vj: Your thoughts on putting

[vj]

Good morning Rick. Dirt Road Moore and Johnny Miller are the only two people I know that have looked at the hole when they putted. Players usually get to this place by having a hard time staring at the ball and beginning their stroke. It is not a terrible thing, so if you like it stay with it.

One thing though. Do your eyes trace the roll line of the ball? Your eyes need to trace from the hole back to the ball, check your clubface, and then trace from ball to hole, ....and fire. By trace, I mean your eyes should move along the intended roll line AT THE SAME PACE THE BALL WILL BE ROLLING. Don't be haphazard in this.

Here is a drill. Go out to your course and drop two balls at ten feet. Hit the putt and count from the moment of impact until the ball gets to the hole. It will probably be in the range of 4 seconds. Now go back to twenty feet and do the same. It will probably be in the range of 6 seconds. Now go back to 30 feet. Now go to 5 feet. Get a TIME the ball will be rolling and plug that into your routine of eye tracing.

PS- Downhill putts use more time than uphill putts.

[vj]

:P

Jim 0068, I hope the world finds you healthy today.

The proper set up has more bend from the hips than the shoulders. In other words, the hips are up and out (anterior rotation) and the spine will be bent some at the shoulders. I don't want to see a player humped but neither do I want to see a player with their shoulders pulled back exposing their chest so to speak.

The eyes should be either directly over the ball or slightly inside the ball depending on gaze. If the eyes gaze vertically down (your neck horizontal to the ground) then the eyes would be directly over the ball. If the gaze is angled (the neck angled to the ground) then the gaze would be just inside the ball. This is getting technical, and I suggest getting the eyes over the ball line with the dominant eye directly over the back of the ball.

Putter lengths should be 34 to 31 inches depending on height. A good rule of thumb is to have the top of the putter come to the bottom of your zipper when you are standing up. This will give you a length that will enable you to get into a good set up.

[Uppndownn]

Thank you for the information on putters and setup.

Do you have any favorite drills to improve putting

that you would share with us?

[hue]

vj: Your replies have helped a lot. Have you produced a video/DVD on putting yet? If not do you have plans to do so ?Other than your website do you have any articles that you have written on putting that we can find on the web. Who in the modern game adheres to your ideas most closely? I am trying to form a vision of what your putting style looks like.

[jim_0068]

:P

Jim 0068, I hope the world finds you healthy today.

The proper set up has more bend from the hips than the shoulders. In other words, the hips are up and out (anterior rotation) and the spine will be bent some at the shoulders. I don't want to see a player humped but neither do I want to see a player with their shoulders pulled back exposing their chest so to speak.

The eyes should be either directly over the ball or slightly inside the ball depending on gaze. If the eyes gaze vertically down (your neck horizontal to the ground) then the eyes would be directly over the ball. If the gaze is angled (the neck angled to the ground) then the gaze would be just inside the ball. This is getting technical, and I suggest getting the eyes over the ball line with the dominant eye directly over the back of the ball.

Putter lengths should be 34 to 31 inches depending on height. A good rule of thumb is to have the top of the putter come to the bottom of your zipper when you are standing up. This will give you a length that will enable you to get into a good set up.

Thanks VJ....good information but not sure why it was directed at me.

I was just curious if you could take a link at the link i posted and comment on the design.

[Homerson]

VJ,

Where did you get your information on gaze?
What about 'tracking' the line from ball to target? This becomes difficult the more curved the putt.

[vj]

My information about gaze came from Tony Sills. Sills won the 1993 Shell Houston Open and is one of the most knowledgeable people I know about vision training. THere is also some useful info at Geoff Mangum's website about gaze.

[hue]

. THere is also some useful info at Geoff Mangum's website about gaze.

vj: Is there a lot of difference between the stroke you teach and Geoff Mangum's?

[vj]

Hue, I do my best to help players understand the geometry of the circle and how it relates to their game. Mangum likes to see the shoulders work more vertically than I do and alleviates face rotation. (This is what I have gotten from him anyway) He is an excellent instructor though and his forum is the greatest instructional forum on the web.

[hue]

vj: I have followed your advice and have moved my ball position back from the former Swash recommended forward position and have lined up both forearms with the shaft to be on the same plane. I am working on keeping the shaft pointing at the base line at all times throughout the stroke. My strike now has much more authority and the sound of the putter hitting the ball is much better . It just sounds right for some reason and the ball is rolling much better. Also I now feel my stroke has some lag . With the forward ball position I feel this promotes throwaway and a skinny strike. All the things you have aluded to seem to comply with the principals of TGM with the putting stroke being described as a mini golf stroke which I am comfortable with. I have gone from a poor putter to an OK one but want to become a good one. Can you go into the VJ Trolio preferred putting posture and set up and go in to your thoughts on putter fitting as I want to take things forward ? Also can you go into pros whose putting strokes are close to what you teach and admire? Thanks.