Tested: Uphill Versus Downhill Putts

Uphill putt or downhill putt. Which do you want?

One of these gives you a bit more confidence to be aggressive. The other might make you weak in the knees and cause your hands to shake.

In my opinion, and I bet many of you agree, most golfers want an uphill putt. What if we had data to support this opinion?

Uphill Versus Downhill

Over the years, our putter testing has given golfers insight as to which putters are the best from an off-the-rack perspective. Now, with the help of PuttView, we can expand putter testing beyond putters themselves. Our putter testing, in general, will change immensely. Additionally, it gives us the opportunity to test putting scenarios. Cue this uphill versus downhill putt lab.

Testing parameters

If you are new to MyGolfSpy, data is the heartbeat of our operation. Here are the parameters for this uphill versus downhill putt lab:

• 10 testers (handicaps between 0-15)
• 20 putts taken from each condition
• ~12′ putts only
• Each tester used their own putter

Uphill versus downhill putts – the data

There are three key metrics we will be focusing on in this particular lab:

• Average Miss Distance
• Putts Holed/Average Putts Holed
• Strokes Gained

With PuttView technology, we can measure and collect each of these three key metrics. Each one gives us insight as to how each individual tester performs on an uphill putt and on a downhill putt. Most importantly, this data reveals the overall performance differences in uphill versus downhill putts.

Average miss distance

This is simple. You hit a putt and then PuttView calculates a “miss distance” for that putt. Average miss distance is a metric we didn’t have access to in the past. It gives us a clear view of which testing condition produces a closer proximity to the hole on average.

Overall, testers had a closer proximity to the hole on average on an uphill putt. Here are some key notes:

• Uphill putts – 0.42′
• Downhill putts – 0.46′
• The closest proximity to the hole was produced on an uphill putt (0.10′).

Total putts holed and average putts holed

Total putts holed and average putts holed are the eye-opening statistics in this test. The statistics support the common theory that golfers make more uphill putts than downhill putts.

You can see more total putts were made in an uphill scenario:

• Uphill – 106 total putts holed
• Downhill – 89 total putts holed

In turn, average putts holed is in favor of uphill putts:

• Uphill – 10.6 average for putts holed
• Downhill – 8.9 average for putts holed

Overall, the data for uphill putts has a substantial edge over downhill putts.

Strokes Gained

Another key metric is Strokes Gained. It is a direct representation of performance over 18 holes.

Once again, uphill performance bests downhill performance in another key metric:

• Uphill – 0.2 strokes gained
• Downhill – 0.12 strokes gained

Uphill putts are what you want

The data is clear: there is an advantage to putting uphill.

On average, our testing pool holed more putts, had closer proximity to the hole and a better Strokes Gained average when putting uphill.

Some golfers might be better at a downhill putt versus an uphill putt. There is small percentage of the data that suggests this. However, an uphill putt is likely to lead to more efficient long-term success.

During your next round, track how many uphill and downhill putts you have and see how your performance stacks up. But you should be more confident putting uphill. That’s not an opinion or a theory. The data backs that up!