Montreal, Canada -Daito Golf would like to express its utmost thanks to Dr. Gerald A.Walford for his continued support of the GreenBerry Putting Trainer. A two-time author, Gerald A. Walford, Ph.D. is a long-time professional golf player and PGA teacher. He holds a Ph.D. in Psychology of Sports from the University of Maryland and currently teaches Physical Education at Allice Lloyd College.
After training with the GreenBerry for several weeks, Dr. Walford felt it was necessary to write this letter and address it to other industry professionals, citing the benefits of this amazing putting trainer.
Dr. Gerald A. Walford
Sport Psychologist
PGA of America
OVERVIEW
Daito Golf, a company in St. Laurent, Quebec, Canada (Montreal) has come up with an interesting implement for putting speed. The machine is reasonably priced which is good.
The GREENBERRY machine is about 7" X 3" X 1" or 18cm X 8cm X 3cm (approx.). It sits on the ground close to the start of the putt and sensors measure the speed of the ball and the distance the ball should travel. Green speed or carpet speed (if indoors) can be calibrated for different speeds. This is an Electronic stimpmeter that can determine the green speed on any putting surface like grass, artificial surface or carpet. This would be like knowing the stimpmeter reading and then practicing putting for different distances at the different green speeds. There is a lot of information on putt speed, force of putt and green speed (stimpmeter) readily available.
The golfer can take the machine to the course set the machine down on the putting green take a few putts to calibrate the green speed and distance. Take some practice to get the feel of the force required to match the green speed for different length putts and then go out on the course with the knowledge of slow, medium, or fast greens.
PERSONAL PRACTICE
I received the machine on a Friday and since it was raining through to Monday I was indoors doing a lot of practice. I let the default value of green speed, stimpmeter of 9.00, be my reference point. I then putted the ball to give me a force/distance required to give a reading of 6 feet, then12 feet, then 18 feet, 24 feet, 30 feet, and so on. By Monday I had the feel of force for different lengths putts and it worked extremely well playing the next day.
Since I practiced indoors I did not have long distance access. So I put a board up about 9 feet from the putt and putted to the board. I did not have to see the ball go 45 feet as the machine told me the ball went 45 feet. I was practicing by feel for speed variances. Putt the ball and then look at the distance reading to see if you were going with the correct force for distance that you wanted.
The reasoning was that if the greens where a little faster or slower than 9.00 then I would just putt with a little more force and a little less force for the greens speed. Actually, the greens were maybe about 9.00 anyway.
MEASURING DISTANCE
Measuring distance is best in yards and multiply by 3 for feet as the readings on the machine are in feet. Pacing the distance is easiest and quickest as each pace is one yard or three feet. For fast measurement one can pace off half the distance and then double it for yardage and then multiply by 3 for feet. Pacing half way to the hole is faster than the full distance pace and speeds up play. You can walk half way to the hole while looking over the putt and counting the paces. This saves time and keeps play moving. This can be done without making a big deal of pacing off each yard. Another way is to visually learn how far 10 yards is. Once you can accurately visually measure 10 yards/30 feet, then visually you can read the length of any putt. A 20 yard putt/60 feet is just 2 ten yard putts or a 15 yard/45 foot putt is one ten yard part and half of the next ten yards for another five yards.
Before this machine I would practice the putting stroke to a yard stick to give the length of backswing to distance. This did work but this machine is so much more accurate in measuring the force/distance of the putt.
ON THE COURSE
When playing the greens on the course you will meet uphill, downhill, fast and slow greens. The GREENBERRY improves distance control as it gives the force necessary to get the ball to the hole.
For uphill and downhill putts some find it helpful to visualize the hole as being short or longer than the original hole. This can work but you better putt to the right hole. For example, if you imagine the hole as four feet longer than the original hole and you go long on the visualized or imagined hole you could be faced with an eight foot putt back to the real hole. With this machine you putt to the real hole but with a higher or lesser force. For example, an uphill putt requires a little more force so just use a feel of more force to counter the uphill distance. This seems to make more sense as you are still putting to the hole but adjusted with more force. You must remember you are now putting by force.
A helpful hint for putting is the use of the straight line on the ball. Line up the line to the target and then line up the putter square to the line and then stroke the putt. This is an advantage in that the mind cannot think of two things at the same time. Putting is direction and force and most try to think of both at the same time. Efficiency is achieved when the putter is lined up to the ball then the direction is solved and only force is needed in the thought process.
Try this: place a golf ball on the ground, green, or carpet. Pick out a target in the distance, a good distance. Using a yardstick or the shaft of a golf club place the yardstick in front of the ball and line it up so that the yardstick is in perfect line from the ball to the target. Line up the yardstick from behind the ball. Now stand over the ball as if you are going to putt and notice where the yardstick now points. In most cases it will not point at the target. This is because when you line up the ball to the target from behind the ball you have both eyes on the target (binocular vision). When you are over the ball the eyes are one over the other and there is a distortion to the line. For right handed golfers most will see the yardstick lined up to the left, about 90% while less than 5 to 10% will line up to the left. Very few will be right on. This is why the line on the putt is so effective. Putt to the line, as the line is more accurate than the sideways look while putting.
PRACTICE WITH THE MACHINE
In the practice mode, practice the various forces for the various distances. For example, if you practice the 30-foot distance see the hole or target in your mind and then stroke the putt. When out on the course you should do the same thing. Visualize the distance and direction and stroke the ball with this image in the mind. It is a good thing to say to yourself the distance of every putt you take. This will build a reference point in the mind to correlate distance with the force desired. In time, by playing and practicing, when you tell yourself the distance the mind will send signals to the muscles for the desired force required for the putt. Remember, it takes time and practice but results will occur.
What I just explained is the easy way to get started and yet achieve effective results. There is also drills on the machine that run you through various length so see how close you can come to the distance they ask for. In time every thing gets easier to use with all the information available. I really like this machine and personally feel it can be of value with dedicated practice.
For more information on Daito Golf, please visit http://www.daitogolf.com/. Media members interested in testing a Daito Golf product for editorial review or interested retailers, please contact Jason Howard at jhoward@daitogroup.com or toll free at 866-773-4653 ext. 254.
Contact:
Jason Howard
1-866-773-4653 ext 254
jhoward@daitogroup.com
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