Learn How To Create Topspin and Make More Putts!
One of the ways to help improve your putting is to make sure that the golf ball leaves the putter face with topspin – rather than backspin. When the ball starts with backspin, it hops and does not have true roll.
To create topspin, you need to putt so that the Effective Loft of your putter at impact – the measured loft of the putter plus or minus any loft you create with your stroke – is less than the Rise Angle that you create in your stroke.
You can easily see how putting with topspin makes the ball roll true at the start of the stroke by looking at this link from the Science and Motion Sports (SAM) PuttLab web site:
There are a number of keys to help ensure that you create topspin at the start of your stroke:
1. First, most golfers should be putting with a putter loft of about 2 to 3 degrees. Have your putter loft measured.
2. Be sure you do not add loft to your putting stroke at impact – or if you do, make sure that your static putter loft is low.
3. Have some rise angle in your putting stroke. For most golfers, 2 to 3 degrees of rise angle is a good target to shoot for.
SAM PuttLab testing allows a golfer to determine if he creates topspin in his stroke. However there is another quick “cool” way to see if you are creating putting stroke topspin. The picture in this post shows the Rife Putters Dew Board. It has a velvet cloth on it, and when you hit a putt on the Dew Board you can see if the ball starts with topspin or starts with skip. I first saw this when I did my SAM PuttLab training with Glen Coombe, the Putting Doctor, last year. I now have this simple tool to help golfers improve their putting strokes.
“Dew” give yourself the best chance to make more putts by creating topspin in your stroke!