With putting the two most important things are “face and pace” or face angle at impact and the pace of the putt. In other words, Face angle controls the start line and Pace controls the distance the putt rolls.
Keep our putter face Square at Impact
Putter face angle at impact is measured in degrees. A good goal is to return the putter face to square at impact plus or minus one half a degree or .5 degrees open or closed. That would be a Pro goal.
Here are some examples: If your putter is plus or minus 2 degrees open or closed at impact you would potentially lip out the putt at 5 feet.
If your putter face is open or closed 1 degree or more you start missing 10 footers.
At 15 feet you need to be square at impact within plus or minus .5 degrees to hole the putt.
So you make more putts and from a longer distance if you keep your putter square at impact.
Image: Visio Aim Board by Phil Kenyon This can be purchased in the U.S. as well.
There are several other ways to practice your aim line. I use a Pelz Golf elevated string line and a Wright Putting Dynamics Laser v.3 laser.
I’ve tested my site line and an elevated string line is ok for really sunny bright days (a line laser is hard to see on bright days), but I prefer the laser because it is right on the green surface. The elevated aim line throws me off a little, but it is still better than guessing.
Matrix demonstrating the effect of misalignment from Laser Optics
Note: The cup is 4.25 inches wide. Half is 2.125 inches
| Putter Face Variance to Target | Variance of Misalignment | |||
| (In Degrees) | 5′ Putt | 10′ Putt | 15′ Putt | 20′ Putt |
| 0.50 | 0.52″ | 1.05″ | 1.57″ | 2.09″ |
| 1.00 | 1.05″ | 2.09″ | 3.14″ | 4.19″ |
| 1.50 | 1.57″ | 3.14″ | 4.71″ | 6.28″ |
| 2.00 | 2.09″ | 4.19″ | 6.28″ | 8.37″ |
| 2.50 | 2.62″ | 5.23″ | 7.85″ | 10.47″ |
| 3.00 | 3.14″ | 6.28″ | 9.42″ | 12.56″ |
Note: The “Optimum” is a square putter face at impact and zero degrees of variance to target.
Pro Variance is .5 degrees or less
FYI – Average golfer may want try for 1 degree or less (More and you miss 10 footers – see chart above)
Note: This does not mean you will make the putt, but your chances are much improved.
Assuming your aim is at 0 (middle) and the cup is 4.25 inches wide (half 2.125),
you would most likely miss at 2 inch variance of misalignment or more.
How to practice improvement? Aim line putting drills. It’s the number one drill on tour.
Pace / Distance Control
The second focus should be on distance control. Some say it’s more important than face angle at impact.
In other words, if your putt is short it’s not going in even if your putter face is square at impact.
Pace is especially crucial on long putts when you want to avoid 3 putts.
Metrics: What to measure
I look at it this way. There are lots of things to measure when putting. Tempo, Face Angle at impact, Backstroke Time, Forward Stroke Time, Backstroke Length, Impact Stroke Speed, Loft Change, Total Stroke Time, Backstroke Rotation, Forward Stroke Rotation and Lie Change.
I measure my Tempo at around 2.0:1 or 2 to 1….what does that mean?
My backstroke time is around 0.60 seconds and my forward stroke time is around 0.30 seconds for a total of around 0.90 seconds or a 2 to 1 ratio.
It’s the same for all putts no matter how long the putt is. Longer putts just require a longer Backstroke Length using the same Tempo or 2 to 1.
Simple way to execute a putt
If you aren’t measuring stats , how do you know what you are doing?
Some people draw a line on their ball or use the line already on the ball and watch to see if the line wobbles as it rolls toward the hole.
For distance control, it’s important to find a way to measure without a device.
What I do for tempo is count out 1000 One. 1000 for the backstroke and One for the forward stroke.
I also know that the distance between my feet is 8 inches or approximately two putter heads. I know if I take a 7 – 8 inch back stroke it’s going to go 10 feet on fast greens.
Test the greens
When I get to a golf course, I go to the putting green and use my setup to see if the ball rolls 10 ft. I walk it off and that gives me the relative stimp for the course.
I also putt from one side of the green to the other judging how hard I have to hit to just touch the fringe. It’s a way to get dialed in.
Stats: Knowing exactly what you are doing
I like stats or numbers so I purchased Blast Motion Golf. It gives you instant data as mentioned above. Here is a screen shot of some of the data for my putts over that last month.
These are all from 10ft putts on an 11 stimp putting surface which is pretty fast.
Does good data mean I’m going to make every putt. Absolutely not. However, I’m confident I’m going to be in the ball park. Confidence is a good thing in golf.
