Putting and Distance Control (Part II)
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​In ‘Putting: What is distance control?’ I discussed what ideal distance control is as it relates to the ball and green. In this post, I will tell you how you can create that ideal distance control and yes… it is as simple as walking.
 
There are several different factors that influence distance control; ball position, the path of the putter head, angle of attack, face angle, CFC center face contact, etc.  However, the most important determinant, and what has been developing since you could walk is the one that supersedes all others. While many golfers are told to focus on either ball position, putter head path, angle of attack, static loft, loft at impact, metronome cadence, etc. not one of these things are as important as the length of the putter in your ability to dial in your distance control.  Let’s explore the reasons why…
 
Since you developed the ability to walk as a toddler your body has developed its own cadence and within that cadence is your rhythm and tempo (rhythm is the synchronization of your stroke and tempo is the speed at which you perform the stroke). Through this development the body was teaching the brain (which is in contradiction to most thought processes) how to per form this act, especially as you reached your early to mid-20’s and the bodies structural growth cycle ended.
 
If you watch anyone walk, or run, you will notice their arms swing in unison with their legs. Some swing them more than others and at varying speeds but everyone’s arms and legs move in sync as they walk. To observe this watch anyone walking down the street and you will notice they lift their arm a certain height before letting it fall. As it falls it will naturally reach a point where it is hanging directly from the shoulder; i.e. vertical. When the arm reaches vertical (it doesn’t stop at vertical but ascends in the opposite direction) the foot simultaneously connects with the ground.  Regardless of the speed you walk this happens continuously without you having to think about it.

SIDETRACK: For more on the arms and body’s ability to unconsciously know how to control distance consider the following excerpt from Geoff Mangum:

Also from Geoff are some fantastic references from studies done on walking, stride lengths, Man’s system integration and more:

How?
As you reached the end of your structural growth cycle, in your mid to early 20’s for most people, and your arms and legs stopped growing in length the brain went through what was most likely the last re-synchronization it would have to for your arms and legs to work together (or better yet the body informed the brain of  the change in length and due to the constant speed at which each fell from a raised position; due to gravity, the tempo was recalibrated). It’s not something you were consciously aware of but what was happening was your brain was calculating how high to lift your arm so as it fell, and passed through its vertical position along the side of your body your foot was striking the ground.  The only calculation required was how high should the arm be lifted to match that of the leg.
 
NOTE: The arms and legs fall at a constant rate of speed due to that little thing known as gravity. 
 
SIDETRACK: This is why pre-teen and teens can often appear uncoordinated. Youths at this age do not always grow at a constant rate. Sometimes their legs outgrow the rest of their body (arms included) and the synchronization of the two is disrupted until the brain reconfigures the timing and resyncs them. Kids that were once very coordinated appear unable to walk as they are constantly tripping or stumbling. It’s the coordinating the upper limbs with the lower limbs that is the issue and as soon as the timing is restored their coordination returns.
 
How does this relate to my putting?
Ask almost anyone, ‘Who has poor distance control?’ and most will respond with 'It's not bad'. When I ask someone this question I often toss them a ball and ask them to toss it back, which they do without fail, often hitting me in the hands around my midsection, or very close to it. Each time we do this I back up a few steps and repeat this process and each time they toss the ball to my midsection. Why is tossing a ball so easy at these varying distances, yet putting to varying distances seems so difficult? Because when tossing a ball, the ball is resting in your hand prior to throwing it. When putting, you are doing so with a club, in essence a lever, and if that lever is the wrong length it will significantly throw off your body’s natural tendency to determine how high to lift your arm so that when it falls it does so with enough energy to propel the ball the correct distance to the hole.  When a putter is the correct length, learning this becomes much faster for beginners and advanced players start to control their distance to such a degree that they can routinely reach the 1rps-4rps ideal speed I discussed in ‘Putting: Distance Control’. 
 
As mentioned above, your natural cadence was determined as your body informed your brain of a longer lever (your arm or leg) and your brain figured out how high to lift that lever so when each of them fell, they did so in unison.  The same is true whether you’re tossing a ball or putting, in so far as all you have to do is understand how far to lift your arm and let gravity take it from there (it’s all done sub-consciously and free of thought). There’s no adding anything extra. You don’t have to: take it back half as far as you follow through, force acceleration into impact, or anything else (these are all conscious efforts). All you must do is let your arm and putter fall back to the ball.  As a result of your body and brain being so well synced the correct length of the putter is imperative if this synchronization is to be maintained.  If a putter is too short the hands will reach their finish position prior to the brain anticipating it and throughout the rest of the stroke; from the top of the stroke to impact and the forward stroke timing will be disrupted.  If the putter is too long, the hand will not reach its finish position in the time the brain expects it to (the hand will arrive at it’s predetermined finish point too late as it reacts to the extra length of the putter), and as a result the timing will be disrupted.  Even if you practice every day, if the putter is off by as much as a ½” your ability to control distance will be flawed.  Many say, ‘I’ve been a _______ all my life and have great timing and eye hand coordination.’ And I don’t disagree that some people do have phenomenal eye/hand coordination. But, the best eye/hand coordination in the world cannot consistently perform an act that completely disrupts what the brain and body have done for years without manipulation; i.e. you can never learn to manipulate something consistently. Anything that goes against what your brain and body have coordinated for so long requires manipulation.
 
When determining the length of your putter you need to understand the body’s ratios and understand how they play their part.  For example, if Player A is 6’-1” but has a ratio greater than 2.5:1 between their leg length and arm length they will almost always require a longer putter than Player B that is 6'-4" but has less than a 2.5:1 ratio of legs to arms. (the legs are more than 2.5x longer than the arms) Although Player A is shorter the ratio of their legs is longer to their arms and overall height than Player B. When your legs are longer compared to your height the torso does not bend over as far and thus is further from the ground. As a result, you will require a longer putter. The rare exception is the player with exceedingly long arms.  Player B’s legs maybe longer than Player A’s but because they are shorter in relationship to Player B’s overall height their torso will lean over more (coming closer to the ground) and their putter will have an increased chance to be shorter (especially in relationship to their height). Without knowing a person’s measurements or ratios, it is difficult to say if you’re 6’-1” you will need a 34.5” putter or if you’re 5’-6” you’re going to need a 31.75” putter. It’s not that easy and if anyone tells you it is that easy, they probably adhere to the theory that 4* of loft is ideal on your putter too. But that’s a post for another time.
 
Here’s a simple way to measure yourself for putter length. Set up to a ball in as comfortable a position as you can. Your eyes should be over the ball and your body should be comfortably bent at the knees and hips. You should have enough tension to hold you in place but not so much that it is uncomfortable.  Allow the upper arms to hang straight down from the shoulder sockets (as opposed to leaning back away from the ball). With your palms together you need two measurements; one from the middle of your palms vertically to the ground and second from the middle of your palms to the middle of the ball. These give you two sides of a 90* triangle and from there it’s as simple as the Pythagorean Theorem  where A2 + B2 = C2. You have to add approximately 3” for the remaining part of your palm but the equation for length would be: Length = Square Root(AxA + BxB) + 3”
 
Many of you will find your putter is too long and almost all of you will find your putter to be too flat. That is when you set up to your new length the heel of the putter will be off the ground. You will need to have your lie angle reset but knowing the formula for that is also a post for another time.
 
Off the rack putters are overwhelmingly 35” in length (some are 34”) with a lie angle (the angle of the shaft up from horizontal) of 71* and a loft of 4*.  This is the equivalent of all the shoe stores in the country carrying size 10 shoes with a few size 9’s.  It’s telling everyone, regardless of build, ratio, etc. that they should use the same putter and when you have trouble controlling your distance and ultimately making putts you’re told to practice more.  It’s a recipe for disaster, void of substance or understanding how the body and brain work together. It’s also one reason you are not lowering your scores. As I told one person with too many degrees on their wall; science works, but you have to utilize many sciences in this game and none of them take precedence over the brain body relationship. If they do take precedence, you won’t be playing very long because you’re soon going to damage something, most likely yourself. 
 
Getting the correct length of a putter will not itself make you a great putter. There are many other variables involved that also need to be in place. Understanding how your ability to improve your distance control is directly influenced by the length of a putter will at least allow you to stop looking in the mirror and blaming the person you see looking back at you. It makes you wonder if the person who came up with the phrase ‘It’s not the archer it’s the arrow’ was someone that didn’t understand what it took to improve the golfers they were working with; i.e. sometimes it is the arrow, NOT the archer because you will not ever control distance exceptionally well with a putter that is the wrong length.
 
SIDETRACK The term ‘science’ is one of the most overused words in golf today. When I hear someone say ‘This is science.’ I ask them ‘Which discipline of science?’ If they are smart enough to answer with ‘Physics’ or ‘Ophthalmology’ my next question is ‘Do you think there is only one science in the game of golf?’  Unequivocally the answer is ‘no’ because there are many sciences that are at work be it a swing, stroke, etc.  All of these sciences have to work in unison with one another or else the golfer or their game will wear out.  The golfer wears out physically through unnecessary wear and tear on their body and mentally through a limited return on their time investment; i.e. they don’t see improvement even after hours, months and years of work.  When proper instruction is given, it is done so with all these variables in mind and what will allow the golfer to improve in the quickest amount of time possible with the least amount of effort put in. It’s a phenomenon known as meta-learning.
 
Ask anyone what science is and you will often get a blank stare as a response. The simple answer is, science is a form of measurement. It measures something, like a golf swing, and gives feedback but that feedback is based on prior measurements and what is known at that given time. If a certain result happens enough it turns into the model or theory of the day and may even be passed as a law. Even laws are susceptible to flaw. Where would we be if Einstein hadn’t stepped outside of the known science of his day? If he would have listened to his contemporaries and other accepted norms in the scientific world at the time he never would have developed his theory of relativity (E=mc2).
 
One last thing about science. It is and can be a great thing that allows golfers, and society to continue to develop and reach new levels. However, science is a form of measurement where conclusions and predictions are developed. But what about the things that can’t be measured? Are we to dismiss them because we don’t know about them or how they can be measured?  In the opinion of this author this is where we come to the differences in science and applied science.  Science is what many believe the outcome will be, again based on past measurements and a measurement of past measurements to determine the outcome.  Applied science is the real-world application of the discipline its relating too; i.e. sometimes things happen outside of what everyone thinks and that happens when all the variables cannot be measured or are known. 
 
Science can be and is a great thing, don’t get me wrong.  It just isn’t the end all when it comes to golf or life and anyone that tells you it is hasn’t been around enough to see the flaw of their beliefs.  

Distance Control (Part I)
 
Due to circumstances outside the control of the maintenance crew and PGA Tour staff, the greens at recent PGA Tour events, namely the Players Championship, have received quite a bit of attention.  In particular, its effect on putting and even more so on green speed.  There are many theories in the golf world roaming around and some even attempt to back these theories up with big words such as ‘science’ or ‘scientific research’. These theories supposedly supported by scientific research fall well short in their ability to assist you in improving your putting. I will discuss these reasons throughout this post as well as discuss what it is that greatly enhances your ability to control distance at a level far greater than most in the golfing world, pro’s included.
 
‘What is the ideal speed for putting?’
As stated above many attempt to utilize the 17” past the hole theory and even worse, pass it off as ‘science’.  The first problem with this thought process is it has nothing to do with science.  It was formulated based off two variables that had nothing to do with science of any kind; these two items were green imperfections and the doughnut hole.  Green imperfections are something that will always be there, be they varying grass blade lengths, disturbed soil, organic matter of various kinds, etc. and attempting to create a speed theory and name it science due to organic material is erroneous by itself.  The doughnut hole is something that also fails the science test.  Hitting a ball hard enough to propel it down the slope and then up the slope of the mound created by foot traffic isn’t exactly scientific.  Given the fact these two items lack anything scientific to back them up leaves the idea that 17” past the hole is the ideal speed with more holes than a piece of Swiss cheese. 
 
If we look at another theory (the one used by one of the more popular green reading instructional schools today) their speed control is based on you being able to control your distance within a few inches of the hole on every putt.  Ben Crenshaw or Tiger Woods on their best days did not have that kind of ability. In fact, those with some of the finest touch in the world, oral surgeons that deal with finite nerve endings on a regular basis, don’t employ the type of touch this system advocates.  Is it any wonder why their calculations are off by up to 11% and when watching on tv a PGA Tour members ball will follow the blue line all the way to the hole yet miss?  It’s at this point I find it extremely funny that the golf telecast commentator, who has built up the emotional response of the viewer while the ball is traveling to the hole only to see it miss, is left speechless.
 
Don’t get me wrong, these theories and all others have good intentions when it comes to telling you the ideal speed for putting but we all know where roads paved with good intentions lead. For any of you who have attempted to adhere to these theories and are still lacking in your ability to putt at an extraordinarily high level let me shed some light on it for you, these theories are seriously faulted. 
 
If a theory is to claim ‘science’ as its proof that the system works it first has to understand there are many disciplines of science that come into play and utilizing one or two sciences does not make ideal speed nor does it allow the individual to understand, comprehend and implement ideal speed.  All it does is leave you, the golfer, searching and the golfers age old adage of ‘I just need to work on it more.’ Let me explain something, if you have been working on it for more than a few days or weeks and haven’t seen enough improvement that when asked ‘Is it working?’ the answer isn’t unequivocally ‘Yes’ than that theory is most likely flawed.
 
(SIDETRACK) Improvement of the slightest kind can lead one to assume such improvement will continue and when such improvement fails to follow the original the golfer is left to ponder ‘why did the improvement stop?’ The usual response given by the person who instructed them with faulty ‘science’ is ‘You need to work at it more.’  There was a bit of improvement but it is indeterminable if the improvement was the result of more practice or the efficacy of what was being taught.  If you do something enough times you will improve but that does not mean the fashion (or in golfs case the instructors theory) in which you used to become better was the determining factor for the improvement.  This is more easily understood with weight loss. You can lose weight by simply not eating or eating only salad and many people under such a diet do indeed lose weight. However, in doing so the question becomes what is the nutritional deficiency you are now forced to operate under; meaning not eating or eating only salad is far from optional and it is perceived to be an improvement from where the person started.  The same thing happens with putting.
 
This leaves us with what sciences are needed, how are they to be understood and utilized so we can determine what the ideal speed is and how you can achieve it on a consistent basis, even on the days you are ‘off’.  Physics obviously plays a part as does physiology and how your body moves biomechanically. You can’t leave out the most important piece of the puzzle, the brain. Let’s start with the simplest of things on this list, physics.
 
Keep in mind the diameter of a golf ball is 1.68” which would make one full revolution of a ball very close to 5.25”.  The ideal speed for putting would be the ball either creeping up to the edge of the hole and tumbling in or go into the hole with enough speed that if missed would allow it to roll up to 21” past the hole but not further.  These speeds would be between 1 rps (revolution per second) and 4 rps.  (4 rps X 5.25”/revolution = 21”).  These are the ideal speeds for two reasons: 1) The hole is at its widest at 1rps due to the ball being able to fall in the front edge (let’s call it 6 o’clock), slightly off to the sides (either 5 o’clock or 7 o’clock) more off to the sides (8 or 4) and so on.  For large breaking putts it may even fall into the hole at 1 or 11 depending on the slope.  As the ball increases in speed the effective size of the hole becomes smaller. For example, if a ball is traveling at 6 rps the size of the hole is reduced because the speed will not allow enough of the ball to fall below the top edge of the hole to allow it to fall in.  A ball rolling at 1rps will tumble into the hole and land somewhere close to the front edge of the cup, closest to the golfer, at 2rps it will fall just shy of the center of the cup, 3rps just beyond the center of the cup and 4rps it will hit slightly up the back wall of the cup.  As you get into 5rps+ where the ball falls into the cup moves higher and higher on the hole until it gets to a point where 51% or more of the ball does not fall below the rim which doesn’t’ allow the ball to fall in.  In fact, 9rps is the maximum a ball can be traveling (on a flat putt) and still fall into the hole (it usually hits the back edge, pops up into the air and falls into the cup, hopefully).  You can make putts at 5rps+ but again, the hole becomes smaller for each incremental speed you increase, up to 9rps. When a putt is going 5rps+ and you miss it also moves you farther away from the hole on a miss; i.e. 7rps X 5.25”/revolution = 36.75” from the hole or more than 3’.  This brings into play a lot of other things, most importantly the brain and the psychological side of putting.
 
Humans have a natural tendency known as fear. While many may view fear as a character flaw it is one of the human characteristics that has allowed us to evolve as a species over the millennia.  Those that didn’t fear lions or bears centuries ago most likely never got the chance to elaborate on their lack of this emotion because they didn’t live long enough to do so; i.e. they didn’t run away and as a result were eaten.  As it relates to putting, fear plays a big role, especially when it comes to putts you think you should make on a regular basis, regardless of how much that thought process might be skewed. 
 
(SIDETRACK) Many amateurs believe the pro’s make every putt they take from inside of 8’-10’ which is hardly the case. However, when they watch golf telecasts on the weekends they see exactly that, each pro on tv making all their 8’-10’ putts. What they don’t realize, even though it is quite obvious, is the same golfers are not making the 8’-10’ putts every week. It’s only the leaders that are doing so.  The pro that made all the putts of this length last week might not have made any this week and is likely to be the reason you don’t see them on tv this week. In fact, the average amount of putts it takes a PGA Tour pro from 8’ is 1.5 putts.  From 10’ it increases to 1.61 putts (for more see Mark Broadies statistics on Putts Gained: Measuring Putting on the PGA Tour).
 
While many amateurs think they should make every putt inside this distance the fear factor kicks in when they start thinking ‘What if I miss?’  and herein lies the problem.  The fear factor of what others will think of them for not doing something they think they should be able to do (making a short putt) can be overwhelming.  However, when the distance of putt is greatly reduced the fear is all but eliminated, even for some of the worst golfers.  The distance this fear seems to be at a crossing point just so happens to be slightly shy of 2’ or better put, 21”.  Is it any coincidence that 21” also happens to be 4rps? 

(SIDETRACK) The phrase ‘in the leather’ for giving putts at one time referred to putts in the leather measured by the length of the grip which is approximately 10”. At some point in time someone thought it would be a good idea to change the measured distance from the putter head (usually placed in the hole) to the bottom of the grip, approximately 25”+ and just outside of the ‘oh shit’ zone mentioned above. I’m certain whoever came up with this new measurement system suffered from a severe case of ‘What do my friends think of me?’
 
The next question related to distance control is how can a golfer dial in their distance and allow the ball to be between 1rps and 4rps?  The answer to that question is it’s already built into your system whether you realize it or not.  But you will have to wait until next time to find out.
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​QUESTION OF THE DAY: What questions or thoughts do you have about controlling distance in putting? Please let us know in the comments.

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