|
||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||
|
Geoff Mangum's PuttingZone 40-45% of the Game of Golf — combining the best golf lore in history with modern neuroscience for instinctive perceptual and movement processes in putting. "Every golfer needs four skills every putt."
PERCEIVING WITH INSTINCT
1. Read the putt for target Find correct orientation of straight uphill "fallline" at hole perceiving highest point on rim (6-12 on clock) plus level left-right axis of tilt (3-9 line); use consistent delivery speed to see final 1 meter of the curve into the hole given fall-line (see #4); retrace final curve back out and follow all the way to the ball; extend tangent at ball straight back to the fall-line for target spot; use fall-line target spot as 2nd "hole" for straight putt with right touch (same delivery speed to imaginary hole as used to read putt into real hole); commit to imaginary line and distance for usual delivery into 2nd "hole."
2. Aim straight at target "hole" on fall-line Stand behind the ball and use shaft as visual ruler to "connect the dots" of ball and target; see spot along shaft edge in front of ball 5-6"; walk to ball and aim putter face thru center of ball at aiming spot in front; setup to aimed putter face with good posture; align neck / throat line parallel to leading edge of putter face, automatically aligning shoulder frame parallel (see #3); settle other joint pairs and stance in comfort and balance keeping shoulders aligned; "face" ball and look where face aims; turn head like an apple on a stick to "face" & learn where putter face aims.
MOVING WITH INSTINCT
3. Putt straight where the putter face aims Setup to aimed putter by "walking" naturally hanging hands and arms out to waiting putter handle without "reaching out" to handle or changing aim or flatness of sole on surface; set throat line from center of chin to top of sternum to parallel top edge of putter face; test distance back from ball, allowing rear hand to swing free, as only "sideways" swing is neutral whereas hand’s swing to thigh or nose is too far back or close; anchor lead hip for backstroke; perform last "touch" look at target (see #4); "join in" on-going internal sense of swinging back & thru, shoving putter sole back & up with lead shoulder into swing, keeping "triangle" form (2-3 muscle tone on scale of 1-10) with dead hands / arms "riding" swing; stop / hold neck line still at midline in thru-stroke once torso resquares itself; allow putter to define own forward trajectory with momentum moving lead shoulder vertically upwards from ball of lead foot.
4. Putt with the usual tempo and touch Internalize sense of green speed using practice green "core putt" (2 balls putted same distance with same backstroke size & downstroke tempo to allow green to show how your stroke, putter, ball, & tempo work on today’s surface) to register & calibrate usual backstroke-force relations with your tempo; perceive adjustment to exact speed on green on course plus uphill / downhill effect(s); setup with neck / throat (see #2 & 3); rotate face & head (like an "apple on a stick" of neck axis thru top of head) down target line to second "hole" as if watching a perfect putt with realtime motion, achieving correct neck angle from ball to target, teaching body "here" & "there" for instinctive stroke size; rotate face back to ball; allow balance / vision to settle; "jump in" ongoing tempo swinging by starting putter back instinctively; allow instincts to "size" top of backstroke; stay with usual downstroke timing.
With sense of green speed, roll face to & back from target, make an instinctive backstroke & hold still. Look, pull the trigger with backstroke timing, do nothing. Stroke itself goes straight.
Read, aim, putt straight at target with good touch — INSTINCTIVELY . "Once I start the putter back, it seems the stroke completes itself." -- Ben Crenshaw summarizing his stroke after 35 years of experience.
Geoff Mangum: puttingzone.com geoff@puttingzone.com 001 (336) 340-9079 Henrik Jentsch: modelgolf.de henrik@golf247.de +49 0179 207 98 32 |
