Decision Fatigue choosing Putting Style

[dmoore1998]

thank you everyone. love this community.

I narrowed it down to a few players' styles I enjoy watching and practiced all day and filmed myself from multiple angles. funny what my head thinks I'm doing and what I am actually doing lol.

I agree with all comments that are telling me it's most important to get reps. I just want to first pick at least something close to what I predict I'll end up with (start with the end in mind - some productivity guru said that once).

The plan for now is to keep practicing a few different styles and narrow down and just pick by the end of next week and roll with it all year.

Your "start with the end in mind" in this case though shouldn't be some pro's form, or a specific "style" of putting...it should be with putting fundamentals. Focus on things like mentally picking a small point to aim at, on having a consistent and full follow-through to that point. Get reps in at having a full follow-through, at "going for it" aggressively, and at mentally preparing yourself for the putt.

This isn't like picking whether you want to throw a backhand or forehand and working on it. This is like picking whether you want to throw a putter or a mid from the tee. Getting good at one will carry over to being good at the others.

Probably the best advice I give new players about their putting is I get about 30 feet from them and without telling them what's going on I ask them to toss me a disc. Then whatever they were doing with their feet, their motion, etc when they tossed the disc...I tell them to figure out a style that most closely mimics that action...while incorporating some basic fundamentals (again, like full extension, maybe more finger pop, etc). There's a reason pros on tour almost all throw the same way backhand...and so many putt differently.

In terms of push/spush/spin putting...someone can probably tell you which to work on most by knowing which area of the country you live in. It's going to be primarily a wind issue on which one might be most effective (and regardless of what you determine your "style" to be, you're probably not going to find yourself using a full spin putt from 10-15 feet...and you're going to have to spin it more from 50).

 

[Countchunkula]

Regarding the comments about simulating the pressure of putting in competition during practice, that was never an issue for me. Plenty of practice and the confidence that came with it reduced/eliminated the nerves that I would feel stepping up to a circle 1 putt in competition. When you have a ton of confidence (built on success in practice) it's just another putt that you expect to make.


Driving was totally a different story, but I never reached a point that I was confident on drives to anywhere near the degree that I was confident on putts.