2 Thumb Putter Grips

Anyone use them? My putting used to be good, and is still decent enough from long range, but the demons are killing me from inside 5 feet. Desperate measures called for, so I was thinking about trying out one of these 2 thumb putter grips on my Taylormade Ghost.

Any comments appreciated, good or bad. Cheers.

Dave, my opinion is that changing to a two thumb putter grip would work for a while but it is only placing a plaster over an issue with your putting. I try to never change anything with my putter while I am putting poorly as then it is helping to ingrain whatever problem I have into my game.

I would suggest a bit of time on the putting green or maybe even a putting lesson could help? I've always been one to sort my own putting problems out because I think that putting has very little technical input - there is no right or wrong way to putt as long as it goes in the hole! a half hour a day over a week or two using the following drills seems to always get my putting back on form (taken from Phil Mickelson's DVD) -

- place ten tee pegs in a circle three feet away from the hole (use SW to measure) and put ten balls next to them. Work your way around the circle in an anti clockwise direction, holing 5 and then removing them from the hole to make room for the other 5. This strengthens your short putting and gives you a drill to take on the course because after you have holed a putt, you step to the next ball just as you would on the course - Mickelson did exactly this when he holed his winning putt at the PGA. You can keep going for as many as you can hole and try to set records for putt in a row to add a bit of pressure. This drill also gives you a target to aim for with long putts and chips because if you can hole 9/10 from 3 feet then when you knock it to this distance you will see it as a gimme.

- Take away three tee pegs to leave a circle to the side and behind the hole and measure out approximately a 40ft putt. Place a peg in and drop three balls, another peg at 50ft with four balls next to it and the third peg at 60ft with three balls next to it. Start wit the 50ft putt and putt three balls to the hole trying to get them within the 3ft circle. Then go to the 40ft putt and hit three balls, followed again by the 60ft putt. End with the final ball left at 50ft and do this drill until you can get all ten balls to rest within the circle. It can be done on uphill and downhill putts and is not as easy as it might seem but it will give you really good distance control and the first drill will have already taught you that you can hole almost every putt within that circle.

-Finally, go back to the circle and extend it out to 6ft (using sw again) and place all ten balls down. For this drill, going around the circle once would be a big achievement - tour stats put 6ft putts at a 55-60% success rate! This drill works on your read of putts as the break will play a part and is also really good for holing the type of putts that make birdies and save pars after good shots. For this one, don't worry if you can't make it all the way around as it is tough and if you start to do it easily then you can extend the circle out using a different club to measure.

I find that if I am struggling with my putting, 30mins a day for a week will get it back on track. The first couple of days are usually rubbish with missed short putts and poor touch but perseverance is the key and by the end of the week I always feel invincible again. Another tip is to just put your putter, shoes, 10 balls and 10 tee pegs in the boot of the car and go straight from work. This will stop you from working on any other part of your game and is easier to motivate yourself than going home first and then going back out.

I'll second the practice advice. I try to go to the practice green every friday after work for an hour, even half an hour makes a difference. It's so much easier to work on putting than the rest of the game for me as well. No warming up the body and no lugging a full bag around from house to car etc.

I know you've asked about two thumb putter grips and all we are saying is practice but practice could be cheaper! One thing I find when I start struggling with short putts is my tempo changes and I get too quick. Tempo should be the same for all putts. I base my tempo on saying, "one potato, two potato." during the stroke. "One potato" for the backstroke and "two potato" for the forward stroke for all lengths of putt. Try it!

ive been struggling on the greens on and off for a couple of years and i think ive tried almost everything forward presss, back handed, off front foot, off back foot,short back swing,stading further from the ball... the list goes on!
It's got the point where i didnt know how i was going to execute from one hole to the next.
best advice i can give is find a consistent technique (including preshot) and stick with it so it becomes second nature to you and you can trust it in a pressure situation.
maybe this might be with a 2 thumb putter

Cheers for the replies, guys.

Yes, I know, I know .... I'm the problem, rather than the putter! I never have a problem on the practice putting green though. I can putt like a Loren Roberts/Ben Crenshaw clone when there's nothing at stake, routinely rapping them in from 3-6 feet. Get on the course though, and I'm basically chucking a shot away at every other hole. I'm not great (16.5 h/cap), but I'm driving the ball like a single figures player, getting it to the green pretty well from there, and then routinely turning pars/bogeys into bogeys/doubles on the dancefloor. Frustrating doesn't begin to describe it.

It's obviously a mental thing, rather than a problem with the stroke ... so maybe I should be investing in a Bob Rotella book or two, rather than messing with my putter!

I wouldn't discount a putting lesson. You could be doing something fundamentally wrong on your shorter putts which a pro should be able to spot.

However, I suspect that your problem could be mental (sorry!), as you say. And the fact that you are putting ok on the practice green bears this out as there's no pressure there.

Perhaps you should analyse whether there is a consistent reason you miss i.e. too hard/soft, left/right, and then take it from there.

As for trying a 2 putter grip, personally I agree with sharrison. It may work for a while but if you have a flawed technique then it'll come back whatever grip you have. Having said that, having a new grip may move your thoughts from "I can't miss another short putt" to "this grip feels really nice".

Dave, I also think that a common problem may be trying too many things rather than just sticking to one stroke and set up. Mickelson likes to set up with his eyes behind and inside of the ball to encourage his putting arc and help him look down the line - he also likes to forward press, all of which may not be deemed as orthodox but he putts so well because he does this for every putt. There are thousands of ways to get the ball in the hole and I think that consistently doing the same thing is more important than occasionally doing the right thing. Just find a stroke and set up that you feel comfortable with and then practice hard until this becomes natural. Confidence in your putting is the key and when you are chopping and changing forward press, grip, stance, ball position etc etc you are always questioning what is right.

My set up is with the ball forward, open stance, eyes behind the ball with a stroke that is short back and long through. Nothing overly conventional but the fact that I do it every time means that I know that I can send the ball in the right direction when I need to so just have to choose where to send it.

sharrison ... "... a stroke that is short back and long through".

Interesting. I was playing in a pro-am a couple of weeks ago, and our pro (who was a brilliant bloke BTW) had a similar stroke. Initially I thought his putting backswing was ridiculously short, but as he drained everything from inside 10 feet for the whole round I started to think there might be something in it! At the risk of trying something else that's new, I might give it a try.

Dave, it's better with shorter putts but I would just stand over the ball and feel a stroke and stance that feels comfortable. Don't worry what it looks like or if it is right - if it feels right, you'll hole more putts.

I think if you stood over every putt and pushed or pulled it then all you would have to do is aim left or right and it'll go in. As long as you were consistent, you can get confidence from it.

Firstly, Phil is a great long putter but a distinctly average short putter. That's why he has lots of drills for short putts - he needs them.
On the assumption that your short putting on the practice green is good you must find/work out why you miss them on the course. As stated by Humpyd - is the miss consistent? For example, I have a tendency, perticularly early in the round if I haven't spent any time on the practice green, to miss putts on the right. I know that this is an alignment or aiming issue and is quickly sorted.
If the misses are caused by pencil pressure, ie it's mental, you will have to develop a routine with which you are totally comfortable. Then,when you are on the course you revert to your routine & the putts become automatic. Misses will still happen but not as often.
I practice putting to a tee - the hole looks huge when you get on the course.
Good luck

Eyetoldyouso ... I think on the shorter ones I generally leak them right, having thought about it some more. Think I might have a tendency to take too long a backswing and then slowing down on the follow through ... a cardinal sin. I take a much more confident, definite stroke in practice ... and strangly enough they go in pretty consistently.

Might try some more practice with a shorter backswing on the short ones. Should encourage me to putt through the line, as the ball won't reach the hole otherwise!

Cheers again, guys.

The one thing I notice about virtually all putters is that they lift they're heads at some point during the putting motion.
Do it at the wrong time and you could easily push or pull it.
Simple solution is to keep your head down and listen for the drop, if it doesn't go in then you aren't going to lose the ball and have nothing to gain by lifting your head to watch it.
On putts of less than 12 foot keeping your head down has been of massive benefit to me and I make a considerably higher percentage than I used to.

super_realist wrote:The one thing I notice about virtually all putters is that they lift they're heads at some point during the putting motion.
Do it at the wrong time and you could easily push or pull it.
Simple solution is to keep your head down and listen for the drop, if it doesn't go in then you aren't going to lose the ball and have nothing to gain by lifting your head to watch it.
On putts of less than 12 foot keeping your head down has been of massive benefit to me and I make a considerably higher percentage than I used to.

A drill that I've used before that also uses similar thinking is to completely close your eyes over a putt. I've done so in a competitive round before and putted okay but on the practice green it really helps you to just trust your stroke and feel the putt. Better to do on 10-20ft putts because any longer leaves you waiting for ages for the ball to stop and the percentages of holing these are pretty low anyway. Any shorter and it's more difficult to visualise the putt with regards to break and speed.

A note to all of the great advice that people have posted might be to choose a drill or something to work on in your practice and commit to it because you don't want your practice to be a disjointed or have lots of thoughts outside of "my stroke is good, just roll the ball into the hole."

I'd advise not taking a practice stroke either, putting should be pretty instinctive and you would not take a practice throw to launch a ball at someone from 20 feet away so why bother with a putt. Your brain and hand-eye coordination should be sufficient to put the correct weight on it.
Not having a practice stroke also means you aren't spending extra time thinking and therefore potentially dwelling on the putt in hand.

super_realist wrote:I'd advise not taking a practice stroke either, putting should be pretty instinctive and you would not take a practice throw to launch a ball at someone from 20 feet away so why bother with a putt. Your brain and hand-eye coordination should be sufficient to put the correct weight on it.
Not having a practice stroke also means you aren't spending extra time thinking and therefore potentially dwelling on the putt in hand.

never thought of this one!
kind of makes sense why decent putting on the putting green (where i dont practise stroke) doesnt correspond to good putting on the course.

Dave The Jackal wrote:Cheers for the replies, guys.

Yes, I know, I know .... I'm the problem, rather than the putter! I never have a problem on the practice putting green though. I can putt like a Loren Roberts/Ben Crenshaw clone when there's nothing at stake, routinely rapping them in from 3-6 feet. Get on the course though, and I'm basically chucking a shot away at every other hole. I'm not great (16.5 h/cap), but I'm driving the ball like a single figures player, getting it to the green pretty well from there, and then routinely turning pars/bogeys into bogeys/doubles on the dancefloor. Frustrating doesn't begin to describe it.

It's obviously a mental thing, rather than a problem with the stroke ... so maybe I should be investing in a Bob Rotella book or two, rather than messing with my putter!

If you are ok on the practice green but struggling on the course make sure your routine stays the same for all putts. Practice your routine. I find that keeping my EYES still over short putts works better than keeping my head still. It makes you focus on the back of the ball and the strike.

Also, I've said it already but I cannot stress enough how much maintaining the same tempo/timing for all putting strokes has helped me. It makes touch and pace so much easier to judge. Some have mentioned no practice stroke, well after working on my tempo I dont feel the need for a practice stroke anymore and it allows me to align myself a lot better.

Putting is the one thing at which every player could be as good as anyone else, regardless of the state of the rest of the game because it doesn't require physical attributes such as strength or swing speed.
It's a very simple motion, and as long as your putter head is square at impact it doesn't matter what else happens.

Tempo as Lairdy has said is key, but I'd also add smoothness of strok too (although there is some crossover here) . I see a lot of players jab at putts, that's never going to putt the same desirable roll on the ball as a smooth stroke with a nice long follow through.

super_realist wrote:Putting is the one thing at which every player could be as good as anyone else, regardless of the state of the rest of the game because it doesn't require physical attributes such as strength or swing speed.
It's a very simple motion, and as long as your putter head is square at impact it doesn't matter what else happens.

Tempo as Lairdy has said is key, but I'd also add smoothness of strok too (although there is some crossover here) . I see a lot of players jab at putts, that's never going to putt the same desirable roll on the ball as a smooth stroke with a nice long follow through.

Good putting is also something that you rarely see on high handicappers. A good putter, regardless of the rest of their game, almost always scores well. I think that it also has a really positive effect on the rest of your game because you can slip into thinking "what's the point in knocking this iron close if I can't even hole the putt!?!"

You very rarely see anyone getting a putting lesson though, and it's the one area where you can get instant results with very small, but fundamental changes.

The book, "Putting out of your mind" by Rotella is in my opinion the finest golf book ever written, worth reading once a season by everyone.

"A drill that I've used before that also uses similar thinking is to completely close your eyes over a putt."

..... I tend to close my eyes when I'm watching Sergio putt.

s_r ... Very interesting shout on the no practice stroke. Makes a lot of sense.

Morning all.

Some good things coming out of this thread.

I've heard a lot of top golfers (Faldo was the main one, I think) saying that you should hear the ball drop into the hole i.e. not lift your head at all. But, I find that if you miss a putt long then it's always useful to see what the ball does after the hole which you wouldn't see if you were listening for the drop.

Humpyd,

You shouldn't worry about looking for the line of a missed putt because you should be trying to hole every putt you look at, looking up to see the line just incase it goes long is almost conceding that you are going to miss it. If you do miss, then simply look at the line from the point where the ball rests. Even if you do miss, you probably won't be too far past, will looking really tell you much more than lining it up for the return?
In other words, don't worry about the consequences of a missed but, focus on trying to hole the putt you have in front of you.

The no practice stroke is advocated by Dave Stockton.

SR - have to disagree. The best putters on the planet barely sink 1 in 10 over 20ft even though they are trying to make them. What happens to the ball as it approaches and passes the hole is very important in reinforcing your view of the line on the way back. It does not necessarily follow that you expect to miss the putt. Realistic goals are much more achievable.

S_R, you talk a lot of sense!

I have the pessimist approach to putting; I think I'm going to miss every one so I'm not surprised when I do and pleased (surprised?) when I hole one!!

Eye, that doesn't change the fact they are trying to hole them, long putts do give the opportunity and time to lift the head, but only once the stroke is complete.
On all putts I simply don't see the point in looking, it's obviously easier to do on long putts once the stroke is complete and the ball is well on the way but if I miss I'm putting from a completely different side, orientation and speed of the hole, not to mention the grain could also be going differently, a putt is also slowing down and dying as it passes the hole (in a miss) and will react much differently to how it will be hit with the positive pace and roll that the return putt would have. By looking from behind, getting down low or plumb bobbing I'm going to see the line anyway. I don't want to confuse myself with the pace and line of the ball once it misses the hole, as putting that pace and line on the return putt would not be considered a positive putt.
It might give an indication, but it's not something I would rely on, so really how much is the line the ball takes on a missed putt going to tell me?

eye, are you sure about that 1 in 10 twenty footers fact?

i think i agree with s_r. i tend to hole more when i keep my head down too. i dont tend to find i learn too much from the first putt for the one back as there is usually a difference in pace over the area in question between the first one slowing down and the one back. certainly keeping the head down inside ten feet is a great tip.

crossed wires s_r. reiterating what you said only in a less succinct fashion. i do watch the putts on the longer ones only for the satisfaction of seeing them drop.

ban-bam

Some data taken from the PGATour.com
"Probability notes based on 2010 Baseline

A player's chance of one-putting drops 20 percent when moving from 3 feet back to 5 feet.

Just under 8 feet: At the 7-foot, 10-inch mark, it's 50/50 whether players will one or two putt.
11 feet: Players have a 1 in 3 chance of one-putting from 11 feet (34 percent).
14 feet: Players have a 3 in 4 chance of two-putt or better from 14 feet (75 percent).
25 feet: Players have a 1 in 10 chance of one-putting from 25 feet (10 percent).
33 feet: The point at which a player is expected to two-putt. This is interesting because while there is an 88 percent chance of a two-putt from this distance, it is the point at which a player is equally likely to one-putt or three-putt (6 percent each way)
40 Feet: Players have a 1 in 10 chance of three-putting from 40 feet (10 percent).
73 Feet: Players have a 1 in 3 chance of three-putting from 73 feet (33 percent)."

Net putts gained is now considered to be the best measure of how good a putter a player is. There is lots of info re this measure on the web.
Sorry if I've gone off topic.

SR - you make some very good points. Maybe it's just me, but I do like to see what is happening as the ball nears the hole & as it passes it. I am very much a dead weight putter.

Fair enough Eye, I go through stages of being a dead weight putter, I just don't see the benefit of watching a ball decelerate past the hole, all it tells me is which side i missed and it could possibly be useful if I've got that putt in future but even then, no two putts are ever the same, but unless my putter head decelerates on follow through on the return then I'm going to be knocking it back at a different pace, and thus a different line.

Another way to practice those 3 footers is to set up to the ball as you normally would then just push the ball in the hole with the forward stroke. Teaches you the feeling of rolling the ball rather than jabbing at it. Do this for 10 x 3 footers then put normally for 10 x 3 footers. And repeat.

Agreed Lairdy, I find that an exaggerated follow through on all putts, not only gets the ball rolling but helps to keep the head down as well as helping keep the putt on line.

I'm not disagreeing with those advocates of consciously keeping your head still but I think that this type of thoughts with putting are the type of thoughts that detract from the only thought that you should have in putting which is to roll it at your target. My best putting comes when I rock back and forth on the balls of my feet and my head moves from inside the line of the putter on the way back and towards the ball on impact - this helps me to arc my putter correctly. The only reason that this works for me is that I do it consistently so only have to worry about rolling it on the right line. My feel will get the distance right and a million other factors will make it go into the hole or miss but trust in my stroke and set up are the defining factors in holing putts.

Agreed, I'm not saying that it will suit everyone, but at least keeping the head down (not necessarily still) through the putt until the stroke is completed and the ball is well away will help keep it on line.
I see a lot of people looking up before the follow through is even completed often leading to a pushed or pulled putt. I question what they are in such a hurry to see that can't wait a second until the ball is safely away.