to the left?
Fit2Aim uses the Chris Aoki Fitting Method to make the determination. The advantage of a Fit2Aim custom-fit putter is the ability to aim accurately to the target. There are six design features that affect the direction of aim. Every hosel, shaft, head and length in the putter fitting system is interchangeable so one part of the putter at a time can be isolated and tested for aim.
Your original putter can now be closely duplicated because of this feature and the laser check will show a similar result. The duplicated putter can now be extrapolated by changing one design feature at a time to see what is causing the inaccurate aim.
1. Keeping all of the specifications the same, the hosel design can be changed first. A different design will improve aim.
2. Once the correct hosel is chosen, the amount of offset is tested. Each hosel design has 5 amounts of offset and each one will aim differently.
3. There are also 3 lie angles. The angles have been set accurately by Fit2Aim and they do not require any rudimentary bending. The lie angle is fundamental to a good grip position and release.
4. The placement of sight lines on the putter improves aim. Four combinations are tested and each one will result in a different aim.
5. After the correct hosel and sight line are determined, the shape of the putter head is tested. There are 4 head shapes. Your eyes will align either the straighter border of a blade or rectangle, or the rounded edges of a small or full mallet.
6. Length is very important in helping good posture and eye position at address. Lengths are changed in inch increments and the results are tested with the laser.
To get optimum benefit and performance, the fit is also tested dynamically with each isolated change in the putter. Your setup and putting stroke will be corrected to work with the putter. The fitting session, even more importantly, serves as a putting lesson.
The newly designed putter can now be compared to your old putter and the differences will solve the mystery. The old putter, for example, may have a design with an offset, hosel, lie angle, sight line, head design or length that interfered with your ability to aim the putter accurately.
The fitting session/lesson takes about 45 minutes to complete. You will gain a better understanding of how important accurate aim is to great putting by getting hands-on experience of how different putter designs affect your aim and putting stroke.
A Fit2Aim putter is ordered from the specifications in the fitting session. When the putter arrives, the changes made in the address position and putting stroke will be reviewed at the time you are being introduced to your new putter.
There are two series of head designs. The Z - A Series has a gold-colored finish with a brass face. It is available for right and left-handed golfers. The Signature Series is right-handed only and is an original design by David Edel made exclusively for Fit2Aim.
The Fit2Aim putter can also be spined SST PuredĒ and is highly recommended for the avid and low-handicap player. The strongest and straightest load and unload of the putter shaft is determined by placing the shaft on a computerized machine with sensors. This process eliminates extraneous oscillating torque during the putting stroke."
