Winter Golf Dreams: Putting

You probably won’t enjoy this story if you aren’t at least a novice golf nerd. But read anyways if you must.

These cold winter months leave the avid golfer with few avenues to burn off the fever that boils inside. Without the proper indoor practice facility, they are left without that sublime sensory experience of a full swing and contact that sends shivers down to their toesies. I have chosen the path most available to me: putting on the rug in my living room. Now, up until this point, my putting has been the biggest afterthought in my game. “If I can just get off the tee I’ll be fine.” - “My wedges are nasty, just get it close.” - “I’m not really keeping score anyways, let’s whack it and keep moving.” - “Is that good?”

But, if you didn’t know this, putting is important in the game of golf. Each stroke counts the same, whether it's from 2 ft or 200 yards. And so, as the snow falls outside and the temps creep towards the negatives, I’m hooked on putting. I’ve been rolling the white pill down the edge of my living room rug on a daily basis, and I’m glad to be doing it. My roommate and most consistent golf partner, who you might know as @GLENBURNZ, has watched, or at least been in the same area for many of these sessions.

One night he asked what I was working on. I said I was trying to get the ball as close to the end of the rug without going off.

“Shorten your backswing,” Glen said.

“Why?”

“My brother always said you should keep the putter head inside your toes through the whole stroke.”

“What are you supposed to do if you want to hit it harder?”

“Accelerate, but don’t let your follow through go past your left toe.”

“Accelerate? Why?”

“To hit it farther.”

“But what if I don’t want to swing harder and accelerate?”

“Well, you should.”

“I’d rather have a longer backswing. Isn’t it easier to gauge how far you take it back rather than how hard you accelerate through?”

“Maybe for some.”

After Glen and I bickered back and forth for too long, we settled on a difference of opinion. But the questions still hung in the air like an Amazon drone: Which way is better? What do the pros do? How do I sink more putts? Why are there so many ways to do this? Is there a universal truth? Am I an idiot?

I immediately went to Youtube, of course, and it turns out… I might be right, and I also might be wrong. Let me rewind for a second. When Glen and I were having this high level philosophical discussion, my mind was spinning. It all felt so complicated, even though I craved simplicity. I took a deep breath and meditated on this complex issue.

I like to keep things simple. Simple sentences, simple clothing, simple stories, simple meals. Now, simple isn’t the same thing as bland or boring or myopic. I still occasionally have a taste for the exotic, but if I am trying to achieve maximum consistency in a task like putting, I need to keep it simple. Simple is uncomplicated. Simple is isolating and disregarding a variable that doesn't matter to the outcome you seek. Simple is trusting a proven process that is comfortable. Simple is letting the putter do the work.

Let me explain my newfound putting philosophy that naturally has pieces borrowed from the sage minds of golf’s withering generation. I identify most with what Ben Crenshaw preaches, he’s got the resume to back it up too. My plan is to use this philosophy to absolutely dominate the short grass this season. As a quick note of clarification…these are things I want to do. I want to be a good putter and could write about how that might happen all day long, but it looks a lot different on the green with a ball and a cup staring at you than it does behind a computer. My balls will be finding the hole this season, let me tell ya.

Let's start with my putter. I’ve got a sexy little flatstick. It’s “The Original” Arnold Palmer style that looks a bit like it came out of the factory in 1973, it might have. I don’t remember when and where I found it, but I didn’t buy it. Its silver body shines and beckons. The leather grip is old and wearing away, I plan to replace it with a thicker #superstroke this winter. But, although thicker, the shape of the grip will stay the same. It’s got a flat side facing outwards. My thumbs rests nicely on that flat part. I might even shorten the shaft so my short little arms can hang comfortably. Since we’re talking about hanging arms. Let’s talk about setup.

I want to stand tall. I’m short as hell, but I’m tall when I putt. Therefore my feet are fairly close together, a little inside shoulder width. My knees are barely bent, a slight hinge if you will. My weight is evenly distributed on both feet…ehhh maybe a little more on my left. My eyes look over the top of the ball, but I want to favor my left eye over the ball. My left eye is feeling stronger these days. This helps keep my hands slightly in front of the ball too, which feels right for no reason at all. My left hand is on top of the grip and does not interlock with the right. They wrap around the grip leaving about an inch at the top. None of this claw grip bullcrap. My hands are loose, but not wobbly. I want to feel the weight of the putter head! Setup is clean, let’s whack it. How do I want to do that?

We’re back to where this all started. How hard should you swing? How far back should the putter head go? In my head, you should never focus on the speed that your putter head comes through. That will happen naturally based on how far back you bring the putter in the backswing. To hit the ball harder, you need to bring the putter head farther back, and let it swing back on the pendulum you created. The farther back it goes, the heavier the putter will come through the ball. But, I am not trying to speed up or accelerate the putter at all. Slow is smooth and smooth is fast. Of course, I’m trying to keep the path of the putter as straight as possible to encourage a clean connection with the ball. That’s easier said than done and I have no philosophy on that yet, check back later. At least I’ve got a line on my practice ball to see if its rolling straight.

I’m not trying to blow up Glen’s spot, but I don’t quite know what the hell he is talking about! If you set up your feet in the same spot for every putt, and you are intent on not bringing the putter head outside of your big toes on either the take back or the follow through, then what are you doing? Whipping the putter through the ball? Trying to gauge how fast a short pendulum should swing? You can’t force a short swing to go fast, and a long swing makes it faster anyways!

This blog should serve as a gentle reminder that most of us don’t know what the hell we are talking about. Glen might be right, I might be right. We probably won’t make any of the putts we think we can, but we’ll have fun doing it.

Thank you for your time. Stay curious.