DXP Tech
advanced golf putting training aids
Pendulum Putting
Pendulum Putting Stroke:
Ever heard the term "pendulum putting stroke"?
Golf commentators and instructors use the term all of the time but can they explain exactly what it is?
A pendulum keeps the same time regardless of its swing path length. A 1-meter string attached to a bob on one end and a fixed pivot point on the other end will swing back and forth in 2 seconds (1 second out and 1 second back). If you pull the bob back 1 foot, 2 feet, or just 1 inch and let go, the bob will take 2 seconds to swing back and forth.
When applied to putting, the theory is that you should swing your putter back and forth with the same timing for ALL putts based on your personal tempo. In other words, you vary your backswing length while keeping your timing constant. Let's say your putting stroke "swing" time, (from downswing to finish), takes .75 seconds. Your backswing should also take .75 seconds. (Note: Tempo varies from person to person. A putting stroke that takes .75 seconds, as in this example, would have a tempo of 80 beats per minute).
The key point in this example is: If you take your putter back 6 inches for a short putt or 2 feet for a long putt, your putting stroke should ALWAYS take X seconds for the backswing and X seconds for the downswing.
(some golfers keep their backswing length constant while varying their timing which results in inconsistent distance control and "pop" strokes.)
As described by Dave Pelz, to practice "pendulum" putting stroke timing, set a metronome to a "beats per minute" setting that you are comfortable with somewhere from 70 to 95 bpm (from Dave Pelz's Putting Bible"). Place a pillow at each end of the putting stroke. At the "tick", hit the back pillow and on the "tock", hit the follow-through pillow. For a shorter stroke, move the pillows closer together. Keep the same time. This is the classic "touch-touch" or "pendulum pillow drill" to feel your pendulum tempo. Adjust the tempo up 5 bpm until you arrive at a comfortable rate.
Now hit real putts. While listening to the metronome "tick-tock", putt balls on the green. How do you use the "tick-tock" for putting cues? Surprisingly, there are very few sources that go into any detail on exactly HOW to use a Metronome for actual putts.
Some instructors say the "tick" starts the takeaway, a subsequent "tock" is at the top of the backswing and the next "tick" is at the finish. After trying this approach for a few putts however, you will find yourself "striking the ball on the final "tick" instead of striking the ball in between the downswing "tock" and the finish "tick". With this approach, there is no audio cue for impact.
A better approach that is taught by a few Golf Instructors is one in which the start of the takeaway is the "tick" and impact is the "tock". This approach will focus your timing on the takeaway and the ball strike. But where is the audio cue for the top of the backswing? It's between the "tick" and the "tock". But where?
Let's say you set the metronome to 60 bpm. That's one second between each tick. The 1 second period covers the time from takeaway to the top of the backswing INCLUDING the downswing to impact. If the 1 second time is allocated in equal parts to the backswing and downswing to impact (as many people may think is the case), (1/2 second backswing, 1/2 second downswing to impact) the equivalent backswing tempo would be 120 bpm while the equivalent downswing tempo would be 60 bpm!
For a pendulum putting stroke, the backswing tempo should be the same as the downswing tempo. (Downswing tempo defined as the time from the top of the backswing through impact to the finish at follow-through). If we allocate .67 seconds to the backswing and .33 seconds to the downswing to impact, the equivalent tempo for the backswing and downswing would both be 90 bpm, which makes more sense. Why? Because the backswing takes .67 seconds and the full downswing to finish takes .67 seconds. That's one "stroke" or cycle per .67 seconds or 1/.67sec = 1.5 cycles per second or 1.5 * 60 = 90 cycles or "beats" per minute.
But what about the metronome setting of 60 bpm? How is 60 bpm the same as 90 bpm? Confused? It is easy to be confused using metronomes. Without an audio cue at the top of the backswing, you could get any number of permutations for backswing/downswing to impact time allocation. And most of them would be wrong.
So, if you set the metronome to 90bpm for the "pendulum pillow drill", you should set the metronome down to 60 bpm for putts. If you set the metronome to 90bpm for both, you would in effect be performing the "Pillow Drill" at 90 bpm to "find" your tempo, then using 135 bpm for actual putts!
Common Tips Related to Putting
Two of the most common putting stroke tempo-related tips are shown below. These are often repeated by Commentators, Instructors, and possibly, your golfing partners.
1. "Accelerate the putter through impact"
Comments: "Accelerate" is a technical sounding word that is often mis-used when applied to putting. What is really meant by this saying is to not slow down the putter prior to impact. All that needs to be said is simply: "strike the ball with constant speed", but in order to go one step further and really emphasize the importance of not slowing down, the term "accelerate" is used. Acceleration is the rate of change of the velocity with respect to time. A positive acceleration means that the velocity is increasing with time. Velocity is a vector comprised of a direction and a magnitude (speed). In a Pendulum Putting Stroke, the peak speed occurs at the bottom of the stroke just prior to impact. The acceleration of the putter at this point is ZERO. As shown above in the graph, the acceleration at the point of impact is flat (zero slope) meaning that the velocity is constant (not changing with time). Upon impact with the ball, (due to conservation of momentum), the putter speed drops, then coasts to a stop at the end of the followthrough. To try to "accelerate through impact" would be to increase the speed of the putter with time before and after impact. Since impact would occur as the putter is increasing its speed with time, a small variation in impact time (a little early or a little late) will yield significant variations in impact speed and thus ball roll distance. A slight variation in impact time with a Pendulum Putting Stroke will provide less variation in impact speed since the slope of the line near impact is flat (near constant velocity). A better tip would be: "constant peak velocity through impact" or "zero acceleration at impact" but these don't sound as catchy as "accelerate through impact".
2. " The followthrough should be twice as long as the backswing"
Comments: This means that the length of the stroke from impact to the followthrough should be twice the length of the top of the backswing to impact. In a Pendulum Putting Stroke, the backswing length is EQUAL to the followthrough length. Each side mirrors the other. This "twice as long followthrough" saying is usually mentioned along with the "accelerate through impact" tip. A short backswing with a long followthrough indicates that the putter is speeding up prior to and after impact. However, at impact, (due to physics) the putter WILL instantaneously slow down. In order to try to "accelerate" and create a followthough twice the backswing length, the golfer artificially and un-naturally speeds the putter up after impact to achieve the goal of the tip. Analysis of Tiger Woods' putting stroke reveals the following:
1. Tiger's followthrough length is EQUAL to his backswing length.
2. His backswing time is EQUAL to twice his downswing to impact time.
3. Tiger's backswing time is EQUAL to his downswing to followthrough time (symmetrical pendulum putting stroke: the backswing time always matches the downswing to finish time)
4. Tiger's peak putter speed occurs at the bottom of his stroke just like a pendulum.
Examples of Perfect Pendulum Putting Strokes
Video Animation of a perfect 90 bpm "Pillow Drill" shown below:
Next time you play, execute 2 or 3 of these (at your personal tempo) while looking at the hole to get a feel for the stroke prior to putting your ball. Build this into your pre-putt routine.
DXP Tech has studied the Pendulum Putting Stroke extensively. The result of this study is the "Pendulum Putting TempoStik TM". The TempoStikTM shows you in detail, the proper time-position dynamics that will result in a perfectly timed pendulum putting stroke.
Ever heard the term "pendulum putting stroke"?
Golf commentators and instructors use the term all of the time but can they explain exactly what it is?
A pendulum keeps the same time regardless of its swing path length. A 1-meter string attached to a bob on one end and a fixed pivot point on the other end will swing back and forth in 2 seconds (1 second out and 1 second back). If you pull the bob back 1 foot, 2 feet, or just 1 inch and let go, the bob will take 2 seconds to swing back and forth.
When applied to putting, the theory is that you should swing your putter back and forth with the same timing for ALL putts based on your personal tempo. In other words, you vary your backswing length while keeping your timing constant. Let's say your putting stroke "swing" time, (from downswing to finish), takes .75 seconds. Your backswing should also take .75 seconds. (Note: Tempo varies from person to person. A putting stroke that takes .75 seconds, as in this example, would have a tempo of 80 beats per minute).
The key point in this example is: If you take your putter back 6 inches for a short putt or 2 feet for a long putt, your putting stroke should ALWAYS take X seconds for the backswing and X seconds for the downswing.
(some golfers keep their backswing length constant while varying their timing which results in inconsistent distance control and "pop" strokes.)
As described by Dave Pelz, to practice "pendulum" putting stroke timing, set a metronome to a "beats per minute" setting that you are comfortable with somewhere from 70 to 95 bpm (from Dave Pelz's Putting Bible"). Place a pillow at each end of the putting stroke. At the "tick", hit the back pillow and on the "tock", hit the follow-through pillow. For a shorter stroke, move the pillows closer together. Keep the same time. This is the classic "touch-touch" or "pendulum pillow drill" to feel your pendulum tempo. Adjust the tempo up 5 bpm until you arrive at a comfortable rate.
Now hit real putts. While listening to the metronome "tick-tock", putt balls on the green. How do you use the "tick-tock" for putting cues? Surprisingly, there are very few sources that go into any detail on exactly HOW to use a Metronome for actual putts.
Some instructors say the "tick" starts the takeaway, a subsequent "tock" is at the top of the backswing and the next "tick" is at the finish. After trying this approach for a few putts however, you will find yourself "striking the ball on the final "tick" instead of striking the ball in between the downswing "tock" and the finish "tick". With this approach, there is no audio cue for impact.
A better approach that is taught by a few Golf Instructors is one in which the start of the takeaway is the "tick" and impact is the "tock". This approach will focus your timing on the takeaway and the ball strike. But where is the audio cue for the top of the backswing? It's between the "tick" and the "tock". But where?
Let's say you set the metronome to 60 bpm. That's one second between each tick. The 1 second period covers the time from takeaway to the top of the backswing INCLUDING the downswing to impact. If the 1 second time is allocated in equal parts to the backswing and downswing to impact (as many people may think is the case), (1/2 second backswing, 1/2 second downswing to impact) the equivalent backswing tempo would be 120 bpm while the equivalent downswing tempo would be 60 bpm!
For a pendulum putting stroke, the backswing tempo should be the same as the downswing tempo. (Downswing tempo defined as the time from the top of the backswing through impact to the finish at follow-through). If we allocate .67 seconds to the backswing and .33 seconds to the downswing to impact, the equivalent tempo for the backswing and downswing would both be 90 bpm, which makes more sense. Why? Because the backswing takes .67 seconds and the full downswing to finish takes .67 seconds. That's one "stroke" or cycle per .67 seconds or 1/.67sec = 1.5 cycles per second or 1.5 * 60 = 90 cycles or "beats" per minute.
But what about the metronome setting of 60 bpm? How is 60 bpm the same as 90 bpm? Confused? It is easy to be confused using metronomes. Without an audio cue at the top of the backswing, you could get any number of permutations for backswing/downswing to impact time allocation. And most of them would be wrong.
So, if you set the metronome to 90bpm for the "pendulum pillow drill", you should set the metronome down to 60 bpm for putts. If you set the metronome to 90bpm for both, you would in effect be performing the "Pillow Drill" at 90 bpm to "find" your tempo, then using 135 bpm for actual putts!
Common Tips Related to Putting
Two of the most common putting stroke tempo-related tips are shown below. These are often repeated by Commentators, Instructors, and possibly, your golfing partners.
1. "Accelerate the putter through impact"
Comments: "Accelerate" is a technical sounding word that is often mis-used when applied to putting. What is really meant by this saying is to not slow down the putter prior to impact. All that needs to be said is simply: "strike the ball with constant speed", but in order to go one step further and really emphasize the importance of not slowing down, the term "accelerate" is used. Acceleration is the rate of change of the velocity with respect to time. A positive acceleration means that the velocity is increasing with time. Velocity is a vector comprised of a direction and a magnitude (speed). In a Pendulum Putting Stroke, the peak speed occurs at the bottom of the stroke just prior to impact. The acceleration of the putter at this point is ZERO. As shown above in the graph, the acceleration at the point of impact is flat (zero slope) meaning that the velocity is constant (not changing with time). Upon impact with the ball, (due to conservation of momentum), the putter speed drops, then coasts to a stop at the end of the followthrough. To try to "accelerate through impact" would be to increase the speed of the putter with time before and after impact. Since impact would occur as the putter is increasing its speed with time, a small variation in impact time (a little early or a little late) will yield significant variations in impact speed and thus ball roll distance. A slight variation in impact time with a Pendulum Putting Stroke will provide less variation in impact speed since the slope of the line near impact is flat (near constant velocity). A better tip would be: "constant peak velocity through impact" or "zero acceleration at impact" but these don't sound as catchy as "accelerate through impact".
2. " The followthrough should be twice as long as the backswing"
Comments: This means that the length of the stroke from impact to the followthrough should be twice the length of the top of the backswing to impact. In a Pendulum Putting Stroke, the backswing length is EQUAL to the followthrough length. Each side mirrors the other. This "twice as long followthrough" saying is usually mentioned along with the "accelerate through impact" tip. A short backswing with a long followthrough indicates that the putter is speeding up prior to and after impact. However, at impact, (due to physics) the putter WILL instantaneously slow down. In order to try to "accelerate" and create a followthough twice the backswing length, the golfer artificially and un-naturally speeds the putter up after impact to achieve the goal of the tip. Analysis of Tiger Woods' putting stroke reveals the following:
1. Tiger's followthrough length is EQUAL to his backswing length.
2. His backswing time is EQUAL to twice his downswing to impact time.
3. Tiger's backswing time is EQUAL to his downswing to followthrough time (symmetrical pendulum putting stroke: the backswing time always matches the downswing to finish time)
4. Tiger's peak putter speed occurs at the bottom of his stroke just like a pendulum.
Examples of Perfect Pendulum Putting Strokes
Video Animation of a perfect 90 bpm "Pillow Drill" shown below:
Next time you play, execute 2 or 3 of these (at your personal tempo) while looking at the hole to get a feel for the stroke prior to putting your ball. Build this into your pre-putt routine.
DXP Tech has studied the Pendulum Putting Stroke extensively. The result of this study is the "Pendulum Putting TempoStik TM". The TempoStikTM shows you in detail, the proper time-position dynamics that will result in a perfectly timed pendulum putting stroke.
