Rinker’s Golf Tips August 24th Guest David Orr. David Orr is Justin Rose’s putting coach and has worked with over 50 tour players. David said that everyone he works with has a different stroke and strategies. 3D research measures what people actually do. Everybody moves the putter differently and nobody is doing it exactly the same. The engineering model does not work for humans. Engineering world says you don’t use your hands and wrists and just rock your shoulders. 3D proves everyone has some degree of wrists and everybody has arm motion. Very few people move the putter with their shoulders. People need to learn how to refine what they do naturally and intuitively. It’s not a pendulum and not a perfect triangle. The body is going to follow the path of least resistance. If you are moving the putter another way than you do instinctively, you have a conflict between what you want to do and what you are set up to do. David Orr calls himself “an Italian suit maker” because he customizes what he does based on how each player moves the putter intuitively and instinctively.
Getting the right size of grip is important. The grip shape and size will determine how someone holds the shaft angle in their hands. A loose grip is the worst thing you can do. Hit putts where you don’t feel the grip pressure changing in your finger tips. With finger pressure constant, people will “feel” the wrists are gone, but they are still there. On tour they have a stat called putts gained per round. Make an eight footer and gain a half of a stroke. Miss an eight footer and lose a half of a stroke. The distance that separates the pros is five feet and the make percentage there. Want to have the launch angle of your putts 1-3 degrees. Never forward press more than the design of the putter.
Lastly putting begins and ends with the player’s state of mind that he is in. Flow state of mind is optimal, where the player is immersed into the experience of the task, and not worried about the stroke or aim. Biggest issue is fear. How many putts can you hit without any fear of the consequences? Have to divide mental and emotional. If you are overcome with emotions you can’t think clearly. David Orr can be reached at www.davidorrgolf.com.