Quote:
Originally Posted by Martin_Bohn
james mcaine:
"The fairway stance rule change would level the field a bit (since better, more coordinated players can hit a smaller spot), IF the rule was ever actually called, even by the top players. "
thats right, right now a majority of competitive players do not call fairway stance violations because it doesnt give the thrower any advantage if he is off his mark and stays behind his lie by a centimeter, or ten, or twenty, or even thirty centimeters. the distance is still the same, its basically the same putt at the target....not talking about jump putts, but where your plant foot is in relation to your mark on the ground.
its a judgement call by the other players to NOT call a stance violation which serves no purpose anyways. now if the thrower blatantly crosses the LOP in relation to the marker, yeah you would probably say something i would think.
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I totally agree.
There are two issues in this thread. I'd call them the jump putt rule and the fairway stance rule.
Personally, I don't have a problem with the existing fairway stance rule. However, I understand the sentiment that the rule is technically violated quite a bit, and to provide legitimacy to the sport, we should either become a group of people zealously monitoring fairway stances, or relax the rule so that violations are minimized. Since zealousness is not in our blood, the obvious course is to relax the rule. Remember, if I wanted to be a zealot on this rule, I could because it is observable and enforcable.
The jump putt rule is entirely different, IMO. Unlike the fairway stance rule, the jump putt rule is virtually impossible to call. I read a number of posts who act like it is simply a willpower issue on the part of other players. I think that is sort of disingenuous. Even if I'm a zealot on the jump putt rule, I cannot call the violation because it is impossible to honestly ascertain a violation. That is a problem. That distinguishes it from the fairway stance rule.
Whether the jump putt rule is a significant problem, or it offers an advantage to potential violators is a matter of debate, but whether there is an intrinsic problem with administering the rule is not.
In sum, shoring up the jump putt rule seems necessary to me; shoring up the fairway stance rule depends on how much stock you buy into the legitimacy argument.
edited to change "falling putt" to "jump putt" as that is more accurate.