Putting marker or not?

[Deleted]

I wish they didnt give a close estimate on uphill putts. Does a lot of the work for you.

I cant see how one cannot use it on fairly steep downhill putts.

[hammo24983]

There's people that understand this better than me, but from some of the forums I've read, the putting marker is crucial to holing more putts.
Apparently if the marker is positioned correctly, it gives you a better chance of hitting the ball at the correct speed. The computer some how gives you a wider margin for era if the marker is positioned in the correct spot.
Obviously you still have to be able to read the green correctly, so if you can't do that then you will always struggle, but by setting the marker, your speed on putts will improve which will increase your chances of holing putts

[Andrea]

I use the putting marker and I think it helps just if you're already pretty close to the right putting power.
And, as my weakness is on fast side slopes too, I'm gonna say that the marker won't help that much on those, cause the most important thing is being able to read the line almost perfectly....which is very very tough.

Honestly putting sometimes feels really puzzling - right now I'm pretty comfortable on medium/fast and fast greens, but this week I played the CC tourney with a friend, on 138 feet green....piece of cake right? No sir! My readings were off...

Plus I can't really decide if for my game is better to switch to approach camera and study the trajectory square after square or just play firmly and less break

[jtcurrent]

I always use it and I think it helps keep puts from coming up way short or running too far past the hole. In other words it helps with distance control, but not break...for me anyhow. Making them is another issue altogether. I handle it the same way each time. Uphill: Divide slope by 2 and add to original slope. Add that to the distance from the hole and then add 2, to get the putt past the hole. Place the marker at that distance. Ex: 28 foot putt +10 uphill. 10/2=5+10=15+28=43+2=45. Marker placed at 45 feet and hit a 45 foot putt. Downhill: I'm looking for 2 ft past the hole. So if it's a 20 foot putt and -12 slope I subtract 10 (12-2) from 20 and hit a 10 foot putt, still accounting for a bit of slope on that 10 footer. Just be careful because this doesn't guarantee anything...it can run by sometime no matter what you do with the marker. Anyhow, that's how I do it and my lag putting is pretty solid. But it also helps to get used to hitting 4-6 foot putts. I just need to make more of the side hill breakers. Oh, and play better overall.

[Morgan-esque]

I don't touch the marker and do ok for myself. I'm pretty good at the difficult sideways putts so for me it's just all about experience and visualising the putt before you hit it. I already know how hard I'm going to hit it so it's just about getting the line right.

[zarlyy]

I don't use it either, For me I know my 20 foot put on level ground, So for that i adjust for uphill/downhill hit harder or softer. But like everyone else it's all in the break.

[mcbogga]

Not using it is leaving shots out there for sure.

[Doyley]

Must use. It's that simple.

[canthitstraight]

Feb 3, 2016 16:09:06 GMT -5 Morgan-esque said:

I don't touch the marker and do ok for myself. I'm pretty good at the difficult sideways putts so for me it's just all about experience and visualising the putt before you hit it. I already know how hard I'm going to hit it so it's just about getting the line right.

Thanks for the response Morgan-esque. You must be the highest ranked player to not use the putting marker. And you're virtually guaranteed a top 5 at the on this week's PGA! The way you describe putting is exactly the way I go about it. The reason I made this thread is to try and pinpoint a possible way in which I can close the gap between myself and the elite of this game. You're not a top 50 player yet by WGR but you should be within a few months the way you've been playing recently. Have you ever considered learning the putting marker? 

[canthitstraight]

Feb 3, 2016 13:41:42 GMT -5 hammo24983 said:

There's people that understand this better than me, but from some of the forums I've read, the putting marker is crucial to holing more putts.
Apparently if the marker is positioned correctly, it gives you a better chance of hitting the ball at the correct speed. The computer some how gives you a wider margin for era if the marker is positioned in the correct spot.
Obviously you still have to be able to read the green correctly, so if you can't do that then you will always struggle, but by setting the marker, your speed on putts will improve which will increase your chances of holing putts

Wow. This would definitely be an incentive for me to start using the marker if it's true. I haven't heard that discussed on this forum before. 

[canthitstraight]

Feb 3, 2016 14:29:37 GMT -5 jtcurrent said:

I always use it and I think it helps keep puts from coming up way short or running too far past the hole. In other words it helps with distance control, but not break...for me anyhow. Making them is another issue altogether. I handle it the same way each time. Uphill: Divide slope by 2 and add to original slope. Add that to the distance from the hole and then add 2, to get the putt past the hole. Place the marker at that distance. Ex: 28 foot putt +10 uphill. 10/2=5+10=15+28=43+2=45. Marker placed at 45 feet and hit a 45 foot putt. Downhill: I'm looking for 2 ft past the hole. So if it's a 20 foot putt and -12 slope I subtract 10 (12-2) from 20 and hit a 10 foot putt, still accounting for a bit of slope on that 10 footer. Just be careful because this doesn't guarantee anything...it can run by sometime no matter what you do with the marker. Anyhow, that's how I do it and my lag putting is pretty solid. But it also helps to get used to hitting 4-6 foot putts. I just need to make more of the side hill breakers. Oh, and play better overall.

Pretty impressive that someone came up with that formula (Doyley?)! 

So on that uphill putt, I'm basically multiplying the uphill inches by 1.5 and adding that to my putt distance and then adding an extra 2 feet. The amount of testing that went into that formula must be pretty comprehensive to have it down to a science like that.

For that downhill putt, does that mean if you have a 20 foot putt that is 12 foot downhill, that you are going to hit a 10 foot no slope putt? Seems like that would blast way past on 20 foot on medium greens, much less firm greens.

[hammo24983]

I've definitely seen it somewhere in the hints and tips section. As I said someone here would know about this more so than me. There is definitely a relationship between where the marker is set and how far the ball will travel

[canthitstraight]

Feb 3, 2016 17:34:40 GMT -5 mcbogga said:

Not using it is leaving shots out there for sure.

Feb 3, 2016 18:02:28 GMT -5 Doyley said:

Must use. It's that simple.

I guess it's time for me to try something new!

[theduke21]

I've found on downhill putts with the max speed greens that you don't even need to go that far. Especially with putts that are substantially downhill, I take all, if not more, of that slope and subtract it from my marker. For example, if I have 13 foot putt at Magnolia that's 6 inches downhill, I'm probably going 5 or 6 feet with my marker so I don't blow it by. It's less of a problem with a putt that's only a few inches downhill over 20+ feet. Then I basically just play it at the hole.

[jtcurrent]

Feb 3, 2016 18:40:21 GMT -5 canthitstraight said:

Feb 3, 2016 14:29:37 GMT -5 jtcurrent said:

I always use it and I think it helps keep puts from coming up way short or running too far past the hole. In other words it helps with distance control, but not break...for me anyhow. Making them is another issue altogether. I handle it the same way each time. Uphill: Divide slope by 2 and add to original slope. Add that to the distance from the hole and then add 2, to get the putt past the hole. Place the marker at that distance. Ex: 28 foot putt +10 uphill. 10/2=5+10=15+28=43+2=45. Marker placed at 45 feet and hit a 45 foot putt. Downhill: I'm looking for 2 ft past the hole. So if it's a 20 foot putt and -12 slope I subtract 10 (12-2) from 20 and hit a 10 foot putt, still accounting for a bit of slope on that 10 footer. Just be careful because this doesn't guarantee anything...it can run by sometime no matter what you do with the marker. Anyhow, that's how I do it and my lag putting is pretty solid. But it also helps to get used to hitting 4-6 foot putts. I just need to make more of the side hill breakers. Oh, and play better overall.

Pretty impressive that someone came up with that formula (Doyley?)! 

So on that uphill putt, I'm basically multiplying the uphill inches by 1.5 and adding that to my putt distance and then adding an extra 2 feet. The amount of testing that went into that formula must be pretty comprehensive to have it down to a science like that.

For that downhill putt, does that mean if you have a 20 foot putt that is 12 foot downhill, that you are going to hit a 10 foot no slope putt? Seems like that would blast way past on 20 foot on medium greens, much less firm greens.

2 things to make clear.  I Def took this from Doyley and I didn't mean to claim it as mine.  And you're correct...on the downhill putt you reference you still have to be careful to account for that big slope.  The aiming marker just tells the game where you mean to leave the putt (based on how I read Doyley's post) so it has a better chance of not racing by the hole.