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Using Training Aids - Putting

There are some good putting aids out there, but in general, golfers who purchase them will overuse them for and lose the benefits that they can instill. It's not muscle memory, it's an engram. Once the brain is no longer engaged, it doesn't count.

Tags: Putt

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I get a lot of questions about things like the putting arc and training aids for putting.

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And as you've noticed, most of these drills, I'm not very, I'm not very fond of

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training aids in general.

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And the reason is it's kind of like having the answer sheet sitting next to you while you're

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taking a test.

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It can be good in the very early stages of learning, but I've seen way too many players,

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especially juniors, get obsessed with being good on a training aid and not developing a proper

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feel or using it correctly.

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So training aids should be used as a feedback tool potentially after the fact.

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So here I've got a, I'll show you what I mean by after the fact.

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Here I've got the learning curve, which is similar to the putting arc, it's stand at least

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training device.

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I like it, I think it's a pretty good, pretty good little tool.

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So if I was having trouble making a good arcing motion with my body connection and

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stuff, I would, I would take some strokes just letting the heel of the putter kind of

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slide along this arc or on this incline plane.

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And because it's on incline plane, the putter moves in along the arc just like the putting

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arc.

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But I prefer this the putting arc because the putting arc is straight up and down where

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this one is on the actual swing plane.

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So I would then use this as a feedback tool.

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So I might step away from the object and hit a few puts and then step over to the object

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and say, okay, that felt about the same.

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Rather than setting up the ball on the actual learning curve and hitting puts with it

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forcing me to do it correctly, if you have an object that's forcing you to do it correctly,

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I can guarantee you that it's not going to transfer onto the course.

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There's a lot of research and motor learning that says that that does not transfer very well.

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But this one's fun because I like it both as the incline plane and actually more specifically,

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I like the arc on the inside.

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So you can take a look here and basically there are lines that show the angle that the

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putter face would be if it is square to this normal curve for, I believe it's a 68 degree

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putter, it could be very wrong on that though.

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But basically, if you were to set up to this like so and make a proper stroke on the way

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through, this would show you the angle that the putter face should be at.

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So again, I'm not a big fan of hitting a ton of puts on it, but if I was to hit some

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puts over here and then come forward and just use it as a check, well it'll be a very

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good tool for helping you fine tune if your putter face and putter path are correct.

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But I don't think it's a great tool for learning them, I think it's a great tool for fine

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tuning them once you kind of have a good idea of what you should be doing.

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So use the drills that I showed you in order to build your repeatable putter face and putter

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path, but then you can use objects like the learning curve or the puttingter arc if you

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really want to confirm that what you're doing is specific and as detailed as you need

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it to me.

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So that's my take on the putting training aids, not a huge fan, but if you're going to use

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them, that's how I would use them.

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