A friend of mine who has really dedicated himself to the game called me and asked for help with his putting. Wanting to help, I agreed. Before we got together, I audited my own putting fundamentals, comparing what I was doing to what the game’s best short game professionals teach their students. The process helped my putting almost as much as it did his. I’m sharing it with you today in the hopes that it will help you too.
Let’s start at the beginning—with the fundamentals.
Grip: Place the putter grip in line with the lifelines on your palms. Position your thumbs on the flat part of your putter’s grip or toward the outside corners of the flat. Having your palms facing outward lessens the amount of wrist that you can employ when stroking the putt.
Posture: Stand upright when addressing the ball and bend from the waist until your left eye is over the golf ball. This allows you to see down the line of your putt accurately. If the ball is too far to the inside of your eyeline, you’ll wind up pulling putts and if it’s too far to the outside, the reverse will be true, and you’ll push your misses.
To check on your posture, address the ball. When you’ve settled into your address position, stand the putter up until it’s vertical then lift it up to your face. If the golf ball is beneath your left eye, the butt of the putter should line up perfectly with the bridge of your nose.
Another way to check on your ball position is to have another golf ball in your pocket when you address the ball. When you’ve settled into your address position, take the ball from your pocket, put it up to your left eye and let it go. If you’ve set up properly, the falling golf ball should fall on the one you’ve addressed.
Your hands should be ahead of the ball. The putter shaft should be leaning forward—not too much, just enough to keep the putter square to the target. This will vary depending on your putter of choice. Find your putter’s ideal setup then work with it. If you can’t work with it, replace it with one that works for you.
Mechanics: Keep your elbows close to your torso throughout the putting stroke and putt with your core. I know common knowledge says to rock your shoulders when you putt, but in doing so, at some point your hands will become more active and cause inconsistency. Keep your arms relaxed and your hands quiet. Allow your elbows to stay close to your torso as it rotates. The visual of putting with your core will quiet the upper body and allow you to stroke the ball with your big muscles—just like your full swing. Downstream benefit is that you’ll be more consistent with your swing triggers through the bag.
It’s simple enough to adapt to your game. It’ll feel a bit weird at first but stick with it and you’ll become far more consistent with direction and distance control. The key here is to dissociate your lower body and head from your core during the stroke – the only real challenge to this feel.
With the mechanics squared away, it’s time to engage the creative side of your brain.
Read the Green with Your Feet: Resist to just ask the caddy what to do. Walk the putt. Pay particular attention to inclination and the variations in the terrain on your way from the ball to the hole. Study the putt from behind the hole. Does the ball look like it’s going to break the same as it did from behind the hole? Walk to the low side of the putt and study it from there.
All this gives you background information on how the ball will roll on the green. Imagine tossing a bucket of water on the green toward the hole. Where is the water going to flow? The golf ball should follow the same contours.
Roll a Few Balls for Feel: If you have trouble with long putts, you need to work on feel for distance. The easiest way to do so is to go to the practice green and without a putter, roll balls to different areas of the green paying attention to the strength and feel with which you release them. Keep doing so until you have a feel of the speed and distance the ball rolls. Now do the same thing with your putter.
Direction isn’t too important here. Distance control is your goal.
Mold this Process into Your Pre-shot Routine:
This whole process becomes your pre-putt routine. Put it all together before you walk up to address the golf ball. Stick to it strictly until it becomes a habit. Then, all you need to do is start the process and your instincts will take over.
Start behind the ball. Gather your thoughts there (never over the ball), commit to your course of action, take your practice stokes then a deep breath. Walk up to the ball, thinking of nothing but alignment and target. Forget mechanics; try to feel your body aligning to the target. Settle into your address position, focus your aim on your intended line, confirm your target, then make the putt.
Detach Yourself from Your Results: Remember that as much as we attach to it, golf is just a game. The world isn’t going to end if you miss that 4-footer. We’ll laugh about it, have a few drinks and life will go on. Relax and have fun. Be thankful. It’s why we play the game.