Push Basic Magic
 

I was as frustrated as a one legged man in a kicking contest on the greens...UNTIL I found the push basic stroke!

Given that psychological needs must be met, I need affirmation! Help me create a list of players that utilize/d this procedure.

This is what I have thus far:

1. Jack Nicklaus
2. George Low
3. Dave Stockton?
4. Homer Kelley

Watching Nicklaus, the right elbow bending and straightening is almost imperceptable. In fact, I only noticed it when I was looking for it! Gotta love TGM! :salut:

Yoda uses it---I know, because he taught it to me in March 2005!

I don't know anyone who uses it. Other than me.

Speed Control
 

Push basic stroke alone has made all of the hours studying TGM worthwhile! I am waiting for George Low's book to arrive in the mail. I am curious to know how he taught it. Horton Smith may be another candidate for the push basic, tough to tell. It is tough to see the #1 Acc. do its thing, especially on short putts.

A question for you Daryl: Did you find speed to be an issue initially? The ball really jumps off the face. I basically steered my putts with a vertical hinge for 20 years! I went back to an old and lighter Wilson blade putter...which helped. I do a much better job using my right elbow to power the stroke. I can bend that elbow as deliberately as I want to (a great joint...the elbow!)
I am starting to scare the hole from all over the place! Closer to the hole I have to remember to straighten the elbow, though.

It took me about 30 minutes to comprehend the mechanics of the Right Hand, ie. how the Right Wrist stays bent and motionless while the Right Elbow straightens (including followthru). The immediate and indisputable improvement was accuracy. A bad putt missed the hole by only an inch. Distance control on short and medium length putts became a no-brainier within minutes. Distance control on long putts is more difficult but no more difficult than the pendulum swing and I use the word "difficult" compared to short putts which are utterly simple.

I had an attempt last summer with this style of stroke - got really good roll on the ball... ball tracked well and felt different on contact but I found alignment alittle hard ...

I read somewhere that Dave Stockton has some of the best putting launch monitor stats ever seen...did he use this method??

Seemed to me a more downward stroke feel when i had a go...


Any thoughts?

I don't know about DS.

Not really a downward stroke. Just down the line. Pretty flat, level and even with the ground.

Could Be
 

Golfbulldog,

The push basic stroke is still a 3 - D deal. Low point may not be below the ground with putting, but there are still no flat spots in a circle! What I think you are feeling is the UP and the DOWNtthat was previously missing! Make sure that your ball is not too far back of lowpoint. I think most people, much like with the full swing go too low on the backstroke. I have studied Bobby Locke's putting mechanics, and although he claims to keep the putter head low going back...he did not do that himself! Of course some people need more back than up...most do not! How much up? It depends on the amount of bend in your right elbow.

I have a suspicion that Dave Stockton was a push basic guy. I notice that he had more of an adjusted address, then he set his wedges going back (much like Bobby Locke did) and powered the the whole deal with a straigtening right elbow.

My psychological make up will not allow me to use CF on the greens! One of the things I love about Push Basic is that it allows me to practice bending and straightening the right elbow...drum roll please...WITHOUT straightening my bent and level right wrist:salut:

My 9 year old boy knocks it around now and then. That is the only piece of instruction I have given to him. Just bend and straighten your elbow without flattening your right wrist. He doesn't look, look, look yet...but I do!

I am convinced that is the best test for "golfing dexterity." Whether or not you can bend and straighten your right/left arm while keeping the right/left wrist bent. If not then take up War Craft, or something! :laughing9

Applause. :)

Distance Control
 

During my practice stroke, for long putts, I hold my finish position at low point and then look at the hole. For some reason :eyes: I can get a feel for how much thrust I need.

I completely agree Spike. It's becoming instinctual. Now when I look at the long putt, My body adjusts automatically to the distance. It wasn't like that at first. At first, short and medium length putts were easy but I had make a conscious effort to set-up up for longer putts.

pressure
 

It's like throwing a ball a certain length. We know from experience how much thrust, at which angel and when to let the ball go.

It's the same kind of experience you get with putting. You will know how much thrust.......etc.

And practicing chipping, pitching, punching etc. will teach you how much, thrust, lenght of stroke etc will be needed to get the ball to a certain landing spot............all of this experience will be stored in the PP#3

Gears
 

I marvel at the ability of TGM proficients to power down the lag pressure to produce a different ball flight effect. It is something that I work on every time I pound pills. While working on the push basic stroke was the I sensed (for the first time) a change of gears with regard to lag pressure. Make sense? At least I hope that is what I am feeling! My hydraulic system has a couple of gears!

equipment requirments
 

Does the push basic stroke require a putter that has a bitmore loft than traditional putting with swinging and vertical hinging? Would a bit more loftmake itpossible to use a bit more of a centered ball possition than so far forward as with traditional push basic stroke. THis seems to be what Stan Utley advocates, using a putter with 6 degrees of loft, and feels his acumulator #1, and a frozen right wrist although he does not use TGM terms.

open stance with push basic???
 

Okie-
Are you using a slightly open stance with the push basic stroke? I have been experimenting with it for the past few weeks with success.

How about any other "push basic stroke" putters who are out there? Do you use an open stance, or parallel to the target line?

Yes
 

Sorry…I just saw this. I set up square-open not quite like Dianne in 10-3-E though! A couple things I have figured out about a push basic stroke.

Make sure you position your right elbow in a push basic fashion…it is a rather contrived feeling. My tendency is to inadvertently get into more of a punch elbow position (feels less contrived, I guess)
Initially I had distance control issues from close range (a common plight it seems!) I figured out that I was not taking advantage of the fact that the right push basic elbow is already primed for action given its bent status…on shorter putts I take the “pre-loaded” elbow back then go to both arms straight . Obviously for longer putts the club goes further up the plane i.e. more right elbow bend.
Push basic gets me closer to the ball, with a distinctly more upright plane.
ALWAYS go to both arms straight, or at least right arm straight…it don’t work otherwise! :golf:

Jack's Stroke
 

See:

http://www.golfdigest.com/instructio...cksputting0803

Da Bear!
 

Thanks for that. Great pictures.

I started playing golf in 1986. Why? The first nine holes of golf I ever watched on TV was Jack's final round back nine at Augusta! I rememeber the parabolic flight of his second shot into 15, like it was yesterday.

He arches his slightly rolled left wrist to keep the putter lower going back (a move that some great putters demostrated - Bobby Locke, Horton smith, Walter Hagen etc.) This obviously increases his right wrist bend...which moves back to its fix postion at impact...then he allows the left wrist to bend ever so slightly in the follow through...hence the higher club head. Not to rouse the shoulder putees out there but the key to Jack's technique is his quiet shoulders + all the other x factor intangibles that we do not have sufficient instrumentation to quantify!

I seem to remember Jack mentioning in one of his instruction books, or perhaps an article that he would change his elbow position based on one of the following negative tendencies: to punch if he was not making solid impact and push if he was not stroking it on his chosen line. I'm doing a similar thing: punch for longer putts, push for shorter putts...as long as I do not mix shoulders only with arms only! :naughty:

Thanks again, Sean

I wonder why more don't copy Jack
 

I've always wondered why more don't copy Jack. I've started using a lot of the elements of his method and I find it much more consistant than the stuff I was doing before. In particular I find that the bent right arm stores up plenty of power to get the ball to the hole on slow greens.

Bang & Mashers
 

I have to admit on occasion from short range I will mash one…if the hole don’t get in the way I’m looking like a prized fool. The beauty of this procedure is the positive impact…no steering. The drawback…for me anyway…is how do you go to both arms straight on a two foot putt? No doubt I just need to recalibrate the amount of right arm bend/length of the backstroke. I have had a little more success going to a push elbow (I actually use punch for most putts)position for the shorties.

Short Putts
 

I asked Ted about this when I saw him last.
He said that you do not adjust the length of the backstroke (what I was trying to do, which was disrupting rhythm). You adjust the SPEED of the putter through impact, sensing the reduced lag pressure. This allows you to go to both arms straight, even on very short putts. Just make sure that you program the whole stroke for the amount of lag pressure you need. Do not try to slow down on the downstroke or you will be quitting and that produces VERY undesirable results.

Thank You
 

Thanks for passing that tidbit on to me. That is easier said than done, but it is something to work on. I have to admit that I "woes out" and go to the old shoulder move, using acc. # 4 on the shorties!