Today, let\u2019s focus on obtaining a reliable putting stroke\u2014one that sends off the ball along your selected starting line, not to the right or left of it.<\/p>\n
Over the years, there have been some pros who just had putting figured out. Ben Crenshaw. Brad Faxon. Loren Roberts. Tiger Woods. <\/p>\n
But there is one guy whose shot-making was so brilliant that he never got credit for how good he was on the green\u2014Jack Nicklaus. He had a piston-like strike that put ball after ball into the hole and yet no one ever copied it.<\/p>\n
His swing was highly influential, but his putting? It just got lost. We should get back to it.<\/p>\n
The most important part of a putting stroke, in my opinion, is bringing the putter into the ball with a perfectly square clubface. This is what a piston stroke, which Nicklaus had, excels at. It\u2019s all done with your right forearm (left forearm for lefties). <\/p>\n
To find out what this stroke feels like, set up as usual and put the putter down behind the ball. Instead of swinging the putter back and forth, push the ball with the putter toward a target, following through maybe by eighteen inches or so, directly toward the target.. <\/p>\n
Next, put a ball down in front of you and actually swing the putter back and then through the ball, feeling like after the ball has been struck you are pushing the ball toward the target, even though the putter and ball are no longer in contact. That’s the feeling we’re looking for.<\/p>\n
In practice, set up with your upper arms gently resting against your torso. They will stay in contact throughout the stroke. This keeps them from wandering off in the wrong direction. <\/p>\n
Swing the club back by pushing it with your left hand. Then the right forearm takes over, and just like a piston, “pushes” the putter toward the hole along the starting line, and keeps moving the putter along that line after the ball has been struck<\/em>.<\/p>\n That last bit is important. What you want to do after influences what you do before. When the putter moves forward, feel like you are actively pushing the ball straight into the hole. <\/p>\n If you want to try this, it will take a bit of practice for you learn how to express this concept in your putting. Once you get it, I think you\u2019ll like the results.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Today, let\u2019s focus on obtaining a reliable putting stroke\u2014one that sends off the ball along your selected starting line, not to the right or left of it. Over the years, there have been some pros who just had putting figured out. Ben Crenshaw. Brad Faxon. Loren Roberts. Tiger Woods. But there is one guy whose … Continue reading A Reliable Putting Stroke<\/span>