How Wide Is The Golf Hole, and What Is the Correct Amount of Loft on Your Putter?

How wide is a golf hole? Four and a quarter inches in diameter for sure. But what if you hit it too hard?Does it get smaller? Jack Nicklaus always felt that if he hit the ball just hard enough to get it there, it actually gave it a better chance of going in because effectively the hole got larger. This was pretty forward thinking in the era before we had technology to hang our hats on and tells us what was actually happening when the collision of clubface and ball occured. I found this first video that was shot at 1000fps on You Tube. It was produced by the Aim Point guys and it shows how the ball behaves if it is hit with enough speed to carry it passed the hole 14 inches.

This next video was produced by Aim Point as well. It shows how the ball leaves the face with three different loft angles on the putter face. Whoever is rolling these putts is using a Edel putter. This particular model has an adjustable face plate. I'm not crazy about the idea of having a lot of removable components on my putter, but Edel has some of the best quality and craftsmanship available today. When you purchase an Edel putter, it includes a comprehensive fitting session that focuses on several areas. But their main focus is on alignment. They believe like I do that the aiming the putter face correctly is the most important aspect of consistent putting. However, in this video the emphasis is on how a loft angle closer to zero at impact keeps the ball lower to the ground sooner than the the industry standard of 4 to 5 degrees of loft angle. There are a lot of really smart putting gurus that want you to putt with as much loft as you can stand. For years I have had to explain why I bend my putters to around 1 or 2 degrees of loft. My answer has always been that in my experience the ball comes off the face with a truer roll. If the ball has a true roll as soon as it comes off the face then you can minimize the effects of a less than perfect putting surface. The ball will track to the hole like it's hugging the ground and won't be as likely to bounce off line if it hits a spike mark, old ball mark, or many of the imperfections that most of us are forced to deal with. Not all of us are fortunate enough to putt on the Augusta- like surfaces that some of my friends at Butterfield and Chicago Highlands do.  ;-) 

Good putters seem to have their own style or individual procedure and mechanics. There are just a few fundamentals that I like my students to adhere to. One is aiming the putter face where you want the ball to start. To do this you MUST have some type of system or procedure that ensures that you are in fact aiming where you think you are. For me that using the line on the ball. If you are not using a line, logo or side stamp I highly recommend that you do so. But only if you are prepared to make more putts and shoot lower scores. If that's not your thing don't sweat it. Another key to good putting is to develop and refine stroke mechanics that allow you to make the ball roll and track to the hole as soon as possible. For some good putters, having 5 or 6 degrees of loft helps them do this. However, I don't know any that aren't on the PGA Tour or are highly ranked amateur players that compete at the highest amateur level. One other important aspect of consistent putting is the mentality that you a ARE a good putter that doesn't putt scared and tries to MAKE everything. Trying to make everything doesn't necessarily mean that you hit every putt inside 6 feet hard enough to take all the break out. Trying to make everything is a mentality. The mentality that you have when you have a gimme 10 inches from the hole. Think about this: When was the last time you had a swing thought over a gimme putt? At the most you might think about covering the hole with the blade of your putter. Never use swing thoughts that include the word don't. Always think in the positive do realm.