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a great ‘Putting Eval Skill’ activity

A key component to making any successful ‘Putt’ is to accomplish our ‘Initial Ball Rolling Line’ (IBRL’) or ‘Start Line’. How to set-up your ‘Practice Station’?

Do this exercise on as flat and smooth of a surface as available. Located the cup. Pace back or measure 10 feet and stick a tee in the ground. (your 555 Team all carry a ‘Chalk Line’. Snap one on the grass!) The ‘Gate’ needs to be 12 inches closer to the hole or in front of the ball. To make ‘The Gate’, stick two tees in the ground 2.25 inches apart with the ‘Chalk Line’ in their middle. The golf ball is a nominal 1.5 inches in diameter. Thus, you have a .75” total margin of error at 12 inches … half on each side.

Never take even one single golf shot with any weapon out of your bag at a target larger than a good olde American Quarter. That is about the size of the tip of the flagstick where the ball comes to rest in order to finish the hole! Aim small and you shall very likely ‘Score Small’! Be courageous and confident!

It is your parade! Best you drive your own bus?

Life and golf have progressive Short Game target limits … 1) Putting employs that ‘Quarter’, 2) Chipping, Bump & Run and Short Pitches focus on a very reachable ‘12 Inch Landing Circle’ and 3) Our Approach Game is well-served by aiming inside a ‘5/10/15 Foot Circle’. Do you always ‘Quadrant Your Greens’ so you can make high percentage straight uphill Putts?

Even a small idea or factoid relating to your golf skills and game, matter cumulatively! Life is a very big ‘Journey’ and every leg, big or small, matters. Each contributes to our ‘Pleasure’!

Think about your ‘Ball Rolling Line’. There are only three conditional alternatives … 1) Flat, 2) Down-Slope and 3) Up-Slope. (see ‘Initial Ball Rolling Line or Start Line’)

When we roll the ball ‘Straight Up or Down The Line’, we refer to this circumstance as ‘Slope’. Our baseline concern is ‘Speed or Distance’.

WORTH REPEATING TO A 555 GOLF SCHOLAR?

The Power Line Delivery Sequence
Accumulate, Load, Store, Deliver & Release … ALSDR

The Balsa Airplane Concept

You winde up the ‘Big Body Rubber Band’ from the tip of the propeller, ‘Back & Up’ to the ‘Brace Shoulder’. This ‘Potential Energy’, when the time is right, ‘Releases’ from the ‘Tail Rubber Band Hook’ (‘Resistance’) forward to the tip of the propeller and simply pulls the ‘Balsa Airplane’ forward!

Now what in the heck does that mean? “Take Three Short-Stroke Capsules, with warm milk, sleep well and call your doctor first thing in the morrow!” Would it not be comforting and popular to get a ‘Putter Prescription’ to suit your tendency? Now that would be a ‘Profit Pathway’! How about 9 one putts per round? Call me ‘The Boss Of The Moss’!

There are face adjusting or correcting Putter Blades or ‘Flat Sticks’. They are functionally beneficial. They work! (see ‘Bulge & Roll’ - proven science and physics)

Just to keep ‘Things Golf’ in perspective, these ‘Terrestrially Intelligent Tools’ have limitations. Give them credit for their ‘Face and Direction Correcting Capabilities’.

The ‘555 Golf Family’ spends a lot of time working on ‘Specific Procedures’. We are a dedicated ‘Science Based’ relationship! This conversation was stimulated by some very specific time working on ‘The Target Hand Low, Double Reverse Overlap, Putting Method’. It is highly defined paying strict attention to your ‘Clubface Aim’ and ‘Clubhead Path’. We know ‘Mother Nature’ throws some curves at us, but we shall deal with them in due course and as time permits!

Is this really mechanically complicated and a significant challenge? No! Is it directly rewarding over a relatively short period of time extending to a long-term payback? Yes!

This Country Gentleman Golf Teacher’s message is potent yet very simple! Determine your specific ‘Practice Regimen’. Get and stay committed!

The conventional baseline global golfing grip is ‘The 10 Finger Brace Hand Low’. This means all fingers are in contact with the golf club handle. (‘Short Thumb’) Out of interest, the ‘Hocky Grip’ is a ‘10 Finger Grip’ but is often split or having a distinct gap between the two hands. The ‘Slap Shot’ is advantaged by the ‘Brace Lever, Bend & Straighten, Split Nature Leverage’.

Worthy of mention and knowing, when ‘The Brace Hand Is Low’, the Brace Shoulder is also respectively low. This elevation differential is somewhat similar to a slight ‘Spinal Aft Tilt’ and thus an ascending ‘Angle Of Attack’ (AOA) through the ‘Impact & Separation Zone’ … ‘Bottom Half Of The Swing Circle’.

There is a useful variation … ‘The Reverse Overlap’. With the ‘Target Hand Low’ (‘Short Thumb’) , one can slide the ‘Brace Index and Middle Fingers’ down and over the ‘Target Hand Little and Ring Finger’. The primary objective herein is to get close to matching up the ‘Wrist Hinge Axes … balanced Hand, Wrist, Forearm Triangles’. Neutrality matters in ‘Putting’!

This topic and challenge may seem daunting to any and all golfers, but, if chewed into bite-size morsels, the task at hand shall become manageable.

1) Start with your ‘5 Set-Ups’ … Posture, Grip, Stance, Ball Location and Alignment’. These five aspects never go out of functional style. Keep your ‘5 Essential Elements’ also in clear mind … Clubface Aim At The Moment Of Separation, Clubhead Path, Clubhead Speed, Sweet Spot and Angle Of Attack’. No single global golf shot has less than these ten items! Worth knowing?

2) Start with a ‘Fitted Putter’ … Blade, Mallet or Complex … white, black, red, any colour. Dimensionally Lined is important. Knowing where your ‘Center Of Mass’ is located is key! Needs to be ‘2 Dot’ or ‘Line Marked’.

When you are in your ‘Short Game’, around the green, in the ‘First Cut or Fringe’, with no trouble to ‘Cover or Avoid’, (bunker, a little water, flower beds, shrubs, detritus, etc.) ‘Loft and Excessive Clubhead Speed’ are not your friend.

A big, high, soft ‘Flop Shot’ may be a ‘Thing Of Beauty’ but catch it a bit ‘Thin’ (Skully) and all opinions are quickly changed? Ending up across and past the green about 30 yards is a very poor exchange from your previous lie!

A poor ‘Putt’ is always better than a terrible ‘Flop Shot’ or even an average ‘Running Chip’? (‘Bump & Run’)

Your first choice around the green is always ‘Putt’. Second choice is ‘Putt’. Third choice is ‘Putt’. Fourth choice may still be a ‘Putt’. Fifth choice might be a ‘Chip or Bump & Run #8 Iron’.

ARE YOU CLUBBING UP?
or
ARE YOU CLUBBING DOWN?

Ambiguities In Golf

Well, I just had to ask you that question! Think ‘Length, Loft, Lie, Grip, Flex & Reflex’.

What do we call ‘Pulling A Longer Golf Club’ out of your bag?
… taking ‘More Club’ or a ‘Stronger Club’