The Wayback Machine - https://web.archive.org/all/20040606064904/http://puttingzone.com:80/
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©
2004 Geoff Mangum
Over
545,000 visits thru 2003!
Learn what you don't know.
or
at least bookmark the PZ...
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Coming
to Ireland! I'll be in Ireland May 31 thru June 10. If you or
your club has interest in a putting presentation, just contact
me. Email.
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Golf's
most advanced & comprehensive putting instruction.
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Supporting the PZ
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The Future of Putting Now.
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Welcome
Golfers!
Welcome
Golfers!
eCards
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The Putting Clock at Miami 1905
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On the Clock
with Geoff Mangum
20 May 2004
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MIKE SHANNON
At the Wachovia Championship in early
May, I had the great pleasure of meeting Mike Shannon -- one of
a select handful of the world's top putting instructors.
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After aim, Mike teaches an open-square-closed stroke, with the
critical ingredient being distance back from the ball. He claims
that the best position back from the ball does not have the eyes
directly over the ball, but slightly inside.
Mike has a number of observations to offer:
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Open or closed stances are fine if comfortable to the player.
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The upper arms should maintain contact with the torso throughout
the stroke, resulting in a more compact stroke with better
line and distance control.
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The optimal stroke pattern is a "triangle" stroke
with the top of the putter staying aimed at the same spot
it is aiming at address from top of backstroke to top of follow-thru,
with no wrist hinge.
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Players who aim by feel and by seeing complete curving paths
instead of lines and targets should be encouraged to aim and
putt this way, without conflicts.
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Players who are consistently either always aggressive or
always nonaggressive have much better touch and distance control
than players who use "situational" touch and putt
aggressively sometimes and nonaggressivlye at other times.
Mike agrees that players using the Putting Arc training aid should
not manipulate the putter going back or thru, but should make
a stroke on an angled plane that allows the putter to rise naturally
going back and thru. The exact angle of tilt varies a little for
each individual.
Private Lessons:
MIKE SHANNON
Sea Island Golf Learning Center
Sea Island GA
800-732-4752
seaisland.com
Individual rate: $150 per hour
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Mike works out of the Sea Island Resort with Jack Lumpkin and
is long associated with the "optics" of putting and
with a stroke that has the face gating open and closed to the
putt line.
In this month's issue of Travel and Leisure Golf (May / June
2004), Mike's teaching is featured in an article entitled: "Is
Your Aim True? Probably Not, Says a Top Putting Guru,"
pages 117-119. He is currently finishing up a book on putting
titled The Art and Science of Perfect Putting to be published
later this year. And he is also in the end-stages of completing
work on a teaching-training device for putting.
So what does he teach?
Mike teaches that golfers differ in their natural ability to
aim the putter depending upon how their eyes "triangulate"
when looking down at the ball at address. According to Mike, a
study of golfer optics by a team of Orlando-area optometrist in
the late 1990s determined that most golfer's perception of where
the putter is aimed is skewed left or right by their unique combination
of eye dominance and near- or far-sightedness. Bad aim produces
bad strokes.
The fix? Move the ball position. Determine whether the golfer's
vision "triangulates" directly beneath his nose on the
ground, to the left, or to the right. If the eyes triangulate
behind the ball, he moves the ball back in the stance to the triangulation
spot; if the eyes triangulate forward, he moves the ball forward.
According to Mike, this adjustment corrects the visual process
so that the golfer accurately perceives the aim of the putter
face, and so can aim the face accurately at the target.
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Aids Spotlight

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Sindelar
Putting Track
This training aid was designed by Joey Sindelar's father and trains
a straight-back straight-thru stroke. Worked well for Joey in winning
the Wachovia Championship!
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The
PuttMaster
A simple cloth connected by two metal supports / rails used to
groove a square motion of the putter thru the critical impact area
-- good for what ails you whether your chosen stroke path is straight
or gating, and it folds up conveniently for easy fit in the bag.
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ProAim
Glasses
Use ambient light indoors or out to project two horizontal lines
and a vertical line seemingly onto the ground -- mostly helps get
head position and body square to putt.
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NB: Nothing for sale by me, just the info for you.
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Shut up
and Putt, Fool!
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Recent Testimonials from Students
"You
have great putting tips, especially the ones about the gaze. Let's
meet and work together when I play Charlotte in May [2003]. I know
if I can just get my putting improved, I can break through and win."
[Golf
Magazine, Feb 2004:
"Everyone remembers my seven iron, but my putter won me the PGA
Championship."]
Shaun
Micheel
PGA Tour player
2003 PGA Champion (July 2003)
"Geoff is the most authoritative, comprehensive and enthusiastic
student and instructor of the game of putting that I have come across."
Damon Lucas
Australian pro champion
Director of Instruction
Chestnut Ridge Country Club
Lutherville, Maryland
"I
was blown away! If you ever have the chance to take putting instruction
from Geoff, DO NOT PASS IT UP!"
Eddie Cox
PGA pro
Director of Golf
Tot Hill Farm GC, Asheboro NC
"Geoff
Mangum is a genius in putting instruction. After two short lessons,
I've never putted better in my life."
Rick Murphy
Carolina Golf Practice & Learning Center
Greensboro, NC
Exec. Secretary, Carolinas Section, PGA of America
Golf Digest Top Teacher in NC
"Geoff
has more knowledge and expertise about putting than any other person
that I know. He is an outstanding teacher and his philosophy is backed
with an enormous amount of research. He's definitely at the top of
the class."
Robert Linville
Robert Linville's Precision Golf School
Golf Coach -- Greensboro College
1993 Carolinas PGA Teacher of the Year
1999 & 2000 NCAA Division III National Coach of the Year
2000 US Coach in US-Japan Collegiate Team Matches
"Geoff
knows more about putting that any one I know. His knowledge and dedication
to studying putting are second to none."
Tim Sheredy
Senior Instructor
David Leadbetter Golf Academy
Bradenton FL
More Testimonials!
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