fwd press good for putting?

[foshizulmynizul]

hi all!

i have a question regarding forward press before you start the putting motion. i heard from many pros that this is a good thing because it will ensure that you will get a "true" roll because it brings the impact point up....but just the other day i hear that having a forward press changes the loft on the putter and that it wasnt a good thing.

any suggestions?

[BrianW]

Re: fwd press good for putting?

A putter has a small amount of loft and this allows the ball to be struck so that it is propelled forward with a very slight amount of lift to stop it bouncing off the turf.

If you lean the shaft forward at impact you will de-loft the clubface and force the ball to initially bounce off the ground, this will create an unpredictable ball direction.

If you lean the clubface back at impact you will add loft causing the ball to lift and create too much backspin, this will also create an unpredictable roll.

Use the putter as it was designed so that the clubface strikes the ball with the shaft upright, this will create the most predictable ball direction.

[msklar92]

Re: fwd press good for putting?

ideally you need 4degrees of loft, if you play the ball back in stance you may need to uplift the putter, if you play it very far foward you may need to lean the shat more foward. a very slight tilt foward is proabably a good idea for consistent and control. Michael Breen from the golf fix on the golf channel strongly recommends a a slight foward shaft.

[GolfJunkieSr]

Re: fwd press good for putting?

I have changed my putting technique over the past year or so, and have had better results. BrianW's method works quite well, but I am doing some what the opposite. I don't forward press, but I do start my putting back stroke with the putter's handle in front of the ball effectively delofting the putter's face. This also causes me to impact the ball with the handle still in front of the ball. What this does for me is at impact, the top portion of my putter face contacts the ball just above it's equator, which in turn gets my ball rolling faster with over spin, and much less initial skidding. The faster you get the ball rolling, the truer the putt will run.

So BrainW and I are impacting the putted ball differently, but are achieving the same results. We also might be causing some confusion among the readers of this thread if we left our views as they are. Let's go a little further. BrianW probably plays on softer greens than I do. His method would work better than mine because the ball does need some up lift (loft) to get out of a depression. My method would in deed cause the ball to be hit into the turf, since the ball is already sitting down in the turf. Myself, I play on some very firm, sun baked greens most of the time. They might be softer in the morning after a watering, but come "high noon" or later they dry out, and firm up. Approach shots can hit them, and not leave a divot, or at least you can't find your ball mark to repair most of the time. These critter's surfaces are very firm. This is why my stroke works better for me. My ball is not usually sitting down in a depression, but on top of the green's firmer surface. If I use BrianW's method on these firm greens, my ball would have back spin, air time, and skidding during the first few inches or so of it's roll. Now you can also bet that if I were playing on softer greens, I would adjust, and use BrianW's method.

Just so you know, I did not make up these two scenarios. The info was shared with me by a short game instructor at Butch Harmon's School of Golf. The instruction was a gift from my daughters, who paid a pretty penny I am sure. You folks get it for free. GJS

[BrianW]

Re: fwd press good for putting?

I had not considered GJS's consideration with differing green conditions. It is an interesting concept though.

Here is an article that is much in line with my personal thinking but not necessarily in my choice of words

http://www.puttingzone.com/MyTips/forwardpress.html

[GolfJunkieSr]

Re: fwd press good for putting?

Not a bad article by any means. I need to reiterate that to me there are only two things that matter to a golfer when putting. That the putter is fitted to the golfer's putting stroke, and that the ball finds the bottom of the hole more than that it misses it. How the golfer accomplishes the latter is up to her/him. As for the forward press, to me that is when a golfer starts their back swing with a forward (press) movement of the hands. In my case I set up to the ball with the putter grip already in front of the ball, and start my back stroke from that position. I eliminate the extra forward movement this way.

I had not considered GJS's consideration with differing green conditions. It is an interesting concept though.

Here is an article that is much in line with my personal thinking but not necessarily in my choice of words

http://www.puttingzone.com/MyTips/forwardpress.html

[Lasvegasgolfnut]

Re: fwd press good for putting?

I have recently went to a fwd press and have putted great ever since. I play the ball forward off my left heel. The trick to using this is to follow thu with your left wrist slightly bowed and to finish straight on the putting line. Straight back and straight thu.
Mike