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Arnold Palmer in his 1986 book[1] describes two systems of putting by players (Figure 1), namely (1) those who view a curved path of the ball to the hole and (2) those who view stroking the ball to a target point wide of the hole (see Figure 1).
The caption for the figure states (p60):
“This is a dilemma of metaphysics which every golfer must resolve for himself. Do you (1) visualize the curving path of the putt to the hole and strive to direct your ball along that path? Or do you (2) judge how the putt will break and then use that information to site a target point, or phantom hole, so as to give yourself the simpler (?) task of hitting a straight putt? You do not need to be a scientific genius to realize that, regardless of the mental approach, the actual action of putting will be identical in both cases. But it is important to settle on one system or the other, and the practice green is the place to discover whether you function by putting to the real hole or by converting all your data of slope, grain, and wind into a target for a straight putt.”
Target Putting
The task of putting to the hole for those who use the target point approach in putting can be compared with pistol shooters at the shooting range whose goal is to hit the bull’s eye (Figure 2). Since the 1896 Olympics, when circle targets were first introduced, the attempts to hit the bull’s eye with the fewest of shots, were reduced to just two shots using the following procedure.
1 For the 1st shot, fire at the bull’s eye and note the circle band of bullet impact
2 Focus for the 2nd shot at the high side of the impact band.
3 Make 2nd shot at this point.
The underlying physical forces acting on the bullet are gravity and aerodynamic forces. Gravity is the principle force causing the bullet to drop, and aerodynamic force is the principle force causing the bullet to loose speed.
Target Line Putting
Target line putting involves targeting to a point located on a target line that passes through the hole and is perpendicular to the ball-hole line (Figure 3). In putting, gravity is also the principal force acting to cause the ball to deviate from the initial ball direction. Using a procedure in putting similar to that of the shooting range procedure:
Putting Green Practice
The two aspects of putting that’s gained by putting on the practice putting green are learning (1) ball speed control, and (2) desired aim line for the ball to go into the hole. According to Dave Pelz, the desired ball speed for sinking the ball into the hole is one which would stop 17 in. pass the hole if allowed. Assuming that the surface is flat around the hole that you are attempting to target for a particular initial ball position, Dave Pelz suggests to imagine a clock face centered at the hole with the 12-6 o’clock direction in the straight down hill direction (see Figure 7.9.7 of Dave Pelz's Putting Bible book ). Putting from the 12 and 6 o’clock positions are best for gaining ball speed control experience, and the 3 and 9 o’clock positions are best for gaining break knowledge experience for a given green slope.
[1] Arnold Palmer, Arnold Palmer’s Complete Book of Putting, 1986
The caption for the figure states (p60):
“This is a dilemma of metaphysics which every golfer must resolve for himself. Do you (1) visualize the curving path of the putt to the hole and strive to direct your ball along that path? Or do you (2) judge how the putt will break and then use that information to site a target point, or phantom hole, so as to give yourself the simpler (?) task of hitting a straight putt? You do not need to be a scientific genius to realize that, regardless of the mental approach, the actual action of putting will be identical in both cases. But it is important to settle on one system or the other, and the practice green is the place to discover whether you function by putting to the real hole or by converting all your data of slope, grain, and wind into a target for a straight putt.”
Target Putting
The task of putting to the hole for those who use the target point approach in putting can be compared with pistol shooters at the shooting range whose goal is to hit the bull’s eye (Figure 2). Since the 1896 Olympics, when circle targets were first introduced, the attempts to hit the bull’s eye with the fewest of shots, were reduced to just two shots using the following procedure.
1 For the 1st shot, fire at the bull’s eye and note the circle band of bullet impact
2 Focus for the 2nd shot at the high side of the impact band.
3 Make 2nd shot at this point.
The underlying physical forces acting on the bullet are gravity and aerodynamic forces. Gravity is the principle force causing the bullet to drop, and aerodynamic force is the principle force causing the bullet to loose speed.
Target Line Putting
Target line putting involves targeting to a point located on a target line that passes through the hole and is perpendicular to the ball-hole line (Figure 3). In putting, gravity is also the principal force acting to cause the ball to deviate from the initial ball direction. Using a procedure in putting similar to that of the shooting range procedure:
- Imagine the ball track when aiming directly to the hole as shown by Aim Line (1) in Figure 4.
- Estimate where the ball would cross the target line
- Estimate the distance below the hole where the crossing occurs.
- Choose the aim point of Aim Line (2) on the target equal to this estimated distance on the high side of the ball-hole line
Putting Green Practice
The two aspects of putting that’s gained by putting on the practice putting green are learning (1) ball speed control, and (2) desired aim line for the ball to go into the hole. According to Dave Pelz, the desired ball speed for sinking the ball into the hole is one which would stop 17 in. pass the hole if allowed. Assuming that the surface is flat around the hole that you are attempting to target for a particular initial ball position, Dave Pelz suggests to imagine a clock face centered at the hole with the 12-6 o’clock direction in the straight down hill direction (see Figure 7.9.7 of Dave Pelz's Putting Bible book ). Putting from the 12 and 6 o’clock positions are best for gaining ball speed control experience, and the 3 and 9 o’clock positions are best for gaining break knowledge experience for a given green slope.
[1] Arnold Palmer, Arnold Palmer’s Complete Book of Putting, 1986
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