Short Putts with Break

I managed to get a couple of sessions at the range this weekend.  Barb was off doing craft things and the rains were not punishing.

With the new putter (thanks mom!), I've been spending more time practicing with it.   I've never found putting of much interest, though I've always enjoyed practicing pitches and chips.  Another mystery wrapped in an opaque wrapper, I guess.

One of the putt shapes that I've struggled with, is the short right to left putt.  I seem to turn the face of the putter into the break and the ball dives left.  I was playing around with them today.  What I thought of doing was to think of this putt and other breaking putts as similar to a bowling shot.

Now bowling is done on an oil slicked surface and the ball spends a lot of time sliding before it connects to the alley and begins to roll.  So with the putts, I thought of trying to strike them hard enough to have a bit of skid and then take the break which will cause the ball to arc nicely to the hole. 

One of the things of a proper putter is a few degrees of loft.  This is to make sure the ball gets to the top of the grass before it starts to roll.  You want a bit of hop.  Even if the greens are firm and the ball sits on top, you can have an issue if you are hitting the ball to an uphill hole.  You want a touch of loft.  I think that breaking putts are in this category of ball action - reaction.

Ok, I must close as I'm off to try to make some Coq au Vin in the pressure cooker.  Golf tomorrow, it will be soggy, but I've got new swing thoughts that I'll get to writing down later.