You see it everywhere. Golf technology taking the world by storm. A gadget for every problem. New balls that fly forever with little spin. Drivers that make the old wooden ones look like Fisher Price toys. The list just goes on and on.
But what has science been able to do to improve your putting? Well, the balls are more balanced for longer. They have a little more feel to them than the old models.
The fact is, other than that the only thing science can do for your putting is keep you confused. You are not doing anything but rolling a little white ball over finely mowed grass.
Science has improved the ball and the grass, but it can't improve anything else to a any significant degree. The best thing for golf scientist to do with putting is to leave it alone.
Putting is not golf. Golf is a sport that requires a certain degree of physical skill, hand eye coordination, and natural athletic ability to excel.
Putting, on the other hand, is a simple target game that any 10 year old can understand and play well. It is only when putting is approached like any other golf shots that problems arise.
Don't believe that putting and golf are two separate and distinct games with different sets of fundamentals?
In golf, you are trying to hit the ball with the clubface at high speeds. There are an almost infinite number of acceptable places for the ball to end up and still be on the fairway or green.
On the other hand, in putting you have only a 4.25 inch target you must hit for the shot to be successful. And it must hit that target at the right speed.
Exactly what skill required to hit a driver shot is also required to hit a short putt on the correct line? I can't seem to think of a single one.
As long as you continue to look at putting as though it is just another part of golf, you will have the inherent problems that result from trying to play one game with the fundamentals from another.
What can science do to help you putt better? Nothing. Putting is a simple target game and the more technical knowledge you gain the more confused and ineffective you will become.
Learn how to play the putting game
