The Magazine Rack
chronicling putting articles in print.
(or try these ONLINE 'Zines)

TJ Tomasi, Match Posture with Path, Golf Tips (Nov. 2006): --

Jeff Ritter, No Frills Putting Drills, Golf Tips (Oct 2006): --

Dan Pasquariello, Try the Trple Grip, Golf Tips (Sep 2006) -- Oddly, this is the grip I teach, and have been using and teaching for about six years now.

Todd Sones, Setup Like a pro, Golf Tips (Sep 2006) --

Brady Riggs, Putt in rhythm, Golf Tips (Aug 2006) -- an even, smooth putting rhythm is vital to good distance control and accuracy of stroke.

Dr Craig Farnsworth, One-Hand Control, Golf Tips (Aug 2006) -- whichever hand is least adept at making a straight stroke needs attention.

Jim Flick , Use Soft Wrists to Coax Ball Downhill, Golf Digest (Aug 2006): 48 -- Let the putterhead pass the hands for a soft roll; Hale Irwin is self-taught and learned many techniques thru experimentation with different ideas; "For example, on slick downhillers he discovered that he should hold the putter more lightly than usual and allow the putterhead to pass the hands through impact. His left wrist actually cups a little on the follow-through." Added loft gives added backspin and this gives a soft touch and a slow but true roll that trickles down the slope.

Hank Haney, Twelve Things Tiger Taught Me, Golf Digest (Aug 2006): 88-95 -- 10: How to read greens: To visualize path to hole and to see the picture of the putt, Tiger stands on the high side halfway to the hole and makes practice strokes as if finishing off the putt from there, then returns to ball and adds first section of putt to his picture.

Paul McGinley, Pressure Points: Putting under Pressure, Golf Monthly (Aug 2006): 103-105 -- Pre-shot routine: clean and place ball showing only white; waqlk the hole 360 degrees to feel slope with feet ; stand behind ball and visualize path of putt into hole for a positive state of mind; two practice wsings beside the ball; deliver ball to hole with dead weight to reduce lip outs; Stroke: short and sweet to withstand pressure and to maintain positive action thru ball; Pre-round Warmup: for learning pace of greens; hit balls to opposite fringe, then putt to a close hole with on-course concentration.

Editors, Know the Rules: Darren Clarke's ball-marking incident at the BMW, Golf Monthly (Aug 2006): 123-124 -- Rule 20-3a provides that any movement of the marker incurs no penalty so long as the movement is caused by the hand or the ball during replacement of the ball; otherwise, moving the marker incurs a 1-shot penalty and the marker must be replaced at original position. Darren Clarke dropped his ball on his marker and it flipped and changed position (1-stroke penalty and he missed the cut by 1 stroke). Colin Montgomery on another occasion dropped his marker on his ball and the ball moved, also incurring a penalty. After moving marker at request of another player, failure to replace the marker at original position before playing ball incurs 2-stroke penalty (or match-play loss of hole).

Paul Trittler, How to Make a Solid Putting Stroke: You and your shadow can groove a perfect movement, Golf Magazine (Aug 2006): 54 -- Keep your head still for solid, online putts; setup with sun flush to your back and shadow in front of your stance and locate two balls on either side of your head's shadow; make putts without the head swaying outside the two balls; no peeking.

Dave Pelz, All My Secrets: Insights from 30 years, Golf Magazine (Aug 2006): 116-128 -- Restatements of earler tips, mostly wedge tips (7 pages vs 3 for putting); putter face at impact more important than path -- 83% face error translate to line whereas only 17% path error translate to line; 3 keys: read, start line, touch; Tiers: imagine a 2nd hole past real hole when going up tiers; Chip-putt long putts; Speed: "You must find a way to roll putts 17 inches past the hole (when they miss). Research proves that putts have a greater chance of finding the cup (regardless of putt length) when the ball rolls at this speed." [What research? Pelz's ONLY published data proves this is NOT true and he personally says so -- See Larry Dennis, Die your putts at the hole and you're dead, Golf Digest (Jul 1977), pp 52-55, where Pelz presents his data and concludes there is not one optimum go-by speed for all putts, but the go-by distance depends upon green grass type and playing condition, with good bent grass having an optimum of between 5-10", bad bent between 10-15" -- with 17" being too long for ANY bent green -- and good bermuda between 20-30", and bad bermuda between 30-40" -- with 17" being too short for ANY bermuda green. So far as I am aware, Pelz has NO data other than this, and his "charts" he draws are not real and falsify what his data actually is as he reports in 1977.]

Kris Moe, Boredom Beating Putting Drills, Golf Illustrated (Jul-Aug 2006): 51-56 -- arcing or "swinging gate" stroke better than straight-back, straight-thru stroke; eyes inside, not directly above ball; ball below bridge of nose or slightly left of bottom of stroke; "penny drill": stack 2 pennies and putt so that bottom of putter just starts to rise and knocks off only top penny -- to locate bottom of strokeand ball position; "gate drill": 2 tees on either side of ball slightly wider than putter head; "added dimension": place drink bottle in cup for 3rd dimension (height); "developing your stroke path": lay two clubs down to form a railroad track for strokes, each about 3 inches away from ball; "release": make a stroke as if the club on the follow-thru is flying out of your hands to sense the release -- the release keeps the putter head on line from 2-3 inches before the ball to just after impact; "rotating the shoulders": lay putter across chest with putter head to left and then make a stroke that takes putter head out of view of the eyes -- indicates proper shoulder action with a motionless head; "putt two balls at once": place 2 balls in contact side by side and putt both at once to train square impact; "putt a bottle": lay a (plastic) bottle on its side and putt it straight to learn square impact; "keeping your head down": keep eyes on a spot just in front of the ball to keep head still; "putt with eyes closed": eliminates "hit" stroke and makes smooth stroke with ball getting in the way; "cap twisted": twist cap so bill blocks view of target, to discourage peeking; "distance control": distance more important than line, so place 2 clubs parallel to target line on either side of hole about 3-4 feet apart and putt balls to stop within this margin; "hit and hold the finish": as in baseball and dart throwing, holding the finish promotes sense of release and not stopping the putter after impact.

Laura Lee Dovey, Head of Their Class: Putters, Golf Illustrated (Jul-Aug 2006): 60-70 -- putter reviews.

Nick Faldo, How to Hole More Putts, Golf World (Jul 2006): 133-141 -- Training aids-- a piece of straight wood and two knitting needles tied together with elastic (string line); Putter matches stroke: face balanced putter for straight-back, straight-thru; toe-hang putter for gating stroke; some folks use a hooding action shutting toe on backstroke and opening on thru-stroke to avoid pulls; "The bottom line to putting is that if you do exactly the same thing every time and the initial roll on the ball is good then stick with it."; align shoulders parallel to target line; rock shoulders with passive hands in stroke; don't allow hands to slide ahead of shoulders; don't pick up the putter; 4 key areas to practice: stroke, touch, aiming, reading; 3-4 degrees of loft is the norm so ball can be lifted very gently into gliding across the green; get the impact and follow-thru right and the backstroke will take care of itself; putt for distance, not just to a hole; read putts from behind the hole: concentrate on last 6 feet and read this from and "visualise the path the ball with take into the hole and then trace the arc back." Reading too little break: causes the subconscious to assume control and putt higher by opening the blade "to keep it on line longer" [GM: this applies only to R-L breaks for a RH golfer. I don't believe this is what happens -- instead, golfers try to help ball uphill because they subconsciously want the ball to "end up" at the target instead of in the hole and so subconsciously "guide" the putt uphill, when they should "start" the ball straight at the target and allow it to break to the hole.]; use elevated string line to practice breaking putts to commit to a straight start line; on faster greens allow for more break;

Today's Golfer Jul 2006	Nick Clemens Karl Morris

Nick Clemens, Path to Success: Faced with a tricky double-breaking putt? Master the art of green reading, Today's Golfer (Jul 2006), pp 74-75 -- stalk the surface to learn the contours; identify the "breaking point" nearest the hole where the path turns straight towards the hole; practice a stroke straight at hole from here; at ball, start ball on line with pace to reach breaking point "so it rolls down gently to the hole."

Karl Morris, Seeing is Believing: "See Off" those pressure putts by focusing on the line, Today's Golfer (Jul 2006), pp 98-99 -- burn image of line into brain with practice stroke behind ball; go with first impression of read; at address look at hole and react -- look and go; practice holding images in your mind; "look at the line of a putt with 'soft eyes'. Allow the image of the line to come to you, instead of staring intently."

David Howell, How to Master the Short Stick, Golf International (Jun 2006): -- 32" putter for a player 6'1" tall; straight-back, straight-thru stroke path; practice with Eyeline putting track; keep your head still; bend at hips to get top of back level with ground to promote pendulum stroke; stroke slightly upward thru the ball; practice pressure; practice pace by having putts end up past hole if they miss but not over 18" past so comeback is a tap-in.

Colin Ancsell, Putting Posture First, Golf Pages (Spr-Sum 2006): 70-71 -- Eyes over ball, eyeline parallel to target line; Look to the hole with movement of the head alone, not the shoulders, as this misaligns the setup; Hang arms naturally and feed the club into the naturally hanging hands; Shoulder stroke drill: trap club shaft beneath both arms across chest while making strokes to coordinate shoulders; Drop the ball from left eye rather than bridge of nose to find proper ball position beneath eyes.

Stan Utley, 3 Steps to great putting Try my feel-based system for improving on the greens, Golf Digest (Jun 2006) -- "To make more putts, you need to have a solid, consistent stroke, but before that, two other things have to be right. You have to be able to read the green to know where to hit your putt. And you have to be able to take that read and set yourself up accurately so that a good stroke will make the ball go in the hole." Read: See the ball on a path to the high point of the break. Hit to the apex and let the ground take care of the rest. Setup: Grip, stance and alignment are the building blocks for great flow. Grip handle on line with forearm in palms; bend from hips for good release; setup square with joint pairs. Stroke: Square to the arc, not to the target line. "If you're standing to the side of the ball to hit a putt, to make the putter go straight back and straight through along the target line, you would actually have to close the putterface in the backstroke and then open it coming through relative to the shaft plane. This is why you might feel like you slice some of your putts.That's the opposite of what you do for anything else in the game, from a driver swing to a short pitch, and it's also not the best way to do something consistently, time after time. Letting the putterface move in an arc and stay square to that arc is what will make the ball go where you're aiming, with a bigger margin for error and less need for practice."

Ernie Els, How a putter change has fixed my stroke, Golf Digest (Apr 2006) -- Stand taller (increase putter length 1") and not slumped and stand a little closer to allow the putter to release to the left more past impact.

Hank Haney, Putting with Tiger, Golf Digest (Mar 2006) -- "When I watch Tiger putt, I'm looking to see that he's not getting away from the fundamentals he learned from his father, Earl -- setting up square to the target with his eyes, arms and shoulders, with his arms hanging comfortably from his sides with very little tension. Tiger stays so steady with his head and body when he putts, something that's a constant with great putters. I'm just there as an extra pair of eyes to tell him what I'm seeing if he asks. I don't think Earl gets enough credit for the lessons he taught Tiger. When Tiger struggled on the greens last year, he went back to what Earl taught him and worked it out."

Frank Thomas, Frank Talk: The long putter, Golf Digest (Mar 2006) -- "Does the long putter reduce the chances of making a bad stroke? Perhaps excessively, especially once you examine the major errors capable of creeping into your stroke: 1. Raising the putter up and down, caused mainly by bending the elbows too much. 2. Fanning the blade open or closed. 3. Forcing the putterhead to stay lower to the ground going back, thus knocking it off the proper arc, usually the result of uneven shoulder action. 4. Changing the shaft angle, as in a forward press. 5. Moving the putter in and out in the toe/heel direction toward or away from the feet. 6. Moving the putter back and forward along the intended target and stroke line. If you can eliminate the role of certain body parts, then you eliminate the associated errors. That's really what a long putter does. By locking the long putter into the sternum and creating a pivot point, a golfer no longer has the opportunity to move the putter up and down or take it back on a path other than a pure arc. The long shaft, locked to your chest with one hand, and gripped in the middle by the other, also eliminates wrist action and thereby errors relating to shaft angle and putterhead rotation. So the long putter eliminates four of six degrees of freedom: 1, 2, 3, 4 (see 1, 2 and 3 illustrated below). Of course, longer putts require more feel, so eliminating degrees of freedom might make it harder to feel distance. Ideally, you'd use a long putter for short putts and a short putter for long putts."

Editors, Putters: 26 on hot list, Golf Digest (Feb 2006) -- Top 26 putters sorted by mallets vs blades, noting MOI and putterhead weight, along with advice about selection and fitting.

Butch Harmon Practice lag putting before you play, Golf Digest (Feb 2006) -- First-hole putts are usually 40-050 footers, so practice lags in the warmup; putt from one side of green to the other and then back again. "As for technique, the common mistake on long putts is taking the putter back too short and trying to smash the ball. Instead, make a longer, slower backstroke, so you have something to hit with and some room to accelerate the putter (above). Do this for 10 minutes before you play, putting the length of the green, and you'll get off to a smooth start." Sometimes switching to a radically different putter will boost slumping performance.

Justin Leonard : Justin Leonard's pet shot -- making the long putt, Golf Digest (Feb 2006) -- Don't leave yourself many 50 footers to start with; uphill aim past the hole; downhill aim short of the hole; pace is more important than line.

David Wright, Putting Rx, Golf Tips Magazine Instruction Annual (2006): 54-59 -- setup fundamentals for a sound stroke: ball position neutral, whereas ball too far back closes shoulder line and ball too far forward opens shoulder line; eye position for accurate view of hole; neutral weight in feet avoids pushes (toe-weight) and pulls (heel-weight); neutral hand position with ars naturally hanging beneath shoulders.

Stewart Cink, How I went 351 holes without a three-putt, Golf Digest (Dec 2005) -- 1. Downhill: Downhill putts, especially the big breakers, have two parts: your putt and then gravity's putt. 2. Uphill: Uphill putts, particularly those to a second tier, are all about distance. 3. Drill: Testy four-footers are the ones that can make or break a round. When I was at Georgia Tech, former golf coach Puggy Blackmon used to make us do this tee drill before we could leave practice. 4. Why I tried the belly putter: Belly putters encourage a solid stroke that releases naturally with no extra effort.

David Leadbetter, Keep your elbows in to stop slicing putts, Golf Digest (Dec 2005) -- To get the ball rolling on the proper line, learn to control the putter with a combination movement of the chest, shoulders, hands and arms. Grip the putter with your palms opposing and your elbows snug against your rib cage. Make a shorter stroke going back, feeling your arms and hands staying connected and in front of your chest as your shoulders rock up and down. Practice with a head cover tucked beneath each armpit to stay connected.

Hank Haney, Improve your chipping and putting, Golf Digest (Dec 2005) -- A realease in putting requires left wrist in line with forearm, and high hands and a downward cocking of wrists impedes a good release.

Editors, Time to change putters? Putter fitting can help, Golf Digest (Dec 2005) -- "It's part of the experience at high-end fitting studios like Hot Stix in Scottsdale, but it's also increasingly available at the fitter down the street. For example, Mitchell Golf's computer-based, high-speed camera system costs about $3,000, and other analysis systems on the market include the P3ProSwing and EDH FlightScope. "Just being able to record the data and replay the video provides immediate feedback," says Ed Mitchell, chairman of Mitchell Golf. "These are the same variables that tour players are looking at when they're getting custom-fit for the right putter." Not just for new putters, a high-tech putter fitting might let you keep old reliable in the bag. With a high-speed camera system, a fitter can see whether the putter is even with the ground coming into the ball. A camera can also measure loft, aim, contact at impact and skid distance."

Tiger Woods, Short putts, Golf Digest (Nov 2005) -- "I placed two tees in the ground slightly wider than my putter, on a level lie about three feet from the hole. Using six balls, I hit 12 putts with my right hand only, then six with both hands. I continued this exercise until I made 100 straight. If I missed, I started over. I did this before and after each round and found that it really helped me on the course with my short putts. Gradually, I moved the tees back to about four feet from the hole. I continued this practice routine at my next few tournaments and missed about five putts out of 4,000, which is pretty good. It's a great drill to keep you paying attention. You'd be surprised how sharp your focus becomes when the consequence is starting over."

Todd Sones, Take Aim at Great Putting, Golf Digest (Oct 2005) -- Setup: Grip in palms, steup square with hip bend and feel stacked on hips and feet, shaft vertical with butt aimed just left of sternum and ball slightly forward; keep head still; drop rear hand off grip to see that it swings free only sideways; Stroke: learn solid impact as basis of good touch; bigger backstroke, not faster, for longer putts; stroke path naturally arcs but straight-back, straight-thru stroke is okay as this has golfer more tuned to path of hands than path of putterhead and not good to watch putterhead; make gate of 2 tees wider than ball but not putterhead and position 6 inches in front of ball, so ball shoots between tees but tees stop putterhead short to grove a compact, accelerating stroke; use a low stringline to practice keeping stroke low and level thru impact; Pre-shot routine: read from behind ball and go with first read; setup and make a realistic practice stroke then and feel distance then slide putter behind ball; trace path to hole with eyes; keep image of hole in mind and putt without delay.

Tiger Woods, Your putter can be a weapon from off the green, Golf Digest (Oct 2005) -- Texas wedge from off the green; When there is short grass and no obstacles from ioff the green, amateurs should putt rather than chip; amateurs don't practice chipping enough to be better at this than at putting; "I walk off the distance to the green and from the green to the hole to get a feel for the putt. Everything else in my setup--light grip, ball slightly forward, head still--is the same. Getting quick or short with your stroke in either direction will hurt your distance control and prevent you from hitting it solid."

Michael Campbell and Jonathan Yarwood, How we built a putting stroke to win the US Open, Golf World (Sep 2005), pp 119-123 -- when he arrived at Pinehurst, Campbell's putting was bad; had him stand taller, avoid his left-wrist breaking down; used a one-arn drill (right) to get feel of club moving inside on the right line; set a peg beside the hole on breaking putts to learn to commit to line and allow break to happen; use a routine that always has same timing.

Barney Puttick, Total game plan: putting, Golf Monthly (Sep 2005), pp 91-98 -- shoulder stroke with overlapping grip in smooth tempo with a still lower body; practice stroke with right hand only; lean club butt against right hip while putting to test stillness of lower body; ball position 2 inches forward of spine for impact on the upswing with better roll; grip 2 inches lower on faster greens to make stroke shorter; better feel from allowing a slight wrist hinge at top of backstroke; use driver as a belly putter to practice stroke fundamentals; don't look up until after a count of 2 past impact; on practice green, try letting the head "turn" (not "lift up") with the thru-stroke in order to see the result; on short putts, avoid anxiety by focusing on a spot along the line.

Editors, Hole more short putts, Today's Golfer (Sep 2005), p 96-- treat short putts as no more challenging than a simple tap-in; place two rubber bands across the face of the putter to define sweetspot impact.

David Leadbetter, One simple rule for making short putts, Golf Digest (Sep 2005), p 56-- accelerate thru the ball -- place a tee peg behind the ball to force a shorter backstroke, which forces a more accelerating thru-stroke; the thru-stroke past the ball should be longer than the backstroke.

Sean Hanley, Golf Digest School Drills for driving, ball-striking and putting, Golf Digest (Sep 2005) -- "To develop a confident stroke from short range, stick a tee in the back of a cup and try to roll the ball into the tee. This simple drill will make you more aggressive and, therefore, more consistent on short putts, turning those borderline rounds into good scores."

Chuck Winstead, How to be automatic from 5 feet, Golf Magazine (Sep 2005), p 76 -- line perpendicular to putter face; place a tee peg at the lip on a breaking putt and putt around it into cup; on an uphill putt, place a tee peg horizontally in the back wall of the hole and make the ball hit it going in; on a downhill putt, place a tee peg horizontally in the back wall of the hole and miss the peg as the ball goes into the cup.

Donny Lee, Golf Digest School Widen your putting stance on windy days, Golf Digest (Aug 2005) -- "A firm base will help prevent swaying, so stand with your feet farther apart than usual and try to make your normal putting stroke."; Grip putter lightly: "The tighter you squeeze, the harder it is to make a natural, rhythmic stroke. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being an extra light grip and 10 being a strangle hold, grip the putter at 5 or lower."; Iffy feel on course: before leaving hole, practice a 10-footer while looking at hole to "engrain feel" for distance and get back on track for next hole.

Mike Stachura, New Looks: Score lines Tiny grooves are the next big thing in putter design, Golf Digest (Aug 2005) -- "Today a slew of puttermakers are attempting to reduce the negative early launch and spin conditions of a putt through the use of a grooved face. The Two Bar putter from GUERIN RIFE uses tiny four-thousandths-of-an-inch wide grooves that, designer Guerin Rife says, grab the cover of the ball and impart forward spin ($200, guerinrife.com). You see similar ideas in the C-Groove putters from YES! GOLF ($170, yesgolf.com) and the String Putter ($100, stringputter.com). The idea's not new: Top-Flite had a Micro-Groove putt-er in 1997. And now TaylorMade, one of the leaders in golf-equipment technology, has investigated the idea of grooves with the full brunt of its resources (what one company insider called millions in research and development). The result is a new family of Rossa putters that come in five styles and feature 12 computer-milled grooves in its weight-saving, seven-metal face insert, or what the company calls Anti-skid Groove System Insert (AGSI). The grooves, which are one-third the width of a typical iron groove and 50 percent closer together, are filled with a soft polymer to dampen vibration. "Most grooves on putters are rigid, and passive at impact," says Benoit Vincent, director of research and development for TaylorMade. "Because these grooves are softer, they are active and work to get the roll part of a putt started sooner." ($179 for Monza Corza, $150 for CGB, taylormadegolf.com)."

Mike Stachura, The Distance Myth, Golf Digest (Aug 2005) -- Stats over 20 years prove that Putting and Approach iron play are more valuable to scoring and winning than driver distance or accuracy.

Rob Akins and Charlie King, Golf's Red Zone Challenge -- Chapter 4: Putting , Athlon Sports -- Golf Annual 2005, pp 28-45 -- Roll the ball well; roll the ball on line; green reading; practice tips. [Nice drills for each section; pretty sound throughout; uses natural tempo of putter! Rob is pretty good on putting -- works with David Toms, Loren Roberts and the "Memphis Mob".]

Joe Vavra and Al Barkow, Dead solid putts -- online every time, Golf Illustrated (Jul-Aug 2005), pp 46-52 -- slight arcing stroke with neutral hands; stroke timeing always the same "speed" in the pendulum action. Bigger stroke going uphill.

Joseph Parent, Breaking 100: For better feel on the greens, learn to see the bigger picture, Golf Digest (Jul 2005), p 194 -- high-handicap golfers focus on the distance "between" the ball and cup and subconsciously "can't go past the distance and rarely even get the ball to the hole" [GM: that's a pretty suspect claim]; walk to hole with eyes closed; if you're short, you need to focus more broadly on the whole green and the area around and past the hole in order to "have better feel for the real distance." [GM: note the vagueness about the perceptual processes and the notion of "feel".]

Joseph Parent, Breaking 90: Stroke your knee-knockers as if they're tap-ins, Golf Digest (Jul 2005), p 197 -- "trying too hard" causes problems such as "steering" or "coaxing" the putt; tap-in stroke is more instinctive.

Joseph Parent, Breaking 80: Breathe away tension; Stop self-sabotage, Golf Digest (Jul 2005), p 199 -- before setting up, male a slow out-breath as if thru a straw to settle mind and body into a relaxed state; on crucial putts, tune into the situation, not the implications: instead of thinking "This is a five-footer for the match", think "This is a ball, five feet of grass and a hole, and I know how to do this." [GM: doing what you know is necessary to give the putt its best chance is the best approach in all situations, including pressure situations.]

Rick Smith, Phil Mickelson's putting drill, Golf Digest (Jun 2005), pp 73-74 -- Taught to him by Jackie Burke, Phil uses the circle drill for two purposes: 1. to groove a confident stroke without "steering" the ball into a cup seen in peripheral vision; and 2. to render any short putt just another in an endless succession of short putts to relieve pressure on the course. Drill: place ten balls in a circle about 3 feet out and hole each in turn, then repeat this ten times for 100 putts in a row without a miss. [GM: Danger, danger! Will Robinson! practicing this way on a flat, level area of the practice green may lead to misreading a short putt on a tilted green on the 17th hole at Shinnecock Hills and a three-putt that blows the US Open!]

Bob Toski, Putting feel: keep the pressure in the hands constant, Golf Digest (Jun 2005), p 172 -- "Players push and pull putts because they change the grip pressure in different parts of their hands." -- changing finger pressure = pull; changing heel pressure = push; alignment: setup with toe of putter running along a 2x4 board so that eye line is parallel to the line of the board, but with eyes slightly inside the ball rather than directly over the ball -- "Your eyes should be inside the ball because you're used to playing every other shot that way." [GM: More important to be able to set eye-line or skull-line according to the putter head and aim of the putter face, since there won't be any 2x4 allowed on the course. Also, WHY do golfers change pressure in the hands? or WHAT is it about stroke dynamics that results in pressure changes? These questions are the ones we need to understand.]

Peter Morrice, The search for feel -- the sound of putting, Golf Digest (Jun 2005), pp 174-186 -- Testing golfers' predictions of distance putted with ear muffs and with sound-deadening tape on the putter face makes it harder for golfer to assess / guess how far a given stroke will send the ball. Use "tone" to represent "effort level".

Stan Utley, Teaching feel to tour players, Golf Digest (Jun 2005), pp 188-19 -- in putting, tension in upper back and shoulders prevents a natural stroke on an arc -- at address, the coach can tap the shoulders and tell the golfer to "let the air out" and the shoulders will relax and drop as much as two inches. As with Craig Stadler, swinging the putter on a slight arc is swinging the putter on plane. [GM: I don't see any "feel" here.]

Pia Nilsson and Lynn Marriott, How to turn feel into real, Golf Digest (Jun 2005), pp 204-210 -- use a metronome to groove tempo and avoid inconsistency day to day; putt blindfolded and place a golf glove in the cup to cushion and deaden out auditory feedback in order to develop a better sense of feel for distance and avoid getting "line drunk" or "line bound"; to make the putt less intellectual and more kinesthetic, move the image of the target out of the head and into the gut. {GM: brain research shows using a metronome is not a great idea -- makes you straight-jacketed and awkward. There's a much better way.]

Chuck Cook, Prepping Payne [Stewart]: How I helped my friend and longtime student make a game plan for taming Pinehurst's diabolical greens, Golf Digest (Jun 2005), pp 257-262 -- 1999 US Open: correctly guessing the Sunday pin placement on 18th hole allowed Payne to practice the expected final putt; this taught him that his read was wrong, that the ball broke the opposite way it seemed it would, and he was able to learn to trust the correct read. "It was really hard to trust myself on that last putt. It looked like it would break the other way, but I knew from our practice that it was going the way it went!"

Robert Karlsson, The putting edge, Play Better Golf 3(3) (Jun Jul 2005), p 40 -- posture: eyes over ball with weight a little favoring left (target) side.

Carly Cummins, "The first putting technology worthy of the new century", Golf World (Jun 2005), pp 56-58 -- Science and Motion (SAM) PuttLab system profiled. [GM: The article title is a quotation from me on the SAM website.]

Luke Donald, One-handed practice stroke, Golf Monthly (May 2005), p 94 -- make the practice stroke for the putt only with the right hand to feel weight and release of putter head, then add left hand solely for stability. "Dropping my left hand off the grip lets the weight of the putterhead control the pace and shape of the stroke." [GM: Good idea, wrong hand -- makes golfer "armsy" whereas doing this with left or target-side hand is less likely to encourage "armsiness" or "hit consciousness".]

Editors, Drive for show, putt for dough, Golf Monthly (May 2005), p 174 -- since 1998, European Tour players have increased average drives by 20 yards from 267 to 287 yards but greens in regulation stats have slightly fallen (from 66.5% to 66.4%); putting improvement plus better up-and-down accounts for 0.22 improvement in stroke from 72.4 to 71.82. Putts per round have improved from 30.1 to 29.7 average (0.4 per round) and putts per GIR have improved from 21.65 to 21.40. Top-10 drivers by distance collectively earned 7.5 million pounds, but top-10 putters earned double that; in US, top-10 putters earned $15.5 million more than group of top-10 drivers.

Tiger Woods, Feel + technique Confidence on the greens depends on good mechanics, Golf Digest (May 2005) -- "Sometimes I'm not hitting the ball solidly, which affects speed and direction. I use the tee drill (above) to get back to hitting the ball in the middle of the putterface. Placing the ball in the middle of two tees just slightly wider than the putterhead also helps me square the face to my target through impact. I also prefer a putting stroke that swings a little inside going back, squares up at impact and releases to the inside after impact. It's more natural. Keeping my head perfectly still until the ball is gone, and trusting my stroke, also help me hit putts solidly."

Tom Watson, Aim the face first -- set your stance to the putter, not the other way around, Golf Digest (May 2005), p 52 -- It's hard to aim accurately from beside the ball, so aim the face from behind the putter and then step around and address the putter as aimed; don't look up until after a count of one past impact; widen stance in wind; "Maintain your eye line by swiveling your head back and forth to lovck in the target. Don't lift your head up to look." [GM: A little confused, but better than usual.]

Hank Johnson, How to find your putting line, Golf Digest (May 2005), pp 125-128 -- straight putts under an elevated string line, align line of ball with string and stroke so that ball line rolls true without wobbling; breaking putts, lay down a string along the curvature of the path and putt on the high / outside of the string so that ball enters heart of cup at end of path; long lag putts, lay a section of string down sideways across the end of the putt and practice lagging to within 2 feet from at least 30 feet away. Trigger your stroke automatically, such as by aiming putter, adopting setup, completing grip, taking one last look, and starting stroke with trust of line and stroke.

Jim McLean, Breaking 100 etc.: Excerpts from book The Three Scoring Clubs re putting, Golf Digest (May 2005), pp 239-241, 246 -- rock the shoulders so the triangle stays intactm smoothly back and thru on an even tempo, like a car on cruise control, with longer strokes for longer putts; set up head and eyes ("eye-line") so that you see the line accurately from beside the ball; left hand helps square the putter face, while many prefer the right or dominant hand, but stroke putts one-handed either way to develop fluid stroke with "feel for distance"; reverse overlap (standard) grip "encourages a uniform connection with your hands"; "To ensure that your hands work together, make sure both thumbs point down the putter shaft, with the back of the left hand facing the target."; a putting stroke follows sane path both hands follow when clapping in front of your lap, not a straight line; long backstroke and short follow-thru prevents decelerating at impact; experimenting and changing putters and styles can help get you back to a sound stroke.

Frank Thomas, Center-shafted vs. Heel-shafted putters, Golf Digest (May 2005), p 258 -- only difference is "feel" not impact rotation.

[GM: not very scientific to use vague terms like "feel"; also, shafting does affect rotation as well as vertical gear effect; confusion in this article: "A putter that is face balanced is more efficient for a smooth, straight-back, straight-through stroke, but you can have a face-balanced putter in many hosel forms." The concept of "efficiency" is very vague -- he probably should say "better suited as less apt to have toe-flow during the stroke"; also, this statement contradicts opinion that shafting does not matter to stroke dynamics; finally, it is not true that "many hosel forms" are used in face-balanced putters -- the shaft always aims to the center of the putter head toe to heel, regardless of the hoseling, plus the weighting of the head is adjusted to counteract any odd hoseling that may otherwise upset the balancing.]

Jack Nicklaus, Nine putting lessons, Golf Stroke Saver #25 (2005), 24-27, 70-71: 1. the weight of the putter is the most important feature in selection; 2. lag into a 6-foot circle; 3. spot putt; 4. "unweight" the putter off the ground for a smooth takeaway; 5. keep the heel matching the toe for a square stroke; 6. to avoid flicking the putter thru impact, place the grip in the palms, not the fingers; 7. use a piston-type stroke action; 8. stroke up on bumpy greens; 9. don't overpractice -- focus on tempo and a square stroke, and once you get that going, stop.

Tony Dear, Putting with confidence, Golf Stroke Saver #25 (2005), 12-14, 16, 60-62: [excerpt from his bookm Good Golf Made Easy (CollinsWillow, 2000)] -- back of left hand, palm of right hand face target in grip; grip tightly; don't crouch too low in setup; never position eyes beyond the ball; never position ball closer to rear foot than middle of stance; ball positioned directly beneath the eyes is best; make the shoulder rock with steady knees and a still head; use a one-two tempo; on short putts be bold and aim for the back of the cup; Colin Montgomerie tries to hole 200 3-4' putts in a row; lag to a big circle using your usual tempo; reading break only comes with experience thru the development of a sixth sense; all putts are straight; aim at the apex of the break; four drills: 1. putt right-handed only; 2. place marker beneath ball and watch the marker after ball is struck; 3. lay 2 club shafts down as a putting track; 4. putt to different distances, 10', 20', 30' and 40'.

Travis Fulton, Conquering the dreaded three-footer, Golf Illustrated (May-June 2005), pp 58-59, 62-64: use the normal pre-shot routine; commit to your line; get comfortable; look and react; setup with eyes above ball, and practice this with a shiny CD to place the ball in; hang arms and hands naturally; set weight on balls of feet, not heels.

Hugh Marr, Putting tip, Golf World (Apr 2005), 161: for a better perspective of the line at address, locate your dominate eye above the ball -- use a wide stance for cross dominance; use a narrow stance for same-side handed and eye dominance.

Freddie Jacobson, On the green, Golf Lessons (2005) #27, p 41 -- breathe in on backstroke, breathe out on thru-stroke.

Colin Montgomerie, Develop a deadly stroke for conventional and belly putters, Golf Lessons (2005) #27, pp 26-27, 68-70 -- belly putter needs to stay lodged in midriff so there can be no independent hand or arm action [not true -- anchoring in belly fixes distance of hands and curtails lifting but does not prevent twisting or rotating face in undesireable ways];contact ball just a little past the lowest point in the arc; constant pace / tempo and don't look up; anchor butt about 2 inches above belly button; "grip light, not tight" but just tight enough so as not to lose control of putter; swivel head to target, don't lift head to look; stroke with a triangle pendulum action, not hands; shorten backstroke and accelerate thru to avoid decelerating into impact; hit slightly up; once break is read, pick a spot to roll ball over with the right speed; distance is a lot more important than line; lag into a three-foot circle around the hole; no secret for greta touch, just lots of practice and hitting putts uphill and downhill and to different distances and putting with eyes closed; don't read too much break.

Eddie Merrins, Get short-putt speed, Golf Magazine (Apr 2005), p 22 -- use the same force for short putts as needed to toss a penny to the hole.

Nanacy Quarcelino, See and stroke -- first see the break and then set yourself up right, Golf Magazine (Apr 2005), pp 106-107 -- set putter face using only the lead hand to avoid misaligning shoulders and then square feet up parallel to line; align logo on ball; use an intermediate spot to commit to the line on breaking putts.

Editors, private lessons -- let the putter swing, Golf Magazine (Apr 2005), p 232 -- "Once you pull the putter back, imagine that gravity takes over and accelerates it into the ball. In this smoother version [of the stroke, non-jabbing], sesnse that the putter is swinging itself while letting your arms and fingers stay relaxed -- this gives you better feel and distance control." [YOU BETCHA!!]

Jim Mcean, Rolling your ball -- how to setup so you strike your putts with the proper loft, Golf Digest (Apr 2005), p 70 -- play ball inside lead foot and swing into ball about 1/2 inch off surface to hit equator or slightly above.

Billy Casper Interview, Golf Digest (Apr 2005), pp 234-236 -- practicing putting at night in the dark taught him to use his senses better for all of golf.

Gio Valiante, How to play without fear -- Conquer anxiety on the course by making "mastery golf" your goal, Golf Digest (Apr 2005), pp 148-53 -- don't play as a golfer concerned with ego and place in golf, but rather as a player who wants to master the skills of the game. [Same approach as George Leonard]

Kevin Sprecher, Never three-putt, Golf Illustrated (Mar-Apr 2005), p 46 -- .

Eric Dunankey, Adjust your stance to control distance and tempo on the green, Golf Illustrated (Feb 2005), pp 61, 108 -- .

IJ Sheck, Three Simple Ways to groove your stroke, Golf Illustrated (Feb 2005), pp 62-66 -- keep head down and still; visualize, think distance not speed.

Freddie Jacobson, Short game sharpeners, Golf Monthly (Mar 2005), pp 72-73.

Editors, Putters on test, Today's Golfer (Feb 2005)m pp 106-111 -- ranking ten popular putters in a list.

David Leadbetter Use your shadow to get behind the ball; tips for improving your putting, Golf Digest (Dec 2004) -- Putt short putts from different locations and get into a rhythm; stroke for feel with only the right hand; Shoulder rock: "You control the putting stroke with a slight turning of the stomach and chest, which produces a compact and coordinated movement of the arms, hands and putter. This pendulum motion also ensures that the shoulders do not rock too vertically, but rather turn around the axis of the spine. To instill a sense of the all-important coordination between the arms and body, hold a clubshaft under your arms, as you see here, and focus on repeating a stroke, with a real sense of the arms and shoulders working together. Simply rock your shoulders and let your stroke run on automatic."

Dale Paluszcyk, The Golf Digest School Reading breaking putts, Golf Digest (Dec 2004) -- First see entry point of ball into cup on breaking putt and then visualize path backwards out of the hole back to ball.

Breaking 80 Play games on the practice green, Golf Digest (Dec 2004) -- Poker: add to putt each 3-putt and draw a card each 1-putt.

Latest Gear: Five new mallet putters, Golf Digest (Dec 2004) -- The new large mallets use backweighting to optimize stability (MOI) to get more roll on off-center hits. Chew on these (left to right): ODYSSEY 2-Ball White Steel. The industry standard receives an update with a milled stainless-steel face insert surrounded by a softer grade of urethane ($175, odysseygolf.com). NEVER COMPROMISE Voodoo Daddy. The aircraft-aluminum construction uses heel-toe struts to improve stability ($210, nevercompromise.com). NIKE Blue Chip Oz T100. The tungsten weight centered in the back puts 30 percent of the head's weight in the rear ($165, nikegolf.com). COBRA Inner Mallet. The traditional-size mallet with a milled-face is extended with a tungsten cap on the back ($150, cobragolf.com). MACGREGOR Designed by Bobby Grace V-Foil GT. The 150 grams of copper screws complement the beryllium-copper milled insert in the face ($225, macgregorgolf.com).

Jim McLean, Keep your head steady on short putts, Golf Digest (Nov 2004) 55(11): 48 -- accelerate thru impact; stroke the ball instead of steering it; keep head down until hearing the ball rattle into the cup.

Rob Sauerhaft, Our first ever putter test, Golf Magazine (Nov 2004) 47(11): 121-140 -- 20 "usual suspects" putters tested at Pinehurst No. 2 under Dr Bob Christina for sinks vs misses at various distances -- subjective ratings by those who did the testing plus confusing, hard-to-read-or-use charts of results. Science reduced to mere marketing.

Rob Stock, Three speeds for less [fewer] three-putts, Golf Tips Magazine (Nov 2004): 28-29 -- slow (front of cup), medium (middle of cup), fast (back of cup) -- use these speeds to sink 3 in a row from 4', 8', 12' and 15' then repeat with an opposite-break putt from the other side of the hole. [Not real clear why someone would three-putt inside 15' or how this drill helps avoid the problem.]

Hank Haney, How to beat the putting yips Mark O'Meara overcame them. You can, too, Golf Digest (Oct 2004) -- O'Meara adopted the "claw" grip; "f you think you have the yips, know that there are practical ways to deal with them before your confidence gets destroyed and the game stops being fun. First check your setup. Get your eyes aligned along the target line, and the face of the putter square to the target. For some, this step takes care of the problem. For more serious cases, there are two options: We'll use a series of drills to "short circuit" the yip, or we'll work with different kinds of grips. The goal is to get you less stroke- and ball-conscious. Hitting putts with the toe of the putter, or trying to hit just the top edge of the ball and intentionally top it are two moves that force you to focus on something else besides the same old putting stroke÷and same old yip. From there, we graduate to stroking putts with the left hand on the putter normally and with the index finger of the right hand touching the top of the grip. Slowly, the yipper is usually able to work back to getting the right hand on the grip and making a yip-free stroke. Using drills like these, and feedback from the SAM machine, we've seen incredible improvement in average yippers in as little as two or three hours. If you do have the yips, there is hope. The quicker you accept that diagnosis, the quicker you can treat them and get back to making those big putts again."

Dave Pelz, Fire away -- once you've made a good practice stroke there's no point wasting time, Golf Monthly (Oct 2004): 90-91 -- repeat of Pelz's earlier advice to look at hole, look at ball, start backstroke, make thru-stroke.

Mark Wood, Putting: Belly Up, Golf Magazine (Oct 2004) 46(10): 95-96, 98, 100 -- belly putter can help avoid missing right and left with a stable arcing stroke without manipulation and can help avoid rear wrist flipping thru impact. Survey of "Top 100" teachers says: Use the belly putter or long putter? 27% Yes; Should belly putter be legal? 71% Yes; Will the USGA and R&A ban the belly putter? 67% No.

Neil Morrison, Choke Signals, Golf Magazine (Oct 2004) 46(10): 152 -- article on golfers under stress in American Journal of Neuroradiology shows adrenaline plus negative thoughts / worries "deactivates" cerebellum, which coordinates motor movement and thoughts, hence making the golfer both "clumsy" and "stupid." [Glad to see these folks finally starting to catch up with my studies of the cerebellum and putting.]

Lee Scarbrow, Break 80 -- Hole more putts, Today's Golfer (Sep 2004): 74-80 -- arms hang relaxedly, right wrist stays soft and hinges subtly going back and releases the angle going thru impact; brush the top half of the ball with an upstroke for pro topspin roll; knee flex uses the backs of the thighs to steady your base and helps prevent shoulders twisting off line as they tend to do over straight legs.

Justin Leonard, How to Make the Clutch Putt, Golf Digest (Sep 2004) 55(9): 113-114, 116-117 -- really just his regular putting techniguque, not about "clutch putting" at all -- set ball with nothing but white dimples showing, use light but constant grip pressure, stand a little closer to the ball to avoid misses right andf left, aim for a breaking spot that is as high as possible, keep the head still on short putts although a little motion on longer putts is ok, use a longer and slower stroke, and die the putts in the hole. A slot cut in the sole from heel to toe makes the pitch of the putter higher at impact -- sound is part of "feel."

Rick Martino, Follow the Rule -- Use a ruler to fix your aim on the green, Golf Magazine (Sep 2004) 46(9): 88 -- aim the putter face and then check how you did by putting the butt of a ruler flush against the putter face to reveal the line of your aim.

Turk Pipkin, Grain Man -- Some golfers still love sand greens, Golf Magazine (Sep 2004) 46(9): 138-141 -- profiles of today's sand greens.

Diana Luna, Putting -- A natural approach, Golf International no. 45 (Aug 2004), pp 76-81 -- get comfortable for focus, place eyes over ball, aim the shaft in line with forearms, keep elbows tucked in close to sides to keep the "triangle" connected, don't set the wrists/hands too high (tends to make putter run inside) or too low (tends to make putter run outside), and use a gentle rocking of the shoulders.