Thursday, April 2, 2009

Pat O'Brien On Putting DVD Review


I had definitely heard about the SeeMore Putters, especially after Zach Johnson's 2007 Masters victory (when I was still in 'retirement' from the game), but did not know a lot about them. I had taken a few strokes with them, but saw them as nothing special and didn't like the $325 price tag associated with some of the line of putters.

Eventually, I came across the SeeMore putter again and noticed the 'red dot' on the putter head and sort of put two and two together and figured out that you're supposed to 'hide the red dot' with the putter shaft.

From there, I went to the Web site (http://www.seemore.com/) and got to read about the technology as well as the specifications. I also prefer putters with a loft in the 2-3 degree range and the SeeMore putters have a 3 degree loft.
After looking at the Web site, I came across Pat O'Brien's putting DVD. I had heard about O'Brien being a putting guru and the putting teacher of Zach Johnson and Vaughn Taylor, but that's about the extent that I new of him. So I purchased the DVD.

The DVD is $20, but an extra $10 for shipping. The cool thing is that I ordered it on Tuesday afternoon and got it Thursday afternoon. Still, it's a bit pricey in these tough economic times. They would probably be better suited to come up with an online video option so it would cost less, something like David Orr does (most of his videos are $12.95) or Brian Manzella's online video (most of his videos cost $9.99).

Here's a look at a chapter overview of O'Brien's DVD:

Chapter 1: Introduction (preview available here), about 1 minute

Chapter 2: Basic Philosophy behind Pat's teaching theory and his preference for the arc putting stroke (preview free here), about 1 minute

Chapter 3: The Grip: Forearms/Arm Angle/Hands/Fingers/Feel (this begins the heart of the teaching), about 6 minutes

Chapter 4: Posture: Stance/Eye Position/Body Position/Set Up/Proper Fit, about 9 minutes

Chapter 5: Alignment: No Tilt/Level Spine/Level Eyes/Target Line/Benefits of SeeMore System/Payne Stewart story, about 9 minutes

Chapter 6: The Putting Stroke: Pre-Shot Routine/Mental Preparation / Path/Arc/Making the Putt, about 7 minutes

Chapter 7: Review, about 2 minutes

Ask Pat: Pat answers a series of frequently asked questions on a variety of topics.
What drew me to buying the DVD is that I really do not know a lot about the setup and address position of putting. Despite being a good putter, most of my knowledge of putting stemmed from understanding ball position, having the 'eyes over the ball', etc. But even still, I didn't know if my knowledge was correct or faulty and I had the feeling it was the latter. Here's a preview of O'Brien's DVD:



I really liked this video and think it's a great DVD for most golfers. Great for the beginner/novice/high handicapper to get them the very basics of the stroke and the address position. And up to the low handicapper (even the tour pro) to get a better understanding of the the posture and alignments in order to improve their alignment and stroke.

Now, I have talked about how Green Reading and Touch/Speed skills are more important than putting stroke mechanics (IMO) http://3jack.blogspot.com/2009/03/difference-in-putting-pros-vs-amateurs.html.

However, I've never said that putting stroke mechanics are not important....particularly aiming skills. I just think that many golfers have pretty darn good putting strokes and such weak green reading and speed/touch skills that they need to concentrate more on the latter.

O'Brien's instruction is fairly smooth, although I've seen better. But, it's pretty quick, very easy to understand and a lot of the questions I've had about the putting stroke and setup are addressed here. It is also very SeeMore Putter centric, trying to revolve much of the instruction around the SeeMore putter which may not be beneficial to some viewers. Lastly, O'Brien tries to build a 'system' to properly set up to the ball which may or may not work with viewers.

I'll have to try it out, but I like what I see so far and I recommend it because it seems simple enough to understand, makes a lot of sense and I think could clear up a lot of the fog involving the actual mechanics of the stroke.

The DVD can be found at http://www.patobriengolf.com/blog/dvd.html




3JACK

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