Putt Like The Pros

For those of you who missed this months Golf Magazine, there is a great article on how the best putters in the world put versus how amateur golfers putt. Some facts are intuitive, and some may surprise you, but all of them will be good for your putting statistics.

The first key involves the length and acceleration of your stroke. The majority of the best putters on tour have putting strokes where their backswing matching their follow through in length. Also, studies show that the putter (at impact) has stopped accelerating, but has not started decelerating, they are calling it a "flat spot" in the stroke. This is important because it will determine how well you can control your speed on different lengths of putts.

The second key for for your forearms to be aligned square to the target. It makes less of a difference if your feet are aimed at the target if your forearms are aligned properly. Most amateur golfers' right forearm sits too high and aims the forearms to the left of the target (hence the cut stroke). For proper forearm alignment, feel like your right elbow is tucked into your right side.

The third key is that all most great putters have an arch in their putting stroke and the putter approaches the ball from an inside path. There are very few good players that have strokes that cut across the ball and end up left of the target line. It is very difficult to have a "straight back, straight through" stroke, so let the putter swing naturally for better results.

The fourth key is to let the putter release. The old way of thinking is that golfers need to hold their leading wrist in front of the putter blade the entire time, even after the ball has been struck. It is much more effective, for speed and accuracy, to let the putter release past your hands after impact.