How Rhythm & Timing Affects Putting
Within this article I'd like to discuss how certain movements within the putting stroke, can affect other parts of the stroke that are virtually invisible to the 'Mark One Eyeball'.
Although stated previously, there are many ways to perform one's putting stroke, there still remains a constant among the truly great putters in this world, past & present, and that is their ability to control pace, what ever they do, they repeat it!
"I have always been a streaky player. And I have not putted as well as I needed to over the years. Even now my long game is pretty good. But I have a problem with deceleration on my putt." - John Daly, former Open & US PGA Champion.
Good acceleration is vital in controlling pace and allowing you to deliver the putter face square to impact more consistently. I have used the SAM Puttlab extensively over the past 5 years and I have seen thousands of putting strokes ranging from mere mortals to the game, to the world's elite. If you lack the ability to control the acceleration within your stroke, the simple result will be poor distance control, consistency and loss of direction possibly resulting in the dreaded 'Yips'.
In my experience, the Yips are the result of the inability to freely release the putter through impact, created by poor acceleration and rotation of the putter head.
The first two images below are of the SAM Puttlab measuring a player that has the yips (1st is putter rotation & 2nd is putter acceleration; both are measuring forward swing parameters only).
The highlighted area is the player attempting to square the putter, as you can see the lines vary greatly and will result in poor direction & distance control.
The link between this and the player's acceleration is undisputable. When the player attempts to maintain acceleration through impact (the reason for this is explained shortly), it greatly affects the ability of the putter to rotate smoothly.
The third & fourth images above represent the ideal stroke parameters to be achieved. As you can see, acceleration at impact & after is constant as is the rotation of the putter.
Fault Fixing
The Problem
I have many students come to me struggling with distance control. As a result, they have either tried to slow the backswing down in an attempt to stem the problem, or created an exceptionally long through swing to encourage more acceleration/power! Sometimes even both…
Either attempt will cause the putter to wobble in the backswing, ruin your rhythm and create unnecessary acceleration after impact (post-impact acceleration) making it harder to judge pace.
Problem Solved
Synchronising the acceleration of both putter rotation and putter momentum in the forward swing will create better harmony between the two parameters leading to improved distance and directional control.
Tip #1
Use a metronome to improve your rhythm/timing. If the beat is too slow, you will lose momentum in the backswing which will affect the way you accelerate the putter to impact. Ideally, you want to complete the backswing on one beat and the forward swing on the next i.e. tick/tock.
The backswing time must be the same whatever length of take-away. It is therefore important to adjust the length of backswing for the required length of putt as well as adjusting acceleration/speed of the putter. Try making longer and shorter backswings whilst keeping to your rhythm & set tempo. Notice how you need to take the putter back quicker (speed, not time!) for a longer backswing and slower for shorter ones to maintain your tempo.
Either length back swing should then be mirrored for length on the follow through.
Tip #2
Place golf balls, tee pegs or pillows (if indoors) to indicate the length of backswing and through swing. This will keep your timing in-check and ensure that the follow through doesn't get too long (associated with excessive post-impact acceleration).
In Summary
If you improve your backswing timing, this will naturally improve the acceleration of the putter towards impact. Therefore, shortening the follow through will reduce the risk of post-impact acceleration (chasing) and create better energy transfer from putter to ball thus improving dramatically your ability to control the pace of your putts, from any length!
More Instructional Articles