Putting The Kuykendall Way
Scientific Requirements
· The ball must start in the correct direction.
· The ball should begin movement with over spin.
· The ball should be traveling at the correct velocity during its time of travel to the hole
· Luck Factor: The ball can always change its direction of motion due to green imperfections.
Kuykendall's Putting Theories
o Moving an object at a target is primarily a forward motion.
o The palm of the dominant hand is used for direction control.
o A right arm piston action produces straight-line motion.
o All motions are controlled by the subconscious mind.
o The subconscious is a non-communicating dictator - the conscious mind never knows what the subconscious is doing.
o A pendulum motion is an unnatural motion for humans.
In other words, the ball should have distance, direction and spin control. Science shows that good putting requires control of your mind and body. Good putting requires many hours of dedicated CORRECT practice to achieve success. Why is such a seemingly simple task so difficult?
Putter Face Error to Sink a Putt
The starting point is to understand the physics requirements and then optimize them in your favor. To sink a putt, what is the degree the putter face can vary from being perfectly square (90o) to a line through the center of the cup?
For a distance (X) from the hole, draw a line from the ball to the center and edge of the hole. Now draw two lines perpendicular to the first two lines. The angle between the last two lines is the allowable clubface deviation to sink a putt.
[Tanf = Y/X] [Y = 2.125" = 0.177 feet] [Tanf= 0.177 / X]
X (FEET) TANf f (DEGREES) X (FEET) TAN f f (DEGREES)
1 0.177 10 6 0.029 1.7
2 0.088 5 7 0.025 1.5
3 0.059 3.4 8 0.022 1.3
4 0.044 2.5 9 0.019 1.1
5 0.035 2.0 10 1.017 1.0
Using trigonometry, here are calculations of allowable clubface deviation.
At one foot, it's 10 degrees. This is a large deviation and very few one-foot
putts are missed. At two feet, the deviation is 5 degrees. This is the range
where 'STROKE MECHANICS' (consciously controlling the club) can be used with a
reasonable probability of sinking the putt. At 3 feet, it's 3.4 degrees and the
probability of the clubface being within the allowable deviation is reduced
dramatically. Conscious effort to manipulate the putter face and stay inside
this small angle is extremely difficult. At ten feet, the deviation is only
1 degree and there is nothing the conscious mind can do to consistently have
the putter face within 1 degree.
Forward Dominant Hand Motion
Millions of years of evolution trained the dominant hand to move objects at targets. If I asked you to toss a ball at a target, what would an observation reveal? You would:
o Grip the ball in the fingers of your dominant hand. -- Fingers are designed for gripping.
o Start with the ball slightly forward of the right hip.
o Move the ball rearward about 2 to 3 inches.
o Gradually accelerate the hand forward about two feet.
o Release the grip and let the ball move forward toward the target.
You would use the dominant hand because it performs all coordination tasks better than your non-dominant hand.
Kuykendall's Theories:
o Moving an object at a target is primarily a forward motion.
o The fingers are used for gripping.
o The palm of the dominant hand is used for direction.
What You Will Not Do
Now, what you will NOT DO. You will NOT use stroke mechanics. You will NOT watch your hand go back and forth and try to control or steer the hand with the conscious mind.
Kuykendall's Theory:
o All motions are controlled by the subconscious mind.
o The subconscious is a non-communicating dictator - the conscious mind never knows what the subconscious is doing.
Another movement you will NOT DO is a PENDULUM - make the same length motion and the same speed of motion both backward and forward. The body does not use a pendulum motion when moving objects at targets.
Kuykendall's Theory:
o A pendulum motion has a lower probability of producing the desired results.
Another movement you will NOT make is to place the ball in the non-dominant hand and toss the ball backhanded. The dominant hand performs all motions superior to the non-dominant hand.
Why the Dominant Hand?
At birth, neurons raced to the cortex of the brain and established connections. You have a dominant hand, eye, ear, leg, etc. There are more neuronal connections for the dominant body parts. The palm of the dominant hand has approximately 22% of the body's nerve endings below the neck.
This is what your body would look like if it were proportioned according to the number of nerve endings that end in the various body parts. Neuroscience studies show that the palm of the dominant hand has approximately 22% of the body's nerve endings below the neck. The fingers are used for gripping. The fingers are not used for moving objects at targets.
Kuykendall's Theories:
o Putting is a dominant hand activity.
Ideal Putter Head Movement
The putter head should move on a straight line with the face exactly 90o to the intended line of roll. From three feet in, no backstroke is necessary. Start with the putter eight inches behind the ball. For putts over three feet, take a three to four inch backstroke. Start with the hands over the ball with an angle of around 20o between the shaft and ball. Piston the right elbow forward. The piston action will allow the face to remain at 90o to for approximately twenty inches. At ball impact, the angle of the shaft will be less than 5o and will impact the ball above the center and produce immediate over spin. Immediate over spin provides for optimum distance and direction control.
The Grip
The grip is placed in the lifeline of the right hand so that the grip and the right forearm form a straight line. The grip is shaped like a triangle with the flat side up.
The edge of the triangle is placed in the palm of the left hand so that the back of the left hand is pointing at the intended line of roll.
The Stroke
The hands should be separated. Any interlock or overlap reduces the sensations to the right hand. The left hand is simply a stabilizer. Focus on the palm of the dominant hand making a piston action with the right elbow
Make a simple three-sided device the width of your putter head and 10 inches long. Place the ball eight inches from the closed end. Place the putter head against the closed end of the trainer with the face of the putter 90o to the intended line of roll. The stroke is a right arm piston motion. Piston the right elbow and keep the palm of the dominant hand moving toward the intended line of roll during the entire putting stroke. The left forearm, wrist and hand should be thought of as a one-piece rod that never flexes. The right elbow making a piston action performs the stroke. The shoulders react to the motion. The left shoulder will move upward and the right shoulder will move downward as the right arm straightens.
Practicing failure
Almost every player works on failure during his or her putting practice. In virtually every case that I have observed, tour professional to high handicap amateurs, they all practice failure. They start putting from 10 to 15 feet from the hole. The percentage of putts that will be sunk on a consistent basis is less than 50. You miss at least half of the putts. That is practicing failure. You succeed less than 50% of the time.
Practicing Success
A Golf Magazine article has shown that three putting from 30 feet is one of the four main contributors to adding strokes. The solution to this problem is very simple.
o Practice three-foot putts until you know you will virtually never miss one.
o Then practice rolling 30-foot putts inside a three-foot circle around the hole.
Using the three-sided training device, start every practice session with three-foot putts. Place your putter head in the hole and place the open end of the training device two inches from the end of the putter grip - this will be approximately three feet.
Using the training device, sink 10 putts in a row. Now remove the training device and sink 10 putts in a row. Your stroke will become subconscious within 90 days and your confidence that you can sink a three foot putt every time will be optimized.
Now, all we have to do to have two putts or less on every hole is to get 30 foot or less putts within 3 feet. After you have holed 20 consecutive 3 foot putts with the last drill, play 18 holes on the putting green making the putt lengths around 30 feet. The objective is to get the ball within 3 feet. If you can get to the point where you can get 14 inside of three feet (77% success), you will become a great putter. If a ball should go in, that is a nice statistical probability. The objective is to get the ball within 3 feet. Any ball that stops within 3 feet should be considered a perfect putt. After you have picked your line, focus on distance. Distance is just as important as direction.
Another instructor has shown that the highest probability of sinking a putt is when the speed of the putt will make the ball stop 18 inches past the hole if it should miss. For a machine, this physics is correct. For a human, it approaches impossible. If you can just get 77% of 30 footers inside of three feet, you will become a great putter.
o Practice only 3 foot putts and
o Lagging 30 foot putts to 3 feet or less.
Neuroscience
Why do players have a good putting stroke on the practice green, an acceptable putting stroke when they are playing by themselves, a different putting stroke when playing with their favorite foursome and an even different putting stroke when playing in competition? Joseph E. LeDoux provided the answer in an article in Scientific America in June of 1994. The article is titled Emotion, Memory and the Brain. The neural routes underlying the formation of memories about fear have been traced. The article explains that the "amygdala" circuits are responsible for emotions and the "hippocampus" is responsible for location. When you're on the practice putting green, the hippocampus says, " no problem, (grain, speed, break, etc.), if I'm long, short, left or right, I'll just do another putt." The amygdala says, "there's nothing at stake, if you miss or make it, it doesn't matter." There is no fear on the practice putting green.
Now you go to the course. The hippocampus says, " Uh oh, fast, big slopes, bumpy, scuff marks, etc. Help!" The amygdala says, " Holy mackerel! What do you mean, I can only have one putt that counts?" You must establish circuits under the exact playing conditions before the brain can build circuits to control the fear. In putting, the following old saying should be considered an absolute:
IF YOU THINK YOU CAN OR YOU THINK YOU CAN'T, YOU'RE RIGHT!
Nothing is more important than confidence in putting. Equipment is important. It can give you an advantage. Mechanics are important. They can give you an advantage. However, If you have doubt. You will fail. You must think you can do what you want to do -- roll all putts outside 30 feet inside 3 feet -- Sink all 3-foot putts.
Next comes one of the toughest things to master in golf. You must accept putts that are not the results you wanted unemotionally. You must NOT call yourself names, call your family names, blame fate, blame conditions, blame others, or the multitude of other phrases and things that you have witnessed on the golf course.
The degree that you can become unemotional over putts that produce undesirable results is the degree that you will master putting. The reason is simple. Your permanent neuronal circuits are based on the emotion you assign to them.
You've progressed to becoming a single digit handicapper. You have reasonable control over your hippocampus and amygdala. You're playing good. You just walked off the course with the best round you've had this year. You're feeling good. The next day, when you walk up to the first tee at your country club, the head pro comes up and says, "Boy do I have a treat for you. Jack Nicklaus is in town practicing for a tournament and I'm going to let you play with him today." What do you think you will shoot? What did top-level pros shoot when they played with Nicklaus, when he was in his prime? Experience has shown that most people who played with "The Legend" for the first time, played poorly. You have no circuits in your amygdala for the emotions you are going to feel. All circuits for your usual golf and putting stroke will be short-circuited.
The only cure is to play under the conditions you will experience enough times to establish predator mode circuits for that condition. This is why it's very close to impossible for tour professionals to win a major tournament their first time out. There are no circuits for the location (hippocampus) or the other emotions (amygdala) they will be experiencing. If positive circuits develop, winning becomes possible - not guaranteed, just possible.
Fear of Failure
If negative circuits develop from continued failure, failure is guaranteed. Putting requires that you have control of your mind and body. Fear of failure short circuits your subconscious programs. When you are within 6 feet of the hole, you feel as if you should make the putt. If you miss enough 6-foot putts, you will start going into the fear mode on 6-foot putts and virtually never make one. Fear cuts off all subconscious circuits. Arnold Palmer is a perfect example of the fear mode at work. Today, Mr. Palmer can sink 20-foot putts easier than he can sink 3 to 6 foot putts. Mr. Palmer has established a neuronal program of thinking about failure rather than using the neuronal program of his youth where he believed he could make 6-foot putts. When the probability of sinking a putt is low, the fear factor is low. When the probability of sinking a putt is high, the fear factor is high. Developing a neuronal program to control the fear is the answer. When there is no fear, a 3-foot putt is easier to make than a 20-foot putt.
Summary of Kuykendall's Putting Theories
The proof of a theory lies with the person who is making the theory. If observations are made that disprove the theory, the theory must be modified or abandoned. The following is a summary of my theories. The first thing I would like for you to do is to try to disprove them. If you do, then you are right and I am wrong. If you can't disprove them, then maybe you should consider that they are correct and include them in your game. Kuykendall's Theories:
o Moving an object at a target is primarily a forward motion.
o The fingers are used for gripping.
o The palm of the dominant hand is used for direction.
o Putting is a dominant hand activity.
o The highest probability of making an object move at a target is when using the dominant hand.
o All motions are controlled by the subconscious mind.
o The subconscious is a non-communicating dictator - the conscious mind can never know what the subconscious is doing.
o A pendulum motion has a lower probability of producing the desired results.
o The optimum method of making straight-line motion is with a forward stroke only.
o Immediate over spin provides optimum distance and direction control.
o A right arm piston action allows humans to produce straight-line motion.
o The closer to the hole, the higher the probability of sinking the putt. Outside of three feet, distance control should be the primary goal.