golfrewind.com

If you saw my putting a few months ago, you would have thought my screen name was "TRI-tanium MD" (TRI for the 3 putts). Lag putting was always my downfall.

Reading various methods of 'how to lag putt' such as looking at the hole, the ladder drill, 'instinct putting' and visualizing putting 18 inches past the hole are fine for people who have a lot of time to practice.

In the past few weeks, I have tried various methods. I have been observing others on the practice putting green and how they practice. Some folks putt with several balls. I initially started putting with just one. However, putting with 2 balls is optimal for me.

One tip that helped me was using gravity as the tempo for the downswing. With that, I have a consistent downswing for every back stroke.

What method do you use to lag putt?

---
Here is how I do it:

I have essentially 4 stations with the backstroke (example of a general distance depending upon the speed of the green)
1 Putter to big toe, Small (10 feet)
2 Putter to little toe (fifth digit), Medium (15 to 20 feet)
3 Hands to little toe, Large (20 to 30 feet)
4 Wrists to little toe, Extra-Large (30 feet and more)

No matter what type of green or condition, I determine at the beginning of the 'practice session' to see how far each backstroke goes (determining the speed of the green). If it is a faster condition, the ball will roll further; and slower condition, it will roll shorter. Before I play a round, I do the same thing. I actually test the green with the various strokes.

If I am putting uphill, if the distance is, for example, 15 feet, I may use station 3. If putting downhill, I may use station 1 or even 0.5 (smaller downswing).

There is a similar tip that I saw in Golf Magazine this month (he uses 3 stations).

Anyways, it works for me and has led to a lot more 2 putts and a significantly fewer 3 putts.

Now, I just have to work more on my alignment for the 6 to 8 footers.
-----------
This is my response (from another site) regarding the preference for feel putting:

For me putting is all about trust in what I am doing and follow through. No matter the green speed or if you are going up or down hill you have to trust in how hard you are hitting it, without this trust you will not follow through right. If in the last instance before you hit the ball you think you are not hitting it hard enough you will tend to push the shot and add to the follow, if you think you are going to hit it too hard you will tend to pull it while trying to slow down and not follow through- well, at least with me. When I putt the ball my goal is to get the head of the putter between the spot I am aiming and my line of sight. As long as I do this, my putts will generally be within a foot for every 10 feet of distance.

I realize, from observation, that people tend to hit at the ball or decelerate through the stroke. Same with chipping.

I have been practicing with a longer follow through to ensure acceleration through the ball. I was about to do 100 strokes consecutive and phased out after 13, 3 footers. I then proceeded to sink 49, 5 footers in a row and 19, 7 footers in a row. It got tedious but I was so confident it became automatic after a while. This was with my Bullseye putter. My Newport 2 is a lot worse.

i found out about lag putting.

i pick spots during my practice strokes. like ill pick 10 foot, say. and make a 10 foot stroke

then i will go a little longer and make that stroke.

finally i will look at my target and make that stroke




that has made me better at judging distances.

Lag? I want to make em all

Seriously, this is too much of a scientific approach for me. I decide on line then stand behind the ball and try to visualize the ball rolling along it's path, looking for the point where it begins to slow then putt it thinking of nothing but speed, having set myself up square to my desired line. Rather than think of accelerating through the ball I try to make a pure pendelum stroke of equal back and through, and I have already determined the feel of various lengths at warmup. I guess that makes me a feel putter and am fairly successful with it. Regarding "lag", I want those long putts to die close to the hole and preferably drop, but speed is more important to me than direction. A foot low or high but even with the hole is a 1 foot tap in. Three feet past can be a 3 foot knee knocker.

I am glad you chimed in. It's nice to hear your opinion (also Bignose's).

I was practicing longer putting distances today (I was practicing 20 to 30 footers and was getting a 2 putt for the most part). Today I was doing 50 footers (left elbow to the right big toe). The 40 to 50 foot putt is going to require some work. I may have to try the "Chip Putt" method that Pelz outlines in his book. That was a lot harder since for me the straight back straight through becomes an arc as I rotate the shoulders. I have a few long enough for tap ins but there were many 3 putts, also (too long or too short). It's back to the drawing board for anything greater than 35 feet.

However, I had some 20 footers that I sank on one stroke which made me happy.

I was directionally challenged (a slice if you will) with long lag putts until I recently opened my stance a bit.

I agree with a couple of other posts. That is way too mechanical for me, and for most players. IMO, there are just too many variables (slope, grain, distance judgment, etc.) in the equation to ever be consistent with such a mechanical stroke. I have to just "feel" the putt in it's entirety, letting the calculator in my subconscious do the figuring while I just see and feel the putt. I tried a mechanical method before, matching backstroke to length, and for me it was an abysmal failure.

A lag putt is when you try to hit the ball "close" to the cup. Why would you want to do that, when you can try to hit the ball "IN' the cup instead. I don't carei if I"m 50 or 70 feet from the cup, I try to make the putt, not lag it close. If you do a good job with your lag putt, at best you'll 2 putt, If you do a poor job, you will 3 putt. Why not try to 1 putt every time? I think if you forget about this lag putting idea and start trying to make the putt, you'll end up taking a lot less strokes over 18 greens.

Maybe I used the improper term of "Lagging". I am trying to make the putt from a long distance but obviously, it doesn't always sink. If I don't make it, I am at least trying to minimize the 3 putt.

The other day, I found my 50 foot putts (in practice) to work better using the Chip-Putt method.