How to Plumb Bob a Putt
By Steve Silverman
Learning to putt consistently is one of the key factors to improving your scoring in golf. Learning how to hit a putt with the correct speed and determining how hard to hit an uphill putt or how softly to hit a downhill putt are factors that take time to learn. One of the things a golfer can do to improve his putting is to plumb bob the putt. This will help a golfer's ability to read the green.
Instructions
Difficulty: Moderate
Assess your putt as you walk up the fairway to the green. Looking at where your ball sits on the green from a distance will give you the big picture of the type of putt you have.
Stand about 6 to 8 feet behind your ball and get in a crouch similar to the one a catcher would get into if he were receiving a pitch in baseball. You want to get down at that level so you can get a good look at the putting surface and determine what kind of breaks are likely to occur. This is how you read a green.
Stand up in the same spot, about 6 to 8 feet behind your ball. Hold your putter up in the air so that the blade of the club is about even with your eyes. Use your dominant eye (usually the right eye for a right-hander and left for a left-hander) to determine which way the green will break. As you look at the hole with your putter extended, determine if it falls on the right side of the blade or the left side. According to the Plumb Bob theory, if the hole sits on the right side of the blade, your putt will break to the right. If it sits on the left side of the blade, your putt will break to the left.
Walk the length of your putt and back. Once again you are looking for any dips, depressions or creases that may impact the way your ball rolls to the green.
Walk up to your ball, take one practice swing and then putt the ball. You have studied your putt and you are ready to hit it. Don't add tension by standing over the ball for more than 20 seconds or by taking two or three practice swings.
Tips & Warnings
Use a smooth, pendulum-type stroke when you are on the green.
About The Author
Steve Silverman is an award-winning writer, covering sports since 1980. Silverman authored The Minnesota Vikings: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly and Who's Better, Who's Best in Football -- The Top 60 Players of All-Time, among others, and placed in the Pro Football Writers of America awards three times. Silverman holds a Master of Science in journalism from the Medill School of Journalism.
