Transitioning to a Short Putter: Webb Simpson's Journey

SportsGrid

Watch Transitioning to a Short Putter: Webb Simpson's Journey - SportsGrid on Dailymotion

Transcript

00:00How difficult was that process for you man going from something that was so, you know trained, right?

00:05It's a trained skill to finding like what's the solution?

00:09I know there's other players like Keegan Bradley that had to go through similar deals

00:13But it seems like y'all both were able to come up on the other side of finding a process that worked for you

00:19Yeah, I mean it was at the Ryder Cup in 2014 when Pauly said hey, we hadn't put a great this year

00:27Like we have another year we could use this thing

00:29But what if we go ahead and switch, you know this fall this offseason to a short putter?

00:34So we did in my first term. It was the Dunlop Phoenix

00:37First time yeah

00:40Yeah, so I figured you know less pressure in Japan than in the United States

00:45It'll be a good first start and I had some, you know, good putting weeks early on in the PJ tour

00:52I'm here. I played a great at Doral finished seventh that week. So I was feeling confident

00:57Finished second here at Wells Fargo, but then in the summer that first year I started putting really bad and I went from

01:04Being an above-average putter to two years in a row with the short putter

01:09I'm one of the worst putters in the PJ tour like

01:12175 to 200 type numbers

01:15Was that all inside of 10 feet? Was it mainly just pulling the parts that she should hold?

01:20Yeah, I was nervous anxious over the putter. No confidence

01:24And then I missed a cut here at Wells Fargo. This would have been I guess

01:292016

01:30May and

01:32Bones, I was playing with Phil Bones talked to Pauly about hey when Phil went to the claw

01:38Like he got way better inside, you know 10 feet and Webb should try it

01:42so I went out to Charlotte Country Club grabbed an armlock putter and

01:47Tried the claw and I'm like, okay, this feels a little awkward

01:50But it feels like doable and Pauly watched my stroke the next week

01:54He said strokes really good

01:55And that was I think colonial and I finished third or fourth that week the year Spieth made everything from everywhere

02:04but I'm like all of a sudden this I feel like a new player and

02:08Smiley those days were dark

02:10I mean I I got to a point where I didn't like I thought I could keep a career on tour

02:15But I I believe I could never win again unless I figured something out with the putter

02:20I mean, I'd go out and hit 16 greens

02:24and

02:25You know shoot one under par and I'm like, I can't keep doing this. That's just not you either, you know

02:30Yeah, yeah

02:31I know and I was used to making a couple of 10 to 20 footers around that it stopped and I was starting to miss

02:37a couple of three to four footers around and

02:40It was just killing me. Let's kill my confidence momentum everything

02:44But when this armlock came and the claw happened I

02:49It changed everything. I went from like

02:51One, you know, like I said 190. Let's say on strokes game putting to fit all of a sudden and I'm

02:59Horsey came up to me. He goes explain something to me. How does somebody go from 190 to fifth in a year?

03:05I said horsey. I just changed my partner changed my grip

03:10But it's been a roller coaster for me now

03:12I'm in the I use the broomstick and I do love it. I would say I'm not as

03:18I don't get as hot on my hot days

03:20but my bad days are like negative one strokes game versus what I was doing negative three, so

03:26It's something I'm working really hard on like I I feel great over the putter now

03:32but as you know to

03:34The difference in finishing fifth and 25th is a few plots a week. That's it

03:39Yeah, if I can get back to kind of hauling some 10 to 20 footers like I used to I think those are the weeks

03:45that that are

03:47Gonna make me feel more confident

Category

Transcript

Recommended