Confessions of a Long Putter User
At the writing of this article, I have just turned 68 and can honestly say that my putting has never been better. I am generally recognized as a well above average golfer when it comes to putting. This is for two reasons. First I am using a 48 inch “Long” putter and second my putter head is a REESO VBG.
I have always been blessed with good hand/eye coordination and the ability to visualize creatively. During my younger golfing days I was a very good putter and in fact stayed that way until my early fifties. By then, less practice due to less time to play golf and a back that would not tolerate much time bent over had begun to take its toll on my putting results and hence confidence. I began to routinely have several three putts during a round and absolutely dreaded having a three or four foot putt in any kind of competition since my opponents couldn’t just knock it back to me as a “gimmie”.
My putting problems all grew from that lack of confidence in making three to four foot length putts. I had become so “handsy” that a full case of the “yips” had to be right around the corner. So, I decided that an effort to improve was warranted.
First I obtained a putter with a long face and long front to back lines to ensure that I was properly aligning the putter face perpendicular to my target line. And, I made sure the putter was face balanced. Second, I changed my set up such that my eyes were directly over or just inside the ball. Third, I obtained, read and began practicing concepts from the book “Putting Out of Your Mind” by Dr. Bob Rotella. in order to become a “positive putter”.
All of the above steps combined to definitely help my putting improve, but I was still not yet completely comfortable under competitive situations on three to four foot putts. My nerves were too hard to control when the “competitive juices” started flowing.
So, as an engineer, since I understood the principle of the pendulum I became intrigued by the long putter concept. After a few months of experimentation I was able to get a setup that I liked and boy did my putting improve even more. My test indicator was a plastic pipe about 2 inches in diameter that I would set up on a piece of carpet used for a test green in my garage.
With a standard length putter from four feet away, I could only consistently putt five out of ten balls into the pipe opening when I began my efforts to improve my putting. After the three steps above I was able to consistently putt seven out of ten balls into the pipe opening using a conventional length putter. With the long putter, I was able to consistently make nine out of ten and have a personal record of 32 in a row.
The single biggest advantage of the long putter was that it smoothed out my putting stroke on all putts, especially those in the three to four foot range.
Just the inertia of the long putter makes it harder to move quickly. With my confidence restored on the shorter putts, there was less pressure to get every long putt within a foot or two of the hole.
There are two stroke methods for using the long putter. The first method (not recommended) keeps the arms and hands relatively fixed and just rocks the shoulders back and forth down the target line. The second method, the one I recommend, DOES NOT move the shoulders but rather holds the butt of the club with the thumb and forefinger of the left hand with the left wrist anchored against the center of the sternum/upper chest area. Then the right hand/right arm pull the putter back and push it through on a straight line allowing for a maximum pendulum flow with a minimum of moving body parts. The right hand holds the lower putter grip in the vee between the thumb and forefinger rather than wraping the fingers around the grip. This minimizes any tendency to twist the putter face face during the stroke. The second method definitely produced the better results for me.
The first month or so, it seemed like judging distance was going to be a problem with the long putter. However, once I concentrated on keeping my head perfectly still during the putting stroke and NOT rocking my shoulders, then my touch on long putts actually improved over what I had most recently been used to with the standard length putter.
Finally, the more upright stance required to use the long putter made it easier to visualize the “line” to the hole and I became more consistent in reading greens. The ability to practice putting for extended periods of time without my back hurting was also an added benefit.
After three months of using the long putter, I had again become a good putter.