The Putting Stroke – Your hands

Active Hands in the Putting Stroke

Here’s a great Tip about putting from Randy Smith. When it comes to scoring, there’s nothing more important than putting… so get the most out of your game by reading this terrific Tip!

By Randy Smith

When the hands get over-active in the putting stroke, bad things tend to happen rather quickly.  Distance control goes to pieces, and direction is not much better.  Putting is not a matter of hitting or slapping a ball at a target.  Putting is a matter of rolling a ball along an appropriate line to give the player the best chance for success.  Yes, rolling, not hitting.

To get the feel of how passive your hands need to be, go out on the putting green and just roll balls with your hands.  Assume a putting posture and put the ball in your back hand – for a right-handed player that’d be your right hand.  And just pitch it and let it roll to the hole.  Change your distance each time you do this, and see how good you really are at seeing how far you need to roll it.

You will notice that you just let the ball roll out of your hand without flipping it with your wrist.  Your instincts told you to do that.  Those same instincts will work when you use a putter.  Soft, consistent grip pressure is s a must.

Try as much as you can to make your strokes as equidistant as you can.  In other words, if your putt requires a 6-inch backstroke, then it should require approximately a 6-inch forward stroke.  Remember the work “consistent.”

The wrists and hands should feel passive during any stroke.  The length of the stroke – both directions – powered by the shoulders, not the hands and wrists, should give you the proper distance control.  Remember, you cannot trust your hands to do all the work.  They are made for feeling, not hitting, especially when you’re rolling a putt.