IT'S GOOD FOR YOUR GAME

A Matter of Control

Control of distance and direction are the two most important factors on every putt, and the simple teaching aid shown here can help you learn to release the clubhead. All you need are two boards and an extra club.

Line up the boards to point at your target. In the photos below, I'm hitting a 5-foot putt with no break, so the boards are aimed directly at the hole. Leave just enough room between them for your putter head (have about a quarter-inch clearance on each side). Then place the shaft of your extra club across the runners, allowing for just enough backswing to execute the putt.

Many golfers use backswings that are too long, giving them only two options, neither of which is good. The first is to make an accelerating stroke back to the ball that sends the ball too far past the cup. The other is to decelerate in the impact area. This causes the putter head to slow down so much that the putt stops well short of the hole.

The proper release for a putting stroke is demonstrated in the picture on the right. Here, aided by the correct length of backstroke, I have allowed my wrists and hands to respond to the weight of the putter head as I accelerate through impact. This keeps my left arm close to my body in the follow-through, with the butt end of the putter pointing at my navel just as it did at address ― a key position that reflects a proper release.

Often, in an exaggerated effort to keep the wrists stiff, the lead arm pulls away from the body, forcing the butt end of the club out of position. This causes a disruption of the face angle ― the dreaded "block," where the face is held open and you push the putt off line.

Note how, with the proper release, the putter face looks directly down the target line, and that is exactly where the ball goes.