How to putt like Chad Thundercock

[Deleted]

Made this primarily with VctryLnSprts in mind as after seeing his stats it's clear that he could be in PGA if he sorted out his putting! Hopefully useful for others as well. Still requires systematic practice in the designer but firm putts in my view are a great way to make drastic scoring improvements in this game:






UPDATE: Seeing quite a few players are taking up this approach which is awesome, so I've decided to go into a bit more detail, especially with the counting method for distance control as I think there are some misunderstandings here and there. The thundercock approach for distance control is a systematic method to calibrate and internalise your distances rather than a 'one weird trick' that you can just take to the game. This video is much more comprehensive on how to get a truly consistent way to reduce variance in your putting, and ultimately the fastest way to lower your scores:






Yet another update: recorded my PGA practice run at Lake Marie and had a phenomenal putting session, 100% short, 100% medium and 58% long putts made:

[Generic_Casual]

Showed up for the voice and was not disappointed.

Well played.

[hookhogan]

👍

[Deleted]

Just change your name to legendary larry geez. But yes very good points and something we can all take something from. I especially liked the part with 30 foot bender where you added 5 feet to the stroke, I feel that is an often overlooked variable. So fellow golfers, heed this advice, make your way to the pga and demote me so that I may have a chance at winning

[Deleted]

Oh sorry I forgot to poke your rocher eating self. You may think this is lighthearted fun, but truly

OREO>ROCHER

[Deleted]

I believe the "flimsy" kind of putting method/stroke that you attribute to Eric (that is how I putt as well in all my rounds) works really well for TST, but the latter I will concede does work better with the grids on.

This is because you obviously do not want 3-putts at all no matter the format, and the former leaves you easy tap-ins when you miss. That is one of the biggest fundamental things you can do in TST to improve quickly when learning... Get good pace, and the dead-weight style lends itself far more for TST.

For me, I don't want the 6-10 foot comebackers for par (or whatever it is to avoid a 3-putt) when you miss that first putt trying to take out the break, even with grids on.

[Deleted]

Dec 21, 2018 9:38:04 GMT -5 @swaeromotion said:

I believe the "flimsy" kind of putting method/stroke that you attribute to Eric (that is how I putt as well in all my rounds) works really well for TST, but the latter I will concede does work better with the grids on.

This is because you obviously do not want 3-putts at all no matter the format, and the former leaves you easy tap-ins when you miss. That is one of the biggest fundamental things you can do in TST to improve quickly when learning... Get good pace, and the dead-weight style lends itself far more for TST.

For me, I don't want the 6-10 foot comebackers for par (or whatever it is to avoid a 3-putt) when you miss that first putt trying to take out the break, even with grids on.

Yeah I do the timid flick-putt in TST as well for the same reason The confident Chad thrust requires the certainty of grids tbh, since now that hoovering is banned you can never be that certain in TST how much a break actually is.

Not fully in agreement that flimsies guarantee you a tap-in though, since they miss on the low side more often than not which are more likely to escape from the hole than a 'pro side' miss. Low side misses, especially within 10ft, are also the misses that make you most want to smash your monitor up, which is another important factor

[Deleted]

Dec 21, 2018 9:53:42 GMT -5 @larrymalone said:

Dec 21, 2018 9:38:04 GMT -5 @swaeromotion said:

I believe the "flimsy" kind of putting method/stroke that you attribute to Eric (that is how I putt as well in all my rounds) works really well for TST, but the latter I will concede does work better with the grids on.

This is because you obviously do not want 3-putts at all no matter the format, and the former leaves you easy tap-ins when you miss. That is one of the biggest fundamental things you can do in TST to improve quickly when learning... Get good pace, and the dead-weight style lends itself far more for TST.

For me, I don't want the 6-10 foot comebackers for par (or whatever it is to avoid a 3-putt) when you miss that first putt trying to take out the break, even with grids on.

Yeah I do the timid flick-putt in TST as well for the same reason The confident Chad thrust requires the certainty of grids tbh, since now that hoovering is banned you can never be that certain in TST how much a break actually is.

Not fully in agreement that flimsies guarantee you a tap-in though, since they miss on the low side more often than not which are more likely to escape from the hole than a 'pro side' miss. Low side misses, especially within 10ft, are also the misses that make you most want to smash your monitor up, which is another important factor

If you are good with pace, you should very rarely have more than a 3-4 foot comeback,and THOSE you just jam in. 

Be aware that using the near to actual dead-weight approach you get used to the added side to side needed and adjust accordingly so that the low side misses aren't ALWAYS your miss.

The more I think about it, I think using the firm approach is what many players do when new in general (or new to TST even among veterans to the regular tours here), and do not adjust to the downhillers well and why you see many 3 and 4 putts from them.  That is a huge opportunity to pick up strokes, and quickly, when starting out.

Given 163 greens as in your example, my style is to definitely add a bit to uphill putts, but to subtract a bit on downhillers. I would have gone 9 feet (but maybe 10 depending on the day) in your example that was a 12 footer and 2 inches downhill.  Likely 9 since I think it was 187 greens, but for 163 greens I would do 10 for the marker distance. 144s I would go 11 or more likely 12 for marker distance. slower than that idk, 14-15 and take out break.

As far as tilt, the ratio of the uphill/downhill is more important than the actual amount of up or down, obviously.  Two (2) inches downhill on a 6 footer is much steeper than 2 inches downhill on a 20 footer, so that is a factor.  Over 20-25 and you start to get into the hover-putt range and that is where you have to gauge if it will happen or not.  Having a "flimsier" putt gives you a few more feet where this doesn't happen, so overall over a tournament, but especially over a season you will get less hover-putts that take out the beginning few feet.

I'm getting sidetracked, so yeah...

And for others reading this, keep in mind that putting is my weak point with grids on, but not so much with grids off anymore.  The margins in scoring with the grids on is quite a bit less than with them off.  What I mean is that you really do need more birdies with grids off than with them off, so a firmer putting approach lends itself to that type of play.  TST is more about avoiding bogies, while in the regular tours its about making birdies.

[Deleted]

Dec 21, 2018 10:08:27 GMT -5 @swaeromotion said:

Dec 21, 2018 9:53:42 GMT -5 @larrymalone said:

Be aware that using the near to actual dead-weight approach you get used to the added side to side needed and adjust accordingly so that the low side misses aren't ALWAYS your miss.

So this is the main crux of my point, which is that chadputting doesn't require being so good that you can judge the exact break so precisely. I doubt more than 1% of players (Chartbro and hippstein being obvious examples since they have said they use maths for putting) are that good, particularly with inconsistent breaks and green speeds, to be able to nail the dead-weight taps with anywhere near the success of a firm thump. For anybody on Euro and below who struggles with putting, chadputting can make a dramatic improvement in their success. 

What's your 3-putt avoidance stat in PGA events this year btw? Mine is 1.39 for the PGA society and 0.93 for the special events. I have no doubt your 3pa stats are lower than mine, whether because of your superior dead-weight tappy skill or just because you're generally way better than me anyway lol, but considering how I thump my putts by default I'd say my 3-putt avoidance is holding up extremely well, so it's not as risky as you might think!

[Deleted]

Dec 21, 2018 10:23:57 GMT -5 @larrymalone said:

What's your 3-putt avoidance stat in PGA events this year btw? Mine is 1.39 for the PGA society and 0.93 for the special events. I have no doubt your 3pa stats are lower than mine, whether because of your superior dead-weight tappy skill or just because you're generally way better than me anyway lol, but considering how I thump my putts by default I'd say my 3-putt avoidance is holding up extremely well, so it's not as risky as you might think!

Interestingly, basically the same.  A little better on PGA where there are more rounds played, but a fair bit worse in Sp. Events where I have played just two events.  I think a few of my 3-putts come from blasting long (50+ feet) putts too firmly, however.

3-putt avoidance

PGA = 1.04%
S Ev= 2.78%

But in comparing the Short, medium, and long putting % I think is where you are on point that your style lends itself better:

PGA
Putt - Short = 100.00%
Putt - Medium = 84.52%
Putt - Long = 22.45%


Sp Events
Putt - Short = 100.00%
Putt - Medium = 90.00%
Putt - Long = 27.03%

[daviddlee]

Great video. What’s TST and hoovering(hovering?)?

[digsb]

Thanks @larrymalone I will try this from now on? One quick question, do you have the putting marker,in settings, on marker only or just on?



Also,I always thought you were American, my apologies for my presumption.

[Deleted]

Dec 21, 2018 17:04:29 GMT -5 daviddlee said:

Great video. What’s TST and hoovering(hovering?)?

TST = True Sim Tour, where you play with (almost) all aids off for a more realistic sim-like experience, with the big one being no green grid. Until this season TST had marker on, which, if you had the patience to hoover/sweep it back and forth along the putting line, gave you inch-perfect info on the break. The TST admins decided that wasn't in the spirit of 'true sim' so now you have to read greens the old fashioned way. Very fun tour, though with an admittedly steep learning curve, you should give it a try!

[Deleted]

Dec 21, 2018 18:00:35 GMT -5 digsb said:

Thanks @larrymalone I will try this from now on? One quick question, do you have the putting marker,in settings, on marker only or just on?



Also,I always thought you were American, my apologies for my presumption.

In full blown aids mode I have marker on, default everything basically.

And no need to apologise, it's a fair assumption! Larry Malone is the random username assigned to me by TGCT admins when I first registered last year and it sounds American af, like I'm a 40s gangster who says stuff like "Nyah! Now listen here, see!", so I went with it If a yank had a username like 'Hugh Pilkington-Finsbury' I'm sure everybody would initially assume they were British lol

[Deleted]

Dec 22, 2018 6:21:09 GMT -5 homerekka said:

For the sake of balance, there's an interesting (real world) article here that argues the opposite of the theory you're putting forward (suggesting that optimal pace to increase hole size would leave the ball 3-4 inches past the hole) but hey, we're talking about a game here and not real life.

Can you explain the distance calculation you talk about at 9:50 in the vid a little further please?

If I saw that putt, I'd think to myself, I'm trying to hit it 30 foot, so will count 1, 2, 3 in my head and then miss the putt short, or on the low side. The point you make about the putt travelling further makes total sense but I'd be interested to know how you're calculating the additional distance needed.  It sounds like you're approximating from knowledge / experience / feel but whatever you're doing:  you're doing it very well, so would be interested to hear your insights?

Interesting stuff, yeah the game's holes are a LOT more accepting of the ball on chadputts than IRL that's for sure! I am a pathetically timid Timothy Floppwinkle for my IRL putts lol

Regarding the big bender putt, no calculations just a pure estimate - for all I know I hit that anywhere between 32-38ft power in reality, the only thing I knew for sure was that 30ft power wouldn't work because the ball is travelling further than the stated distance due to the break (including going slightly uphill at the beginning against the break). My only thought was 'about 5 feet more' rather than having a certain calculation in mind.

Similar phenomenon with wind, most players don't factor in that the ball effectively needs to travel further in the air with a strong crosswind, so they often come up short. Using purely conceptual numbers, if you have a 20mph crosswind on a 170 yard shot, you might think you need to aim for a 165 yard landing point for the standard 5-yard bounce and rollout to get close to the pin. But when you're aiming 25 yards right or whatever, you need to account for an additional 5 yards (or whatever) distance needed to compensate for the extra distance the ball travels since it's on an arc from point a to point b rather than a straight line, and much like the big bender putt, the first part of the arc is fighting the environment which requires a bit more oomph. So the right carry distance becomes 170 not 165. Same basic idea, and for me I just need to be conscious of it and adjust a smidge rather than do any actual calculations.