Putting Speed

The interesting thing in golfing is the shorter the club length goes, the more it demands sensitivity in the golfer’s touch. When it comes to putting, sensitivity of the speed is the ultimate factor.

Just the other day, all the putts that I tried to make, I continuously lipping them out of the hole, the ball just refuse to drop in. It followed the right path, the right line, but it would circle around the edge of the 3 inches hole and roll out in the direction where I least desired it to go. I figure it did not drop into the hole for two reasons: 1. The putt was not accurate enough and the ball touched the edge a bit too much. 2. I had introduced too much force on the ball and the speed did not dissipated when it reached the hole.

If the ball had carried just enough speed when it reached the hole, it would have dropped into the hole as gravity would pull it down.

“Never up, never in” is always a common slogan in putting, yet to satisfy this, the first condition has to met where it has to be accurate enough. Here is the catch, if the ball carries enough speed to pass the hole as “Never Up” suggested, the path will not be right as it might has less break along the line because speed overcomes gravity. Thus, condition 1 will not be satisfied where it needs accuracy. If condition 1 is not satisfied, then “Never Up, Never In” will not be true because there is no chance for the ball to get into the hole at all when the path is off and more than enough “speed” is introduced.

I say to successful read a putt, first determine the speed, and then read the break. Only when the speed is right, only then the path could be accurate.

Within myself

"I want it now or I am going to freak out" has always been my impatient attitude on the course. Unfortunately this is never natural to the game of golf. When I carried such thought to the course, usually I was going to choose the wrong club and performed a swing that spread wider than my posture allowed.

To maximize the distance, I have to apply the maximum strength under the synchronized tempo but swing within myself. To achieve better accuracy, I have to exert a compact swing but swing within myself.

My posture, when ready, is within my two feet, with weight balance transfering from one side to the other during the downswing. Whenever I demand a result impatiently, I am going to throw myself off and the result is as wild as my imagination can leads to.

Swing within myself with maximized effort is the most contradictive logic I could think of. Though like in daily life, I think it is what golf is about.

Golf Scoring

Remember that when I was still a student, I always wonder how some of my fellow classmates scored so well in examinations. When the same people were asked to do a simple project, they were as good as Dumb and Dumber. For the average norms, some people just know how to be good enough to score well in examinations. It is a skill I never master; it is a talent I never comprehend. I wonder if it is the same in scoring in golf….

The objective of golf is simple, hit a ball with a flat head stick and try to roll this ball to the 3-inches-hole couple hundred yards away in least strokes applied. There are many ways to achieve this. Yet to score low, the critical key is to keep the ball in play. Just the other day I played with an experience golfer, he did not hit far and he did not have spectacular shots, not even a good swing and rhythm, but all shots are well managed and he eventually scored lower than me. The truth is, he knows how to score.

As a student, unless I know the subject really well, I will not score well in the examination. If I just know well enough on the subject and I do not have the skill and talent to identify and learn the topics which will be in examinations, I am going to suffer badly. As a golfer, unless I know the swing and master how to apply it consistently, I will not play well in a round of golf. If I just know well enough and cannot consistently carry out the swing sequences, I will be better off just keeping the ball in play, if my ultimate goal is to obtain a lower score.

Wine Unloading Tempo

Two men were unloading boxes of wine bottles from a truck. One man was inside the truck, picking them and loading them onto a raised wheel-ramp where the boxes would slide down to the end of the truck. The second man picked them up and stacked them onto a trolley before they were carried into the store.

The pair worked in synchronized rhythm and the boxes were unloaded efficiently. First man placed box onto the ramp, box slide downward, second man caught it, turned around and stacked it up. It was done in a fast coordinated tempo.
There was this one box, while the trolley was full, second man was busy securing the boxes; the first man did not notice and continued putting it on the ramp. The box slide down, to the end of the truck and straight to the ground. Box cracked and bottles shattered.

This is what happens when tempo is off. If the first man is the lower body and second man is the upper body, or the first man is the torso and the second man is the hands, when one is done faster or slower than the other, bottles shatter.

Both men can work in fast or slow pace, it is the synchronization that matters to a smooth tempo.