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2 Another myth in putting is that the putterhead must be accelerating as it meets the ball and beyond. When examining how great putters do it, peak acceleration actually happens at the very start of the forward stroke. They initially accelerate the putter but then let it coast into the ball. It’s usually the opposite of what you see in amateur strokes, where players have a lot of “hit” through the ball. It’s why their speed control suffers. This principle of early acceleration is the same regardless of your stroke’s tempo. For example, Matt Fitzpatrick has a very quick tempo, but we still work on
3 My students fall into two buckets when it comes to green-reading. There’s an analytical approach. Tommy Fleetwood and Justin Rose use the AimPoint putting system to try to measure exactly how much a putt breaks. Then there’s an intuitive approach. Russell Henley gets his best reads when he’s standing over the ball. Scottie Scheffler does it like that, too. He spends a lot of time before his stroke looking at the line from his address position. Whether you’re analytical or intuitive doesn’t matter, just be consistent with your method. But if you want a new way to read greens, try the “two-thirds principle.”
CONTROL SPEED WITH THE RIGHT ACCELERATION
READ GREENS WITH MY TWO-THIRDS FORMULA
the putter moving its fastest at the start of the through- stroke. One drill we often do to help with this is placing a coin on the back cavity of the putter ( above, centre ). As he makes a stroke, the coin should slide off as he’s starting forward with the putter. That’s a sign he’s accelerating at the right point. Try this speed-control drill. If the coin comes off closer to impact, it means you’re accelerating the putterhead too late.
Predict where the ball will be two-thirds of the way to the hole. It’s a great reference point because it tells you where you should aim (essentially, double the break from that two-thirds spot and aim there). You can try this method by finding a longer breaking putt on the practice green and then placing three coins down on different lines two-thirds of the way to the cup. In the picture ( above, right ), the right coin represents a straight line to the hole. The middle coin is the “two-thirds” point. I want to roll my ball over this coin. And the left coin is double that distance—my aim point. I bet this drill improves your reads.
GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA 95
MAY 2026
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