Putting performance bias to the front-lower side of the hole on steep slopes: Differences in strategies and movements between professional and amateur golfers

When playing on an sloped golf course, the ball often misses the hole to the front-lower side, which is also referred to as the “amateur side.” This can be attributed to the difficulty in perceiving the green slope and choosing the appropriate launch direction and ball speed, especially for amateurs. The study had three main objectives. The first was to examine whether a front-down bias toward the hole could be experimentally observed in golfers’ putting. Second, to measure golfers’ aims and movements to determine why golfers, especially amateurs, putt poorly on steep slopes. Third, to investigate using a miniature platform how golfers recognized the steepness of the slopes and the relationship between their aim and their slope recognition. Twelve professionals and twelve intermediate amateurs were asked to perform in the 1- and 3-degree conditions (left-to-right line) at a distance of 3 m from the hole. Participants wore shutter goggles to inhibit visual feedback of outcomes. The aim, address, ball launch direction (analyzed as angles), and kinematics of the putter head and ball were measured. The results of this study experimentally confirmed the amateur side and indicated that the aim, address, and launch directions of the amateurs were smaller than those of the professionals. As for reproducing the slope task, we found that the amateurs underestimated the steepness on both conditions when compared to professionals. Additionally, golfers’ aim and slope recognition were weakly correlated. These suggest that amateurs, compared to professionals, were unable to choose the optimal speed of the putter head and the launch direction of the ball in relation to the slope. Furthermore, amateurs’ recognition was worse than that of professionals, which may affect their aim.