By Rick Depamphilis Special to the Globe, 9/7/2000

ike Conrad is a 12-handicapper out of Pelham, N.H., who wrote to the Globe asking for help with an aspect of the game most golfers don't request instruction for: putting. Mike identified putting as the ''worst aspect'' of his game, saying that despite having bought the latest putters and knowing how to read greens, he still ''cannot putt.''

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One key piece of information Mike provided in his letter was that ''when playing in a scramble I can read the greens excellent; however, I cannot get the ball to the point that I tell everyone else to hit.'' If Mike's ability to read putts was not part of his problem, in our lesson I needed to discover why he was not able to start the ball rolling along his intended putting line, then help him make adjustments.

When we met on the course, I spread several balls in a 15-foot circle around the hole, and asked Mike to verbalize his ''read'' before stroking each putt, pick out a spot to aim at, then roll the ball along the intended line. As Mike completed this exercise, it became apparent that he indeed could read putts accurately but was not starting them along his intended line. His putts were not starting out toward the spot he was aiming at, because at address his putter face was angled to the right.

I asked Mike to leave his putter in address position but stand behind the ball, straddling the line on which he was trying to putt. From here, Mike easily could see that the putter face was misaligned, with the toe end off the ground and the ball lined up on the inside heel. With the putter face aimed so far right, Mike would have to pull his stroke left in order to start the ball on line. Coupled with the toe up and ball being addressed on the inside heel, it was difficult at best for Mike to make square and solid contact and start the ball rolling toward where he thought he was aiming.

Like many golfers, Mike was surprised to see how far off line he was aiming. One explanation is that golf is played from the side, with a round ball, slanted clubface, leaning shaft, from an inclined body with our eyes cockeyed to the ground.

To determine exactly where Mike was aiming in relation to his intended line, we attached a magnetic clubface pointer (used in club fitting) to his putter face as he addressed a ball. I asked Mike to stand behind the ball again and look at the clubface magnetic pointer. We argeed that his clubface needed to be turned toward the left for it to be square to his intended line, with the toe flush to the ground. This had the effect of moving Mike in closer, with his eyes positioned directly over the ball, another basic putting fundamental.

Our final adjustment was to address the ball on the middle of the clubface, at its sweet spot. To do this, we developed a routine of marking the ball from behind, looking down the line to determine the ''break,'' picking out an exact spot to aim at, then lining up the logo of the ball to the exact spot.

I suggested that Mike take as much time as he needed to position the logo of the ball precisely along the intended line. Then, walking into the ball from behind, line up the putter face's center line against the logo of the ball, pointing both at the intended line, with the putter head sole flush to the green. This routine allowed Mike to take dead aim to an exact spot and stroke the putt along the intended line, making square and solid contact, on the way to producing ground-hugging, hole-hunting overspin.

The result: more holed putts.

Rick DePamphilis of Sun 'n Air driving range in Danvers is a PGA master professional.

This story ran on page E13 of the Boston Globe on 9/7/2000.
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