On The Tee with Hank Johnson

Improving Your Putting
By Hank Johnson

Segment Five
Green Reading – More Art than Science
The ability to “read” a green is based on stored experience that is gained by “trial and error”.
Very few greens are flat. If they were, they would be boring to play on and water would not drain off after a rain or irrigation. Therefore virtually all putts involve negotiating some slope. The ball is required to roll up a slope, down a slope or across a slope. A good percentage of putts involve more that one of these slopes. “Green reading” is the ability to recognize slopes and predict their effect on the ball BEFORE you putt.
Speed is pre-determined. You have to roll the ball with enough speed for it to reach the hole or roll just past it if you miss. The ability to “read” a putt is really the ability to predict the effect of any slope that the ball must roll on at that pre- determined speed.
The process is as follows:
1. “Feel” the pace or speed you plan to give the ball.
2. Rehearse the stroke that this pace or speed requires.
3. Visualize the “path or line” along which you expect the ball to roll.
4. Aim along the start of that path or line.
5. Repeat the stroke you’ve rehearsed.
6. Watch to ball roll until it stops.
Develop the habit of watching EVERY putt you hit until it stops rolling. This will give you feedback for future putts and maximize the storage of experience. If the putt doesn’t do what you expected, go back and see if you can find the slope that fooled you.
Some things to remember:
1. Slopes near the cup or at the end of the balls roll will have the greatest effect because the ball will be slowing down.
2. Downhill slopes add to the balls roll and cause the ball to break less.
3. Uphill slopes slow the balls roll down and allow the ball to break more.
4. The drainage pattern in a green will tell you the probable effect of slopes on the ball. Water tends to run downhill, so do putts.
5. Wind above 5 miles per hour will also affect the roll of a putt just like it affects the balls movement in the air.

Improving Your Putting
By Hank Johnson

Segment Four

“Feel” for Distance/Speed/Pace
One thing that ALL great putters seem to have is “good touch”. This simply means they have good “feel” for how much pace or speed to give the ball for it to roll the proper distance.
As we talked about in a previous segment, having a stroke with only one speed source make it much easier to control distance and I prefer for the pivot of the upper trunk to be this single speed source.
In this type of stroke, the hands just hold the putter while the rotation of the shoulders and rib cage swing the arms and putter. The motion should be smooth with no “hit” at the ball.
This “feel” is something you have to acquire on your own, and there is only one way to do it.
PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE
Lag to a line: Stretch out a string across a portion of your practice green. From a minimum of 20 feet away, try to roll balls to the string and make them just touch it. Vary the distance you are from the string and just try to “feel” the distance you need to make the ball roll. It’s the same as learning how hard to shoot a basketball. It’s just trial and error experience. You just have to put in the time.
Ladder drill: Take a dozen or so balls to one end of your practice green. Make sure it is at least 50 feet to the other end. Hit the first putt as close as you can to the fringe at the other end of the green without actually going into the fringe. Hit the next putt as close to the first ball as you can without going past it. Hit the third putt as close to the second ball as you can without going past it. Continue this process until your “ladder of ball” is as near to all the way back to your starting point as you can get. If you go past the previous ball the game is over. Count the number of “successes” you had and record your score. Try to break your personal record the next time you do the Ladder Drill.
Lag and Finish Drill: Putt three balls to a hole no closer than 30 feet. Putt out the balls and keep score. Play 6 holes with 3 balls doing this from at least 30 feet. This will give you a total score for 18 holes. Par is two putts per try or a total score of 36 putts for even par. Your goal is to be capable of shooting “under par” doing this drill.

Improving Your Putting
By Hank Johnson

Segment Three

Direction (line)
Good putting is a matter of controlling line and speed. In this segment we’re going to focus on line. In every putt the player chooses a line to start the ball rolling on. To actually start the ball on this line two things are necessary.
1. The ability to aim the face of the putter on this line at address.
2. A stroke that returns the face of the putter to this same square position for impact with the ball.
Virtually ALL tour players now use a line on the ball to help them aim. Some manufactures put this aiming line on the ball for you. The Titleist PRO V 1 is one example. You can use a Sharpie pen to put a line on any ball. Most Golf Shops sell a plastic form that you can use to draw the line to make sure it’s straight.
Once the aim line on the ball is pointed down your intended start line you can use it to make sure your putter face is square to that line. If your putter has a line on it, the job is even easier.
IF YOU ARE NOT USING THIS PRODECURE,
START NOW!!!
For stroke practice, find a straight putt of about ten feet on your practice green. It can be slightly up hill but should not have any break in it. Now snap a chalk line that goes along the line of the putt and through the center of the hole. Place the ball on the chalk line about six feet from the cup. Match the line on the ball to the chalk line. Now hit some putts and watch the ball roll down the line.
If the putter face is square to your line at impact, the line on the ball will become a “stripe” all the way around the ball. It will look like a small, skinny tire rolling to the hole. If the putter face us not square the “stripe” will wobble as it rolls along and the ball will probably not stay on the chalk line as it rolls toward the cup.
Keep practicing until you can roll putt after putt down the chalk line from ten feet with no wobble in the “stripe”.
At home practice: Place a yardstick on your carpet at home. Put a ball at one end with the line on the ball matched to the center line of the yardstick. Roll putts down the yardstick without them falling off the side. Try for 100 in a row if you want to be a really good putter.

Improving Your Putting
By Hank Johnson

Segment Two

Great putters use only one speed source! Today’s great putters use their pivot to create the motion(speed) of their stroke. They avoid using independent arm swing or wrist action in their stroke.

To practice a stroke that uses your upper body rotation (pivot) to swing your arms:

1. Roll up a towel and place it across your chest and under your arms. Hold the towel against your chest while you practice your stroke or hit practice putts. Remember to keep your lower body still because in putting, you want no lower body pivot.
2. You can also put a golf club across your chest and under your arms but this is not as comfortable or correct as a towel.

To practice a stroke that does not involve wrist action as a speed source:

1. Put a golf ball between the top of your putter grip and the inside of your right forearm. Just put your left hand over your right hand in a double fist for this drill.
2. Make sure you are holding your putter more in the palms of your
hands than you do in your regular golf grip. You might even try
one of the special grips for your putter that are oversized to make
this easier to do.

“Picturing” a pivot driven stroke:

At address, your arms and putter form a large “Y”. Your
Shoulders “close” the “Y” by putting a “top” on it. In a
Pivot driven putting stroke the turning of the “top” of the “Y”
(your shoulders) moves the uprights(your arms) and the “leg” of
the “Y”(your putter). The uprights and leg do not move on
their own.


Performing your putting stroke using your pivot as the only speed source may feel awkward at first but if you will stick with it you’ll be a better putter in the long run.

Improving Your Putting
By Hank Johnson

Segment One

Good putting starts with a sound and consistent address position.

A Solid Base:

The lower body must be stable to have consistent ball contact. This basically means keeping your knees and hips still during your stroke. Two ways to get a feel for this are:

1. Practice your stroke while holding a soccer type ball between your knees. Try to use one that lets your knees be the same width apart that they are in your actual putting address position.

2. Practice your putting stroke with your hips backed up against a wall.
That way you can isolate the feel of a stable base which involves no movement below the waist.

Try to maintain good balance with no shifting. To get a feel for this:

1. Set your weight slightly more on your left heel and keep it there. If
Your weight is set in this manner it will be easier to feel any unwanted shifting during your stroke.

Use a consistent eye position. To train yourself to do this:

1. Place a small mirror on the ground and put the ball on it. This will
let you see where your eyes are at address. They should be over the
ball or slightly inside it and even with the back of the ball. Regular
practice in this manner will help you get your eyes in the same place
from day to day and make “the picture” you see more consistent.

Position the ball at the bottom of your stroke. To find this point:

1. Place a large coin, a quarter or half-dollar where the ball would be.
See if you can hit the edge of the coin with you putter and make it
slide along your target line. If you can, the coin is at the low point
of your arc. Keep adjusting the location of the coin until your putter
hits the edge of the coin. This spot represents the perfect ball position for your stroke.