Last night I was listening to a phone conversation between a Youthful Yoda and Homer Kelly. Yoda questioned Homer at length about putting, and Homer insisted that there was no reason to change set up or swing when putting. This follows Bobby Jones and Bobby Locke, who each said the same thing. And who were possibly the two greatest putters who ever lived. Locke set up to putt exactly the same way he set up to hit a full shot, which was with an extremely, yea, a legendary closed stance.
Watch the end of Ben Doyle's Video (now available on DVD!) where he putts with extreme open and closed stances. Yoda knows.
Last night I was listening to a phone conversation between a Youthful Yoda and Homer Kelly. Yoda questioned Homer at length about putting, and Homer insisted that there was no reason to change set up or swing when putting. Yoda knows.
Homer Kelley Putted with an extended Left Arm and a Flat Left Wrist (Impact Fix Address Position). He saw "no reason to return to the Adjusted Address Position" (Bent Left Wrist).
He then located the Ball in his Stance so as to achieve an 'Above Center' Impact and thus a 'true Roll' (Overspin) immediately upon separation. [Note: This is NOT 'hitting up' on the Ball!] That location will be precisely at Low Point with a Reverse Loft Putter and just behind Low Point for a No-Loft or Loft Putter. How much behind Low Point? Far enough back to insure a Negative Loft ('Overspin') Impact -- and therefore not Zero Loft (No Spin or Skid) or Loft (Backspin or Lift) -- but not so far as to cause the Ball to be driven into the ground.
As usual, Homer emphasized that this was his procedure and that you may choose a different one. In which case, no matter how you choose to Impact the Ball -- Roll, Skid or Lift -- the really important thing is to do it the same way every time. Otherwise, your distance control will suffer...
does the length of the putter matter? i have always choked down too the shaft with mine, being 35"...can i cut it off by a few? does it affect the putter? will it affect my stroke? can one get a putter 'reshafted'? thanks fellas, interesting thread!
does the length of the putter matter? i have always choked down too the shaft with mine, being 35"...can i cut it off by a few? does it affect the putter? will it affect my stroke? can one get a putter 'reshafted'? thanks fellas, interesting thread!
PD,
You can shorten your putter easily enough. Depending on how you remove the old grip you might even save it and reuse. Shortening the putter will decrease the swingweight making it feel a little more head light. You can compensate, obviously, by adding weight to the head. This may or may not be practical depending upon the putter you have. You can also backweight the putter to modify the feel and balance (currently popular). All this assumes a little mechanical skill and basic tools. I personally have cut my 2-ball down to 32.5", added ~56 grams to the head, and have it backweighted with a 50 gram weight. Happy Putting!
P.S. - Also remember that adding all that weight to adjust the swingweight also changes the total weight of the putter. This will also affect "feel". Experiment a little before making any final modifications.
__________________ _________________________________
Steph
Distance is Magic; Precision is Practice.
Last edited by ThinkingPlus : 04-25-2006 at 01:31 PM.
How did you determine the amount of weight to add? Was it just feel and personal preference?
I have a Certified Balance insert in the butt of the putter. It came with 3 weights (10, 30, and 50 grams I think). This gave me built in adjustability there. As to head weight, I taped quarters to the putter head and practiced at the local golf course. Eventually I got the right weight I wanted, weighed the quarters, and added the weight with lead (Shoe Goo worked great for this). Putting and feel are so personal that experimentation is the only way to go. The overall heavier weight is very nice to smooth out the stroke, BTW.
__________________ _________________________________
Steph
Distance is Magic; Precision is Practice.
You can shorten your putter easily enough. Depending on how you remove the old grip you might even save it and reuse. Shortening the putter will decrease the swingweight making it feel a little more head light. You can compensate, obviously, by adding weight to the head. This may or may not be practical depending upon the putter you have. You can also backweight the putter to modify the feel and balance (currently popular). All this assumes a little mechanical skill and basic tools. I personally have cut my 2-ball down to 32.5", added ~56 grams to the head, and have it backweighted with a 50 gram weight. Happy Putting!
P.S. - Also remember that adding all that weight to adjust the swingweight also changes the total weight of the putter. This will also affect "feel". Experiment a little before making any final modifications.
wow thanks for the info!
i have a 2 ball white hot (the first one out there). does that matter?
wow thanks for the info!
i have a 2 ball white hot (the first one out there). does that matter?
where do you guys buy lead tape?
You should be able to do it with any putter. The 2-balls are easier in some respects to add weight to the head because of that nice tunnel through the head. Lots of space to add lead and it remains pretty well hidden.
You can get lead tape at most golf shops or you can order online at places like Golfsmith or Golfworks. However, for the kind of weight we are talking about, your local tackle shop works just fine. Get yourself some lead fishing weights (flat ones work best for obvious reasons). Use Shoe Goo or a Silicone caulk and glue'em in place. It works and costs almost nada; the perfect solution! If you want a DIY backweight, I understand that clevis pins purchased at your local hardware store work well. Use the same glueing approach. Have fun and don't hurt yourself!
__________________ _________________________________
Steph
Distance is Magic; Precision is Practice.
Homer Kelley Putted with an extended Left Arm and a Flat Left Wrist (Impact Fix Address Position). He saw "no reason to return to the Adjusted Address Position" (Bent Left Wrist).
He then located the Ball in his Stance so as to achieve an 'Above Center' Impact and thus a 'true Roll' (Overspin) immediately upon separation. [Note: This is NOT 'hitting up' on the Ball!] That location will be precisely at Low Point with a Reverse Loft Putter and just behind Low Point for a No-Loft or Loft Putter. How much behind Low Point? Far enough back to insure a Negative Loft ('Overspin') Impact -- and therefore not Zero Loft (No Spin or Skid) or Loft (Backspin or Lift) -- but not so far as to cause the Ball to be driven into the ground.
As usual, Homer emphasized that this was his procedure and that you may choose a different one. In which case, no matter how you choose to Impact the Ball -- Roll, Skid or Lift -- the really important thing is to do it the same way every time. Otherwise, your distance control will suffer...
And you along with it!
As you've said, the only way to give the ball overspin is to make sure that Impact Point occurs above the equater of the Ball. And the only way to achieve this is to have negative loft of the Clubface at Impact (regardless of the loft of the actual putter).
However, there are (at least) two ways that the Clubhead can go into Impact with negative loft -- either travelling upwards (after Low Point) or downwards (before Low Point). Which do you think is optimal?
Another useful point to note is that the Clubhead will be travelling outwards before Low Point and inwards after Low Point, even though you can hardly see this given the steep plane used with the putter. Visually and psychologically, this may be a good reason to place the back of the Ball precisely at Low Point.
Hybrid Mode
