Grooved Golf Swing Series: What Are The MUSTS of Good Putting?
October 27th, 2007 | by Naimp | Posted in Recreation, Sports |You have taken your stance and you are about to hit your put.
All you think about is hitting the put and you pull it to the left
of the cup.
You did so many things wrong.
The biggest sin while making this put was that you had a look to
see how the ball was getting on far too soon.
If you do this, your head comes up and you hit your ball to the
left a bit.
Just try this and have a look at the putter head when you lift your
head to look.
You will see that the putter head moves off line to
the left.
If you watch Tiger Woods put, you will notice that there are no
moving parts at all.
So the first major must is that you must keep your head and the rest of
the body perfectly still, as though carved in stone.
Even listen for the ball to fall into the hole.
The slightest movement of any part of the body not involved in the
swing of the put will push the ball off line and it only needs a
couple of degrees to cause you to miss the hole.
You have been practising your putting stroke, and now you have a
stroke with a very even tempo.
You take your putter head back the required distance and then you
apply the smooth even stroke that you have developed from
conscientious practice.
So the second major must is that you have to develop such a stroke.
You have done the above but your ball fell short of the hole.
What you did was forget to follow through.
Your beautiful stroke with its excellent tempo needs the final
flourish of a follow through to get the ball to its expected
distance.
Not to follow through is like not taking your putter head
back far enough because not to follow through means you are
deceleration as you go through the ball.
Do you see what I mean?
The force of the put is that of a lesser back swing.
So, don’t forget that a good putting stroke demands a good follow
through.
It is imperative to follow through or you will quit on the
shot instead maintaining the speed of the putter head through the
ball.
So the third must is that you must follow through so that your putter head
maintains its speed through the ball.
The fourth must is to take a little care when you read the green.
Have it fully worked out before you stand up to hit your put.
Then hit your put with confidence and trust what you have just worked
out about borrow and distance.
The fifth must is that you must expect the ball to go into the hole
or at least go close if the put is a bit long.
Always think that you will sink your put.
In other words, have confidence.
I think you will agree that Tiger Woods expects to sink every put no matter
where he is hitting it from.
He always looks so surprised when he misses, and a little disgusted with himself too I think.
I believe this is a major factor in his brilliant putting ability.
So when you hit your puts do not expect to miss.
Bill Maitland is a thinking, inventive golf guru.