What is the Correct Way to Handle Big Breaking Putts Senior Putting Tip (Video) - by Dean Butler
What is the Correct Way to Handle Big Breaking Putts Senior Putting Tip (Video) - by Dean Butler

Okay, so how are we going to handle this big breaking putt? You’ve just played the two best shots of your life on to the front of the green and you’ve got a 45 foot putt. And lets be honest most greens are longer than 45 foot. But you’ve got a 45 foot putt and it breaks on this occasion it’s going to come from the right hand side and its going to swing all the way around back into that hole. So wow it’s a rough game, those two shots we’ve just played they count for nothing now, is what we do here. So the first we must do, is get down to the ground, have a look at the contour of the green. We know its going from the right to the left; but I’ll just describe that putt coming around. But how much – the whole idea of playing these putts is to try and get that ball on what we call the Pro-Side. The Pro-Side is another word of saying the high side.

So we are going to go up the hill that’s the high side and where is the – what point is that ball going to start sideways journey having reached the pinnacle and then from there fall back towards the hole. That’s the tough baby is trying to get that ball to that point and then fall – let it fall down naturally. But the most important thing is to get that ball to that point to reach the hole. There’s no point in coming up 24 foot shorts or 10 foot short and still having the same sort of putts again. So, let’s get down look at where the point is, so if that’s the hole I need to get more this side. And now we’re looking at the right side, I’m looking at the line, the point is. I’m looking at that point of break. I’m drawing a line in my mind back to ball. And once it gets back to the ball, this is where you cannot afford to start looking around anybody else. Don’t get distracted, lets look at that point, I’ve picked my point home. I’ve picked a point just in front of my ball, maybe just two inches; I’m not going come to the ball. My eye is firmly focused on that point. I put the putt on it, there’s no point me looking back up there again. I have done my work behind the ball; all that can be achieved by me doing this, is maybe putting a seed of doubt back in my mind. So maybe put that putts there on line, they put my feet parallel it’s very important that we’ve got everything now running through and parallel to the marker not the hole, to the marker. Well so I’m in this position here, there’s now all about the actual pace of the swing and from here it’s important to get that feel. So maybe you might just look back and just have few swings, to feel what length you’re going have to get that ball up that green to that point to drop down. We’ve got the marker, we’ve got the feel of the swing, we now get to the ball, we now swing that putter back and however far you see the putter back please, please, please make sure that club, then go through the same distance. There’s nothing worse than having done all that work, all that hard work looking at all the lines and you swing the putter back and you stop, because you’ve got this fear of what happens if it does this, does that. You can’t have a fear. Back marker practice swings put the market, its on line, you don’t need to look up there anymore, remember that it can get doubts into your mind over the ball. Pull the trigger back; forward once you’ve hit it of course you can look. It is important now to look at where that ball comes back and where its falls down. And if it falls down a little bit short to the hole, you’ve got a little bit of information that you might be able to use on in the next putt. But remember the point being is look at the slope, feel the pace, pick the marker. It’s much easier to aim for something just in front of the ball that you trace back from that point than trying to aim for this putter for 45 feet off the green, simple technique, not a simple putt but a simple technique to put you on the right road. Go and practice this, it will take some practice, because it’s one of the most difficult putts in golf, but with knowledge, knowledge is going to improve your game. If it can improve your game, the, I’ve done my job, because you’re going to enjoy. 2014-04-02

Okay, so how are we going to handle this big breaking putt? You’ve just played the two best shots of your life on to the front of the green and you’ve got a 45 foot putt. And lets be honest most greens are longer than 45 foot. But you’ve got a 45 foot putt and it breaks on this occasion it’s going to come from the right hand side and its going to swing all the way around back into that hole. So wow it’s a rough game, those two shots we’ve just played they count for nothing now, is what we do here. So the first we must do, is get down to the ground, have a look at the contour of the green. We know its going from the right to the left; but I’ll just describe that putt coming around. But how much – the whole idea of playing these putts is to try and get that ball on what we call the Pro-Side. The Pro-Side is another word of saying the high side.

So we are going to go up the hill that’s the high side and where is the – what point is that ball going to start sideways journey having reached the pinnacle and then from there fall back towards the hole. That’s the tough baby is trying to get that ball to that point and then fall – let it fall down naturally. But the most important thing is to get that ball to that point to reach the hole. There’s no point in coming up 24 foot shorts or 10 foot short and still having the same sort of putts again. So, let’s get down look at where the point is, so if that’s the hole I need to get more this side. And now we’re looking at the right side, I’m looking at the line, the point is. I’m looking at that point of break. I’m drawing a line in my mind back to ball. And once it gets back to the ball, this is where you cannot afford to start looking around anybody else. Don’t get distracted, lets look at that point, I’ve picked my point home. I’ve picked a point just in front of my ball, maybe just two inches; I’m not going come to the ball.

My eye is firmly focused on that point. I put the putt on it, there’s no point me looking back up there again. I have done my work behind the ball; all that can be achieved by me doing this, is maybe putting a seed of doubt back in my mind. So maybe put that putts there on line, they put my feet parallel it’s very important that we’ve got everything now running through and parallel to the marker not the hole, to the marker. Well so I’m in this position here, there’s now all about the actual pace of the swing and from here it’s important to get that feel. So maybe you might just look back and just have few swings, to feel what length you’re going have to get that ball up that green to that point to drop down.

We’ve got the marker, we’ve got the feel of the swing, we now get to the ball, we now swing that putter back and however far you see the putter back please, please, please make sure that club, then go through the same distance. There’s nothing worse than having done all that work, all that hard work looking at all the lines and you swing the putter back and you stop, because you’ve got this fear of what happens if it does this, does that. You can’t have a fear. Back marker practice swings put the market, its on line, you don’t need to look up there anymore, remember that it can get doubts into your mind over the ball. Pull the trigger back; forward once you’ve hit it of course you can look. It is important now to look at where that ball comes back and where its falls down. And if it falls down a little bit short to the hole, you’ve got a little bit of information that you might be able to use on in the next putt.

But remember the point being is look at the slope, feel the pace, pick the marker. It’s much easier to aim for something just in front of the ball that you trace back from that point than trying to aim for this putter for 45 feet off the green, simple technique, not a simple putt but a simple technique to put you on the right road. Go and practice this, it will take some practice, because it’s one of the most difficult putts in golf, but with knowledge, knowledge is going to improve your game. If it can improve your game, the, I’ve done my job, because you’re going to enjoy.