Putting
Putting Routine and Stroke
Read the break. Run eyes up and down target line for brain to estimate speed.
Every putt is a straight putt!
Make your read, visualise a 'straight' line required to start the ball.
Make a practice stroke in line of putt.
Strive to follow through with the putter face down your 'straight' line.
Address ball – First putter blade square to intermediary target, then feet and body square with putter head.
Left hand weak, see no knuckles.
Hands on top or in front of ball – de-loft putter.
Keep elbows close to body
Eyes directly over ball, chin near chest.
Feet wide apart for solid base.
Keep head and lower body still.
Allow left shoulder to work down and under, right shoulder works up.
Shoulders control putt like a see-saw.
Putter face remains low to the ground throughout the whole stroke.
Maintain constant distance between elbows during stroke.
Keep the putt-triangle - Putt with chest and shoulders.
Keep putter face/right palm square to target line.
Put with consistent rhythm - 1-2, pendulum-like pace - same distance back as through.
Focus on swinging the putter through the ball at the same tempo as the backswing.
Don’t look up, hear put drop. See the club-head hit the ball.
Accelerate through impact.
Vary the distance of the putt by lengthening or shortening your putting stroke.
Left wrist stays straight and firm through stroke.
Pressure Tips
Grip putter lower on shorter puts for more control.
Stand closer to hole on short putts so that the putt appears even shorter.
Uphill putts break less than downhill putts.
Confidence sinks putts.
Reading Greens
Triangle method - Behind hole for general direction of break
- Low side for amount of slope and inclination
- Behind ball to select line and spot to roll ball over
Strength of Putts
Dying putt for long putts, a lot of break and fast putts
Firm putt for short or uphill puts.
Practice Drills
Two Rand Drill 1
Place R2 coin on ground, address and putt it a few centimetres.
You will learn where your stroke bottoms out, adjust posture, ball position and release until you can strike the coin consistently, then replace the coin with a golf ball and make the same stroke for sweetspot contact.
Two Rand Drill 2
Place a ball on top of the R2 coin and putt the ball to the hole, whilst keeping you focus on the R2 coin on the ground.
Forearm alignment
Place a club across your forearms, flex elbows a little more to hold it there.
Take putting posture holdings hands together, check your body alignment to see if you are square to the target line.
30 in a row from 3 feet - Build up pressure
Make 10 left hand only puts from 3 feet, then 10 right hand only puts, and then 10 puts with both hands from 3 feet.
Start over if you miss!
Think - Straight back and through (I heard Tiger does 100 in a row from 6 feet!)
Upper body drill
Place the shaft of a club underneath arms across your chest, make putts whilst rocking shoulders gently up and down.
Distance drill
Place a club +/- 3 feet behind hole as a backstop. Make 10 putts ensuring that all the putts either drop or stop past the hole and do not touch the backstop.Test yourself from longer and longer distances from the hole.
Face square drill
Place two clubs or alignment sticks on the ground just over a putter-width apart and aiming at the hole. Hit putts ensuring the putter head remains within the confines of the shafts/sticks. Focus on keeping the putter head square on the backswing and in the follow through, the putter should remain within the shafts/sticks and keeping the putter face aiiming squarely at the hole.