It’s no secret that the number of putts you have can have a huge impact on your overall gross score. So why is it that putting really is the most underrated area in golf?
FUN FACT, the media loves to focus on Bryson DeChambeau’s driving statistics – that he had the highest single season driving distance average in tour history of 323.8 yards in 2020. The media neglect to talk about his putting statistics this being that in 2020 Bryson holed 91.2 percent of his putts within10 feet. This is the highest mark since Jim Furyk who made 92.4 percent in 2002. An outstanding achievement!
We all know I love an underdog, so this series of blogs is all about putting. In this series of blogs, we’ll cover the four most important things to do to hole more putts:
AIM
DISTANCE CONTROL
TEMPO
MINDSET
I’ll teach you techniques that have had proven results to overcome putting hurdles. Let’s go!
3 Ways to Improve Your Putting Aim
It’s hard to hole puts without the right putting aim and start line. Let’s talk about some simple techniques and drills to help improve your putting aim, your confidence and your accuracy in relation to direction. We will look at three very important stages that change the result of your putting:
- Putter face at set up
- Putter face through impact
- Putter face at finish position
Putter Face at Set Up
The first step is choosing the line you want your ball to travel on. This is when we talk about reading the green. Understanding what line your ball will travel on will determine where you set your putter face. Reading the break of greens can be overwhelming. If you’re having trouble with green reading, see my post on Simple steps on how to read a green.
The more pace the ball has the less it takes the break of the green. Therefore, your start line needs to match how hard you are going to hit your putt.
The most important factor here is to acknowledge the highest point of the green between your ball and the hole. This high point gives us a really good indication of where the ball will begin to change its line. This is where it will begin to break/feed into the hole. Your ball will travel in a straight line to that highpoint, so you need the centre of your putter face to be square at address.
Try this technique to become more confident about choosing a start line for your putter face to improve your putting aim:
- Find the high point on the green
- Draw a line back from this point to your ball
- Choose a check point approx. one foot in front of your ball
- Align your putter face to your check point to create your start line
We know we need to impact the ball with the centre of the putter face a crucial fact in helping achieve this has to do with a solid set up.
At set up I want you to make sure the bottom of the putter face is completely flat and centred on the ground. It’s ok to lift the putter face up and hover before you putt (like Ricki Fowler – one of the world’s best putters!) but just make sure you start flat and centred before you hover.
When we look at this set up, putter either flat or hovering, we can see that the toe or the heel of the putter is not digging in. This is key to ensure we can hit the centre of the putter face through the ball.
Lets Talk Putting Grip
To create the best roll, your ball needs to impact the centre of the putter face. And how do you control the impact through the ball? It all comes down to how MUCH CONTROL YOU HAVE with your grip.
These days there is no right or wrong way to hold the putter. The best in the world all have different putting grips, but they all do one thing the same. Their wrists stay strong and don’t break during the putting stroke.
Drill to Promote Strong Wrists Throughout Putting Stroke
Try this drill to insure your wrists stay strong and in turn create a perfect putter face at set up and once impacting the ball. All you need is your putter, a ball, a hole and two tees.
- Begin setting up just 1m away from the hole with a dead straight putt. If you’ve chosen a straight putt, we know the putter face should set up square to the middle of the back of the cup.
- Place two tees either side of your putter giving 1/2cm of room on each side of the putter head.
- Hole 20 putts in a row without touching either of the tees. This drill trains our muscle memory to set the putter head square and move square through impact.
- Add an alignment stick to either side of the tees (as pictured) this is just an additional line to help drive through to your target.
Putter Face at Finish Position
Even after you’ve hit the ball, your follow through can still change the motion and position of the putter face through impact. Holding the correct putter face position at finish position helps replicate the same shot over and over. It also adds to your commitment to the shot. I like my players to hold their follow through position for at least a few seconds.
There are only two desired putter face angles at the finish of your putting stroke, depending on your putting stroke:
- Straight back straight through = putter face will stay square
- Small arc around your body = centre of the putter face ends up just left of target.
Before your next game, take some time on the putting green to practice your putting aim and start line using these tips. Ask yourself: is my putter sitting completely flat and centred on the ground? Am I confident of my start line in relation to the highest point of the green? Practice these drills to greatly improve your putting aim.