Putting Practice

Pitch & Putt
The Short Game

11th Article
Putting Practice

I think you’ve probably seen those electric putting cups, you know the kind where the ball hits the center of the opening, and it shoots the ball back to you. If you look at the design of these units, it’s almost impossible to miss getting a ball in the opening. This might temporarily be a real ego builder. I say temporarily, because when you attempt to putt a ball into a 4 ½ inch cup, all of a sudden that aim isn’t as good as you thought it was.
So how do you get some quality putting practice? The first thing you have to do is develop a consistent stroke with your putter. How to pull the putter straight back away from the ball; then deliver it back to the ball on same straight line. One of the ways to accomplish this is by using a pendulum type swing. The key to a successful pendulum swing is to have your eyes, hands, arms and shoulders directly over the top of the ball. Your eyes must be looking directly down on the top of the ball, and your intended target line. Today’s putters incorporate some type of aiming system cut or embossed in the head of the club. Use this system to aim the putter face at your specified target. The next part of the putt is to move the club smoothly away from the ball in a straight line, reaching the desired momentum point, then returning the club back to the ball on the same straight line. In order to incorporate this swing into your psyche and muscle memory you need a feedback system, something to tell you if you are wandering off your intended line. The jig described below will provide that necessary feedback by providing us with an audible signal.

List of Materials
1 piece of 1¼ electrical conduit, four feet long.
1 piece of 3/8 inch threaded rod, 18 inches long.
4 gate post caps, two and one half inches long.
4 coarse, 3/8 thread nuts
8 three eighths inch large washers
4 three eighths inch wing nuts

Construction
1. Using a hacksaw cut the conduit into two equal parts.
2. Using a hacksaw cut threaded rod into two equal pieces.
3. Clamp both pieces of pipe together, using a 3/8 drill bit. Drill a 3/8 hole through both pieces, approximately 1 inch from both ends.
4. Thread a coarse nut and washer on one of the threaded rods, feed the rod through one of the holes in the electrical conduit. Fit one of the gate post caps onto threaded rod. Thread another washer and coarse nut onto the rod, tighten both nuts until snug on conduit. Do the same thing at the other end.
5. Thread a wing nut and large washer on rod at both ends.
6. Feed the threaded rod through the holes in the other conduit pipe. Fit a large washer, and a gate post cap onto threaded rod, thread on another large washer and wing nut and tighten. Do the same at the other end.

To use the jig, simply loosen the wing nuts and adjust the distance between the pipes to 4½ inches. Place the unit on your carpet or putting surface. Place a ball about 2 inches from one end. Try putting the ball out the other end without touching the conduit pipe. It is not necessary to have the ball go anywhere in particular, just place a pillow at the end to stop the ball. When you can putt 25 balls out the other end without touching the conduit, loosen off on the wing nuts and adjust the gap for 4 ¼ inches and repeat the 25 putts. The ultimate goal is to get the gap down to 4 1/8 inches. Practice for the Short Game.