The Weird New Putting Technique That's Driving the Golf World Nuts
16 comments
·February 21, 2025rossta
jfengel
I would have expected the physics of golf to be subordinate to technique. A great many golfers seem to understand the basics of how hard to hit the ball and in which direction. The hard part is controlling a weight on the end of a lever arm, using your own double pendulum of forearm and upper arm. All with a few dozen muscles that pull in a variety of directions (but only one each, and no push at all.) It's remarkable that we can do it at all.
I wonder if any current humanoid robots could do it. They have much better control.
hooli_gan
I don't golf and I also don't watch golf, but banning of Aimpoint doesn't seem to make any sense. It isn't any crazy technology, which gives a player an unfair advantage. It's just feeling the green and holding a hand up.
jonfw
The number one reason to ban it is that golf is a spectator sport and nobody likes watching aimpoint. It is also slow, and poor pace of play can make golf less fun to watch as well.
Pro Golf is under some pressure to become more exciting to watch and faster paced. PGA Tour isn’t the only game in town- there is LIV, TGL, and YouTube golf competing.
I think we are going to see some measures in pro golf taken purely for the sake of the viewer. The pitch clock in baseball was a successful move with similar motivation
jfengel
How much can aimpoint improve sub-pro level golfers? If it's just a little there's a risk that the pro stuff may seem dull, just people playing under even more arbitrary constraints than you do.
But if they're still leaps and bounds ahead it can still be fun watching people of a skill you understand enough to be amazed.
baruchthescribe
I'm a 20 handicap who bought AimPoint five or six years ago and it improved my green reading immensely. And I certainly do not waste playing partner's time on the green. It's just a quick feel, stick up the fingers and then putt.
nemo44x
The biggest issue with pro golf is how it’s produced. As for slow play that’s not AimPoint specific. You can play at a reasonable pace and use it. The Tour just needs to enforce pace.
onemoresoop
jackstraw14
Would also add this one from the Golf Channel I enjoyed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3hIgWGpG6U
As a long former golfer, current software dev it's pretty fun to watch these videos.
jfengel
Would this help with miniature golf, for those courses with interesting terrain rather than obstacles? That could be fun.
blinding-streak
Golf on HN! A rare day indeed. Fun to see.
nemo44x
There’s been a lot of innovation in putting technique (like AimPoint, plumb bob) and in putters with the latest trend being face balance + lie angle balanced putters. 40+ years ago most putters were essentially the same with some degree of “toe hang”. Toe hang is how many degrees down the toe of the putter point when you balance the putter on the shaft. 90° is the max and very old school - for decades this was the only option. Face balanced means there’s 0° and are very popular today.
However through all this innovation and advancements in technique, putting related outcomes have not improved. Players today are just as bad at putting as players 40 years ago, etc.
Putting is really hard and the best players on earth are only 50% from 8’ and it falls rapidly every foot thereafter. It’s a skill a dedicated amateur can get to a pro level reliably.
Avicebron
I've played golf for years, I think being "good" at golf is like 1/3 of why I like golf. Genuinely complaining (outside of a professional context) about someone trying a wonky reference plane technique is likely to get you uninvited next time..
nemo44x
I’m not complaining, I use AimPoint Express at times. And I think AimPoint is a great way to learn feel on the greens.
Just pointing out that on average putting innovations have had no real beneficial outcome on players performance. Saying that individuals have probably saw benefits.
The article is about a _green reading_ technique called Aim Point rather than the putting stroke itself. In the title, "putting technique" might be interpreted as "putting stroke" and I would consider green reading and putting technique separate albeit very closely linked skills.
Aim Point is the brainchild of a software developer. It reminds me golf as a game is deserving of more attention on HN. Technology has changed the way the game is played and consumed significantly in recent years. Here are just a few examples:
- Most courses all over the world are mapped and available in a variety of GPS devices, including smart phones and watches allowing players to determine distances to the green (and intermediate obstacles) on every shot
- Sensors can be attached to clubs that, when paired with GPS, allow software to help the average player track with precision how far they hit each club
- Tracking shots over the years has yields millions of data points which now inform ideal course management strategy
- Launch monitors can measure the ball at impact to provide near instant readings and predictions of ball flight like distance, ball speed, club head speed, club path, angle of attack, spin rate
- "Shot tracing" technologies have emerged that provide video of a golf shot with an overlay of the ball flight (which I find make the game more enjoyable to watch)
- Design and production of clubs and golf balls themselves have undergone massive amounts of research and analysis—some manufacturers now claim AI driven design—to produce longer, straighter shots
At its core, golf is a physics problem. Player swings a device, imparts a force on an object, and observes the result. It lends itself very well to empirical analysis. And yet, despite this simplicity and all the technological weight thrown at the game, average players scores have failed to improve. There is still an art to the game that can’t be mastered with technology alone.
Beautiful game.