Putting: elements that affect direction

Golfers who are good at putting traditionally were considered to have good touch

Updated At : 06:09 AM Feb 03, 2016 IST

Jesse Grewal

Golfers who are good at putting traditionally were considered to have good ‘touch’. This was interpreted as good speed control. As the greens have got more contoured than they were in the past and are a lot faster in speed, the elements that affect the putt are – green reading (40 per cent), the ability to start the ball on line (40 per cent) and speed (20 per cent). Experienced golfers do have a decent ability to control speed if they read the greens well. Getting the direction correct is the main issue.

A perfect stroke would be the one in which the club face is square to the aim line at impact with the stroke also down the line, plus an impact on the centre of the putter. Most golfers and professionals do not have this situation. They do have some compensation in their stroke. The face of the putter at impact has an 80 per cent effect on the starting direction while the path has a 20 per cent effect. Therefore if the face is open 1 degree and the path is 5 degrees out-to-in the ball may end up going straight if the green is flat.

However, on a sloping putt the primary ingredient is to get the ball to have true roll. True roll means that the ball must roll end-over-end without the axis tilting (commonly called side spin). The axis tilts when the face of the putter is on the opposite direction of the path. Therefore in the example mentioned earlier, if the face was 1 degree open and the path was 5 degrees out-to-in the ball may have started along the intended line but the axis would tilt to the right (for right-handed golfers ) and the ball would not roll along the intended line where there is a slope. True roll would happen if the putter face and path were on the same side. Therefore, a slightly open path and an in-to-out stroke could attain true roll but the golfer would have to aim left of the actual line to hole the putt.

To improve putting, the first priority is to get the face square at impact. This can only be achieved if we learn to aim correctly. This again is easier said than done. More on the set up in next week’s article.

(Grewal is the Director of National Golf Academy of India and CGA Hero Honda Golf Academy. If you have any queries get in touch with him at parexcellence@tribunemail.com)