zero out Acc#3 in putting
 

Members, like to know how many of you zero out accumulator 3 by putting the club into the palm of the left hand along the lifeline when putting.

I was reading up Tiger's instructional book written years ago and he puts the putter into more the along the heel pad of the left wrist. I guess that would be partial zeroing out the angle.

Or do some prefer not consider this?

I place the putter shaft up the lifeline in both hands.

Middle of the left hand - for me it’s about tracing the target line with the right forearm now. Moving the putter more in the left palm helped keep the left wrist from bending. Any braking down of the left wrist takes the right forearm and putter off the target line.

For a while, I putted very consistently with the straight left wrist - more of a left arm putt. Now, I have moved my focus to the right forearm staying on plane or tracing the plane line, since my left wrist now stays straight/flat. By adding the right forearm, the ball rolls with more authority towards the hole and holds its line better.

I’m not an expert – just sharing my experience.

I didn't understand how to get my hands higher like the big boys when putting. My hands were always cocked, and I had a bad case of the yips.

After learning this grip from YODA, and setting up with my left wrist level, and both forearms on the same plane as the shaft, I feel I have a fighting chance! Spend a little time with the Putting DVD in Alignment Golf. GREAT STUFF!

Kevin

I Zero out #3, and use a Flat Left Wrist, Bent Right Wrist, Turned Shoulder Plane with Extensor Action. I am very pleased with the Results.

I put the top of the shaft inside my left hand, such that the forearm becomes a geometric extension of the shaft. It was the conclusion after extensive experimentation indoor the winter of '93. I manufactured a stroke and a grip that kept the face on target whether I was swinging or hitting with the putter. Have never looked back since. Unorthodox and very solid ball contact.

Its always seemed interesting to me that the common putting grip has the #3 Accumulator zeroed out, despite the fact very, very few people understand why. Homer was a wonder.

I've read that Tiger's dad was always suggesting he get his hands a little higher. Something he did during the week of his first Masters win. Dont think it was a grip change though , just a hand position thing. Which does approach zeroing out #3. Also a great adjustment for super short chip shots for those who dont like to grip it in the life line for Chip Basic, 12-5-0.

Is it Rotated as well?

Me I dont move my Shoulders much, just a little motion not any work, Im all Arms, normally these days. It took me thirty years to stop my legs from moving when I putted. I used to look down at them and think "WTF do those things think are doing?".

Now Im Zone 2 Putting. Thank you Yoda. Right Arm or Left. Not both. You could pull it back with the right , RFT and then Pull with the Left however. But you need to separate them I find.

Great replies!

I am in favor of zero out acc #3 as much as I feel comfortable. wether it may be inline with my left forearm or slightly off a bit. It gives me a SBST kinda feeling.

I think I been doing it subconsciously but never realized it. I am trying to be aware of it and incorp as part of my routine.

Do you remember the early days of Tiger ramming 10 foot putts like he was trying using back of the cup as a backboard? I think he did make some adjustments cause his speed and distance control is so much better now than those first few years on tour.

If you have no need of a power accumulator why build it into the machine to get the job at hand done? Putting only needs a very small amount of power so 1 (not PA1) should be plenty 99% of the time.

Hi Bartly. You are lucky to be able to have good golfing companions in your 'hood.
 

Jerry says you are a decent human being which is the highest praise.

For me, I combine the zero hold with an elbow push. Yesterday, I played a round with our former club champion and club pro. They commented on how my putting and all around game was so much better than they can remember. After several putts, their response was "solid."

Sadly, the shanks appeared out of nowhere and forced me to chip with my 5 wood just to survive. I went from 4 over after 7 holes to 10 over after 9 holes. Anyway, putting was my safe zone, and I snaked putts in from as far as 30 feet away.

Welcome! Daryl, will be sending you a case of umbrellas for official LBG boat drinks and the decoder ring.

Patrick

City, just so you know, in the future, you're not allowed to fence a garden hose to the hole while putting. Practice green only. :laughing9

Thanks for the comments - how does one go about starting a thread? I have some questions.

from another one in the program - "you can only keep what you gve away"

After watching the "Alignment Golf" putting DVD, I still don't understand how to correctly eliminate accumulator #3 with an orthodox grip. It seems that in order for me to get the shaft running up both forearms I need to have the thumbs located on the outside of the grip (as opposed to the top). Essentially, the left hand is in a weak position and the right hand in a strong position. Any advice?

He thinks that line is to some extent subject to the vagaries of the greens surface but that speed is totally within his control. He kicks himself for getting the speed wrong. Of the two direction and speed , generally speaking its speed that most of us get wrong, it might be the more crucial of the two in fact.........its way easier to be five feet short than five feet wide. And so he prides himself on speed control these days. His line aint to bad either.

In regard to the way he putted when he first came out on tour.........of all of the things that impress me about that guys game , the way he became the best putter Id ever seen ........after he came out on tour, ranks as #1. He sure wasnt that good at first. Most guys putted their best when they were juniors , Tiger picked his late 20's and early 30's. Its really kinda weird. Not saying he didnt putt well at times, like his first Masters, but he turned into a different animal later.

Anyone know who or what helped him to make this change? He always said his dad was his putting coach but....

I once read brain research comparing world class violin players.

Most of them start early (as kids), and even most talented ones need to, in order to reach a world class level. But there have been a rare few who have started in the late teens or so. Brain activity scan shows that early starters use a much larger proportion of their brain than late starters do.

To translate this to computer and TGM language, I believe Tiger has a CPU and an OS tailor made for golf. Tiger can probably improve any facet of the game he puts his mind into improving. Because he has the best computer....

-------------

While I (amongst others) have my whole game configured on a fragile 360k floppy disk. Needless to say, it doesn't even load every time I tee off either.

:laughing9 :sad2: :sad2: :laughing9

I too have questions with this. By uncocking the left wrist you can achieve zeroing out accumulator #3 without running the grip up the lifeline (I grew up gripping the putter this way). But to achieve zeroing out the right hand (the grip in the lifeline on the right hand) I lose my sense of touch as I don't like the right hand palm to much on the grip as I feel "deaf" in my touch hand.
I'm interested in what everyone has to say too.

When I wrote the above post, I may have been confused. I have watched the third "Alignment Golf" DVD again and it seems that the shaft only needs to be running up the left forearm. Is this correct? I am about to go to the practice green to compare eliminating accumulator #3 via the two different methods (i.e. wrists fully uncocked and shaft inline with the left forearm).

I suggest running the shaft straight up the lifeline/cup of the heel of both hands so the shaft is in line with both forearms.

How do you go about achieving this? The only way I can get the shaft inline with the right forearm is to either have the right hand in a "strong" position or to have no part of the right thumb pad overlapping the left thumb.

I have changed the style of my putting to a claw grip in the past two months. I lost awareness of acc #3 and seem to be more concerned with Acc#2.
Particular to how upcocked, level or downcocked my wrist position is. I feel I can roll better with a slightly upcocked wrist.
When my wrist is downcocked I have a better sense of "run" rather than "roll" of the ball

I would suggest setting the right hand (assuming you are right handed) on the putter so your forearm is in line with the shaft and take a few practice putts just with your right hand with the number one and three pressure points directly behind the shaft. Then add the left hand to the shaft with the shaft running up through the lifeline of the left hand. Both thumbs should rest on the top of the grip. It may help to initially run both forefingers down the length of the shaft.
I wish I could explain this better. Dary, O.B., Kev, City, can you help?

Thanks for the reply, Jerry. I can get the shaft running along the lifeline of both hands when they are gripped in a non-overlapping manner or individually. However, as soon as the right hand overlaps the left hand (i.e. using the reverse overlap grip), the shaft shifts to below the right forearm but remains inline with the left forearm.

Rather than the left forefinger falling over the little finger of the right hand, straighten the left forefinger down the outside of the fingers of the right hand. The left forefinger should point down the shaft. You may also point your right forefinger down the shaft so both fingers are parallel down the fore and aft of the shaft.

With the elbow stroke...
 

I run my # 3 PP on the aft side of the shaft. It is very, very dependable! ILYGIAMF (I love you guys in a manly fashion). :)

How much to zero out?

I try to zero out to the heel pad and I still feel a bit of twist/torque

I try to zero out to the lifeline of my left hand and this gives me the most confidence feeling of straight back straight thru without the twisting of the shaft/clubhead.

This puts the pressure out of the last three fingers(PP#2?) and into the palm of the left hand from the pisiform bone to the 1st metacarpalphageal joint.

I go up the Lifeline and add an Uncocked Left Wrist. That may put things a little past Zero.

the Praying Mantis
 

I have to agree with Daryl. I also place the club in the middle of both palms with both wrists Uncocked.



It's different than the normal Right Forearm alignment. Instead, the shaft points closer to the sternum. As the club approaches a vertical Plane, the clubface approaches Vertical Hinging.

In order to match my unusual Address alignment, my putter is set at 74 degrees instead of 70. It's my opinion that most putters are too flat and too light. It's not unusual for a Tour putter to be in the mid 300 grams, where it's difficult to find many consumer putters in that range. My custom Bettinardi is 395 grams and has the same grooves that you see on Brian's putter.

It's the one club in my bag that I can't live without.