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I shot a 102 on Sunday, but I wasted 8 shots stupidly...6 of them on 3-putts! I am hitting my drives 240 down the middle and I am hitting my irons high, straight, and farther (7-iron = 155 vs. 145)

Anyway, for some reason my putting is off. My grip used to be WAAAAAAY too strong which gave me severe hookage. That's gone now. However, my feel has suffered as a result.

What should I do?

What is it that you are doing wrong with your putting that you are 3-putting?

- Not picking the correct 'line'?

- Not using the correct 'speed'?

- Not getting it to the hole, or putting it to far past the hole?

Putting has always been the best part of my game and I'm putting even better lately. I've been nailing many 10-footers and even from 25 feet just missing the edge of the hole, or lipping out, resulting in a 1-ft tap in (I can't complain with that as I don't expect to make real long ones, just count on getting the guaranteed short putt).

Selecting the proper 'line' is important, but it's often a combination of the 'correct line + speed' for a breaking putt. Even for a straight-on putt if you want to be near the hole if you miss.

With putting, I think all it really does is take a lot of practice. The more you practice, the better your feel gets and that just improves your confidence. Since you've been 3 putting a lot, I assume speed is your problem. If you get the speed correct, you could be 3 feet to the right or left and still be left with a very makeable putt.

bates...i'm right there with you...drives and irons o.k., however...my putting is abhorrent...often times 5 3 putts a round...makes me illin'....i even try to practice at home at night on the carpet into the cup...but somehow doesn't translate onto the green.....what's your secret Bulls999...and does anyone recommend the Pelz' putting book?

epark, no secret, just like the challenge of picking the line + the speed to get close to the hole.

I think sometimes people (I was always prone to this) concentrate on sinking a 15-20 foot putt and distracts them from the speed and whizz it by the hole another 8 feet to find them missing on the way back as well. I've simply said "close and in" (meaning, 2 putts). If it goes in great, but I always try to leave my next putt as short as possible for a guaranteed 1 additional putt, not 2. I guess there is a 'feel' element involved.... putting slightly up hill, slightly downhill, wind blowing against/with the putt, (I'm not much for looking at grain or bend of the grass), but I love reading breaks....and our course had our entire 18 greens revamped 2 years ago and they put in greens with numerous breaks and levels, many have 3-4 different levels, as much as 2 feet of height between them.

Perhaps the putting style...I'm in favor of the arms&shoulder forming a triangle to the grip and not breaking the wrist during the putting stroke. I've seen people break their putting stroke at the wrist as if they were cocking their wrist and then slapping, or tapping, the ball with no follow through and I don't think you get the 'feel' of the putt that way or the consistency of distance for the effort applied.

Now, I've found I've had to rely on my putting because I'm not often on the green in regulation, so on a par-4 on in 3 and relying on a 1-putt to make par is hard, so have to chip it close and 1-putt.

Bulls9999, I'm curious. No offense but, what's with the 19 handicap if you putt so well? I presume that you're good around the greens, also ? Most guys I know who are good putters have great/soft hands & good touch around the greens as well.

Wazman... don't know. All I can say is, my putting is my most comfortable part of my game (as well as my 8-iron), for which I've gone nearly all summer with decent 16 holes and then 2 bad holes kill me (like a 9 on a par-5 + 8 on a par 4 or something). Like I said, I'm hardly on in regulation. I've been wanting to start keeping stats on GIR and putts-on-GIR, etc. Can't tell you how many scores I've had that could have been low 80's, if not 80, if it weren't for the 2 bad holes/round. My course has lots of tree's, and if you play brave, you could spend a while in the forest.

-Bulls9999

I pretty much agree with what everyone has been telling you here Bates. One thing I encountered when I set out to become a better putter was that with all the practice I was doing, my confidence grew a great deal. So I now stand over a 10 foot putt and feel confident I can MAKE it let alone get it close. I no longer find the 2, 3 ,4 even 6 footers intimidating. This has improved my putting incredibly I average less then 2 putts a hole in my last 6 rounds.

All I did was practice as much as I could. Since I didn't have all the time in the world i would go to the putting green and make a game out of it. 3 balls, 6 holes (so 18 holes total), par 2 for each shot, and I would not leave the green until i completed every hole with a total of even par. Hopefully that makes sense. When you start getting hungry out there you'll be surprised how your concentration grows LOL

My goal was to ELIMINATE the three putt from my game.

I've worked hard on my putting this year & have averaged 32/33, down from 35/36 last year, my chipping too, but my form is still very mechanical. I think some are just blessed with good touch. I used to play with a guy who couldn't break 100 if his life depended on it, but he could get up & down from anywhere, usually for bogey or worse. It used to drive me nuts. So for "hands of stone" like myself, it's body still, head down, follow though at the target and practice, practice ...

I agree with practice practice.... but i think the key to putting is visualisation.... if you can see where the ball should go, i dont mean see where you should hit it, i mean if you can actually see the ball rolling a path into the hole, you will have difficulty putting badly....

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I've heard that advice before Buns but I just can't seem to get a handle on it...I must have a blind spot where my visualizer is supposed to be.

I think it really just is a case of enlightenment..... it also is very dependent upon your ball actually rolling properly..... something which is difficult on average greens

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Your advice was sound... I truly can't seem to "see/imagine" the ball rolling to the hole, though. I take more or less an educated guess based on perceived break & grain, etc., pick a spot 3' out & stroke it. You made an interesting point about the ball rolling properly. No one has mentioned the importance the where & how the putter meets the ball to avoid any back or side spin... not to top it exactly but, shouldn't it be struck slightly above the equator ?

It's not good if it hops, it'll usually go off target and lose speed.

I've read somewhere its impossible to put top spin on a ball off the putter immediately so straining yourself to eliminate all backspin off a putt is fruitless.

Just lining up the putter head to the target succesfully comes as a bit of a difficulty to me, and sometimes I'll have read the brake correctly but I won't putt it on my line because the head wasn't lined up correctly. I hate that lol.

Practice, practice, practice, just practice in your living room every day if you have to. I find my living room has a heavy right to left break so just getting the right line down is tough. Another thing I know is to try to make a pendulum swing with it, don't break your wrists, and follow through. I sometimes will just stop the putter head after it hits the ball, but I noticed the pros follow through on their putts. I tried it and it helps keep it going straight and on your line.

Hope that helps a bit

I say, more then anything else, concentrate on speed. Pick a line, and just concentrate on getting the speed right. If you miss, you usually have a tap in, and if you get it in, yay.
Most of my three putts and four putts have been with bad judgement on the speed of the green, even if I have the line right, if it comes way short or way long (sometimes hitting the cup, then going far past it), I'm left with a length second putt which could miss.
I think concentrating on speed on long putts will help to minimize three-putts, in my opinion. But Im no good, so maybe the wrong person to be answering the question