The Science behind the Putting Template

It is commonly known that the putting stroke conceptually should resemble some form of an arc. An arc is part of a circle.

That arc or part of the circle is 3 dimensional. The trajectory of the sweet spot works up and inside on the backswing, back down and out in the downswing and then back up and in, on the forward swing.

Stroke Plane and Radius

The strength of the players arc (the size of that part of the circle) will be determined by the inclined plane that the circle lies on and the radius of the circle.

In golfing terms, the radius can be best viewed as the centre of the players rotation and the inclined plane is the angle that centre of rotation lies within/works along.

As you can appreciate, different players will create different centres of rotation and work them on different inclined planes. The template essentially represents what the arc would look like as a 2D projection along the ground.

The different templates represent the different inclined planes and radius typically created by the golfer.

Template Classifications

The New Series of 5 templates represent the 5 most found arc “sizes”. These different “sizes” also account for the multiple inclined planes and radius combinations. E.g.: 2 players could have different planes but having a different radius also could result in them having the same arc and the same template.

Hence the 5 template sizes can cover a multitude of different strokes from different folks!

Along with the projection of the curvature of the stroke the Mi Putting Template also displays the club face angle of the putter, as it would look if square to the arc of the stroke.

The No 1 classification represents a shallow arc and the No 5 represents a strong arc with a progression in between from 1 to 5.

*The Original Visio template was based on a 120cm radius. This would be a commonly found radius. That radius was matched to inclined planes of 12, 15, 18 and 21 degree.The new series of templates based upon the old 120 radius would match the arc created on inclined planes of 8, 12,16,20 and 24 degrees.

Functionality of the Template

The arc of the stroke is aligned so that the projected path at impact is perfectly square to the ball to target line, which is also referenced on the Mi Putting Template. A common preference for many golfers and teaching professionals is to ensure the putter face is square to the path of the stroke, particularly through the hitting area and that the path is pointing down the ball to target line at impact.

The Mi Putting Template will give you a reference for club head rotation relative to each arc. Training with the Mi Putting Template will help you start a ball online with impact conditions that will also minimise excessive side spin and promote a better ball roll to help distance, control and accuracy.

The Mi Putting Template also comes with holes strategically placed where you can fix tee pegs to help physically constrain the stroke to the shape of each individual arc. Tee pegs can also be placed in these holes to help keep the template fixed flat on the ground. Holes are also located at the end of the template where the ball must exit in between if the ball is to start your ball to target line. Tee pegs can be placed in the holes or you can use the ‘Visio Putting Gates’ to give you feedback on the club face angle at impact and the accuracy of your start line. The inner hole locations (closest to the centre of the template) give you a 49mm gate width which will allow you no more than approximately 0.5 degrees of error.

The middle set of holes are designed for the 50mm Visio Putting Gate. This gate at this location will give you a maximum of 0.6 degrees of error. Tee pegs used at this location will give you a maximum of 1 degree of error. The outer hole locations are designed for the 55mm Visio Putting Gate. This gate at this location will give you no more than 1 degree of error. Tee pegs used at this location will give a maximum of 1.4 degree of error. Using the different hole locations and the different ranges of error will test the accuracy and ability to start your ball on your line.