Putting Fundamentals: Alignment

After doing thousands of lessons over the years, I have concluded that the misunderstandings related to alignment are extremely common and lead to a false feedback loop for most beginning and advanced golfers.  The basic misunderstanding is this, “If I aim my body at the target, I am aimed at the target”.  Everything about this statement seems fundamentally sound at first glance.  However, the reality of it is that if we aim our body at the target, we will actually be aimed closed to the target.  This has everything to do with parallel lines and the concept of “squaring to the target”. 

Think of it as railroad tracks.  Our body is on the inner track and the ball is out on the outer track.  We want to get the outer track (ball line) aimed at the target and then we set our body (feet, hips and shoulders) square or parallel to this ball line.

This task is most simple in putting.  The reason it is most simple is that in putting our eyes are basically right over the top of the ball.  As my good friend Greg Horner will explain in another section of the book, we don’t have to deal with the visual distortion of parallax (the difference that we see when objects are viewed from different perspectives). 

Using the Alignment Aid of the Line on the Golf Ball

Because our main goal in lining up a putt is to get the ball on the correct line, many high level players use the line or arrow that appears on most golf balls these days to get their alignment square to the target line (the line you want to start the putt on).  We are able to do this because of the legality of the rules that allows us to mark, pick up, clean and place our golf ball on the putting surface. 

After reading the green and determining the starting line of the putt, we simply set that line directly on top of the ball pointed in the direction of that starting line.  With this line in place we are relatively assured that everything we do to line up from that point will be based on a fairly solid understanding of being square to the target.  Once we have committed to this line, we simply bring our body (feet, hips and shoulders) in square or parallel to that line.

Points of Caution

·         This process of using the line can become a very slow and time consuming process, especially if you are wavering on your decision or struggling to get the line on the ball truly lined up on the intended line.  At its most extreme case, using the line on the ball to square to the target can turn into a nightmare of tension and slow play.  I recommend that you rehearse this process on the practice putting green many times before you try to take it out on the golf course.  You want to be able to do this process described above in a few seconds as opposed to a few minutes. 

If you find that you are over the putt and the line you chose is not where you would actually like to start the putt, simply adjust your relation to the line initially chosen without adjusting the ball.  Either that or trust your initial instinct.  Many who have played golf for a long period of time know that the first thought is almost always the best thought.

·         Everything I teach about the game of golf is in relation to the swing being an arc (circle) and the challenge of overcoming the desire to push or go in a straight line.  When we put a straight line in our vision on putting, it can become even more tempting to produce this pushing motion in the putting stroke.  When we use the line on the ball to get square to the intended line, I suggest that it is vital that we let go of that linear thinking before making the putting stroke.  The swing itself should be a relaxed, rhythmic, rotational movement and will be compromised by any instinct to push straight toward the target.

The Primary Importance of Speed in Putting

With all this discussion of alignment in putting, I want to end with the reality that alignment is of secondary importance to speed control.  It is true that the pros make a lot of putts and have excellent alignment.  However, they are truly masters of speed control and rarely leave themselves a second putt that is outside of a distance of 3 feet.  Your focus before swinging the putter should lastly relate to finding the right “tick-tock” of the pendulum that produces the correct speed on the green.

For a more detailed discussion of the importance of speed in putting, please see the entry “The Importance of Speed in Putting at:

http://golfandlifelessons.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-importance-of-speed-in-putting.html

Putting Fundamentals: Ball Position

Proper ball position can be explained a number of ways.  Some teachers offer a chart to lay out the positioning of the ball for each club.  I find that there is a simpler way to think of it.  Basically, you want the right hand to be hanging in the center of the chest.  This will set the hands slightly ahead of the clubhead.  This is the place where gravity wants to drop the club squarely on the ball.

In putting, this ball position is front of center and inside of the front foot.

Your hands should be low and close to your front inner thigh.

The shaft should be basically straight out away from you, but it will feel more like the shaft is leaned ever-so-slightly toward the target.

Putting Fundamentals: Posture

Bad Posture

We aim to make our mothers proud in this aspect of the putting fundamentals.  Posture is one of the leading causes of inconsistent play on the golf course.  Many people get down to the ground in golf in a way that compromises the strength of their core and limits the support of their skeletal structure.

The two most common posture mistakes I see are:

·         Bending too much in the knees

o   People with too much knee bend get down to the ball in a sitting position.  Their weight in on their heels, which is not an athletic position to be in no matter what sport we are playing

·         Rolling the back and shoulders/Pushing the arms down to the ground

o   The curved spine and stiff arms of this posture make a relaxed, rotational swing nearly impossible…and it is horrible for the back, causing a number of issues with that part of the body when you play golf

Bending from the Hips

What we do want to do is:

·         Bend very slightly in the knees

·         Get down to the ground with the bend in our hips

o   Feels like your rear-end sticks out and up

o   Chest gets out over the ball

·         Back stays relatively straight (not stiff)

·         Shoulders rolled back into the sockets

You know you are in a good posture if:

·         You can let your arms hang straight down underneath the sockets and there is…

o   Plenty of room between your body and hands (one hand width at least)

o   The palms of your hanging hands face each other

o   Your weight is on the “balls” of your feet (this is the round bone that is behind your toes)

Weight Distribution

In golf I believe that we always want to favor the front foot with our weight.  The reason for this is that this is where the axis of rotation takes place in the swing.  At impact of the full swing, a golfer’s weight should be like a stake in the ground on the front leg, with everything going around that axis.

In putting, we do not involve the rotation of the lower body at all.  However, we still want to feel that we are moving around that single axis of the front leg up through the spine.  Because of this, I recommend slightly favoring your front foot/leg with the weight of your stance in the putting setup.  I suggest a 55-60% weight on that front leg to encourage centered rotation in the putting stroke.

Width of Stance

I believe that width of stance is a personal preference in putting.  Some people like the feeling of being rooted in the ground by a very wide stance which has the added benefit of locking in the lower body and limiting movement (something we do want to do in putting). Other people prefer to have their feet closer together to encourage more of a centered, rotational motion in the body.  Standing with your feet closer together also raises up the body and produces a taller lever for the pendulum you are working at producing.

I think it is simply important to understand that there are benefits to both extremes of stance width.  Generally speaking, setting your feet shoulder width apart is a good “middle ground” to start from.  You can experiment with different stance widths to find the one that produces the most reliable, relaxed, rotational motion in your putting stroke.

Combining Grip and Posture in the Putting Setup

When you have these two fundamentals solidly in place, you are well on your way to producing a very reliable “tick-tock” pendulum in your putting stroke. 

You should feel that it is quite easy to hover the putter over the ground from this place.  If it does not feel easy to hover the putter, check that you are supporting the club underneath it with your elbows on your side and a good angle in your wrists (as we want to do) or if you are pushing your arms down to the ground which will force the hands to be high and on top of the club.

If you find that you are pushing down or out with your arms, check your posture.  Are you in a position where your arms can hang down (as we want them to do) or are you slouching or sitting down?

Putting Fundamentals: The Grip

When we set up well, we increase the probability of returning the putter back to square at impact and we allow good putting technique to be rewarded.

Set up flaws in putting increase the number of variables required to make a good putting stroke.  We basically have to produce poor technique to get good results, which is something that is very difficult to do on a repeatable basis.

Grip

·         Hands Close Together

We want the hands to come together in a way where they function as one, solid unit. 

The reverse-overlap grip is a common putting grip that is used by most professionals.  Instead of interlocking your pointer finger on your top hand, you rest that finger along the outside of the bottom hand, across the knuckles.

That being said, it is unimportant exactly how you bring your hands together.  In my opinion, it is perfectly fine to use the same grip you would on a full swing.  What is important is that the hands are close together and working as one.

·         Palms Facing

Getting the hands on the club in a way where the palms face each other sets the hands in a neutral position.  By this, it is meant that both hands are balanced.  The right and the left work together and one is not put in a position to manipulate over the top of the other.

·         Support the Club Underneath/Cradle

We want to get the shoulders in a position to relax, rotate and do all the movement of the putting stroke.  In order to allow this to happen, we must support the club underneath it. 

Most amateurs push the putter from one side to the other or push down on top of the club.  That kind of a position encourages using the wrists and hands to hit the putt.  The problem with using the wrists and hands is that they are unreliable.  That little flip at the bottom of the putting stroke produces extra speed that is difficult to predict reliably.  That little flip of the wrists and hands also produces extra rotation of the putter face.  Basically, it would take a bit of a miracle to get the face square with the correct speed at the moment of impact with all these variables going on.  Sometimes this miracle happens and we get false feedback in what we are doing, overall, in our putting technique.

To get in the proper supportive position of the club, drop the angle of the wrists down into their natural position and fold the elbows into the side of the body.  It should be easy to hover the putter above the ground with little effort in this position.  

If you angle the wrists and fold the elbows into your side and the putter is nowhere near the ground, you have a posture issue, which we will address in the next section.

·         Hands Slightly Ahead of Clubhead

A general rule of thumb is that we want our dominant hand to hang in the center of our chest.  If we do this with the putter, it should put the ball position ahead of center and inside of our front foot.  This should also set our hands ever-so-slightly ahead of the clubhead.