During golf lessons, I teach that when putting, you can use all kinds of positions, grips, and stances on the ball and still be a good putter. It is a lot like hitting a baseball. If you’ve ever watched a professional baseball game, you’ve probably noticed that each hitter has his or her own approach to hitting the ball, including their own stance, position on the batter’s box, and “pre-swing” routine. But if you really took a closer look, you probably would have seen that there are certain key fundamentals that every good hitter does well that makes him a good hitter. The same goes for the putt.
Below is a short golf instruction session on putting, perhaps the most important influences on your golf scores. In this article on golf tips, I highlight five keys that lay the basics common to all good putters. If you want to improve your putting and therefore lower your golf handicap, you must execute these fundamentals well, regardless of anything else you do while on the green. Otherwise, you will manage like an average putter and an average golfer.
1. Keep your eyes directly on the ball. If you ask a good putter what the secret to putting well is, he or she will most likely tell you what preparation is. And one of the keys to adopting the correct setup is keeping your eyes directly on the ball. When you place your eyes directly on the ball, you know with certainty that you are pointing directly towards the goal line. It also helps you keep the putter close to the ground and square to the target. And it helps keep your weight centered on the balls of your feet, eliminating any tendency to sway backward during the shot.
2. Use an inside-out swing route Many successful putters use an inside-out swing route once they have squared their position. An open stance encourages the putter blade to cut through the ball on impact. That gives the ball a side spin instead of a topspin, causing you to miss putts to the left, if it’s a right-handed putter. An open stance also makes it harder to hit a ball solidly on longer putts. A square stance, on the other hand, encourages an inside-out swing path, a better swing path. It also encourages pendulum swing and helps keep the putter blade square to the hole longer.
3. Long Low Follow Another common fundamental to a good putt is to use a long low follow. With a brief follow-up, your stroke feels stunted and abrupt. This, in turn, encourages you to go ahead with a “punch” on impact, creating the sensation of stinging the ball rather than throwing it. However, if you keep your arms comfortably bent, you can easily extend your strike toward the target line with little effort. That means you can go further on putts, maybe up to 15 inches on a putt or more. Therefore, the ball rolls more smoothly and bounces much less. From a short distance, you can be sure that the ball will not bounce unpredictably off the stick. Long, low tracking also helps you determine the correct pace on faster greens.
4. Change the backswing stroke, not the tempo There are certain elements of putting that are too often ignored in golf lessons but are important nonetheless. Tempo is one of them. The texture of the surface of the green does not matter as much as maintaining the same rhythm of swing during the putt. The same goes for the length of the run. If you are going to improve your putting, you need to learn which tempo (hitting speed) suits you best and then stick with it. Trying to produce different tempos to match different surfaces is extremely difficult. It’s best to vary the length of your backswing, then the tempo at which you swing. Learning to keep the same rhythm while varying the length of your stroke will increase your consistency and confidence when putting.
5. Speed determines the line Pacing and fluency, like tempo, are sometimes ignored in putting golf instruction sessions. The teacher and the student are usually much more concerned with the mechanics of the putting stroke than with these elements. That does not mean that they are not important. Both rhythm and fluidity are critical in determining your putt line. Knowing your own trends also helps you calculate the line. If you are normally an aggressive person, leave less line for your rest than if you are a delay putter. And vice versa. Once you’ve decided on the direction of your putt, point the ball’s trademark toward your desired target line. This will give you confidence that the blade is square with the target line.
These five putting steps all seem to be common elements that good putters excel at. You need to work on them to become a good putter and a player with a single digit golf handicap. But are not the only ones. So keep your eyes and ears open. Try learning other golf putt tips that can help you become more than just your average putter and golfer.