Putting Assessment — The Strength Caddie
Putting Evaluation
← Guide
Putting Assessment
Log each putt with the buttons. Totals and tendencies fill in automatically. Tap any drill for instructions.
01
Start Line
📋 4 tees · Putter · Flat green
Setup
  1. Dead-straight 6-foot putt on a level section.
  2. Putter gate: one tee each side of the putter head, half-inch clearance, at the ball.
  3. Ball gate: about 12 inches out along the line, two tees just wider than a ball. (Kenyon's Visio gates sit 8–14 inches out.)
  4. Confirm both gates on the same straight line.
Logging
  1. Clean: both gates cleared.
  2. Miss R / Miss L: ball missed the ball gate that direction (face/aim).
  3. Path: putter gate clipped (stroke path).
Rare to have both path and face dominant at once. The separation is the point.
📋 4 tees · Breaking putt, 3–4in of movement
Setup
  1. Read the putt. Identify your start line.
  2. Putter gate at the ball.
  3. Ball gate about 12 inches down your start line — not toward the hole.
Logging
  1. Clean: ball gate cleared (aim matched read).
  2. Miss R / Miss L: missed the ball gate that side.
  3. Path: putter gate clipped.
Clearing the ball gate but missing the hole = read problem, not stroke.
Primary Miss DirectionAuto-filled from gate reps
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Root CauseAuto-filled from gate reps
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📋 Smartphone slow-mo (240fps preferred)
Setup & Execution
  1. Phone face-on — between you and target, wrist height, looking at your lead wrist.
  2. Film 5–10 strokes. Pause at contact.
  3. Flat: neutral. Cupped: opens face (right miss). Bowed: closes face (left miss).
Face-on is the only angle that shows wrist flexion at impact.
Wrist at ImpactFrom face-on video
02
Speed Control
📋 4 tees · Straight 6ft putt
Setup
  1. Straight 6-foot putt.
  2. Two tees 18 inches past the hole — the zone.
  3. Ball must pass the hole and stop before the rear tee.
Logging
  1. In Zone: passed hole, stopped in the zone.
  2. Short: didn't reach. Long: past the tees.
Below 12 and short-range speed is priority one.
📋 A hole and your putter
Logging
  • Inside 1ft = 3 · 1–2ft = 2 · 2–3ft = 1 · Outside 3ft = 0
  • 10 putts. Total out of 30. 24+ is the target.
Rewards leaving tap-ins, not making the putt — Fawcett's ShotLink logic from 20+ feet.
📋 Tees to mark a 3-foot circle
Logging
  1. Mark a 3-foot circle. Pure feel — 10 putts from 40ft.
  2. In Circle, or Short / Long.
Most golfers run short here. Leaving it 5–6ft short is the three-putt pattern.
📋 Any coin · Putter
Logging
  1. Balance a coin on the back face of the putter.
  2. Launch it during the backstroke. Moved = correct energy, Still = misplaced.
  3. 10 reps.
Peak energy belongs at the end of the backstroke, not through the ball.
Tempo RatioGoal ~2.0 (backstroke : downswing)
: 1
Speed Miss PatternAuto-filled from stop zone + lag reps
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03
Green Reading
📋 Clinometer (free, App Store)
Execution
  1. Find a flat section, verify with Clinometer.
  2. Pick a spot 10ft away. Predict the drift if you miss.
  3. 10 putts at normal pace. Do they finish where you predicted?
Most right-handed golfers carry a slight rightward bias. Knowing it lets you compensate.
Visual Bias CheckFlat 10ft, predict the drift
📋 1 tee · 10ft putt, 3–4in break
Setup & Logging
  1. Full read. Place a tee at your aim point, 1–2ft in front of the ball.
  2. On Line: ball started within a ball-width of the tee.
  3. Miss L / Miss R: started off that side.
  4. 20 putts.
Scoring 14+/20 but still missing = read is off, not stroke.
📋 Clinometer (free, App Store)
Execution
  1. 5 areas, varying slopes. Eyes closed, rate each 1–5.
  2. Check with Clinometer. Average the difference across all 5.
Left and right foot reading differently = a proprioceptive asymmetry worth screening.
Foot Slope Sensitivity0–0.5 Strong · 0.5–1.5 Developing · >1.5 Priority
avg off
📋 1 tee · Tape measure · 15ft breaking putt
Execution
  1. Full read. Tee at your aim point.
  2. 10 putts, watch the curve to find the true apex.
  3. Measure tee to apex. Under 2in calibrated, 2–4in refine, over 4in learn a system.
The apex on a 15-footer sits 12–18 inches outside the hole. Most golfers aim too close to the hole.
Aim Point Accuracy0–2in Strong · 2–4in Developing · >4in Priority
in off
📋 No equipment
Scale & Logging
  • 1–3 second-guessing · 4–6 partial · 7–8 committed · 9–10 fully trusting
  • Rate the instant before you pull the trigger. Tap it. 20 putts, averaged.
Below 6 average is a performance limiter. Fix routine clarity first.
Primary GapAuto-filled from commitment + measurements
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Benchmarks are SC working targets for clinical practice, not validated population norms.