The most powerful club in the bag

Let’s start with basic logic: The key to scoring well in golf is to have a very high ‘greens in regulation’ percentage combined with a very low ‘putts per green average’. End of story. That’s why the flat stick has been the curse of some players’ lives – and a blessing for others. If you drain 80 percent of putts from inside 10 feet, it’s amazing how easy getting ‘up and down’ for par becomes – and amazing how many shots you can save without realising you’re doing it.

Like almost every part of the game, good putting is a combination of correct technique and practised feel – and I’m a big believer in tips and drills that are designed to give you an idea of how your body is supposed to move – ie what it should ‘feel’ like when you play the game. Right, let’s take a look at three putting tips that will help you turn your putter from something you fear into the most powerful club in your bag…

Par tip

Rock on

You’ve probably read countless times that an ideal putting stroke requires a ‘rocking motion’ of the shoulders and arms – like the pendulum of a grandfather clock. And while it’s absolutely true, it is hardly the most ‘natural’ action. Here’s a drill that you can do anywhere, which will give you a feel for what it’s like when the arms and shoulders work together on the putting stroke.

Put a club under your elbows as shown and take up your putting stance. It’s important that the shaft rests under your elbows and not too high up (like your armpits!) – if you do that, you’ll get cramped up.

Now make a stroke or two. With the club ‘connecting’ your arms to your upper body, you should feel your shoulders and arms working together – that’s the pendulum we’re talking about. Oh, and if the club drops out, you’re doing it wrong!

Importantly, don’t over-analyse your putting stroke while you’re trying this – it’s a ‘feel’ drill so keep it simple and get your body used to the correct movement.

Why does the ‘pendulum’ matter?

Good players will always use the tiniest bit of wrist movement to improve feel on their putts, but if there’s too much wrist, there’s just too much that can go wrong. Also, under pressure, the large muscles in the shoulders and arms are more reliable than the fast twitch muscles in the wrists and hands. ‘Rock on’ and you’ll minimise the risk of twitching.

Birdie tip

Give it gas

One of the most common amateur errors on the green is decelerating through impact. The term you might have heard is ‘stopping’ or ‘quitting’ on the putt – and it’s almost guaranteed to give you more misses than makes.

Here’s a simple drill to fix the problem. Place two tees in the ground as in the image with the front tee at least three times the distance from the ball as the back tee. I’d say the distance shown here is for a putt between six and eight foot.

The idea is to take the putter back inside the back tee and follow through so the putter ends up in line with the forward tee. If you do that, it’s almost impossible not to get an idea of what it feels like to ‘accelerate’ through impact.

As with any drill, the idea here is to over-exaggerate the feeling, so when you get down to putting ‘normally’, your hands and mind know what they should be doing.

Why is decelerating a killer?

Just like what happens if you ‘quit’ on a full swing, if you ‘stop’ on the putt, the putterhead will overtake your hands and the putterface won’t remain square at impact. When that happens, it’s almost impossible to keep the putter travelling down the correct line to the hole. Commit to the stroke – and watch the birdie putts drop!

Eagle tip

Banish fear!

Picture the scene: You’ve hit a career-best second into a par five, reached the green and run through the back leaving yourself a very fast downhill 20-foot putt for eagle. So what do you do? Well, most of the time, you’re so scared of hitting it too hard and leaving an even longer putt for birdie that you clam up, quit on the putt and never have a chance of pencilling in a ‘three’ on the card.

The point is, even though it’s an exceptionally fast downhiller, you still need to make an attacking stroke (or at least a confident stroke). Watch the pros closely at Augusta every year and you’ll often see them using a simple technique on those billiard-table surfaces: they hit the ball off the toe of the putter.

It’s not exactly a tip from the classic books, but try hitting putts off the toe and see what happens. Essentially, it deadens the impact and minimises launch speed off the putterface – so you can make a far more positive stroke at the ball and actually give yourself a chance of eagle. Do not (repeat not) try this for the first time during the final of the club matchplay tournament! It’s something you can practise on the putting green to see how it feels. Interestingly, with today’s high-tech and equally high MoI putters, the clubhead won’t try to twist too much at impact so it’s even easier to master.

Why is a ‘positive stoke’ so darn important?

Good question – but in a way, already answered. The moment you try to ‘steer’ the putter or quit on the shot, the chances of keeping the clubhead moving along the target line are drastically reduced.

Tip by Grant Hepburn

Grant Hepburn has been a regular face in Compleat Golfer for almost a decade. His CV includes time spent working with David Leadbetter, a partnership with Robert Baker in Logical Golf and an impressive list of top amateur and professional golfers. Having recently returned home, Grant has set up the South African Golf Institute and is based at the institute’s Cape Town academy at the River Club, where he oversees a small, dedicated and highly-trained crew of fully-qualified PGA professionals.

For more information, phone 021 300 0140 or email lisa@logicalgolf.co.za.