How to putt?

[bobmac]

As requested by a few, here's my tips on becoming a more confident putter.

Of course there are lots of ways to putt well, you only have to look at the tour pros to see how many styles, grips and length of putters there are out there.
But one thing they have in common.
The putter returns to the ball (most of the time) facing the direction they want the ball to go in and with the correct amount of speed to get the ball in the hole.

A lack of confidence comes from lack of belief and trust.
If you believe you can hole the put and you trust your stroke, you will putt better. So how do you do it?

The problem I see most frequently is lack of distance control.
This is caused by too many variables.
Hips turning, shoulders rocking and hands hitting the putt.
Its very dificult to have a consistent control of how far the ball goes when three different parts of the body are involved in making the stroke.
So, unlike the full swing, we need as few moving parts as possible in the putting stroke.

THE ADDRESS

The golfer should feel comfortable over the ball with their arms relaxed.
The ball in the centre of the stance or a smidgen forward.
Eyes should be looking straight down at the ball.

THE STROKE

Working from the ground up:-
For a short putt, have a narrow stance, medium putt, medium stance and long putt, wide stance.
During the stroke, the lower half of the body should be very still.
The wrists and hands should be very quiet during the stroke.
The shoulders should rock not turn.
Keep the head still till after the ball has gone.
Make sure there is no slowing down into the ball, if anything a gentle acceleration.
For a short putt, a short swing.
As the putt gets longer, swing the putter longer and resist the temptation to hit it harder.
As long as you swing the putter at the same speed and tempo and vary the length of the swing, you will soon get a feel for how far you should swing for how long the putt is and your confidence will grow with practice.
AND NO PEAKING
Hope this helps

 

[Putting_Green_Pro]

nice article, but the putting you are using is quality (Y)

 

[mono217]

Nice thanks Bob

 

[bobmac]

nice article, but the putting you are using is quality (Y)

Sorry, my English is not so good?

 

[SammmeBee]

Bob...like the method...does it work similarly with a less or even not offset putter, or should one push the hands forward a little in this case?

 

[Hendy]

Bob i must say you do make it sound easy lol..

VERY good post indeed, Like what you say about the stance i normaly just have the one stance no matter how far or close i am to the cup..

thanks.

 

[bobmac]

or should one push the hands forward a little in this case?

Do you mean at address or as a forward press?
If you mean at address, you shouldnt have the hands forward of the ball as this will de-loft the putter face

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Excellent article and well explained (and not a product placement in sight)

 

[bobmac]

Excellent article and well explained (and not a product placement in sight)

Whatever do you mean???

 

[golf_bug]

biggest thing for me is confidence i.e. on the course I have none. I had a putting lesson yesterday and the pro said I had a good technique, i just need to believe that I am a good putter.
Sure enough, I am now a lot more confident standing over putts and actually believe I can hole anything within 6ft. Obviously in practise I wont, but it a much better mind set than "if i miss this its another 3 putt"!
Proof will be in the pudding as they say - we'll see how confident I am feeling during my round on the weekend

 

[CrapHacker]

Any photos from behind ?

 

[bobmac]

Any photos from behind ?

I hope you mean this view

 

[Golfmmad]

Some good and useful tips there Bob, I too like the different stance one.

Thanks

Golfmmad.

 

[Spoff]

Thanks Bob, will be taking this on board.

Especially, as others have said, the stance. I've always been one stance for all putts.

 

[golf_bug]

Why should your stance be different for different length putts? A wider stance would lower your height, which would affect where you grip the putter (arms will hang lower the wider yoru stance is). Surely its better to have a consistent stance and change one variable - the length of swing - for the length of putt?

Also, from the DTL view, your eyes aren't directly over the ball. Doesn't this affect your judgement of line?

 

[Screwback]

Excellent article!! very well expalained!!!

 

[bobmac]

If you narrow your stance for a short putt, you will naturally tend to have a shorter swing.
You can think of swinging the putter back to your right toe and no further for the short putts. This will help you control how far you swing the putter back and will help you prevent slowing down into the ball.
A wider stance for a longer swing, again dont let the putter go back passed your right toe and so on.
For the long putts, let it swing passed your right toe.
You are right about my eyes behind just inside the ball.
I wondered how long it would be before someone spotted that deliberate mistake and I'm sure you also spotted that my weight is a bit in my heals.
Guess what I'll be doing this afternoon

 

[golf_bug]

If you narrow your stance for a short putt, you will naturally tend to have a shorter swing.
You can think of swinging the putter back to your right toe and no further for the short putts. This will help you control how far you swing the putter back and will help you prevent slowing down into the ball.
A wider stance for a longer swing, again dont let the putter go back passed your right toe and so on.
For the long putts, let it swing passed your right toe.
You are right about my eyes behind just inside the ball.
I wondered how long it would be before someone spotted that deliberate mistake and I'm sure you also spotted that my weight is a bit in my heals.
Guess what I'll be doing this afternoon

While we are on the subject, if you look at the front on photos and compare backswing and through swing, look at your right shoulder on the throughswing....its much lower than your left on the back swing. However your backswing and through swing are a similar length.

Explain yourself!

The fact that a PGA pro's set up etc is not textbook just goes to show how putting is as much about feel and comfort as it is technique. You can obviously putt (I hope you can anyway of you are teaching it ), but you have your own style which is not text book. Look at someone like Jeev Milka-Singh - his putting technique is bizarre, but he can roll em in a damn site better than the rest of us!

 

[bobmac]

While we are on the subject, if you look at the front on photos and compare backswing and through swing, look at your right shoulder on the throughswing....its much lower than your left on the back swing. However your backswing and through swing are a similar length.

Explain yourself!

My right shoulder is lower than my left shoulder at address due to my right hand being below my left on the grip.

The fact that a PGA pro's set up etc is not textbook just goes to show how putting is as much about feel and comfort as it is technique. You can obviously putt (I hope you can anyway of you are teaching it ), but you have your own style which is not text book. Look at someone like Jeev Milka-Singh - his putting technique is bizarre, but he can roll em in a damn site better than the rest of us!

If you look at the start of my original post I do say that there are many ways of putting well.
I was just trying to give you guys the fundamentals that may help people who have problems in putting.
If you dont want to try the advice I've given, that's perfectly all right with me.
I'll just keep my advice to myself in future.

 

[golf_bug]

While we are on the subject, if you look at the front on photos and compare backswing and through swing, look at your right shoulder on the throughswing....its much lower than your left on the back swing. However your backswing and through swing are a similar length.

Explain yourself!

My right shoulder is lower than my left shoulder at address due to my right hand being below my left on the grip.

The fact that a PGA pro's set up etc is not textbook just goes to show how putting is as much about feel and comfort as it is technique. You can obviously putt (I hope you can anyway of you are teaching it ), but you have your own style which is not text book. Look at someone like Jeev Milka-Singh - his putting technique is bizarre, but he can roll em in a damn site better than the rest of us!

If you look at the start of my original post I do say that there are many ways of putting well.
I was just trying to give you guys the fundamentals that may help people who have problems in putting.
If you dont want to try the advice I've given, that's perfectly all right with me.
I'll just keep my advice to myself in future.

woh there Robert! I wasn't crticising, merely seeking clarifacaton on a few things as your advice contradicts some other teachning I have seen. I am an appauling putter, so need all the help I can get!

I was also making the point that there is no right or wrong way really. Putting styles vary from player to player greatly - even in the pro ranks. Some have wide stances, some narrow. Some have bent arms, some straight. Some have teh ball forward in their addres, others centre. Some have arched backs, some straight. All have slightly different grips, and some can't putt at all (ahem.....Sergio).

Now take a deep breath............and relaaaaaaaaaaaaax