Putting - tuck left elbow in?

[Orikoru]

Just a little Friday thought about putting techniques.

My putting is up and down but that's mostly due to not being to read greens well and not being able to adjust on the fly if the speed is different to what I expect. Since my putting lessons last Christmas my stroke has been mostly decent. But I've recently made another small change which seems to work, I'm just wondering if it's something anyone else does?

One problem I used to have was closing the face a little on the way through - I think it's a common one and that's why a lot of people use different grips like the claw/pencil or left-hand low to stop it. But whenever I tried them I hated them, without a firm right hand driving it I go all wobbly in the backswing because my left hand is weak as pee. So what I've started doing in the last few weeks is tucking my left elbow in to my side so it's almost against my hip. I've seen pros like Justin Rose doing drills where they putt with a towel under the arms, presumably to keep the elbows tucked in - although I only tried it with the left one. But it seems to work really well. With the left arm pinned more it doesn't really allow the right hand to turn the face over, and I feel like I've been hitting my putts on line much more often. And if I miss I've usually just not read enough break or something. Early days but I'm sticking with it for now.

Does anyone else tuck their elbow/elbows in and see the merit in it? Or is it just another fad that might work for a few weeks before I have the next crisis?

 

[clubchamp98]

I tuck both in and just rock my shoulders.
Been doing this for a while and it does work.
As long as I hit it where I am aiming it’s a good putt.

 

[theoneandonly]

Is it a fitted putter? Worth looking at that too if not, especially in terms of face balance.

 

[Orikoru]

Is it a fitted putter? Worth looking at that too if not, especially in terms of face balance.

Not exactly, but I bought one that roughly parallels the fitted one I had before. Same length, weight, style etc. I am always tinkering tbh my stroke probably changes every 6 months anyway. I've always needed a toe-hang putter anyway, which it is.

 

[Foxholer]

Whatever works best for you is what's best -for you. I've played with a guy who was the opposite of you - would have both elbows sticking out. He was quite a good putter. Presonally, I try to ensure elbows are fairly rigid and my whole putting stroke is from/by the rocking of the shoulders - with wrists as inactive as possible.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

Funnily enough, if I am not putting well I tend to concentrate on tucking my right elbow in, not my left. That works for me. Whatever works, just do it

 

[Springveldt]

Just had to stand up and do a putter motion the see what I actually do. I've got both elbows tucked in and just rock my shoulders. I used to have them pretty straight with my old stance as I stood up taller but I made a few tweaks to my putting a couple of months ago that have made a massive difference. One of them was to get my eyes over the ball (watched a video on parallax effect and noticed I had the issue) but I feel more hunched over now and elbows are tucked in tight.

It's working ridiculously well for me over the last 10 rounds or so.

 

[Orikoru]

Just had to stand up and do a putter motion the see what I actually do. I've got both elbows tucked in and just rock my shoulders. I used to have them pretty straight with my old stance as I stood up taller but I made a few tweaks to my putting a couple of months ago that have made a massive difference. One of them was to get my eyes over the ball (watched a video on parallax effect and noticed I had the issue) but I feel more hunched over now and elbows are tucked in tight.

It's working ridiculously well for me over the last 10 rounds or so.

One thing I don't do is get my eyes right over the ball, as you say, it feels too hunched I think. Hence why I've always used toe-hang putters.

 

[Springveldt]

One thing I don't do is get my eyes right over the ball, as you say, it feels too hunched I think. Hence why I've always used toe-hang putters.

My putter is a slight toe hang as well.

I watched a Phil Kenyon video about alignment and parallax and tried it sitting at my desk. I got my body straight to the desk, got my eyes straight above the edge, looked left along the table like I was over a putt and the edge of the desk was were I thought it would be. Then I moved my eyes about 6 inches inside (like my putting stance at the time), looked left and I would have been aiming about 6 inches left of the end of the desk. That convinced me I needed to get my eyes over the ball. Didn't take long to get used to the hunched feeling at all really.

 

[sjw]

My putter is a slight toe hang as well.

I watched a Phil Kenyon video about alignment and parallax and tried it sitting at my desk. I got my body straight to the desk, got my eyes straight above the edge, looked left along the table like I was over a putt and the edge of the desk was were I thought it would be. Then I moved my eyes about 6 inches inside (like my putting stance at the time), looked left and I would have been aiming about 6 inches left of the end of the desk. That convinced me I needed to get my eyes over the ball. Didn't take long to get used to the hunched feeling at all really.

Were you surprised that moving your head 6 inches meant your view changed by 6 inches?

As long as you can "feel" what is in line, it doesn't matter where your head is. Rory says that his eyes aren't directly over the ball, but where his head is "feels" straight to him.

Mind you, maybe that's why he hasn't won a major in ages...

 

[RichA]

My putter is a slight toe hang as well.

I watched a Phil Kenyon video about alignment and parallax and tried it sitting at my desk. I got my body straight to the desk, got my eyes straight above the edge, looked left along the table like I was over a putt and the edge of the desk was were I thought it would be. Then I moved my eyes about 6 inches inside (like my putting stance at the time), looked left and I would have been aiming about 6 inches left of the end of the desk. That convinced me I needed to get my eyes over the ball. Didn't take long to get used to the hunched feeling at all really.

I used to use an Anser with toe hang. I was taught to putt "properly" in a lesson a couple of years ago. The pro went through the parallax thing with me and we found that to putt where it looked straight for me, my eyes were about 6 inches inside the line. He said that it can change over time and it's worth recalibrating with a piece of string and tees in the ground every so often.
Having said that, I'm now using a face balanced putter, eyes directly over the ball, concentrating on a very straight stroke path with elbows tucked in and having way more success than ever before. But I no longer aim at the hole once I'm over the ball - pick my line beforehand and set up parallel to it.
So many variables and our bodies and brains work so differently.

 

[Slab]

Yeah I tuck left elbow in but not with any real pressure/tension
What might freak you out is if you do the opposite and try pointing left elbow at the hole, it also stops me pulling a putt left

 

[Orikoru]

Were you surprised that moving your head 6 inches meant your view changed by 6 inches?

As long as you can "feel" what is in line, it doesn't matter where your head is. Rory says that his eyes aren't directly over the ball, but where his head is "feels" straight to him.

Mind you, maybe that's why he hasn't won a major in ages...

This is why we pick our line before addressing the ball anyway isn't it? If my eyeline is an inch out, but also I might strike it an inch off line, so there's a 50% chance I correct it by accident, right?

 

[clubchamp98]

When I pick a spot 12” in front of the ball from down the line and then move into my stance.
The spot I have chosen looks to be to far left.
This might be an eyesight thing or set up.
I really have struggled to sort this out. Apparently Nicklaus had this problem !
Mike Malaska does a great vid on YouTube about it.
But to get it to look like it’s right I look like Quasimodo on a bad day.

 

[Springveldt]

Were you surprised that moving your head 6 inches meant your view changed by 6 inches?

As long as you can "feel" what is in line, it doesn't matter where your head is. Rory says that his eyes aren't directly over the ball, but where his head is "feels" straight to him.

Mind you, maybe that's why he hasn't won a major in ages...

Actually I was, it wasn’t something I had given thought to. I thought I was aiming at the hole but obviously wasn’t.
It wasn’t so much on long putts as I try to pick a spot a foot from the ball but on short putts I was missing a lot of them left and it made sense why as I usually didn’t pick out a point on short putts just aimed at the hole and hit it. I rarely miss from 3 foot and in now.

 

[Crow]

I have my left elbow firm against my side.

All my putters are toe hang but I don't think that's relevant.

 

[sev112]

Well it worked for Jack Nicklaus for many years and he won a few tournaments

Note, connecting parts of your arms (such as your left inside forearm) to your body can sometimes be considered as anchoring, if ones’s hands are apart. This tends not to be the case if you hang both your hands “downwards”, but with a Claw grip your right hand is the other way up, and as many Claw grippers separate their right and left hands, with the left forearm fixed against the left hip (or belly in my case !) then you have one of the illegal Anchoring cases on the R&A website / photos.