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Tom's Featured Tip: Discovery - Lag Putting
For simplicity, all advice on actual swings or drills is provided from a right handed perspective.
One of the drills I have a student perform during a putting lesson covers developing a "stock (putting) stroke". The objective of the drill is to develop a stroke with consistent swing length and power to be used as a standard for developing touch and feel for distance control. This is an essential component for becoming a great lag putter.
Here's a PC link to a short video covering this drill:
The Stock Stroke Drill - PC Link
Here's the mobile link:
The Stock Stroke Drill - Mobile Link
After you have done enough reps, you take that stock swing to the practice green on the course you are playing that day, find a grain neutral flat spot on the putting green, and make ten practice putts in opposite directions (five in each direction), using your stock putting stroke.
That tells your brain how far the ball is rolling on that green, on that particular day, with your stock stroke.
Then with one ball, practice putting to different length holes to make sure that your brain is calibrating "feel" for a longer stroke for longer putts, and for a shorter stroke for shorter putts.
That's how it's supposed to work, and it works that way for most of my students.
However, there is a small percentage of the golfing population that has trouble calibrating their stroke this way.
DISCOVERY
I tell to my students all the time that golf is a game of discovery.
Sometimes tried and true techniques don't work optimally for everyone's body or mind set. When that happens, smart players tweak aspects of their swing to 'DISCOVER' a better way for them.
Never bail out of a technique that you are working on just because it doesn't work in the first few tries you give it. When I am working on a technique adjustment with a student, I usually give it 14 reps then decide if it's still the path we should be taking or not.
For putting, some players just have a really hard time developing "feel" for lag (distance control) putting.
One student of mine had this problem, and here's how he solved it - and became a proficient lag putter.
He worked on making different backswing length swings and correlating the distance the ball rolled out with paces.
For a 7" backswing length his ball rolled out three paces, and for each additional inch of backswing length, his rollout was longer with consistency as it related to the distance.
He put a yardstick on the ground and made strokes where the face of his putter moved a specific distance on his backswing, which he marked with tees.
That mechanical approach can work if you absolutely can not develop "feel" with your putting stroke. There are training aids that you can use like a color coded yardstick that another student of mine made, or you can put an object like a 2"x4" at desired distances from the back of your putter to constrain the distance it travels (like you see me doing in the drill).
When this person plays, he paces off the distance from the ball to the hole, then tries to execute the required backswing distance for his putting stroke backswing length to make the ball travel that distance.
His putting has improved remarkably. He told me that he played a round the other day and didn't three-putt once, which was a MAJOR improvement for him.
This is as perfect an example of DISCOVERY that I can think of. The preferred method for lag putting would be to develop touch and feel with the Stock Stroke Drill. However, for that small percentage of players that have a huge problem with developing feel, a more mechanical approach like the one this student took is definitely worth a try.
If you are a real golf geek, here's a scholarly study on the subject:
A Mechanics-Based Approach for Putt DistanceOptimization
If you absolutely, positively, are one of those few people that can not develop a "feel" for lag putting (don't give up too soon) , try the mechanical approach - what do you have to lose?
Comments: ttucker@rochester.rr.com
Love your practice, own your swing, own your health,
Tom
Golf Lessons
I conduct lessons at The Plum Creek Driving Range & Practice Facility
there's a link for Plum Creek info here: http://www.tomtuckergolf.com/
Lessons are available for all ages and skill levels, please contact
me - Tom Tucker - at (716) 474 3005 or email me at ttucker@rochester.rr.com
for more information.
Outdoor Lessons Details and Rates:
http://www.tomtuckergolf.com/lessonrates.html
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Testimonials:
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Sponsors
Click here SuperSpeedGolf.com to buy this swing speed training aid and increase your distance off the tee. I bought the Coaches set and I love them. Browse their site for great FREE swing speed training outlines and great FREE webinars on demand. Buying through my affiliate also helps support this free newsletter. Try 'em, you'll like them.
Plum Creek Driving Range and Simulator Outdoor range and play indoor golf on any of our 40 Simulator Courses. Call 585-993-0930 or email Mark at plumcreek4@rochester.rr.com to reserve time for simulator play or practice!
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Great rates, the best greens in WNY.
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Tee times online or by phone in season.
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THE WESTERN NEW YORK LEADER IN GOLF OUTINGS!
Only minutes from Buffalo, open to the public.
Tee times online or by phone in season.
All the best,
Tom Tucker
Teaching Pro, Plum Creek Driving Range & Practice Facility
WGTF ' "Top 100 Golf Teacher"
USGTF Class "A" Teaching Professional
IGPA Certified Golf Psychology Coach
Cell: (716) 474-3005
Email: TomTuckerGolf@gmail.com
http://www.TomTuckerGolf.com
"There are no substitutes in the quest for perfection!"
~ Ben Hogan