The Dr hit a screamer into the 1st last week. Unfortunately, it rolled far enough into the zone of discomfort to almost guarantee a par putt of three or four feet.
Now, most pros nail these, which is one very important reason why they are good enough to mix it with the best.
For the amateurs like myself who abhor practice the way nature abhors a vacuum, there are approximately 450 thoughts going through my head at this point.
Do I have my hands closer to my body? Or a little further away with the putter completely flat on the ground? Where’s my right elbow?
Should I press forward with my hands Mickelson-style before moving the putter back? How’s my grip pressure? Gee, isn’t the view great…and so on.
But as I tapped in for a five, I never once regretted having a traditional putter. It didn’t cross my mind.
But would using a belly or long putter have made a difference?
I don’t know, and golf’s R and A Rules Committee admits it doesn’t know either, despite deciding to implement a ban on the practice beginning in January 2016 (Rule 14-1b).
Prior to players having the audacity to win major tournaments with the ‘long stick’ (four of the last six), it was never really an issue.
It was merely tolerated as a crutch for some of the older players to cure their yips, and it would never really catch on.
But if it actually kept players competitive, whether by being technically superior, or by merely providing confidence then why wouldn’t it catch on?
If they didn’t like it, then ban it early in the same way the PGA Tour banned Sam Snead’s front-on putting.
The R and A’s lack of foresight on this matter, even as they watched children learn the game for years with no knowledge of a traditional putter, parallels other major sporting bodies’ shortcomings.
So it’s a small comfort to see that the NRL is not the only organisation that cannot see the woods from the tees!
They have completely missed the boat on this. By watching players develop into touring pros who use the long putter, and who had no reason to expect they would not be allowed to use it, they have implicitly sanctioned its use amongst a generation of professionals.
It’s little wonder now that Ernie Els brings up the question of law suits for threatening livelihoods.
As Carol King said, “it’s too late, baby”. We now face the prospect of two tours either side of the Atlantic playing by different rules.
If the R and A cannot, and will not, provide evidence that the putter makes a golfer any more or less successful on the greens, then the basis of their ban doesn’t stand scrutiny, even if, like me, you prefer the traditional stroke because it requires a free stroke.
Even Sam Snead’s front-on version used both hands on the club!
At this point, they may as well ban the high fade, or the low draw.
As Adam Scott says, they have zero evidence.
But they do have an awful amount of evidence about what ball and club technology are doing. Why don’t they do something about that?
Or is it really ok to swing a 9.5 degree Volkswagen Golf off the tee?
I’ve learned to accept long putters and, implicitly, so had the R and A, so they will have a fight on their hands. Even the USPGA Tour has lined up against it.
I like to putt with my right elbow tucked into my side. Is that anchoring? Do I need to change my stroke?
I know I need to practice, but that’s another story.
Dr NRL
Roar Rookie
Personally, I kind of like the Eddie Charlton snooker cue style from short range. The R&A work in 4s - a homage to the 4-point try in Rugby League if I'm not mistaken. Back when Snead's croquet style was banned, they changed things within a 'reasonable amount of time'. Re Sam Snead's croquet style, see this article in the 1967 Sports Illustrated, where one sentence captures the idea very well: "The essence of the rule is that not only does a golfer have to try to sink a putt, he has to look good doing it." So when you get an unlikely par and someone says, "They don't draw pictures on the scorecard", well, they kind of do! Interestingly, it also contains this gem: Gary Player, who has had enough putting troubles to make him try just about everything but the croquet style, says, "I don't believe you should put a man down to hitting the ball one way." And he has been vocal about the broom stick, and supports the current ban! That's in between asking female journalists to punch him in the stomach so they can feel how hard his abs are. The link below has some footage, along with the very believable idea that the ban was 'personal'. http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/topic/757179-why-did-they-ban-sam-sneads-croquet-putting-style/
Dr NRL
Roar Rookie
Haha ... I won't say you're right, but you're not wrong ...
Brooks
Guest
Good points here relating to the use of technology in other parts of the game. But can I ask a) Why wait till 2016? The need for a moratorium seems ridiculous. OK maybe give it a few months so those time rich swingers rekindle the muscle memory that failed them previously. b) Why do you think they banned Sam Snead's putting style? My only thought here is that he followed the rules at the time and they kryptonited him because it would have made him more powerful. But others can join in surely? Why haven't there been more broomstick/anchor putters if it was such a hot thing to do. Now not being an expert on the rules of life, let alone golf I wonder now should I stop doing my reverse shuffleboard putt standing behind the hole. This works well for me for anything 3ft or less and when those OCD golfers don't gimme a gimme.
sundo
They're right to ban it, and should go further, Melbourne-Storm-Like, and strip these majors from the storky cheats. Evidence? Since when was this paramount? You sound like a crap golfer Doc.