I recently received a very heartening email from Herb, a customer from Texas. It is a candid account of his early struggles, then ultimate triumph, over his traditional putting demons.
Herb wrote:
Dear Tim, Just a quick follow up on my progress with the putter. Remember I wrote you earlier with the conflict over the Heavy Putter?
Now, I can say this thing should be illegal. I have really worked with the putter and it is truly great. If you are not overwhelmed by orders, you should be.
Still the traditionalists just can't get over the weight and look of the putter. Some of those traditionalists are good putters; they just can't get over me beating them in our little putting contests.
I can tell you I had a bad case of "buyer's remorse" when I first got the putter. Especially when I went out and putted terribly with it. Actually that went on for more than a few weeks. But now I watch that think like a hawk when I am out with it. When I am in a game and someone makes some remark - I just laugh and think to myself, now I am really going to get you - especially on the greens.
Thanks again for this truly amazing putter.
Now you have me excited about the driver. Go ahead and put me on the list for one of those guys. I don't have any doubt about its greatness too.
Herb
I was so intrigued with his insights into, and experience with, the Torpedo, I decided to give him a call. I asked Herb to sum up how he turned his putting around.
It was a fascinating chat. Herb expressed dismay with the often aloof, even indifferent attitudes of what he called "more traditional" golfers, particularly in view of the fact that he is routinely beating many of these same folks in putting competitions. Eager to share his newfound putting prowess with them, he has quickly found out what it can be like to be me! I told herb how frustrating it is for me to hear golfers endlessly complain about their putting and yet refuse to address the basic physics of the problem, namely that all "traditional" putters, are essentially the same regardless of price or superficial design differences
Herb chuckled at how unstable his competitor's stroke paths are, especially under pressure and how nerves really do not affect his own putting stroke, and by extension, skill. I asked Herb to sum up how he turned his putting around. He admitted to putting "more traditionally" at first:
- Trying to accelerate the putter instead of letting it "drop," and
- Square stance instead of open
Resolved to not let this thing "beat him" as he put it, Herb listened to my podcast a second time and honed in onto the part about grip pressure. He surmised that if he could "let the putter take over" (his words not mine) that fluctuations in grip pressure would not/could not appreciably effect the overall length of any given putt.
This prompted Herb to revisit my "Left Hand Dominant" putting videos, where he finally proved to himself that the secret of distance control was letting the "putter take over" by practicing one-handed with a more open stance.
- Left Hand Dominant Torpedo Putting 1
- Left Hand Dominant Torpedo Putting 2
- Left Hand Dominant Torpedo Putting 3
This eliminated any "hitting instinct" and helped Herb learn to trust gravity. This one-handed practice then led him to a repeatable and rhythmic stroke whose periodicity does not change with length. So whether it is a 5 ft putt or a 50 ft putt, Herb takes the same amount of time to complete the stroke, much the same way two kids converge at the bottom of a swing set even though one kid is swinging much higher.
Herb was doubly astounded that after showing uncanny skill in a lag putting drill during a lesson with a local pro, the pro didn't even ask him about the putter!
Fire One!
Sincerely,
Timothy Winey
