SeeMore Putters Blog

Pat O'Brien Teaches PGA Carolina Section at Annual Meeting

This past Tuesday Pat O'Brien had the great opportunity to talk in front of 130+ PGA members in the Carolina Section at their annual meeting held in Myrtle Beach, SC.  He talked about his Putting Philosophy and the SeeMore system.  

In the last two years, Pat has visited a number of the 41 sections in the PGA to talk about his putting philosophy.  He is the putting instructor that everyone is looking towards when they need instruction help.  He teaches the PGA member how to teach putting by giving them a simple system.  This is why he is gaining some many top tour professionals, top college golfers and amateurs.  If you would like to gain more information about Pat and his teachings visit Pat O'Brien Golf.

Lastly, Pat and the SeeMore staff would like to thank Ron Schmid and his staff for the great efforts in putting everything together at the Carolina Section meeting.

Below are some pictures along with video coverage from Pat's seminar:

  

 

Pat O'Brien - A Simple Drill

 by Pat O'Brien

This drill is one of Zach's favorites.  Place a shaft 18 inches behind the hole and start with 3 balls 5 feet away from the hole.  The goal is obviously to make the putt; however your secondary objective is to get the ball to the hole but not touch the shaft.  When you achieve this with all three balls, move out to 10 feet. 

If you come up short on any of the three, or hit the shaft, you have to go back to the previous distance.  After you are successful at 10 feet, move out to 15.  You can go in any increments you want.  When Dr. Mo and I want to really challenge Zach, we go 10, 20 and 30 feet.  Mo has found that this really sharpens Zach's focus and makes his practice productive.  He really dials in his speed while tapping into his competitive nature.  Try it!

 

 

Breaking the "Rules" of Putting - www.putterzone.com

 

by Sean Weir - PutterZone.com

Much is made these days about the concept of putter fitting, in which the length, loft, lie and weight of a putter are carefully matched to your personal physique and mechanics.

But before you get fit for a putter, you may want to consider the putting philosophy of the person doing the fitting. For example, some putting instructors advocate that you get your eyes directly over the ball, while others suggest that your eyes should be inside the target line.

So what one person considers a good “fit” for a more upright setup will be different from a good “fit” according to someone who advocates a more bent-over, eyes-over-the-ball setup. Indeed, the former requires a longer putter, while the latter requires a shorter putter.

So the putting theory changes the fit—an interesting topic, and one that’s not discussed enough.  

On that note, we reached out to leading putting instructor Pat O’Brien to talk about his own approach to putting, and specifically some of the old putting “rules” that may be on their way to becoming exceptions.

We’ll start with the notion that your eyes should be directly “over the ball” and thus right over the target line, a bedrock of traditional putting instruction. Here’s what Pat has to say on the subject:

“There’s been a paradigm shift in the last 20 years or so. Greens are now more manicured and faster. Back in the day, greens were slower and more grainy, so the style was more of a wrist stroke, or pop stroke. Go back and look at old footage from the ‘60s and even ‘70s, and guys were more bent over, and they popped it, and the ball wouldn’t go too far past the hole because the greens were slower.

Well, the easiest way to get yourself in a position to make that stroke is to get your eyes over the ball, because then your hands and arms are trapped underneath your chest, so you can’t swing your shoulders very freely, and it’s more of a small-muscle stroke.

But if you look at the best putters of the past 20 years, and the guys that come to mind would be Greg Norman, Brad Faxon, Tiger Woods, Zach Johnson, these are guys that stand up to the ball. They have good posture, they are very athletic. And I would venture to say that their eyes are anywhere from the heel of the putter to an inch or two inside of that.

CLICK HERE to continue with Story

Technical Questions about SeeMore Putters - Loft, Lie, Arc Stroke, Pendulum Stroke

Very quickly the SeeMore Putter has become the choice when golfers are looking to improve their putting stroke.  Each day more and more are contacting us about questions on the putter.  Golfers wanting to improve their putting google us on the internet and learn very quickly why SeeMore helps in all areas of the putting stroke - alignment, set-up, posture and grip.  Learning this simple system leads to confidence when using the putter - which leads to lower putting strokes per round - which leads to lower scores.

Below are some technical answers that we have been asked from golfers on The Hackers Paradise, Golfwrx.com, PutterZone.com, MyGolfSpy, Twitter, FaceBook and may other golf blogs.  If you have any other questions please feel free to contact us at info@seemore.com.  We will be happy to help. 

Our putters are around 2.5-3.5 degrees of loft, which is the angle of the face when striking the ball.  These lofts will make sure you put optimal roll on the ball when you have your hands in the right place as mandated by the SeeMore putter (hide the red dot!).  

On the lie angle, that is a different angle, that of the shaft to the head...and 70 degrees is usually a perfect lie angle to start with which is our standard.  

On which types of putters for different strokes, in reality the arc and the pendulum go hand in hand, the arc meaning that the putter head goes slightly open and to the inside on take away, comes through square and impact, and releases slightly closed and to the inside of the line after impact.  This is the natural arc.  

The pendulum refers to the tempo of the putt, meaning on short putts the putter head travels back and through at the same pace and the same short distance back and then through..a one...two tempo...but on longer putts the putter travels back further along the arc, then travels further past the ball on impact...always staying on the arc..so the putter head is always square to the arc.  All of our putters are ideal for this type of stroke, it is personal preference, but we would say blades tend to work best.  

The other type of stroke golfers refer to is the straight back and straight through...which we believe and most believe is simply not possible to achieve...without significant wrist action as one would need to close or hood the putter on take away, and would need to slice open the putter as the stroke moves through..because turning on an arc so to try to keep the putter square to square involves this type of complicate manipulation...so one might think you are putting this way but it will be a struggle for sure. After reviewing many, many putting strokes the above explanation is our meaning of each type of stroke. 

  

We encourage you to do some research on Pat O'Brien, who instructs many tour players..at PatOBrienGolf.com, or you can link to him through SeeMore.com.  Your putting will improve, and you will understand all of the great benefits of SeeMore.  Call us at the office and we can get a putter custom built for you that will greatly improve your putting.

 

Lastly, this past Sunday was the 10 year anniversary of the passing of Payne Stewart.  Here is a great link that we would like to share with you - Remembering Payne Stewart 10 Years Later.  Do you remember where you were when you heard the news??

Congrats to Skip Berkmeyer - www.patobriengolf.com

Below is a post from www.patobriengolf.com

Allow me to brag a little on one of my students who has had a remarkable year.  Skip Berkmeyer of St. Louis, MO, won the Missouri State Amateur and the prestigious Crump Cup at Pine Valley this summer.  In the State Am, Skip made an 8 foot birdie putt on the 36th hole to extend the match, and then birdied the two playoff holes to finally win.  In the Crump Cup, Skip birdied the 18th hole in front of about 500 people to win 1up.  He is obviously not afraid of pressure!

Skip also won The William McMahon Award at this year's Porter Cup, another prestigious amateur event.  This award goes to an individual who shows a true passion and commitment to amateur golf.  Well deserved, Skip!

Click HERE to Continue with Story 

Skip is our sales representative in St. Louis, MO.

Pat O'Brien - Golf Better @ Edwin Watts (podcast)

GolfBetter host Tom Brassell and Edwin Watts Golf technical specialist, Kenny Nicholson talk with Pat O'Brien, putting instructor to Zach Johnson and others and SeeMore ambassador, at the Southlake, TX Edwin Watts store.

CLICK TO LISTEN TO INTERVIEW

Keys to a Solid Putting Routine - www.texaslinksmagazine.com - by Pat O'Brien

Below is an excerpt from Pat O'Brien's article talking about Keys to a Solid Putting Routine.  Very good reading. 

by Pat O'Brien

September issue of Texas Links Magazine

In the July issue, I wrote about how to use the design of the putter effectively to free up your stroke (see here) . It requires a neutral, balanced setup, where fundamentals matter.

In the coming months, I will discuss grip, alignment and ball position of a proper setup.  While not imperative to have perfect fundamentals, they allow you to return the putter to square more easily.

When you are able to return to the putter to square without thought, you can fully take advantage of a solid pre-putt routine.  The routine is highly individual.  I would merely like to make some suggestions as to what it is should include.

Back in 2004 at The Byron Nelson, Zach Johnson and I developed the routine he still uses today.  It is very gratifying to see it work under the most intense pressure situations.  I am just as proud of helping him create this as I am helping him develop a stroke that repeats time and again.

Click Here to learn more about Pat's and Zach's Putting Routine

FREE Putting Clinic from Pat O'Brien - New York City - 9/3

Pat O'Brien Putting Clinic

Pat O'Brien will be in New York City this coming Thursday - September 3rd from 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm at the New York Golf Center - Manhattan (directions)

Learn how to putt like a MAJOR Champion

Thursday - September 3rd - 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm

New York Golf Center (Manhattan)

131 W. 35th Street

(between Broadway & 7th Ave.)

New York, NY 10001

212-564-2255

Johnson fires 4-under 67 during Rd.3 of the 2009 Barclays - www.pgatour.com

courtesy of www.pgatour.com

Zach Johnson shot a 4-under par 67 in the third round of the 2009 Barclays. Following play, Johnson spoke with Larry Rinker from the PGA TOUR Network on SIRIUS XM Radio.

 

Proper Posture is Key to Simplify Putting - by Pat O'Brien - www.texaslinksmagazine.com

Below is a excerpt of an article that Pat O'Brien did for the Texas Links Magazine.  Give us your thoughts and feedback.

If you're struggling with your putting, perhaps understanding the design of the putter will help to free your stroke.  A putter is essentially a weight on a stick, and the shaft goes into the head at an angle less than 90 degrees, usually around 70 degrees.

The balance point of the putter is about 6 inches from the head.  If you held the putter lightly in your fingers, when you let it swing, you would see that the head travels on a natural arc and it comes up out of the ground.  It also returns to square at impact with no effort.  That is what it is designed to do.

If you are not allowing this to happen, you are putting forth too much effort into your stroke.  The putter isn't designed to go straight back and straight through, or square to square.

To quote instructor Jim Hardy, "If we played pool or shuffleboard, where we stood on the target line, straight back and straight through works, but we stand to the side of the ball, so there has to be an arc." 

Also, if you're trying to keep the putter low on the backswing, you are moving the bottom of the swing behind the ball.  This would cause you to use your trailing arm to accelerate the putter to get it back to the ball.  Speed is hard to judge when you have forced acceleration.  The putter is designed to swing with a rhythm that resembles a pendulum.  It's designed to swing up on the backswing and then fall down on the way through.  It's not designed to swing low going back, and then forcefully finish high on the follow through.

When people come to me for help, I look to their set up for clues as to why the putter isn't swinging freely.  If you are having challenges, here are a few things to look for:

Read rest of article here : Download TexasLinks_ProperPosture

Read more about Pat and his teachings at Pat O'Brien Golf and purchase the Pat O'Brien On Putting DVD.