Master the Art and Science of Putting 2

A Simple, Repeatable Putting Stroke?

Two schools of thought dominate more traditional putting styles.? There’s the swinging gate approach where the putting stroke follows a curved arc.? The other style is the straight-line approach where the putter remains square to the target line for several inches back and through the ball.?

Many professionals advocate for the swinging gate approach because it appears to be more natural.? It’s only natural because of the off-the-shelf putter lengths which typically are 34-35” for men and 32-33” inches for women.?

The problem with the swinging gate approach is that the putter face is only square to the target line at one point on the arc.? There are too many things that can go wrong that keep the putter from squaring up at impact.? All of these problems are related to fear.?

Increased adrenaline in your body can cause you to speed up your putting stroke, keeping the putter from squaring up at impact sending the ball offline.? Fear that your backstroke may have been too long causes golfers to decelerate the putter before impact. This could also cause the putter face not to square up at impact but could also keep the ball from rolling all the way to the hole.?

Fear triggers the fight-or-flight reflex, with one of the side-effects being increased physical tension.? If either or both of your hands become tense prior to impact, the putter will not be square at impact.? The more tension that’s created or the speed at which your hands become tense creates even more variance in the direction the ball will roll.?

It’s for these reasons that I advocate a straight-line approach.? While fear can produce the same problems, the amount of deviation is much smaller, and your ball has a better chance of being holed out or stopping closer to the hole.?

Whether the golf chooses the swinging gate approach or the straight-line style, most professionals promote a pendulum stroke, where the backstroke is equal in length to the follow-through.? If the golfer fears that the backstroke is too long, they will decelerate the putter prior to impact, causing the ball to finish short of the hole.?

So, in addition to advocating for a straight-line approach I also advise golfers to develop a piston stroke where the follow-through is longer than the backstroke.? Developing a piston stroke is just as easy as developing a pendulum stroke.? And if the putter is the proper length for the golfer, a straight-line approach is just as natural as the swinging gate approach.?

Before I start teaching golfers a simple, repeatable stroke, they are measured for the appropriate length putter.? I have the assume a traditional putting stance without them holding a putter.? Their arms will just hang straight down from their shoulders.? Then I measure the distance from the ground to the start of their wrist and the distance from their shoulders down to their fingertips. From these measurements, the proper length putter can be custom-built.