ArcMat Assisted Learning

In this Assisted Learning video series, FatPlate Director of Instruction, Ben Frost, helps to ensure that you use your new FatPlate training aid in the most effective way possible and also provides you with enough knowledge & practical practice drills so that you hole more putts.

GETTING STARTED - ASSESS YOUR STROKE

Remove Arcmat from the tube & gently roll it in the opposite direction.

Place on the ground with the technical side facing you.

Without a ball, take a normal setup (with a square putter face) and simply try to follow the sweetspot arc with minimal manipulation of the hands. Move the putter back & forth to face positions 4. whilst trying not to be too rigid in the process.

INTRODUCE A BALL

Now with a ball in position, make a backswing to face position 3. throughout the stroke watch the putter head rather than the ball to see how it looks & feels (don’t worry about contact or start line at this stage).

IMPACT GATE

Place two Stub-Tees in the <impact gate slightly wider than your putter head’s width & make some putts using a backswing to (approximately) <position 3. Missing both of the tees shows that you are striking the ball out of the sweetspot & achieving centred contact.

START LINE

Now that you’ve spent a little time working on perfecting your sweetspot arc, let’s see how this impacts on start line direction. Place tees in the widest gate position and with a ball in position, make a backswing. Your goal is to simply get the ball through the gate without touching the tee pegs

From a backswing to (approximately) position 3 your target is to see if you can roll the ball through the start line gate at least 7 out of 10 times without touching the tee pegs. Use the tables in the practice record to appraise & identify your initial skill level.

If you’re consistently scoring at least 7 out of 10 then you can increase your swing length, to positions 3 and 4 still trying to achieve 7 out of 10 successful strikes. As your skill and level of success increases you can then also move the tee pegs to the tighter mid & narrow positions as a progression of difficulty.

SWING LENGTHS

ArcMat’s face angle lines allow you to work on the relationship between the length of your backswing and thru-swing.

Standard:

For a balanced stroke length and tempo, swing back and through to the same numbered marking.

Deceleration:

If you tend to have a noticeably short follow through compared to the length of the backswing (which can lead to both distance and start line issues) a good drill is to swing through to higher number than on the back swing. For example back to position 2 and through to position 3.

Over Acceleration:

Often described as a ‘jerky’ or ‘stabby’ stroke, the suggested drill would be to swing through to a lower number than on the backswing.

TRANSITIONAL SIDE

Now that you’ve increased your skill level having completed ArcMat’s Technical side’s training, you may wish to practice using the transitional side in order to create a bridge between training & the natural appearance of a putting green.

ONGOING PRACTICE – 7 OUT OF 10 RULE

If you take your time to work through the ArcMat drills we are fully confident that your stroke will be as good as it can be. However as with all other aspects of the golf swing, this can change & you may revert back to old habits. The answer is to keep up your practice so that you are able to maintain your new skills.

like the 7 out of 10 rule so the first process is to start on the easiest/ widest start line gate position with sets of 10 balls. Monitor your progress using the 7 out of 10 tables in your training guide.

We advise that you assess yourself with 3 sets at the start of your putting session to ensure that you calibrate your stroke.

ONGOING PRACTICE – PACE CONTROL

Alongside your stroke mechanics & start line practice, let’s now work on pace control (with or even without using ArcMat) and record the results over a 10 week period.

Over 10 weeks or sessions, practice your putting at 3 different lengths & record your scores out of 10, aiming to score 7 out of 10 at any given length. Again, we advise that you practice no more than 4 sets

COURSE PERFORMANCE & ASSESSMENT

Now let’s establish if your improved skills are being transferred to the course.

Within the Practice Record & Playing Guide you will find an area to record your course performance of approach shots into greens.

By completing the assessment cards over a number of rounds, you will be able easily identify areas that are still in need of a little more attention on the practice area.

TOUR PRACTICE – ON THE GREEN

An ever increasing number of Tour players of using ArcMats as part of their pre-round routine. To use ArcMat in your pre-round:

  1. Lay your ArcMat on the putting surface, reading a putt to a hole.
  2. When you have correctly lined up the putt, pin down the ArcMat using standard tee-pegs (not supplied).
  3. Make a number of putts working on your stroke mechanics (recording the results in you’re training guide if you so wish).
  4. Remove your ArcMat and try to repeat your earlier strokes.

COURSE PERFORMANCE & ASSESSMENT

Now let’s establish if your improved skills are being transferred to the course.

Within the Practice Record & Playing Guide you will find an area to record your course performance and number of holes per round.

By completing the assessment cards over a number of rounds, you will be able easily identify areas that are still in need of a little more attention on the practice green.

COMING SOON

Keep checking back as we’ll continue to add modules to our online golf lesson video series so that you learn the skills to become the master of the greens.

BEN FROST COACHING

Although Ben is kept busy with FatPlate product development, he still enjoys working with golfers who have a desire to improve so continues to coach individuals and groups at our National HQ at Stonebridge Golf Club, located just 2 mins from Birmingham Airport & the National Exhibition Centre.

And if you can’t make it in person, online lessons are also available whereby Ben can provide you with a full analysis of your swing.

For booking details contact: ben@fatplate.golf